God Bes

God Bes

God Bes was a house god (a deity worshiped primarily at home, as defended to temple ceremonies) connected to childbirth who was first revered in Egypt during the New Kingdom. Egyptologists discord on where Bes might have developed, but Babylonia or Punt (a foreign land that might have been located in Sudan or Ethiopia) seem the most likely nominees. Egyptologists also discord on how Bes came to be linked with childbirth, particularly since the deity was saw as male. The two prevailing theories, however, relate to the deitys appearance. In many depictions, taking on Ptolemaic Period statues and birthing-room wall art, Bes was a hideous, bearded shadow with game legs. Some Egyptologists consider that these disfigurements made Bes a visible internal representation  of  a  pregnant  womans worst concerns for her child. Others believe that  the  god's  role  was  as  a  guardian whose malformations would frighten devils away from the child about to be born. It does seem that women in labor named on Bes for good luck and that he was saw a kindly deity. He was likewise said to dance with a tambourine to keep evil spirits out, and many young children wore pendants  with  his  likeness  to  have  this same protection.