in order to depict the light and rapid movements of the dancing youths and virgins represented by Hephaestus on the shield of Achilles, he compares these movements to the rapid rotation of the wheel, which the potter, in commencing his work, sets turning rapidly round its axis, in order to try whether it can aid the skill of his hands.[1] I may add that as early as the time of the first dynasties of the old Egyptian empire the potter's wheel was in general use, and all pottery was thoroughly baked in ovens.[2]
Nos. 6 and 7 are two lustrous black cups with a high hollow foot and a large handle, standing upright on the rim; the clay is thick, but slightly baked, and heavy. These are the first entire cups of this shape I ever found,
but, as similar handles and hollow feet are of frequent occurrence in the débris of the first settlement, there can be no doubt that this form of cup was in general use here. A very singular vessel is No. 8, which is also of a lustrous black colour, and of thick clay only slightly baked. The body, which resembles that of our present drinking-glasses,
- ↑ Il. XVIII. 599–601:
οἱ δ' ότὲ μὲν θρέξασκον ἐπισταμένοισι πόδεσσινῥεῖα μάλ', ὡς ὅτε τις τροχὸν ἄρμενον ἐν παλάμησινεξόμενος κεραμεύς πειρήσεται, αν κε θέησιν
- ↑ See George Perrot et Charles Chipiez, Histoire de Art, Paris, 1882, vol. i. pp. 818, 819. See also S. Birch, Ancient Pottery, p. 14.
