Pottery making is a craft that will never disappear

Pottery making is one of the oldest crafts in Egypt. And it has some techniques to be made.

The pottery-making profession is considered one of the oldest professions that people had learned, as it has been known since the Neolithic era, since five thousand years BC. Clay is the basic material used in making pottery. Where the production of pottery materials is called ceramic work, and it is also known as one of the famous handicrafts used to produce many products, which are made entirely of earthenware.

There are several techniques for making pottery, first one is making pottery with a wheel pottery. The clay design is made by using a pottery wheel that depends on a tool that copies the shape of the main design and makes it, then pours it into a dry mold. Which dries it, or cut it, or stamp it in the form of plates or squares. And the pottery must be placed on a high temperature to strengthen it and enabling it to hold water.

Second technique is hand-pottery. In this technique pottery is made by using only the hands and the clay. And this way is still used till now. As the clay ball is pressed by hand to form a bowl, then the clay is wrapped in ropes until the required height is reached, then the clay must be softened later.

Third technique is fire-pottery. Pottery can be made by using fire in order to dry it completely, and prevent it from melting when it comes in contact with water. And this is because of the chemical transformation that happens during the pottery making. And most importantly that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the first half of the twentieth century the use of huge glass ovens became common, but coal was replaced with better fuels. Such as natural gas, propane gas, wood, electricity and others things.

And the last technique is home-pottery. This technique need some steps. First bringing the accurate clay for pottery making and clean it from the unnecessary parts. Then making the wanted shape with hands, by pressing the clay to form it. And using the right tool to take off the produced shape from the rotation machine when it became finished.

At the end, we should raise awareness about the importance of pottery making and give pottery makers the required and enough tools to complete doing this art.