Author(s):
Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover)
|
von Lieven, Alexandra (Berlin)
[German version] [1] Roman coinage In the Roman system of weights and measures the
bes (
binae partes assis) represents 2/3 (8/12) of the
as and, on the basis of the Roman pound (327.45 g), weighs 218.30 g [1. 72]. In Roman minting the
bes was stamped with
S as its symbol of value; only issued by C. Cassius in 126 BC in bronze (with the head of Liber/
prora) [2. 290]. As; Small coin, shortage of; Libra Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography
1 Schrötter, s.v. Bes
2 M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, 21987. [German version] [2] Dwarfish Egyptian god with hideous face (Egyptian
Bs, Greek Βησᾶς;
Bēsâs: Suda, s. v., Lat.
Besa(s): Amm. Marc. 19,12,3). Dwarfish Egyptian god with hideous face, often clothed in a lion skin. His typical headdress is a crown of feathers or plants; other attributes are knives, snakes and musical instruments (especially frame drum, harp, lute). B. is difficult to distinguish from similar divinities such as Aha (
ḥ, ‘the fighter’). He has an apotropaic function in both the cosmic and the private sphere. He soothes Sachmet or Tefnut with music, and is thus identified with Shu. In the late period (6th cent. BC to 3rd cent. AD) the highest ‘transcendental god’ (a ‘super-god’ above the other gods) was sometimes portrayed as ‘pantheistic B.’ with a multitude of heads and limbs [6]. His female counterp…