Terracotta hand
Archaeological museum of ancient Messene
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Terracotta hand
5th century BCE
Archaeological museum of ancient Messene
Early sanctuary of Asclepios, ancieng Messene
Length: 5.7 cm x Width: 5.7 cm
Fragment of a terracotta right female hand. Only four of the fingers are preserved, but not the palm or the thumb. It was covered by a white slip that is partially preserved between the fingers. The fingers are rendered in bas relief. The underside roughly shaped. It was probably an offering to the early sanctuary of Asclepius, excavated beneath the deposits of the south atrium of the hellenistic Asclepieion in ancient Messene and implies the healing powers of the god. These powers are less obvious in the later Asclepieion (late 3rd cent. BCE), when the political side of Asclepius is more prominent, being the son of Arsinoe and as the mythical king Messenia.