About the so-called Bes of Agrigento

Abstract

The Archaeological Museum 'Pietro Griffo' of Agrigento houses a terracotta statuette depicting a dwarf-like figure, naked, squatting and grinning, with a cup on his head. Commonly known as the 'Bes' of Agrigento and already the subject of study by Sabatino Moscati, it is usually considered an artefact of Punic setting. This is one of the many examples of cultural hybridism that characterizes the history of Akragas after the Carthaginian conquest of the main cities of central Sicily in 409 BC. The re-examination of this artefact, from both the Siceliote and Punic perspectives, offers a multidisciplinary reflection on the values and ritual destination of an image that crosses two cultural facies. The study also provides an opportunity for a new contextualization from a more strictly archaeological point of view.

The papers published in this volume were presented at the International Conference “What Can Terracottas Tell Us: Coroplastic Polysemy in the Ancient Mediterranean” (Cagliari – Cittadella dei Musei, 10–12th November 2022) organized under the scientific direction of Romina Carboni, Claudia Cenci and Nicola Chiarenza.