Pompeii Lakshmi

An ivory figurine from the Indian subcontinent found her way to Pompeii before the thriving Roman city went to ashes in 79 AD. The ancient Romans traded with many Indian kingdoms and this icon came from the Satavahana kingdom in Maharasthra . Historians believed that the idol represented goddess Lakshmi. Hence the name, Pompeii Lakshmi. Scholars now say that it is a Yakshi (female spirit) symbolising fertility; but the name Pompeii Lakshmi has remained.