"Inscribed Hand Dedicated to the God
Talab," ca. 2nd-3rd century AD, bronze.

The right hand is traditionally regarded as a powerful symbol of good fortune, and thus was widely illustrated in ancient South Arabia as an apotropaic motif on dedicatory inscriptions and, indeed, emphasized as a gesture of worshippers in their dedicatory statues and stelae. Image credit: Reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.

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