god bes you
The island of Ibiza is named after the god ‘Bes’, the first known name given by the Phoenicians was ‘Ibossim’, after the god Bes, then came the Carthaginians and called it ‘Ibes’ or ‘Ebusim’, both point as well to Bes as the originator. The Romans later called Ibiza town ‘Ebusus’. The Moors conquered the island afterwards and called it ‘Yabisa’ – the dry island. After the Moors the Spanish reconquered first Mallorca, then Ibiza, but lost interest in the following years which allowed the Pirates to settle down in Ibiza for about 300 years. They left a deep impression on the island, some still refer to the Pirates as the ones who first invented the ‘social security’ as they looked after the ones that got hurt in a battle, providing them and their families with food and shelter for the rest of their lives.
The last part of the history of Ibiza with the pirates being the last Conquerors before it became part of the Spanish mainland was the incorporation with Formentera as ‘Les Pityuses’ – the pine tree islands with the other islands Mallorca and Menorca to form the ‘Balearic Islands’.
But let’s come back to Bes, it is very strange that Ibiza is more often connected to Tanit, Punic goddess of fertility, then to Bes. The whole history of Bes shows a different kind of god, having a dwarf-like appearance with long arms, short feet, salient nose, in some statues even with a gigantic penis, always smiling, often with the tongue protruded. Nobody ever found a temple dedicated to him, not in Ibiza or anywhere else. Bes was the protector of women and their unborn children, helping them in birth bringing good luck to their houses. He is as well associated with music and celebration of life itself which brings us closer to where i want to go with this.
In recent history it looks like the Hippies brought the party to Ibiza but this is not true, the tradition to celebrate goes way back in history, and with the evolution until today as the Mecca of electronic dance music during the summer months it seems like we are going full circle. So whenever you go out think twice, the party tradition is way older than you can even imagine, so let’s honor our ancestors and do the best we can to keep this spirit alive, for the sake of a good party. Celebrating does mean to have a good time, all together, no matter where you come from or where you belong to, all for one and one for all. It does not mean to do it only for commercial purposes, or only for an elitary group, as it looks like these days in some establishments. And it is certainly not for the sake of a few on cost of the masses.
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