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Complete 4,000-Year-Old Handprint Found on Egyptian 'Soul House' at Fitzwilliam Museum

Authenticated as a maker’s imprint left before firing, the model will be displayed at the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition this October.

A 4,000-year-old ancient Egyptian handprint discovered on a 'soul house' at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge ahead of their forthcoming exhibition Made in Ancient Egypt, which opens in October. Researchers at the Cambridge University museum found the handprint on the base of the 'soul house'. Soul houses are usually found in burials and may have acted as offering trays or provided a place for the soul of the deceased to live within the tomb, on Friday July 25, 2025.
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Overview

  • The handprint was discovered on the underside of a Middle Kingdom clay model known as a soul house, which would have held food offerings or served as a dwelling for the deceased’s soul in tombs.
  • Senior Egyptologist Helen Strudwick and conservators identified the complete palm imprint as likely made by the artisan moving the structure before the clay dried.
  • Detailed analysis shows the two-story wooden stick framework was coated in clay, with staircases pinched by hand and the wood burned away during firing.
  • Complete handprints on ancient Egyptian objects are exceptionally rare and offer a direct connection to the individual craftspeople of the Middle Kingdom.
  • The soul house is scheduled to go on public display on October 3 as part of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition, which highlights ancient artisans’ techniques and lives.