Jeremiah 18:3. Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
The potter’s art has been practiced from very ancient times. The Egyptian monuments give evidence that it was known in Egypt before the entrance of the Hebrews into that country. Some expositors have inferred from Psalm 81:6, that the Israelites, when in bondage, were employed in pottery as well as in brick making: “I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.” Others, however, give to the word dud the meaning of “basket,” and make it refer to the baskets which were used by the brick-makers for carrying clay.
The clay was first trodden with the feet by the potter (Isa. 41:25) and when it became of the proper consistency it was put on the “wheels.” These were originally of stone, and two in number, one above the other, like a pair of millstones; the lower one immovable, and the upper revolving on an axis and turned by the potter by means of a treadle, and sometimes by the hands of an attendant. In after times the wheels were made of wood. The softened clay was put upon the upper wheel, and fashioned by the potter’s hand to any shape desired.