Necklace Beads with Bes-Shaped Pendants

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Necklace Beads with Bes-Shaped Pendants

Place of OriginEgypt, Akhetaten (modern Tell el-Amarna)

Date25th–31st Dynasties (747–332 BCE)

Dimensionsoverall: 3 3/4 in. (9.5 cm)

ClassificationJewelry

Credit LineGift of the Egypt Exploration Society

Object number

1925.767

Not on View

Label TextThis strand includes faience beads and small pendants in the shape of the god Bes. A popular figure in household religion, Bes was believed to protect families, especially women and children, from misfortune and evil. His dwarf-like body, leonine face, and feathered crown made him instantly recognizable and visually powerful. Bes amulets were widely worn or hung in homes for protection and luck. These beads were excavated by the Egypt Exploration Society at Amarna in 1923–1924 and allocated to the Toledo Museum of Art the following year. They belong to the same group of unnumbered finds as 1925.763 and 1925.766, recorded in the division lists as “Five strings of beads.” Today, this strand is strung with three other accessions (1925.721, 1925.1067, and an additional one) to form a single display necklace. The modern assembly was intended for presentation and does not reflect an original ancient arrangement.