[Illustration: Fig. 24.--An Egyptian Pottery. (From a Tomb.) _a_, _e_, _i_, _p_, the wheels on which the clay was put. Fig. 1 forms the inside and lip of the cup as it turns on the wheel _a_. _b_, _c_, _d_ are cups already made. Fig. 2 forms the outside of the cup, indenting it with the hand at the base, preparatory to its being taken off. Fig. 3 has just taken off the cup from the clay, _l_. Fig. 4 puts on a fresh piece of clay. Fig. 5 forms a round slab of clay with his two hands. Fig. 6 stirs and prepares the oven, _q_. At _s_ is the fire, which rises through the long, narrow tube or chimney of the oven, upon the top of which the cups are placed to bake, as in _v_. Fig. 7 hands the cup to the baker, 8. Fig. 9 carries away the baked cups from the oven.]
The entire process of making clay vessels in Egypt has been preserved in a scene depicted in a tomb (Fig. 24). The clay was first trampled underfoot to give it evenness of consistency and make it more perfectly plastic. It was then prepared for working by being rolled out, and was then put on the wheel. The latter was either round or polygonal and flat. It was placed upon a stand, and was turned with one hand, while with the other the potter shaped the clay, and, as he worked, sat either upon a low stool or upon the ground. Both the hollowing and external shaping were done by hand. The furnaces were hollow cylinders, about six and a half feet high, in which the wares to be baked were placed about half-way up. An aperture at the bottom admitted draught sufficient to drive the flames out of the top of the furnace. Among the Greeks the wheel was also employed at a very early period, so early that its inventor or introducer is forgotten. One of the Grecian legends ascribes the honor to Dædalus, an Athenian of royal descent, and inventor of the wedge, axe, and other mechanical contrivances. Another legend ascribes it to Talos, the nephew of Dædalus, whose murder compelled the latter to seek safety in flight. To whatever individual or city the credit may be due, the wheel was used by Grecian potters from time immemorial. They turned it with the foot--as did the Egyptians also at one period--and it appears that the turning was sometimes left to an assistant. The process was almost identical with that described above. The clay was placed upon the wheel and shaped by the hand, and when the vessel was of so large a size as to make it necessary, one hand supported and shaped the clay from the inside. In this way the body of the vessel was made, and before the clay dried, the feet, handles, and other parts were fixed to it. Before the wheel was known, the vessels were hollowed out and shaped by the hand, and the larger vessels were subsequently made in the same way.