Ancient Egyptian handprints found under the clay “House of Souls” –

A complete handprint was found at the bottom of the clay funeral house in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. It was left behind by a pottery who made miniature clay buildings 3,400 to 4,000 years ago, which was probably accidental. Ancient fingerprints and claws left in clay are not uncommon, but complete handprints are very rare, the first one found on Egyptian artifacts.

The model is called the “House of Souls” and has two levels with support pillars and two curved stairs, with the second floor and the roof on the left. Small clay products embedded in the floor of the house’s yard and look like an entrance walkway with a fenced edge, thought to be used as a pour of wine.

It was found in a rock-carved tomb in Deir Rifa, a village about 175 miles north of Luxor, the first intermediate and intermediate kingdom of Egypt (2055-1650 BCE) and the capital of the 11th Upper Egyptian province. William Flinders excavated many of these model residences during the 1907 excavation of Rifa in Rifa. Petrie unearthed many of these model residences during the burial of civilians during this period. He is the one who created the term “soul house”.

Egyptologists believe that the houses may have been used to leave food. They are placed on the top of the burial axes, suggesting that they may be cheap representations of churches built in the tombs of the rich. They can also return to their homes in the afterlife through the symbol of their souls.

The curators studied its handprints before they included it in the museum in the ancient Egypt exhibition this fall. Egyptologists at Fitzwilliam Museum determined that the two-story structure was built on a frame of wooden sticks with clay. The steps of the stairs are formed by pinching wet clay. The wooden frame was incinerated during the shooting, leaving hollow columns and empty space.

Unlike many other ancient Egyptian handicrafts, potters have relatively few details in their work, which makes it even more important to find complete handprints. The ready-made availability of pottery and the usually lower pottery value and the fact that they work with clay may affect its status.

Clay is a common material that is either deposited by the Nile as silt or shale – stone that occurs under or between limestone formations in the desert. The shale will be processed so that it is soaked in water before hand or under the feet to make a clay called Marl.

The lives and history of Egyptian rulers received a lot of attention, but the manufacturers of artifacts themselves are often overlooked. Made in ancient Egypt Will show who these people are, how they see themselves and what other Egyptians think of them.