potter’s wheel, pottery was made by molding with the
hands or by laying ropes or slabs of clay on top of each
other. Very often, the results were coarse and rough, but
several African cultures developed techniques for creating
polished, beautiful work.
Exactly who did the work is hard to determine. In most
modern African societies working with clay falls almost en-
tirely to women. Women dig the clay from quarries, transport
it, and then shape and fi re it. Usually, they do this at home as
just one of several chores performed during a day. In some
places it is known that women gathered together to create
manufacturing centers, which they managed like businesses,
selling their wares not only among their own people but to
outsiders as well. It is likely that most ancient African ceram-
ics were made by women.
Also diffi cult to determine is the cultural origin of an-
cient African ceramics. It is fairly safe to assume that pot-
tery found in Nubia was made by one of the cultures that
existed there, but throughout most of Africa ancient pottery
oft en has no cultural context. For instance, the Nok culture
(500–300 b.c.e.) in Nigeria is known almost entirely by its ce-
ramics, pieces of which were washed into gullies, where they
were found by miners. Th ese fragments are magnifi cent, but
because fl oods carried them to where they were found, it is
not known either who made them or where they were made.
(Th ey are called “Nok” because their pottery was fi rst col-
lected at a mine near a village named Nok.)
Many ethnic groups that lived south of Egypt were called
Nubian. Dating their earliest pottery has been diffi cult, but a
clay sculpture of a female found just south of Egypt has been
dated to 4000 b.c.e. Animal fi gures found farther south are
nearly as old. Vessels found near Khartoum may date to 2950
b.c.e., which would mean that Nubians developed some skills
for m a k i n g c e r a m ic s b e fore t he y we re i n fl uenced by Egyptians.
Until 2600 b.c.e. Nubian ceramics manufacturing seems to
have remained independent of Egyptian infl uence. Th e vessels
made from 3000 to 2600 b.c.e. are painted with red geomet-
ric patterns on their outsides. Inside they are black. Th is black
was probably achieved by mixing graphite with tree resin, a
formula used elsewhere in Africa. Th e vessels are polished
smooth, probably by being rubbed with a stone, a technique
that was also used farther south, in eastern Africa.
Th ere is a gap in the archaeological record for Nubia
from 2600 to 1900 b.c.e. Some archaeologists once thought
this meant that a diff erent culture moved into Nubia in 2600
b.c.e., but most now believe that the culture continued with-
out break to 1550 b.c.e. and that the relics for the missing
years have not been found as yet. From 1900 to 1550 b.c.e.
come not only vessels but also numerous human fi gures, oft en
abstract, portraying both young people and adults. Usually
no more than fi ve inches tall, these fi gures had designs etched
into them, aft er which they were fi red and polished smooth.
Th e most interesting ceramics in the Nubian kingdom
probably belong to Kush, which existed from about 900 b.c.e.
to 350 b.c.e. and actually ruled Egypt from about 780 to 664
b.c.e. Th e artisans of Kush were proud of their association
with Egypt and used Egyptian images and styles in their
work. In 590 b.c.e. the Kush kings moved their capital south
to Meroë, in southern Nubia, and ceramics from here are of-
ten called Meroitic. From the 100s to 300s c.e. there seem
to have been several schools of Meroitic ceramics, including
pottery made with and without the use of wheels. Some art
historians think they can even identify individual artists, one
of whom is the Antelope Painter, known for vivid paintings
of antelopes on vases.
Southeast of Nubia was the city of Axum, which built a
kingdom that lasted from the fi rst century to the ninth cen-
tury c.e., based on trade with the Near East and Far East.
Its people were both African and Sabean; the Sabeans were
from the southern Arabian kingdom of Sheba, where Yemen
is today. Th ey made both plain ceramic vessels and vessels
with complex designs that were abstract or depicted plants
and animals, using primarily the colors black and red. Th ey
also made small animal and human fi gures.
Nubian ceramic manufacturing techniques seem to have
spread west and south in Africa. It is possible that Nubians
fl eeing war may have made their way as far west as Nigeria,
where they may have infl uenced the Nok potters. Th eir pot-
tery making fl ourished from about 500 b.c.e. to about 200
c.e. Th ey made human fi gures, now existing only in frag-
ments because they were broken long ago in fl oods.
Th e heads of their fi gures were sometimes spherical and
sometimes elongated and were made in the manner of pots,
to which features such as ears, noses, and lips were addedKerma ware pottery beaker, from Kerma, Sudan, about 1750–1550
b.c.e. (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)
ceramics and pottery: Africa 175