Ancient Indian ivory figurine found in Roman Pompeii

Salvatore Settis opened the Global Antiquity exhibition at the Fundación Prada in Milan to show how ancient trade connected Afroeurasia.

The exhibition features an ivory figurine from India that survived the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano in Pompeya. The object arrived in the Roman Empire during the first century AD on a ship carrying black pepper from the port of Muziris on the Malabar coast of southwestern India.

It is the only manufactured item from that specific region found in the Roman Empire. Anna Anguissola and Chiara Ballestrazzi co-curated the show with Settis. The exhibition remains open to the public until March 1, 2027.