=2. Pre-Semitic Pottery.=--There is first, then, the pottery of the pre-Semitic cave-dwellers. This pottery is made out of clay that was in no way cleansed or refined. It was made by hand, the larger jars having been built up little by little. The vessel, after receiving such ornament as the potter desired, was usually fired, though sometimes simply sun-dried. In firing the heat was often distributed very irregularly, so that the surface was not all of the same color. The jars were of moderate size, flat on the bottom, globular, conical, or cylindrical in shape. They had concave necks and handles. The handles were of two kinds--“ledge” handles and “loop” handles. A “ledge” handle consists of a piece of clay pinched into a flat projecting ledge and then baked hard. A “loop” handle is one fastened to the jar at both ends, similar to the handle of a pitcher. Bowls or saucers were also sometimes made with “ledge” handles; (see Fig. 97). The most common ornamentation of the pottery of this period was made by combing the clay with wooden combs notched with teeth of greater or less fineness. Sometimes the marks left by the comb were perpendicular, sometimes horizontal, and sometimes diagonal. One other type of ornament was exhibited in the pottery of the cave-dwellers. That was either an incised representation of a rope or cord, or a moulded imitation of one of these. This ornamentation was probably suggested by the ropes or cords which were bound about the vessel before it was fired, to prevent its falling apart. At first the only coloring was a line of brick-red around the rims of jugs and saucers. The most advanced stage is reached in Fig. 96, where a network of red lines cross each other diagonally. The tint of the red varies a good deal, but this may be due to the unequal firing already mentioned. A few specimens of burnished pottery were found in the caves. This burnishing consisted in rubbing the surface of the vessel with strokes of a smooth bone or stone. In some cases the vessel was dipped in a whitish wash after it was fired. This adhered to it everywhere except on the bottom. =3. First Semitic Pottery to 1800 B. C.=--The pottery of the first Semitic period, which terminated about 1800 B. C., is of a finer type. The larger pieces were made on a wheel, as were many of the smaller ones. The wheel was rotated with the left hand, while the potter moulded the vessel with the right. The result was a much more shapely type of work than in the previous period. In the pre-Semitic period limestone clays were employed; in this period, sandstone clays. Many of the objects, like those of the preceding period, were of a drab color, though the tints of some of them ranged from a rich brownish red to orange. The patches of color in these vessels were probably due to unequal heat in firing.