The misidentified Hindu goddess in the House of the Indian Statuette, Pompeii

In Insula 8, within the Pompeii excavations, lies the archaeological site known as the House of the Indian Statuette (I.8.5). Here, in the heart of this ancient Roman city, a fascinating artifact was discovered, one that has left researchers debating its true origins and identity. Excavated back in the 1930s, the small ivory female figure, now standing at slightly under 25cm tall, was initially thought to represent a yakshi, a female tree spirit revered in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain cultures, or possibly a syncretic version of Venus-Sri-Lakshmi from an ancient exchange between Classical Greco-Roman and Indian cultures. Today, the figure can be found in the Secret Museum in Naples, Italy, a room that also houses various erotic objects and pieces of art recovered from Pompeii and other sites in Campania following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

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