Latest news with #handprint
Malay Mail
2 hours ago
- General
- Malay Mail
Cambridge museum uncovers rare handprint on 4,000-year-old Egyptian soul house
LONDON, July 29 — British researchers have discovered a rare handprint on a 4,000-year-old Egyptian artefact, a Cambridge museum said yesterday. The ancient handprint was found by museum conservators on the base of an Egyptian soul house—a clay offering tray in the shape of a building which may have been used in tombs for laying out food offerings or as a dwelling for souls. The unique discovery was made after the piece, crafted between 2055-1650 BC, was examined by conservation staff in preparation for a new exhibition. 'I have never seen such a complete handprint on an Egyptian object before,' said Helen Strudwick, senior curator and egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. The handprint was left by the maker of the soul house, when they picked it up before drying and firing the clay. 'When you see something like this, you feel very close to the person who left their mark on an object,' Strudwick said, describing the finding to AFP as an 'exciting moment'. 'You can see all the fingers, and also where the heel of the hand rested,' she said. The rare artifact will be on display at the museum's Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition which opens on October 3. The exhibition will focus on the makers of Egyptian artifacts such as jewellery, ceramics and sculptures. It is important to understand how the ancient objects were made 'in order to look after them properly,' the curator said. The museum in southeast England has been researching how the artifacts were created since 2014, but little is known about the potters that worked in Ancient Egypt. Since pottery was seen as having a low value, Egyptian potters may have been accorded a lower social status than other craftspeople. 'We can't really say anything about the identity of the person from the handprint. It is quite small—about the same size as my own hand,' said Strudwick. 'If this is a man's handprint, it's possible that—given the scale of it—he was a younger person, or it may be that a more junior person in the workshop was responsible for moving these objects out to dry,' she speculated. Strudwick says the history of Egyptian craftspeople was often overlooked by researchers. But with new research methods, 'we are able to know more and more about how they worked, lived and how they wanted to be remembered for all time,' she said. The exhibition will include a large loan of antiquities from the Louvre museum in France, the most significant of its kind to visit the UK in almost 20 years.— AFP
CBS News
16 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Rare 4,000-year-old Egyptian handprint discovered on a "soul house"
Researchers have discovered a 4,000-year-old handprint on an ancient Egyptian tomb offering, which will appear at a museum exhibit in the United Kingdom this October, reported CBS News partner BBC News. The handprint likely dates to 2055 to 1650 B.C.E., Helen Strudwick, a curator working on the exhibition, told the news outlet. Strudwick called the discovery "rare and exciting," BBC News reported. Researchers at Cambridge University found it pressed into one side of a "soul house," which is a clay model resembling a building that can be traced to burials in ancient Egypt, according to the British Museum. Strudwick, a senior Egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England, said the unusually detailed handprint was left by whoever constructed the ceramic piece, before the clay dried. "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," she told BBC News, adding: "I have never seen such a complete handprint on an Egyptian object before." The "soul house" will be displayed at the Fitzwilliam Museum starting October 3, as part of its upcoming exhibit titled "Made in Ancient Egypt." It will spotlight relics of ancient Egyptian civilization, focusing on different forms of art, the people who made them, and the techniques they used to do so, according to the museum. "Revealing the untold stories of the Egyptian makers, technology and techniques behind these extraordinary objects, our exciting new exhibition is the first to explore ancient Egypt through the lives of its craftspeople," reads a description of the exhibit on the museum's website, which notes that the display will feature jewelry, ceramics, sculptural pieces and some "spectacular objects never before seen" in the U.K. CBS News has reached out to the Fitzwilliam Museum for more details.
Telegraph
a day ago
- General
- Telegraph
Ancient Egyptian handprint found on bottom of 4,000-year-old clay model
A handprint left 4,000 years ago on a clay model crafted to go inside an Egyptian tomb has been discovered during preparation for an exhibition at a museum. The 'rare and exciting' complete handprint was probably made by the maker of the item who touched it before the clay dried, an Egyptologist at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum said. The imprint was left on the base of a 'soul house' – a clay model in the shape of a building which would then be placed inside a burial. The model on which the handprint was discovered has been dated to around 2055-1650 BCE. It had an open front space where items of food were laid out, in this example loaves of bread, a lettuce and an ox's head. Soul houses may have acted as offering trays or provided a place for the soul of the deceased to live within the tomb. Helen Strudwick, senior Egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum, said: '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. '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.' The researcher, who is also curator of the museum's new Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition, continued: 'You can just imagine the person who made this, picking it up to move it out of the workshop to dry before firing. 'Things like this take you directly to the moment when the object was made and to the person who made it, which is the focus of our exhibition.' Analysis of the item suggests the potter who made it first created a framework of wooden sticks and then coated it with clay to make a building with two storeys supported by pillars. Staircases were formed by pinching the wet clay. During firing the wooden framework burnt away, leaving empty spaces in their place. The handprint found underneath was probably made when someone, perhaps the potter, moved the house out of the workshop to dry before firing in a kiln, according to the researchers. Ceramics were widely used in ancient Egypt, mostly as functional objects but occasionally as decorative pieces. The soul house will be on display in the Fitzwilliam's Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition which opens to the public on October 3.
The Independent
a day ago
- General
- The Independent
‘Rare and exciting': 4,000-year-old handprint found on Egyptian clay model
A handprint left 4,000 years ago on a clay model crafted to go inside an Egyptian tomb has been discovered during preparation for an exhibition at a museum. The 'rare and exciting' complete handprint was probably made by the maker of the item who touched it before the clay dried, an Egyptologist at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum said. The imprint was left on the base of a 'soul house' – a clay model in the shape of a building which would then be placed inside a burial. The model on which the handprint was discovered has been dated to around 2055–1650 BCE. It had an open front space where items of food were laid out, in this example loaves of bread, a lettuce and an ox's head. Soul houses may have acted as offering trays or provided a place for the soul of the deceased to live within the tomb. Helen Strudwick, senior Egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum, said: '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. '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.' The researcher, who is also curator of the museum's new Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition, continued: 'You can just imagine the person who made this, picking it up to move it out of the workshop to dry before firing. 'Things like this take you directly to the moment when the object was made and to the person who made it, which is the focus of our exhibition.' Analysis of the item suggests the potter who made it first created a framework of wooden sticks and then coated it with clay to make a building with two storeys supported by pillars. Staircases were formed by pinching the wet clay. During firing the wooden framework burnt away, leaving empty spaces in their place. The handprint found underneath was probably made when someone, perhaps the potter, moved the house out of the workshop to dry before firing in a kiln, according to the researchers. Ceramics were widely used in ancient Egypt, mostly as functional objects but occasionally as decorative pieces. The soul house will be on display in the Fitzwilliam's Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition which opens to the public on October 3.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Rare and exciting': 4,000-year-old handprint found on Egyptian clay model
A handprint left 4,000 years ago on a clay model crafted to go inside an Egyptian tomb has been discovered during preparation for an exhibition at a museum. The 'rare and exciting' complete handprint was probably made by the maker of the item who touched it before the clay dried, an Egyptologist at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum said. The imprint was left on the base of a 'soul house' – a clay model in the shape of a building which would then be placed inside a burial. The model on which the handprint was discovered has been dated to around 2055–1650 BCE. It had an open front space where items of food were laid out, in this example loaves of bread, a lettuce and an ox's head. Soul houses may have acted as offering trays or provided a place for the soul of the deceased to live within the tomb. Helen Strudwick, senior Egyptologist at the Fitzwilliam Museum, said: '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. '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.' The researcher, who is also curator of the museum's new Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition, continued: 'You can just imagine the person who made this, picking it up to move it out of the workshop to dry before firing. 'Things like this take you directly to the moment when the object was made and to the person who made it, which is the focus of our exhibition.' Analysis of the item suggests the potter who made it first created a framework of wooden sticks and then coated it with clay to make a building with two storeys supported by pillars. Staircases were formed by pinching the wet clay. During firing the wooden framework burnt away, leaving empty spaces in their place. The handprint found underneath was probably made when someone, perhaps the potter, moved the house out of the workshop to dry before firing in a kiln, according to the researchers. Ceramics were widely used in ancient Egypt, mostly as functional objects but occasionally as decorative pieces. The soul house will be on display in the Fitzwilliam's Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition which opens to the public on October 3.
