Welcome to my new series which I have given the loose title ‘the history of beliefs about disability’. My hope is that I will travel through time and try to explain what certain societies believed about the causes of disabilities as well as the abilities of those afflicted. This series will be slightly different to my other series as it is not possible to understand people’s beliefs with facts and figures.
As always, I will endeavour to cover this topic in a chronological order. As such, I will begin with the earliest civilisation that I have studied in any detail. Yes, that’s right! We are heading back to ancient Egypt. What makes this post trickier is that I will not be examining a person, but rather a god. I’m aware that Pharaohs were considered gods, but I mean the not of this world, special powers, kind of god.
He Doesn’t Look the Bes(t)
Bes was an Egyptian god with an unusual appearance. He is most often depicted as a bearded dwarf, with his tongue sticking out. If you think that is strange, he also carried a rattle, or sometimes a snake. He was very different to any other Egyptian god you are likely to encounter. As far as I am aware, he is one of the only gods that always faces forward, rather than being shown in profile. Another difference between Bes and the other gods is that he was rarely shown with his clothes on. I’m sure if you encountered Bes in real life, he would certainly give you a bit of a shock. However, the strange body proportions, large tongue and…. em…. nudity, were not his only startling physical characteristics. He was shown as being part lion. He was usually equipped with a lion’s main and a tail which dangled down between his legs.
There has been some debate as to the origins of this unusual god. Some scholars have argued that he has origins in the kingdom of Nubia, which was just south of Egypt. They point to the fact that some of his characteristics show a resemblance to the Pygmy tribes, found even further to the south in the Congo River Basin. The idea being that the god emigrated north over time. This has been disputed, but is interesting, nonetheless. Bes first emerged in the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (1975 B.C.E. – 1640 B.C.E.) and became popular from the New Kingdom (1520 B.C.E. – 1075 B.C.E.) onwards. I don’t know about you, but my mind boggles when I realise that he could have been worshiped almost 4,000 years ago! Due to his leonine features, many scholars agree that originally, Bes may have been a lion rearing up on its hind legs, however, over time his depiction morphed into a dwarf like creature.
His Abilities
Every god of ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians served a specific purpose. If you were to look at an image of Bes you may think that he was the ancient Egyptian devil. Surely something with such a frightening appearance has malicious intent, right? Wrong! He was indeed a scary god, but only to evil spirits which wished to do humans and gods harm. You see, Bes was a protector god. His frightful appearance as well as rattles and/or snakes he shook in his hands served to keep evil demons at bay. I say evil demons because Bes was also a demon, but the good kind. While there were no temples or priests devoted to Bes, he was a very popular god among the Egyptian people. I would say that he protected the most vulnerable people in society as he watched over women and children. Mothers would invoke Bes as they were singing their children to sleep, so that he might keep nightmares at bay.
The Egyptians were not scared of Bes. In fact, they found him entertaining and sometimes even humorous. Whenever a baby would smile and laugh for no apparent reason, it was believed that Bes was pulling funny faces, which only the baby could see. Bes also had a crucial role to play in bringing babies to the Earth. Several amulets and instruments invoking Bes have been found in birthing houses. It was thought that Bes ensured a successful delivery with a healthy mother and baby. I wonder did they blame Bes when the delivery was not a success? Anyway, the mother to be wore a Bes amulet around her neck during the process. Bes was also invoked when a couple wanted to become pregnant, and there were special rooms under Bes’ guardianship where couples attempted to achieve their wish. Beautiful women were a popular target for evil spirits to attack. Therefore, images of Bes could be found on cosmetic items such as mirrors and hairpins to protect the woman in question. It is safe to say that Bes was kept busy.
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| Amulet of Bes; 1070–712 BC; faience; height: 3.7 cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York City) |
His Legacy
While Bes was primarily an Egyptian god, his influence spread both far and wide. He reached his peak popularity in Egypt during the Ptolemaic Period (305 B.C.E. – 30 B.C.E.). From there he spread to the Roman Empire. Being the macho, all conquering super soldiers that they were, the Romans depicted Bes as a legionnaire. He was also popular in the Greek world and influenced Greek and Roman beliefs regarding dwarfs. I will move on to that topic in a few weeks.
There may be a reason why Bes’ appearance suggests to us that he is menacing. Through the passage of time, the Christian Church incorporated many aspects of his appearance to make the Devil. These include things such as the sticking out tongue and animal tail. Why would the Christian Church turn Bes (who protected people from evil) into the Devil? The main reason was that through his association with childbirth and reproduction, he also became popular with party goers. This flew in the face of the church’s stance on morals, family, and reproduction. It is for this same reason that the Devil has the cloven hooves of the Greek god Pan. The popularity of Bes also continued long enough to compete with early Christianity. Turning him into the Devil was an effective way to remove the competition.
I know Bes may not actually have been a dwarf, but beliefs surrounding him certainly influenced attitudes to disability later.
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Next week I will be putting up a post to mark Christmas.
The Wheelchair Historian
Further Reading
Dasen, Veronique, 1993. Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt and Greece (Oxford).
Hill, J, ‘Bes’, Ancient Egypt Online, 2010 https://ancientegyptonline.co.uk/bes/ Accessed: 18 December 2020.
Jones, Cerys R, ‘Simply the Bes: 7 reasons Bes should be your favourite Egyptian god’, 6 April 2019 https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/researchers-in-museums/2019/04/06/simply-the-bes-7-reasons-bes-should-be-your-favourite-egyptian-god/comment-page-1/ Accessed: 18 December 2020.
Lendering, Jona, ‘Bes’, Livius.org, created in 2019; last modified on 16 April 2020 https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/bes/ Accessed: 18 December 2020.
Mark, Joshua J., ‘Bes’, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 07 November 2016 https://www.ancient.eu/Bes/ Accessed: 18 December 2020.
Sooke, Alastair, ‘How Egyptian god Bes gave the Christian Devil his looks’, 21st October 2014 https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20130619-how-the-devil-got-his-looks Accessed: 18 December 2020.
