History Of Egyptian Pottery :

The ancient Egyptians were gifted artisans and pottery was an art where they excelled. Egypt in the pre dynastic period produced pottery of very high quality.  Egypt made pottery before  building  the Pyramids. This is evident from the presence of  older hieroglyphic writing with characters which have images of earthen vessels. Pictures of pottery vessels and small pieces of pottery have been found in tombs of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Dynasties, contemporary with and after the building of the Great Pyramid. From 3000BC on  their pottery was decorated with depictions of animals, humans, boats and various other patterns and symbols. Two main veins of pottery existed during this period, pottery from Nile clay ( red/brown after firing ) and pottery from marl clay ( usually polished to give a lustrous look )

Ancient Egyptian pottery was originally made  for functional reasons rather than for decorative  purposes. The different forms of Egyptian pottery had a multitude of applications.. The amphora, in Egypt as in all ancient countries was the most common and most useful vase, and was made in all sizes, from the three-inch oil or perfume holder to the immense jar of three or four feet in height, for holding water, wine, oil, or grain. The reason the amphora vessels had a tapered end was so they could be pushed into the earth and stand on their own when used for storage. The pithos (so called by the Greeks), was an immense tub, cask, or vase of pottery,  made in Egypt as in all the Oriental countries. It was used in the household cellar, where meats and provisions were stored. This was sometimes six feet in diameter, always made of coarse unglazed pottery. The later artistic Egyptian pottery was siliceous, (  between earthenware and porcelain ), possessing a fine grain and being able to resist high temperatures.  It was  generally covered with a thin glaze, colored blue or green by oxides of copper.

As Egyptian pottery became more decorated it also became an expression of religious sentiment and an expression of revered symbols.

Enameled pottery of Egypt :

The art of covering pottery with enamel was invented by the Egyptians at a very early date. Steatite (or soapstone, as some varieties are called) is easily worked, and bears great heat without cracking. From this material the Egyptians carved small pieces–vases, amulets, images of deities, animals and other objects–and covered them with green, blue, and occasionally red, yellow, and white enamel, which when baked became brilliant and enduring. Objects in enamelled steatite were  known from the very early periods. A small cylinder from the Trumbull-Prime collection, obtained at Thebes bears the cartouche of a king, Amunmhe III., of the Twelfth Dynasty, whose date is placed at about 2000 B.C. The enamel is pale-green, almost white, except in the engraved lines, where, being thicker, it shows more color.

The beauty of the enamel on these pottery objects has been the envy of potters in modern times. The blue has never been surpassed, if, indeed, it has ever been equalled. Objects three thousand years old retain the splendor of their original color; and this leads to the inference that the variety of the shades of blue found on them is not the result of time, but the original intent of the makers. These shades vary from the most intense bleu-de-roi and pure turquoise to pale-blue tints approaching white. The color is usually remarkably uniform on the object. Several of the rare colors of old Chinese porcelain are thus found in ancient Egyptian enamels. The same enamel was occasionally applied to soft pottery.

The Egyptians were the first to employ the potters wheel ( hand turned ) and some believe they were the first to implement glazing. They are also credited with being the first to use crockery ware  ( 1500 BC ) .

Egyptian cobalt blue glaze vessel , Lourve

Chalice-shaped-lily (siliceous faience) 22nd Dynasty, 945-715 BC Louvre

The vase reads, center line, then left, then right, top to bottom: center :

The good god, Nebmaatre, given life; left: the son of Re, Amenhotep, Ruler of (Wast-Uast)(Thebes), eternally; right: the king’s great wife, Tiye

( Lourve Paris )

Neolithic-egyptian-pottery-bird

Egyptian Painted pottery,  3450BC-3300BC

( The Met  NY )

Woman with child. Terracotta phial, New Kingdom (16th-11th BCE), Egypt.

Musician. Blue faience glaze bowl (about 1300 BCE), 19th Dynasty, New Kingdom, Egypt.

Ushebti figure (servant of the defunct) of Pharaoh Seti I (1301-1290 BCE).19th dynasty. Blue faience. N 472

Louvre, Departement des Antiquites Egyptiennes, Paris, France

Ouadjet eye, the Sacred Eye of Horus; Uraeus snake and falcon (Horus). Faience fragment (about 600 BCE), Late Period, Egypt.

National Maritime Museum, Haifa, Israel

Faience amulet in the shape of an ankh, 25th dynasty to Late Period, about 700-500 BCE.

It represents a wish, probably for the king, of ” life,power and stability for millions of years “.

The amulet was acquired by Lord Kitchener in the Sudan,probably at Gebel Barkal and originated in a temple.

( lessing Archive )

Egyptian Yoga ?  ( Lessing Archive )

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