12019-05-13T18:02:10-07:00Emilia Porubcin63ec028064958b3240cc8e4e010f355faa0c8e12332309While the rich and powerful were buried in tombs of stone, ancient Egyptians with smaller budgets buried their loved ones underneath a soul house like this one. These models represented shelter and offerings to sustain the deceased. A complete example is shown in a nearby picture. The fragments displayed here represent the deceased individual with a table and bowls of food, alongside cuts of meat. The rough fabric and cursory shaping of the clay highlight the common status of the recipient. This item was destroyed in the earthquake of 1906, but its surviving fragments are whole enough for interpretation. While the craftsman paid little attention to detail, this soul house was sturdy enough to fulfill its purposes: to survive the tests of time and provide continual offerings to the buried in the afterlife.plain2019-06-05T19:06:30-07:001994-1781 BCEPhysical objectObject ID 21364.2Archaeology; AfricaEarthenware (terra cotta)Stanford UniversityCollected by Mrs. Émile Brugsch on unknown date prior to 1901; donated to Stanford ca. 1902 and before 1906 by Jane Lathrop StanfordTwelfth Dynasty; Gebelein, New Valley Governorate, EgyptPharaonic Egyptian, Middle KingdomEmilia Porubcin63ec028064958b3240cc8e4e010f355faa0c8e12