Pottery
in the Bible
The
Bible contains numerous references to pottery, pottery making, and
potters. Clay pottery was the most common and easiest way to cook
food and to carry liquids throughout biblical times. Only pots used
for very special occasions and locations (such as the temple) were
made out of a material (usually some metal) other than clay (Exod.
38:3). Clay was the preferable material because it was freely
obtained, easy to manipulate, and required little technology to make.
The downside of pottery is that it is easily broken and thus rendered
useless. Evidence of the abundance and affordability of pottery is
seen in the instructions to break ceremonially unclean pottery rather
than wash it (Lev. 15:12). Although cooking was the primary purpose
for pottery, it could be used for a variety of applications,
including storing items, carrying water, making lamps, and forming
idols.
Pottery
and the manufacture of pottery occasionally took on symbolic
connotations in the Bible. For example, in the psalms broken pottery
symbolizes the life of the psalmist as he cries to God for help (Ps.
31:12). In another psalm the psalmist envisions God destroying the
nations that plot against God like someone who shatters pottery
(2:9). Isaiah likens Egypt’s strength, in which Judah trusts
more than in God, to pottery ready to be shattered (Isa. 30:14).
Similarly, Jeremiah says that the leaders of Judah will be punished
and will “fall and be shattered like fine pottery” (Jer.
25:34 NIV mg.). Isaiah also uses several other metaphors related to
pottery. He says that God treads on rulers like a potter treads on
clay, getting it soft and prepared for making pottery (Isa. 41:25).
Isaiah also likens those who complain to God to pieces of broken
pottery trying to tell the potter how to make pots (45:9).
Both
Isaiah and Jeremiah liken people to clay in God’s hand. Isaiah
says, “We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work
of your hand” (Isa. 64:8). Jeremiah says essentially the same
thing, but instead of using Isaiah’s positive tone, he sees the
human molding process to be a difficult and dangerous one that can
result in the potter rejecting the creation (Jer. 18:1–10).
Jeremiah buys a pot, takes it to a gate in the city, the Potsherd
Gate (a potsherd is a broken and useless piece of pottery), and
smashes the pot symbolically to demonstrate how God feels about Judah
(Jer. 19). Jeremiah’s choice of the Potsherd Gate was also part
of the symbolism, as it is likely that most of the pottery in
Jerusalem was made near or at the Potsherd Gate. The apostle Paul
creates a similar metaphor, describing how a potter is able to take
the same lump of clay and make different kinds of pots, some of which
have special uses, and others common uses. Paul implies that God has
the right to determine how and for what purpose he creates humans
because he is like the potter with the clay (Rom. 9:21). Paul also
refers to humans as clay jars with treasure in them (2 Cor.
4:7).
In
another example, after the destruction of Jerusalem the people in
captivity lament that they are simply like earthen pots before God
(Lam. 4:2), suggesting that they are ready to receive the punishment
that God has chosen for them to endure. Job also wonders if God has
molded him like clay only then to turn him back into dust (Job 10:9).
Manufacture
of Pottery
Preparing
the clay.
Before any pottery can be made, the clay must be gathered and
prepared for use. Clay collected from different geographical areas
will have different levels of pure clay and other earthen materials.
Pure clay is very difficult to work with, but it produces some of the
smoothest and strongest pots. Most of the clay used in Palestine was
not of superior quality, and so most often imperfections developed in
the pots as they were being made. We also know that during the time
of the late monarchy, potters in Israel tended to mix clay with
different kinds of sand to produce better results. With today’s
advanced forensic technology, it often can be determined where the
clay used to make a pot was harvested. Because it was generally
impractical to transport clay any long distance, this sort of
analysis can also be helpful in determining the origin of the pot.
Once the clay was harvested, depending on its quality and use, it was
often necessary to prepare the clay by kneading or treading it. This
process was vital for removing any impurities in the clay as well as
making it malleable.
Shaping.
Historically, the first pottery molded was made by hand and dried in
the sun. Nothing is known about the role of these early potters and
whether they were highly regarded in society. Many scholars believe
that early pottery was made by women, to be used for very practical
purposes such as cooking and carrying water. It is fairly easy to
determine the gender of the potter by measuring the natural hand and
finger marks left in the clay and comparing their size in
relationship to the average size of both men’s and women’s
hands. These rudimentary pots usually were made by laying coils of
clay one upon another.
Although
it is not certain, the profession of being a potter likely did not
develop until the invention of the potter’s wheel. The potter’s
wheel allowed the potter to create more-sophisticated pottery and
also gave the potter the ability to mass-produce pots. Several
examples of potter’s wheels have been excavated dating to
around 3500–3000 BC in Sumer and Ur. Most potter’s wheels
during biblical times consisted of two wheels. A larger and heavier
wheel was placed close to the ground, with a pole in the center of
this wheel going up to a second, smaller, and lighter wheel supported
by a table. The potter used his or her foot to move the larger wheel,
which turned the smaller wheel. It is also possible that an
apprentice turned the larger wheel. As the technology developed,
sometimes two potter’s wheels were connected to one larger
wheel so that two pots could be created at the same time.
Another
method for making clay items was the use of press molds. Press molds
were used to fashion clay by pushing the clay into the mold and then
allowing it to dry. As the clay dried, it shrank and pulled away from
the mold and could easily be removed from the mold. This method was
used for molding figurines (most often used as household idols) and
small oil lamps, which often were made of two molded pieces fused
together.
Decorating
and firing.
Once a pot was finished being shaped, either on a wheel or in a mold,
it often was decorated. The pot often was painted with pigment made
from earth. Different painting styles can help in identifying a pot’s
place of origin. Another common decoration method was to imprint the
pot with different seals, symbols, or patterns. This was done by
using a wooden or metal tool and pressing it into the wet clay.
Examples of this method include several pots found at Gibeon stamped
with what appear to be royal seals, which likely indicate that the
pots and their contents belonged to the king. Much of the pottery
from in and around Jerusalem has a red burnish applied to seal the
pot and to add a smooth finish to the outside. By the time of the
monarchy, potters were very sophisticated in their choice of
materials and often had some of the materials, such as special sands,
imported from a considerable distance. These sands added to the
smoothness of the fired pot by creating a glaze on it.
Once
the decoration of the pot was finished, the pot was dried in order to
reveal any imperfections. If any imperfections were observed during
drying, the pot was discarded. If no imperfections were seen, the pot
was then fired. Depending on the potter’s resources and the
technology the potter knew, the firing process could be as simple as
placing the pot in a hot fire or could include the use of
sophisticated kilns capable of producing extremely high and even
heat. Firing a pot was extremely difficult, because ideally the heat
is kept at a constant temperature throughout the process, which was
not an easy task when using an open flame for the heating source.
Because the process of firing pots was a well-guarded trade secret,
we know few details of how pots were fired during biblical times.
Types
of Pottery
There
are several general categories of pottery, which are based on their
characteristics and intended uses. Of course, for some extant
examples of pottery from archaeological digs, their usage cannot be
determined. Tableware included cups, plates, bowls, and jugs. These
items tended to be more decorated than other pottery, much like
tableware today tends to be more decorative than cooking pots.
Cooking pots included pots with small, narrow rims and flat, open
pans for frying and uncovered cooking. Storage vessels came in all
sizes: pithoi, jars (two-handled), jugs (one-handled), smaller jugs
(with no handles), and very small vessels for perfumes and other
valuable liquids. Also, it is not unusual to find various sizes of
lamps.
Importance
of Pottery for Archaeology
Pottery
has become an important dating tool for archaeologists. While written
texts do provide more archaeological data than pottery and religious
or cultural artifacts can be more visually interesting, it is pottery
that helps the archaeologist piece all the information together.
History
of dating pottery. While
doing archaeological work in Egypt, Flinders Petrie noticed that for
different time periods of Egyptian history there were different kinds
of pottery, with very distinct and identifiable characteristics.
These identifiable pottery characteristics included things such as
the thickness of the wall of the pot, the type of rim or lip on the
pot, the pot’s handles, and any special decorative elements.
These characteristics, Petrie discovered, could be used to date sites
that had no other dating information. Petrie carefully logged each
piece of pottery found at each site and over time developed an
extensive catalog of pottery types and their respective dating.
Later, while digging at Tell el-Hesi in Palestine, Petrie noticed
that each layer, or stratum, of the tell (archaeological mound) had a
different type of pottery, much like the different kinds of pottery
he had noticed in Egypt. Because of his careful and painstaking work
in Egypt, Petrie also noticed that the different types of pottery in
Palestine were similar to those that he had uncovered in Egypt. As a
result, Petrie was able to develop a chronology of pottery that could
be used to date different archaeological digs and strata in the
entire ancient Near East. Later, W. F. Albright expanded on
Petrie’s work by adding several sublayers and further refining
the dating of each time period of pottery.
To
help explain this significant discovery, L. E. Stager uses the
example of how bottles for soft drinks have changed over the years.
For example, he notes that when soda bottles were first
mass-marketed, the writing on the bottle was part of the glass with
raised letters. Over time the bottle changed and evolved; different
types of writing were used on glass bottles until ultimately the
bottles were smooth and the words were painted on them. In more
recent years soda bottles have been made of plastic. This evolution
of the soda bottle can roughly illustrate the changes in pottery over
time. Because this method of dating depends on a catalog of
documented pottery, it requires that all pottery found, no matter how
insignificant, be cataloged and recorded so that others can compare
the pottery finds from one place with those in other places.
Time
periods.
In the dating of ancient Near Eastern pottery, history is divided
into broad time periods that are then further subdivided. The Middle
Bronze Age (c. 2200–1550 BC) encompasses the time of the
earliest biblical stories, including perhaps the stories of the
patriarchs. During this period and the Early Bronze Age (c. 3300–2200
BC), the artisanship evident in the pottery was limited, and pots had
little or no decoration; however, the skill applied to the vessels
had improved dramatically from the prior period, the Chalcolithic
(4500–3300 BC). These vessels show thin walls and evidence of
mass production.
The
Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BC), which likely includes the
time of Moses and perhaps Joshua, shows an unusual and dramatic
decrease in the quality of local Canaanite pottery. There is no known
explanation for this deterioration, but it is evident. At the same
time, pottery from other coastal regions, especially Mycenaean Greece
and Crete, is very common, and pots from these locations are quite
sophisticated and highly decorated. This indicates that during this
time there was a strong cultural influence from these areas. Some
have suggested that this is due to the colonization of parts of
Palestine by the Sea Peoples, who perhaps are the Philistines of
biblical history.
The
Iron Age (c. 1200–586 BC), which encompasses the time period
from the Israelite conquest and settlement through the monarchy,
demonstrates more low-quality pottery, especially early in this
period. In contrast with the examples of pottery manufactured locally
at Israelite sites, Philistine pottery is quite sophisticated, highly
decorated with red and black duotones in geometric patterns. The
later pottery of the monarchy shows much more skill and
sophistication.
The
Persian (539–332 BC), Hellenistic (332–63 BC), and Roman
periods (after 63 BC) conclude the biblical periods. Each of these
periods is dominated by the aesthetics and quality of the invading
countries’ pottery. By this time, trade routes were strongly
established, and so the invaders, it appears, flooded the markets
with their pottery, often to the detriment of the local potters.
