Description: Flat-backed amulet of a frontally facing Bes head of bichrome faience. Details are modelled and picked out in yellow glaze on a ground of turquoise blue. A large beard or mane covers the lower portion of Bes' face while a tongue sticks out from beneath it. A transverse piercing runs through the face at a point beneath the ears (roughly the eye line). The reverse of the plumed headdress has been crudely carved with some relief decoration.
Collector's Mark: 46.65 written on reverse in black ink.
Cultural Significance: Bes as a protective deity was popular from at least the Middle Kingdom, although Bes head amulets do not appear prior to the Third Intermediate Period but once established remained common through the Roman Period. Bes amulets were common elements of jewellery and were worn in life as well as placed in tombs.
Comparanda: Louvre E14192, AF 13851, Boston MFA 72.2096, 72.2100.

Notes:  See W. Petrie, Amulets, 1914, 190b-e; C. Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt. 1994, p.40, plate 15.