PALESTINIAN POTTERY—-KELSO AND THORLEY 367 
water marks of Palestinian pottery. Their finest ware is unbelievably 
thin and of exquisite line. Its painted ware offers something new to 
Palestine as it includes “stylized floral or leaf patterns” with heavy 
emphasis upon the grape design. The Nabataeans also used rouletted 
and sigillata ware, whose designs were imprinted in the clay by various 
methods. 
Vessels of gold, silver, and copper were more precious than Pales- 
tine’s ceramic wares; thus her pottery must be studied primarily as 
commercial ware rather than as artistic masterpieces like the best Greek 
ware. On the other hand, it must be pointed out that the esthetic 
rating of much of this ware averages higher than modern commercial 
ware and at times it is true art worthy of a place in a museum. Most 
of their pottery was red-clay ware, 1. e., the finished ware had a rich 
red color when properly fired. Some Israelite wares were made in a 
glossy black finish which was produced by various techniques. White 
ware was usually imported. 
Pottery represented one of the major manufacturing industries of 
the ancient world and the Israelite potters belonged to what we call 
today “up and coming businessmen.” ‘They had already mastered 
many of the economic short cuts used in present-day potteries. They 
created special fashioning processes so that cheaper grades of clay 
could be utilized. They knew the various temperatures at which to 
fire their ware, depending upon the impurities in the clay and the pur- 
poses for which the ware was intended. They could quickly multiply 
the output by combining throwing and turning techniques rather than 
by using the more expensive throwing only; yet at the same time the 
turner was so skillful one can seldom see where his work joins that of 
the throwers. They used assembly-line methods where different men 
performed different processes in the course of manufacture. They had 
standard styles which ran in staggered sizes, just as we do today. 
Pride of manufacture is shown in the use of trade-marks, particularly 
on cooking pots, which, after all, had the greatest market. 
The pottery industry was organized in families and guilds (I Chron- 
icles 4:28). The most difficult art for the apprentice to master was 
the firing of the kiln and this skill was probably passed on from father 
to son. “An estimate of the skill required in firing a kiln is perhaps 
best shown by the fact that the ancient Greeks besought the aid of the 
gods at this point in their work and the medieval potters offered 
prayers before firing their kilns.” 
POTTERY AS ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT 
From the esthetic viewpoint the best pottery forms ever produced 
in Palestine were in the Hyksos period about the time of Joseph. 
Indeed, the potters of this time attained an expressive quality, a sensi- 
