Ceramic pottery was the ancient Egyptian equivalent of modern plastic containers. It was fired at high temperatures in kilns such as the one depicted in the hieroglyph to the left. The hieroglyphic sign served as an ideogram in the word
tA, meaning "kiln," and thus it also had the phonetic value tA.
Kilns have been excavated at archaeological sites; the earliest one found dates to the predynastic period and was unearthed at the site of Hierakonpolis. Numerous tomb scenes also depict kilns being filled with pots. Their basic structure, with a fire room below and the room for the pottery above, seems to have been the same as that of modern Egyptian kilns like the one pictured in the photograph, although they seem to have been much smaller in ancient times than they are today.
The potter's profession was considered to be of low status by ancient Egyptian scribes. A text designed to encourage student's to follow a scribal career to the exception of everything else described the potter's work as follows: "The potter is smeared with mud like a man whose relative died. His hands and feet are filled with clay. He is like one who is in the bog."
Ceramic pottery was the ancient Egyptian equivalent of modern plastic containers. It was fired at high temperatures in kilns such as the one depicted in the hieroglyph to the left. The hieroglyphic sign served as an ideogram in the word
