Ceramics in Mesopotamia

The invention of the potter's wheel in the fourth millennium BCE led to several stylistic shifts and varieties in form of Mesopotamian ceramics.

Learning Objective

Differentiate Ubaid pottery from later styles in Mesopotamian ceramics

Key Points

The invention and evolution of the potter's wheel allowed individuals to produce vessels at increasing speeds and in increasing numbers.
Ubaid pottery was more decorative and unique than Uruk pottery.
As ceramics evolved, shapes and sizes of clay objects became more varied.
Clay could also be used for writing tablets that could be fired, if the owner believed the text was important.

Terms

ceramics
The craft of making objects from clay.
throwing
Shaping clay on a potter's wheel.
stylus
A writing implement that incises lines into surfaces, such as clay.
kiln
A special kind of oven used for firing ceramic objects at high temperatures.

Full Text

Although ceramics developed in East Asia c. 20,000-10,000 BCE, the practice of throwing arose with the invention of the potter's wheel in Mesopotamia around the fourth millennium BCE. The earliest clay vessels date to the Chalcolithic Era, which is divided into the Ubaid (5000-4000 BCE) and Uruk (4000-3100 BCE) periods.

The Chalcolithic Era

The Ubaid period is marked by a distinctive style of fine quality painted pottery which spread throughout Mesopotamia. Ceramists produced vases, bowls, and small jars domestically on slow wheels, painting unique abstract designs on the fired clay.

Vase from the Late Ubaid Period, 4500-4000 BCE

A pottery jar from the Late Ubaid Period on display in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Experts differentiate the Ubaid period from the Uruk period by the style of pottery produced in each era. During the Uruk period, the potter's wheel advanced to allow for faster speeds. As such, ceramists could produce pottery more quickly, leading to the mass production of standardized, unpainted styles of vessels.

The Akkiadian Empire

As the Akkadian Empire overtook the Sumerian city-states, ceramists continued to produce bowls, vases, jars, and other objects in a variety of shapes and sizes. Like Uruk pottery, the surfaces of these objects were left unpainted, although some vessels appear to have a form of abstract reliefs on the surface. This photograph displays the various forms (including a form that resembles a present-day cake stand) that pottery took during the Akkadian Empire.

Akkadian pottery

A collection of Akkadian pottery on display at the Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago.

Ur III

The Third Ur Dynasty, better known as Ur III, witnessed the continuation of unpainted ceramic vessels that took a variety of forms. This photograph depicts an urn that resembles today's flower vases, as well as bowls, cups, and a smaller vase.

Pottery from the Ur III period

A collection of pottery from the Ur III period on display at the Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago.

As in previous eras, clay was also used to produce writing tablets that were incised with styluses fashioned from blunted reeds. Often, tablets were used for record-keeping (the ancient version of an office memo). Like other ceramic objects, tablets could be fired in a kiln to produce a permanent form if the text was believed significant enough to preserve. The tablets in the photograph below contain information about farm animals and workers.

Administrative texts in cuneiform writing

A collection of administrative texts in cuneiform writing on display at the Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago.

Babylonian Ceramics

Pottery produced during the "Old" Babylonian period shows a return to painted abstract designs and increased variety in forms. In this photograph, a bowl, a jar, and a goblet show remnants of paint on their exteriors.

Old Babylonian pottery

A collection of old Babylonian pottery on display at the Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago.

[ edit ]

Prev Concept

The Mesopotamian Cultures

Sculpture in Mesopotamia

Next Concept