You will not venture far without seeing those ubiquitous Omani clay pots that adorn every kitchen and garden of the Sultanate, small enough to contain salt, sugar, or spices, or large enough to fit a cactus or a desert rose in the garden, the clay pot is an ever present sociological, anthropological, and archeological link to the past.
A visit to Bahla, the clay pot capital of Oman could never be complete without seeing a traditional potter at work, as he has, and those before him have done, for 4500 years, the only difference being that in days of old a ‘kick wheel’ or ‘hand-spinning,’ was used, rather than today’s electric wheel. An ancient potter’s wheel found in the Sumerian City of Sur, in Iraq, has been carbon-dated to 3129BC, making it 5150 years old.
But back to today, where the age-old craftsman’s, or maybe they should be recognized as artisans, skills are evident, as they throw the clay on the spinning platform and draw the shape and form of the clay pot out, molding, caressing, and weaving the shape with a steady hand, magic fingers, and a keen eye, adding water only as needed to continue the shaping. Though the numbers of such craftsmen in Bahla are dwindling now, there was a time when everyone in the old city was engaged in the craft.
In the Wilayat the brown clay is taken from the wadi beds of the district, while the more distinctive red pottery is made from clay sourced in the nearby mountains, from locations known only to a few. Once the artisan has produced his work, it, and many others will be ‘fired,’ or baked in a kiln, or oven. Once only small, dome shaped kilns, they are mostly much larger today, by far.
The heat inside the kiln can reach 1800degF to 2400degF, in a process that bakes the water molecules out of the clay and hardens the clay molecules. This allows the pottery to retain its porosity, allowing air and moisture to penetrate the baked clay, while retaining water. The water in an earthen pot soaks into the pores of the pot and evaporate from its outer surface. The heat for this evaporation is taken from the water inside the pot keeping it fresh and cool.
The clay pots are also widely used in food storage and cooking as the clay is alkaline, and interacts with the acidity, neutralizing the pH balance, making the food healthier. They are, being heat resistant, perfect for long slow cooking. The porous , naturally insulating nature of clay pots causes heat and moisture to circulate freely, distributing the heat evenly, and retaining heat for consistent temperature cooking.
A recently retired, Nasser al Yahai, observed that the pottery factory in the town has been “an amazing national initiative, established with the objective of perpetuating the craft, the art.” It does appear however, that from an outside perspective, economics will eventually prove the demise of the artist, as in many other crafts, as plastics assume much of the market. Of course, the plasticware does not have the same artistic, aesthetic, or environmental qualities of plastic.
Plastic, however, lacks that craft, that art, and that romance and passion the potter has for the clay. The potter says...
“Carefully I have taken you from the wadi, a shapeless lump, trodden and neglected, yet...
I have cast you in just the right place upon my spinning potter’s wheel, and...
With my tender, loving hands I have drawn out all your imperfections,
I have woven, and caressed you, to a beautiful creation,
To a finished article to be admired for centuries. You are... wiea’ fakhari jamil.”
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