Gender at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud

They’re Both Male

Re: the controversy over the gender of the smaller Bes figure on page 33 of “The Persisting Uncertainties of Kuntillet ‘Ajrud” (BAR 38:06):

Simply put, both Bes figures are male. Pirhiya Beck was correct in stating that the apparent appendage seen between the legs of the Bes figure on the left is a tail of the lion skin traditionally worn by the Egyptian god Bes. This is proven by looking at the collection of Bes statues in Egypt, where the clear depiction of male genitalia accompanies the lion tail.

The two circles on the chest of the Bes figure on the right do not indicate a woman’s breasts or nipples, even if these circles are meant to highlight breasts. Bes was sometimes depicted with pendulous breasts, not unlike the Egyptian god Hapy. This shouldn’t be surprising due to both gods having a strong association with fertility: Bes with sexuality and childbirth and Hapy as the Nile’s abundance and fertility.

Bes was never pictured in Egypt as a goddess but always as a heavily bearded dwarf, male deity.