Collection
/
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Cylindrical Bead

ca. 1938–1759 B.C.E.

Object Label

One of the most powerful protective deities was Bes, a bandy-legged, potbellied god with a fiercely grinning leonine face and a lion’s feet and tail. Another was Taweret, a pregnant hippopotamus standing upright on lion’s feet with a very schematic representation of a crocodile on her back. This cylindrical bead includes a Bes image, two Taweret figures, and a snake, another protective symbol.

Caption

Cylindrical Bead, ca. 1938–1759 B.C.E.. Steatite, glaze, 1 1/4 x 1/4 in. (3.1 x 0.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 44.123.34. Creative Commons-BY

Title

Cylindrical Bead

Date

ca. 1938–1759 B.C.E.

Dynasty

Dynasty 12

Period

Middle Kingdom

Geography

Place made: Egypt

Medium

Steatite, glaze

Classification

Accessory

Dimensions

1 1/4 x 1/4 in. (3.1 x 0.7 cm)

Credit Line

Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

Accession Number

44.123.34

Rights

Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

Frequent Art Questions

  • Are these ancient broaches?

    Not quite, but they are pieces of jewelry. The one in the middle is a bead and the two on either side are pendants. They were all meant to be strung on something, like a necklace or bracelet.
    If you look closely, you'll notice that the two outer pendants have bale (small loop or hollow channel) for attaching to a string or chain. Each of these pieces depicts a protective

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