Police said that the recovered statue of the goddess Hygeia, with a snake slithering down her torso, was 55cm long and headlessGreek police have recovered a 2,500-year-old marble statue of Hygeia, the ancient goddess of health, after arresting three antiquity smugglers in southern Greece. The three men are all Greek but have not been named. The authorities said that they were employed as car mechanics in the Peloponnese city of Sparta, about 230km south of Athens. They were arrested trying to sell the ancient marble statue to prospective antiquities dealers for about €500,000. In a statement, the culture ministry said that the rare, headless statue, which was only 55cm long, depicted the goddess in a flowing gown with…

Source: The Times March 28, 2018 11:05 UTC