Getty Museum

Engraved Scarab

Date

5th century B.C.

Medium

Green jasper

Culture

Phoenician

Department

Jewelry

Institution

Getty Museum

Bes-Gorgon standing left, head turned to front, holding two lions; he has animal ears and two snakes rise from his head; he wears a slit skirt; linear border. Early Greek scarabs conflated Bes, an Egyptian dwarf god, and the Gorgons, monstrous sisters from Greek mythology; this Phoenician example appears to be influenced by the Greek versions. The depiction of Bes as "posis theron," or Master of Animals, is a popular motif on Phoenician scarabs. On the reverse, the back of the scarab is pinched, and the elytra are separated from the thorax and slightly humped.

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