Children'S Knowledge Bank  (English, Paperback, Mahal Pustak)

Where was the potter's wheel invented? The potter's wheel has always fascinated people. Many children have not seen a potter working. Do you know how these wheels were invented and where? In the beginning, the pots were shaped by hand out of wet clay. Turning the raw lumps of earth on a wheel was developed later. The potter's wheel was invented in Sumeria, Babylon and also elsewhere in The Near East around 3000 BC. Clay pots had already been made for over 5000 years, but they were crude and broke easily.

Making pottery items on a potter's wheel is a craft that requires a lot of skill. The potter needs skill not only in spinning the wheel and shaping the pot with his hands, but also in firing the pot in a kiln to harden it. Potters also learned how to glaze (coat) pots with various substances to make the pots stronger and more decorative and beautiful. The invention of the potter's wheel led to one of the first industries in the world - pottery. In earlier days, a skillful potter could make enough pots to exchange them for food and other goods, or sell them for money. Nowadays, potters make pots from clay to sell them in exchange for money. Pots now come in various shapes and sizes and patterns.

Some examples of pottery have been recovered from the ruined cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum that were buried under volcanic ash when the volcano Vesuvius (near Naples, Italy) erupted in 79 AD. Examples of amphorae (big pottery jars) containing remnants of what was once wine, have been salvaged from ancient sunken ships discovered at the bottom of the Aegean Sea. Pottery shards and even some intact examples of pottery have been found at almost all archaeological sites the world over. This proves that knowledge of pottery extended to much of the ancient world.