DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49517#0427
POTTERY
321
3. Abu-’s-Se’iid:
Giza Province
and Delta.
(a) Red ware, glazed and
unglazed: wheel-made.
(&) Drab ware.
Cups, teapots, cooking pots and
pans.
Water bottles, like the Keneh
gulal, but of coarser thicker
ware.
The material of the Keneh pottery is a natural mixture of tuft clay and desert detritus ac-
cidentally produced by rain torrents at Keneh and, as far as known, nowhere else. But
similar drab wares, in imitation of the Keneh ware, can be and have been produced at
other places (see 3 (6) above). The Ballas vessels are manufactured in a small district on
the west bank between Keneh and Ballas by families of potters who hand down the tradi-
tions of the craft from generation to generation. At Der-el-Ballas alone there are about
one hundred and fifty men who are skilled in the use of the wheel and bear the title wz’aZZcwn
(“instructed one”)- The clay called tufl is taken from a stratum in the limestone and is
available to my knowledge as far north as Sohag (probably as far as Cairo). About twenty
years ago, a family from Ballas started a pottery near Girga, using the local tufl and making
characteristic Ballas vessels, but the industry has never prospered because, it is said, the
climate is a little too cold and damp. That is, the potters at Ballas believe that in addition
to the traditional skill and the quality of the tufl, the dryness and warmth of the air in
their locality are essential factors in the excellence of the pottery produced. With the con-
ditions at Abu-’s-Se’ud I am not familiar, but I understand that various mixtures are used
there. An illustration of the use of mixtures I am able to give from a local pottery near
Keft, at a village of Aliqat-Arabs on the edge of the desert. Here a very serviceable and cheap
red ware is made of two natural minerals — a soft crumbly stone called hamr,1 2 3 4 5 which is
brought in lumps on Ababde-camels from the inner desert, and a clay called tin heyb, dug
locally in the desert. Two-thirds heyb and one-third hamr are mixed for the dough. The
resulting ware is red, but the vessels, being mostly cooking bowls, are greased with tallow
inside and become quite black throughout after a short usage over the fire. In most of
the small local potteries in Egypt of which I have personal knowledge, the black Nile mud
is seldom if ever used. But in Nubia the chief ingredient used in the dough is river mud,
while only a small proportion of some mineral found in the desert is added to obtain co-
herence. The Nubian potteries are all small local affairs, and the potters, as far as I have
seen, do not use the wheel.
It is to be particularly noted:
1. That the vessels found generally distributed present forms and materials which are strictly
localized in origin — one combination of forms and materials at Keneh, another at Ballas,
and a third at Abu-’s-Se’ud.
2. That imitations are rare, but those of Keneh vessels made at Abu-’s-Se’ud are easily dis-
tinguished from true Keneh ware, and are made at a considerable distance from Keneh.
3. That imitations of Ballas vessels at Girga are made by potters from Ballas.
4. That the products of the small local potteries, while generally similar in forms and functions,
are distinguished by minor differences of form, material, and technique.
5. That the demand for the Ballas and Keneh wares is due to the cheapness and excellence of
their manufacture and to the easy facilities offered by the river for transport without
breakage.
1 Not to be confused with hamrah (ground potsherds).
321
3. Abu-’s-Se’iid:
Giza Province
and Delta.
(a) Red ware, glazed and
unglazed: wheel-made.
(&) Drab ware.
Cups, teapots, cooking pots and
pans.
Water bottles, like the Keneh
gulal, but of coarser thicker
ware.
The material of the Keneh pottery is a natural mixture of tuft clay and desert detritus ac-
cidentally produced by rain torrents at Keneh and, as far as known, nowhere else. But
similar drab wares, in imitation of the Keneh ware, can be and have been produced at
other places (see 3 (6) above). The Ballas vessels are manufactured in a small district on
the west bank between Keneh and Ballas by families of potters who hand down the tradi-
tions of the craft from generation to generation. At Der-el-Ballas alone there are about
one hundred and fifty men who are skilled in the use of the wheel and bear the title wz’aZZcwn
(“instructed one”)- The clay called tufl is taken from a stratum in the limestone and is
available to my knowledge as far north as Sohag (probably as far as Cairo). About twenty
years ago, a family from Ballas started a pottery near Girga, using the local tufl and making
characteristic Ballas vessels, but the industry has never prospered because, it is said, the
climate is a little too cold and damp. That is, the potters at Ballas believe that in addition
to the traditional skill and the quality of the tufl, the dryness and warmth of the air in
their locality are essential factors in the excellence of the pottery produced. With the con-
ditions at Abu-’s-Se’ud I am not familiar, but I understand that various mixtures are used
there. An illustration of the use of mixtures I am able to give from a local pottery near
Keft, at a village of Aliqat-Arabs on the edge of the desert. Here a very serviceable and cheap
red ware is made of two natural minerals — a soft crumbly stone called hamr,1 2 3 4 5 which is
brought in lumps on Ababde-camels from the inner desert, and a clay called tin heyb, dug
locally in the desert. Two-thirds heyb and one-third hamr are mixed for the dough. The
resulting ware is red, but the vessels, being mostly cooking bowls, are greased with tallow
inside and become quite black throughout after a short usage over the fire. In most of
the small local potteries in Egypt of which I have personal knowledge, the black Nile mud
is seldom if ever used. But in Nubia the chief ingredient used in the dough is river mud,
while only a small proportion of some mineral found in the desert is added to obtain co-
herence. The Nubian potteries are all small local affairs, and the potters, as far as I have
seen, do not use the wheel.
It is to be particularly noted:
1. That the vessels found generally distributed present forms and materials which are strictly
localized in origin — one combination of forms and materials at Keneh, another at Ballas,
and a third at Abu-’s-Se’ud.
2. That imitations are rare, but those of Keneh vessels made at Abu-’s-Se’ud are easily dis-
tinguished from true Keneh ware, and are made at a considerable distance from Keneh.
3. That imitations of Ballas vessels at Girga are made by potters from Ballas.
4. That the products of the small local potteries, while generally similar in forms and functions,
are distinguished by minor differences of form, material, and technique.
5. That the demand for the Ballas and Keneh wares is due to the cheapness and excellence of
their manufacture and to the easy facilities offered by the river for transport without
breakage.
1 Not to be confused with hamrah (ground potsherds).