Finger Ring With Bes Image

56.20.577

Information

Gold stirrup-shaped ring. The oval bezel is engraved with a dancing figure holding a tambourine. The figure is evidently the god Bes in purely animal form, instead of in partly human form as is more usual. From one arm hangs a sa(?)-amulet. The surface of the bezel is worn. Height of bezel: 11 mm; width of bezel: 18 mm; internal diam. of hoop: 17 mm; depth (front to back) 22 mm. The purported findspot of this gold stirrup-shaped ring, the royal tomb of Akhenaten at Amarna, would provide clear evidence of its date. Unfortunately, the early history has been reconstructed from hearsay and, despite some scholars’ acceptance of the story linking the ring to Akhenaten’s intended burial place, such claims cannot be inclusively proven.