Researchers from the University of Cambridge discovered the handprint while getting artifacts ready for an exhibition.
As a result, the findings would be displayed in the school’s Made in Ancient Egypt expo at the inauguration of the Fitzwilliam Museum in October, as reported by the BBC.
The handprint was discovered on a “soul house,” which is a kind of clay model made to resemble a dwelling and left in graves as a sacrifice to the deceased.
A complete, well-defined handprint can be seen beneath the base of the soul house, which dates to the Middle Kingdom era of Egypt, between 2055 and 1650 BC.
“We’ve spotted traces of fingerprints left in wet varnish or on a coffin in the decoration, but it is rare and exciting to find a complete handprint underneath this soul house,” Ms Strudwick, senior Egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum, stated.
“This was left by the maker who touched it before the clay dried. I have never seen such a complete handprint on an Egyptian object before,” she added.
The craft of ancient Egypt potters
The soul house was likely built using a wooden framework covered in clay to create a two-storey structure supported by pillars.
The wooden core burnt away during the kiln-firing process, leaving behind voids.
Loaves of bread, lettuce, and an ox’s head are among the symbolic food offerings shown on the model’s open front section.
Although ancient Egyptian pottery was widely utilized and manufactured in large quantities, little is known about the craftspeople who created it.
Potters were frequently of lesser social standing than goldsmiths or stonemasons.
To highlight potters’ lowly status in society, the Fitzwilliam Museum cites an old document called “The Teaching of Khet,” which compares them to pigs rolling in the mud.
