by Mary Harrsch © 2025
This small pot of perfumed oil had a more adventurous life than most people in the ancient world...
An increase in the production of perfume vessels (aryballoi and alabastra) depicting dwarves and other Egyptian motifs in the 6th century BCE was the result of intensified trade and cultural contact between Greece and Egypt, specifically facilitated by the Greek trading colony of Naukratis in the Nile Delta.
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| Greek aryballos depicting the Egyptian god Bes produced in Rhodes between 610-550 BCE and found in the Etruscan context of Vulci. Photographed at the British Museum by the author. |
Greek merchants (primarily from Ionian cities like Miletus, Samos, and Rhodes) were exposed to Egyptian art and religion and exchanged these motifs with ceramic production centers in Rhodes, Corinth, and East Greece. The 7th–6th centuries BCE in Greece are known as the Orientalizing period, when Greek art moved away from abstract Geometric patterns and eagerly adopted motifs, themes, and techniques from the East—primarily Anatolia, the Levant, and, crucially, Egypt. Egyptian figures like Bes (a dwarf deity) and Pataikos (a dwarf-like protective god) were visually striking and became desirable “exotic” motifs.
As a protector of the household—particularly women, children, and childbirth—Bes, a god of music, dance, and warfare, was particularly popular on items such as aryballoi. Perfume and oil were not just cosmetics; they were used in ritual, athletics, and as luxury goods dedicated to gods. Placing the image of a powerful Egyptian protective deity on a perfume vessel added a layer of apotropaic (evil-averting) magic and exotic prestige. A buyer wasn’t just getting perfume; they were getting protection and a token of a sophisticated foreign culture.
The British Museum identifies the figure as a Gorgon, but ClaudeAI disagreed, saying: “Gorgons (like Medusa) were typically depicted as terrifying, with snakes for hair, wide staring eyes, a protruding tongue, and fangs—meant to be apotropaic through fear. This face is grinning and almost jovial, not terrifying.”
Modern scholarship supports this ambiguity. G. Petrie, C. Picard, and Beazley all noted that Greek artisans often merged Bes and Gorgon traits because both were apotropaic and were understood (by Greeks) as “protective monstrous faces,” and this may be the case here. While Egyptian Bes usually has lion-like features, Greek interpretations often exaggerate the teeth into fangs—especially on Rhodian faience and terracotta vessels.
The hair or headdress here shows none of the characteristic snaky locks of a Gorgon, but instead a thick, lion-like mane typical of Bes. The tongue on this aryballos is small, rounded, and almost playful, not the great hanging slab seen on archaic Gorgoneia.
While Gorgons could appear on protective objects, the cheerful quality of this figure doesn’t fit. The broad grin is exactly right for Bes. The squat, rounded vessel form echoes Bes’s dwarfish body, and Bes was extremely popular on perfume and cosmetic containers.
