Researchers at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, have uncovered a 4,000-year-old handprint on an ancient Egyptian "soul house." While preparing for an exhibition opening this fall, museum experts found the human handprint on the base of a clay model.
The so-called "soul house" is a miniature building model placed in ancient Egyptian tombs to provide a living space for the deceased's spirit.
The front section of the model features an area where offerings such as bread, lettuce, or ox heads could be presented.
THE PRINT LIKELY BELONGS TO THE CRAFTSMAN WHO TOUCHED THE MOLD DURING CREATION
Detailed study dated the soul house between 2055 and 1650 BC. Researchers determined the two-story structure was first constructed with a wooden frame covered in clay. During firing, the wooden parts burned away, leaving only the baked clay.
The handprint was made when the clay was still wet, likely while the craftsman was carrying the model, and it remained on the underside before firing.
Helen Strudwick, the museum's senior Egyptologist and the exhibition curator, said: "We have found fingerprints on wet varnish and coffin decorations before, but this is the first time we have seen such a complete handprint. This is the touch of the person who made the object and took it out of the workshop to dry."
BRINGING TO LIGHT THE OFTEN-OVERLOOKED MARKS OF ANCIENT CRAFTSMEN
Strudwick added, "These marks take you directly to the moment of creation and the individual who made the object. That is exactly the focus of our exhibition."
While many pottery pieces from ancient Egypt survive today, ceramics were commonly used in daily life and in tombs to present food and drink.
Although stories about famous pharaohs like Tutankhamun are well known, the traces left by the craftsmen who made items for their tombs are often overlooked. This discovery at the Fitzwilliam Museum reveals a tangible mark left by one of those anonymous artisans.
