Dwarfs and pygmies in ancient Egypt

Dwarf in hieroglyphs
Dwarf in hieroglyphs
	; Deneg / Daneg / Dag; dng/dʾng/dʾg; Dwarf / Small person / Pygmy

In ancient Egypt, especially during the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods, dwarfs and pygmies were seen as people with celestial gifts. They were treated with considerable respect and could enjoy high social positions. During the 1st Dynasty (c. 3150–2900 BC), dwarfs served and worked directly for the king and royal household, and a number have been found buried in subsidiary tombs around those of the kings. In fact, the rather high proportion of dwarfs in the royal cemeteries of the 1st Dynasty suggests some may have been brought into Egypt from elsewhere.

Later, in the Old Kingdom (c. 2680–2180 BC), dwarfs were employed as jewellers, tailors, cup-bearers and zookeepers, could found families or be brought into one. Pygmies were employed as dancers for special occasions and religious festivals. The social position of dwarfs seems to have declined after the Old Kingdom. By the time of the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC) they were depicted in ridiculing ways, and while the papyrus "The wise doctrine of Amenemope, son of Kanakht" asks people not to treat them badly, this probably shows that they were subject to abuse.

In Egyptian art, dwarfs and pygmies are depicted realistically which enables their identification as cases of nanism. The ancient Egyptians had three words and special hieroglyphs for dwarfs and revered several dwarf deities, in particular Bes, the god of the household and birth, and two dwarf forms of Ptah.