Archaeological excavations in the Emirates have uncovered pottery dating back to the third millennium BC

The nation's memory: pottery making ... the memory of clay resists time

• Pottery and ceramics are common to many ancient civilizations.

  The National Archives

picture

«Memory of the Nation»

A weekly page provided by "Emirates Today", in cooperation with the "National Archives" of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, with the aim of introducing the way life in the Emirates before the federation, and during its early beginnings, and the great effort made by the founding fathers of the state for its establishment, and linking it to what the UAE leaders achieve, Today, her children are among the achievements the world has witnessed

.

The pottery and ceramics industry is one of the oldest industries and a common factor among many ancient civilizations, and excavations and antiquities searches indicate that the UAE knew pottery since the third millennium BC (3000-2000 BC), and the early inhabitants made various tools and utensils for their use. In their daily life to preserve food, and other purposes.

Excavations indicate that pottery making has spread over thousands of years, and the people of the region made many pottery vessels, including vessels used for preserving and transporting food, or in making offerings, in addition to making incense burners, vases and heaters.

Among the forms of pottery that are still in use today are "hob", which is a vessel made of clay that cools drinking water in a high-temperature environment and in a dry desert climate, and a "twine", which is a flask used in preserving and storing fresh milk, and a "jar" », And it is a container for storing dates and dried fish.

Clay colors and types

Availability of raw materials used in pottery production in the region, and the residents' need for pottery tools to cook food, transport and preserve water, was among the main reasons for the spread and continuation of pottery industry, according to what is mentioned by the "Zayed Encyclopedia .. Emirates and Heritage", issued by the National Archives, by Hamdi Tammam, pointing out That this industry is now concentrated in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

The encyclopedia also indicates that the types of clay used in pottery production differ from one place to another according to the different soil and nature, and in the Emirates there are three types that are used: red clay, yellow clay and green clay, and the previous types are mixed with each other in certain proportions, and the clay is brought from Nearby mountains in Wadi Shaml.

There are three methods of pottery making: The first consists in forming by making individual models, each piece is worked by hand separately.

And the second use of molds, where a mold is made for each vessel in which the dough is poured and it is removed after "pride", that is, it is placed in the fire and then removed from the oven.

As for the third method, it depends on the use of the wheel, meaning the wheel, by placing the mud in a wheel that rotates and forms the mud during the rotation from the top and bottom until the required shape is completed.

The stages of pottery making

The encyclopedia indicates that the “potter” craftsman used to manufacture pottery in the past in the workshop in all its stages, namely: fetching, preparing, preparing, making, synthesizing and burning. After the intensity of the work increased, the craftsman needed someone to help him in order to be able to fulfill the demands and increase the productivity. More than one person, and this led to the distribution of work according to each stage, and there became a kind of specialization in the work, and among the most important jobs in the workshops are: the craftsman who is the craftsman who makes the pottery, and the mover or the finishing worker who is trained in the industry and does not master it so he does things Simple, such as the tuning and final finishing of the pot, and the assistant who prepares and prepares the clay, and helps in transporting the utensils and their description inside the workshop and the oven upon burning.

The clay is prepared through several steps, starting by bringing it from its place of presence by animals in the past, and now it is transported by car to the workshop, and it is struck with a "shorter" stick, to soften it with what helps it to sift it, and then it is ready for the preparation process, and the process takes place in a circular pond with a radius of diameter A meter and a half meters next to it are three rectangular ponds. 24 red clay ponds and 65 of white and green clay are placed on them, and water is poured on them and then left for two hours, then workers come and go down to the inside of the circular pool in which the water and mud are for the mixing process and the extraction of impurities by “muddle” And upon making sure that there are no impurities in the clay, the filter is placed on an opening in the pond, so that what is in it is distributed to the other three ponds, and the three ponds are connected by holes with each other, and the mud is left until it solidifies, then the manufacturer takes what he wants.

History of pottery in the Emirates

The history of pottery in the Emirates, according to archaeological evidence, goes back to the period of “Umm al-Nar”, that is, the third 1000 BC, when it was found in tombs discovered in Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain, then it appeared in Ras Al-Khaimah, and then in Sharjah and the rest of the emirates, according to what he explained The Director General of the Sharjah Antiquities Authority, Dr. Sabah Jassim, in his statements published in a report by the researcher Sheikha Al Ghawi in 2011, and he was in the position of Director of the Department of Antiquities and Head of the Local Excavation Mission in the Emirate of Sharjah at that time, indicating that the Emirati began making pottery 2500 years ago. A year from the present time, as the Umm an-Nar period dates from 2500 BC to 2000 BC, and the tombs of Umm an-Nar contained large quantities of pottery vessels, pointing out that there is no realistic evidence prior to this period of the appearance of pottery, likely At the same time, some of the pottery that appeared at the archaeological sites - dating back to the fifth 1000 BC - was imported.

Jassim explained that some ancient archaeological sites contained all kinds of industries, but there was no pottery in them. He said: “Perhaps the ancient man had not yet been converted to pottery making, but the beginning of his knowledge of this industry may have been during the Umm an-Nar period through imported pottery, especially that Since the fifth 1000 BC, the Emirates witnessed strong trade relations with a number of neighboring civilizations.

First time

Archaeological researcher Dr. Sabah Al-Jasem said: “Pottery was first discovered in the UAE by the Danish mission in the late fifties on Umm Al-Nar Island in Abu Dhabi, then it appeared in Al Ain and other places in the country.”

He added that "another civilization called the Wadi Suq civilization appeared at the beginning of the second 1000, where pottery vessels continued to be made, their types increased and varied, and the methods of their manufacture and decoration changed and developed over time."

-

pottery dates back to a

period in the

UAE «or fire», ie the

1000 third BC.

Pottery was first discovered in the UAE by the Danish expedition in the late 1950s.

The first inhabitants made tools and utensils for use in preserving food, and other purposes.

- “Love” is a vessel made of clay that cools drinking water in a high temperature environment.

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news