Deliberately air-dried clay objects have been found from more than 10,000 years ago. Then, 8,000 years ago, Mesopotamians were using either stone or earth ovens to fire clay in a controlled manner. This is true pottery, used to draw the line demarcating civilisations into pre- and post-pottery, and the Sumerians were one of the earliest to cross this line.
We are already talking about some sophisticated technology for the time. Certainly when compared to what is known about the rest of the world. These early pots were decorated with designs which might be cut out of the clay, or pressed into it with small sticks. Sound familiar?
Around 5,500 years ago, Sumerians developed a new technology which allowed them to begin creating much finer pottery than had been possible up to that date. The potter’s wheel, turned at a steady rate by means of the feet and a flywheel, meant that pots and bowls could be made thinner and more symmetrical. The same basic principle is still used today by potters around the world.
In later Sumero-Akkadian origin myths, the raw material for humanity is the blood or flesh of a killed rebel deity, but in one story humans were created from clay, in a slightly tragic, slightly comic passage in the tale of Enki and Ninmah. Today’s tablet describes the misshapen and unlucky first attempts – the first with outstretched hands which could not bend, the third with broken, paralysed feet, the fourth who couldn’t control his bladder. At least one source has this translated as being done on a potter’s wheel. This may have been confused with the Egyptian tradition though, as none of the translations I could find have this reading.
Unlike pottery, cuneiform tablets were not generally fired. At least not intentionally. Accidents do happen though, the fact that clay is preserved not destroyed by fire makes this a happy accident for those of us who delight in details from the dawn of history.
