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Pottery In Egypt Pottery had many uses in Egypt. They were crafted to hold many things. They were crafted in specific ways when making items. The Ancient Egyptians had a specific way in making pottery. "The oldest pottery technique consisted of hollowing out a lump of clay by hand and pinching it to give it the final form" (Ancient Egyptian Pottery). Most pottery in Egypt was made of Nile silt ware. It was created by the Reddish brown clay found near the banks of the Nile River. These potteries were usually left undecorated yet still had a side of beauty to them. Later in Egyptian life, a flat tool was added to the process. "The tool was used to press clay against the other hand" (Ancient Egyptian Pottery). Cores were also useful tools to the Ancient Egyptians. They were used to produce bowls, plates, platters etcetera. "A sheet of clay was spread over a core of wood or something similar to wood, trimmed and let dried when the core was removed" (Ancient Egyptian Pottery). One obstacle that the Ancient Egyptians faced was that jugs and bottles could not be made this way. "The pottery wheel was introduced the Ancient Egyptians during the Old Kingdom. The system was rotated by hand. In the second millennium the kick wheel was introduced. This freed both hands and made sculpting a lot easier. In the end the kick wheel changed the working techniques". (Ancient Egyptian Pottery). Objects found that are more than three thousand years old still retain their original color. Cups and bowls were usually painted black and featured Egyptian designs. The color blue is one of the best they created. The blues found on objects were thought to have been made in a way to make the color last. Unglazed pottery have several different varieties. The most common was red, cream, and yellow, because they had easy access to these materials. (Ancient Egyptian pottery: pottery types from ancient Egypt). Sun dried bricks, dried mud of the Nile, were used to make houses and walls. Many of the bricks still remain in their form and position, even still retain the stamp of the king that ruled during their construction. (Ancient Egyptian pottery: pottery types from ancient Egypt). Decorations were usually painted or stuck on the pottery. Black coloring was the result of exposing the vessels to smoke. Red wares were made without a pottery wheel after forming they were placed in the sun to dry, sometimes covered with red ochre, and burnished with a stone. After drying this process gave the pottery a smooth shiny surface. Other popular decorations are geometric forms or include people and animals. (Ancient Egyptian Pottery). Bread and beer were the daily food and drink of the Ancient Egyptians. Bread was sometimes baked in moulds made with thick walls. Beer vessels for everyday use were standard and usually undecorated. (Ancient Egyptian Pottery). Old Holocene vessels that were found close to the southern region of Egypt's Western Desert are very standardized. Only three vessel rims have been found so far. These findings have a specific way they were made, the technique was proven to be difficult to replicate. All the vessels were made in the same way. "They were constructed by coiling or a combination of padding and coiling; their surface was smoothed. When a vessel started to dry, decoration began" (Jordeczka, 99). It is believed that the Egyptians were influenced by the Minoan culture. During the Middle Kingdom, Minoan pottery found in Egypt was fine, and also wheel-made known as Kamares. (Barrett, 213). Many Kamares are designed for eating and drinking. Minoan pottery in Egypt was also of high quality. Egyptian potters also imitated one vessel type. Called the rhyton. This was typically associated with Minoan cult activities such as ritual processions, and communal drinking. (Barrett, 216) Egyptians were typically buried with prized possessions. Many Minoan styled artifacts have been found in excavated tombs. The owners of these vessels seems as though they did not admire the appearance, but admired their cultural value. During the Middle Kingdom, many of these vessels may have reached Egypt through Near Eastern Merchants, so the Egyptians might not have been familiar with Minoan practices. (Barrett, 219-220). Some argue that the Egyptians desired Minoan pottery because of the contents inside of the vessels, such as precious oils. Although there is no proof that the objects found in the pottery were put inside and sold by the Minoans or if the Egyptians used them as storage. Oil, however; was a common export of the Mycenaean. The Mycenaean transported their goods differently, usually using jars as storage, and Minoan exports were not identical to Mycenaean. (Barrett, 222). Bibliography
“Pottery.” Ancient Egyptian Pottery. 2005. Web. 10 Oct. 2012
Barrett, Caitlin. “The Perceived Value of Minoan and Minoanizing Pottery in Egypt.” Journal of Medditerranean Arcaeology 22.2. (2009): 211 – 233 Web. 10 Oct. 2012
Jordeczka, Maciej Halina Krolik, Miroslaw Masojc, Romuald Schild. “Early Holocene pottery in
the Western Desert of Egypt: new data from Nabta Playa.” Antiquity 85. (2011): 99 – 115 Web. 10 Oct. 2012
“Ancient Egyptian Pottery.” Ancient Egyptian Pottery: pottery types from ancient Egypt. Web.
10 Oct. 2012