Developing our crafts: Pottery making in Nubia history
To explore and honour your craft is an enriching feeling which can aid the process of knowing who you are. Developing skills can feel like a long, awkward and frustrating process, particularly in moments where it seems as if no growth is occurring. In these moments, remaining patient and using each moment of failure to act as lessons for how to improve can be a great benefit in the long-term. Looking to the rich history of the Nubia Kingdom and the presence of pottery making in communities tells a story of the importance of developing craft, utilising inspiration as well as honouring patience.
The Nubia people hail from parts of present day Sudan, Ethiopia and Southern Egypt. Pottery making was a celebrated craft among the Nubia. It is a craft which reveals connections to natural surroundings as well as an importance given to creativity, using this as a mechanism to support community and engage with history.
Learning from nature: An understanding of surroundings played a key role in pottery making. For example, the process of creating water vessels was designed in such a way so as to ensure that water remained cool despite the hot temperatures, using clay also ensured that many pieces of pottery lasted for long periods. The pottery heavily features animals such as the giraffe, cattle and the crocodile, animals that were prevalent in the regions at the time. In Hellenizing Art in Ancient Nubia 300 B.C. – AD 250 and its Egyptian Models, historian László Török notes that “Classic Kerma artisans produced zoomorphic vessels, shaped vessel spouts in the form of animal heads, decorated vessel walls with figures in relief, and modelled vessel handles in the form of birds”. The recognition of this connection and inspiration from surroundings was also made by British archaeologists David Randall-Maclver and Leonard Woolley following their excavation in the former Nubia kingdom, describing it’s inhabitants as “a people loving nature, observing it, and trying to represent it faithfully”.
Preservation and development of craft: The accounts of former Swiss traveller, John Lewis Burckhardt concerning the abundance of pottery pieces which he encountered during his travels through the former kingdom gives an indication of the wide-scale development of this craft. In his journal, Burckhardt talks of the large presence of fine pottery, particularly in the ancient town of Contra Talmis which he came across. The pieces of Nubia have also been highlighted in the work of historians Larry Ross and Joyce Haynes, both note that Nubian pottery was the most preferred in the region and note the various vases and cups and other elaborate pieces of furniture that were created. Despite the development of various pottery pieces, one key aspect of the craft has transcended thousands of years and remains today, pottery making by hand. The fact that this still persists among the descendants of the Nubia in present day draws attention to how well key aspects of Nubia history have been preserved as well as a high regard for process and self-sufficiency.
The craft of pottery making from ancient Nubia is thousands of years old, its presence draws attention to the beauty of creating something with durability in mind. May we be diligent as we develop our craft and celebrate the value it can have at an individual and community level.
Sources
Nubia: Ancient kingdoms of Africa – Joyce L. Haynes (1992)
Nubia and Egypt – 10,000 BC to 400 AD: From pre-history to the Meroitic period – Larry Ross (2013)
Travels in Nubia – John Lewis Burckhardt (1819)
Areika – David Randall-Maclver, Leonard Woolley, Francis Llewelyn Griffith (1909)
Hellenizing Art in Ancient Nubia 300 B.C. – AD 250 and its Egyptian Models – László Török (2011)
Ancient Kingdoms of Africa – Ancient Nubia (BBC)