[Larry Lucido]

He appears to have been slimmer back then.

[SunkenCiv]

:^)

[TexasGator]

“He appears to have been slimmer back then.”

Read first sentence ...

[Cronos]

The normal depictions of the Buddha are slim and ascetic.

The “laughing Buddha” is not the Indian founder of Buddhism - Gautama, but https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budai

Budai (Chinese: 布袋; pinyin: Bùdài; Korean: 포대, romanized: Podae; Japanese: 布袋, romanized: Hotei; Vietnamese: Bố Đại) is a nickname given to the ancient Chinese monk Qici (Chinese: 契此) who is often identified with and venerated as Maitreya Buddha in Chan Buddhism. With the spread of Chan Buddhism, he also came to be venerated in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan

In the Western world, Budai is often mistaken for Gautama Buddha himself, and thus is nicknamed the “Fat Buddha”

[Elsie]

It's possible that the Buddha statue was made locally by people from South Asia living in Berenike, Sidebotham said. While the Sanskrit inscription is damaged, it appears to be a dedication of some form and dates back to the time of the Roman emperor Marcus Julius Philippus (better known as "Philip the Arab"), who reigned from A.D. 244 to 249, Sidebotham said...

"The new Sanskrit inscription and associated finds now show clearly that there was a settled Indian merchant community, rather than just traders passing through," Richard Salomon, professor emeritus of Sanskrit at the University of Washington in Seattle who was not involved in the finding, told Live Science.

 

 

 

Sorry, but my logic tells me that these words are just a wee bit incompatable.