BES A popular household deity in Egypt, Bes was a dwarf with a large beard, shaggy eyebrows, long hair, with large projecting ears, a flat nose and a protruding tongue. His arms were thick and long, his legs bowed, and he wore a tail. He was a genial figure, associated with human pleasures, and a guardian against misfortune. He slew snakes, protected children, encouraged human fertility, and assisted the hippopotamus goddess Tawert in child birth.