Another kind of unglazed ware is of a light gray color, and was common to Egypt and some of the countries of Asia. Amphoræ have been found of this material, with long bodies ornamented with horizontal grooves. Of these the larger ones appear to have been intended for liquids, and the smaller ones, some of which are very diminutive, for solids. The bases of the former are pointed, while those of the latter are occasionally rounded. The handles are both small and large, and the necks open or contracted, according to their use. These are well deserving of notice for the sake of comparison with the amphoræ of the Greeks; and for the same reason reference may be made to the vessels with three handles, which were in all probability the prototypes of the Greek _hydrai_, and to others with only one handle, which were also reproduced in Greece. The former are very frequently oval-bodied, and the position of the handle is arbitrary. The latter were jugs of various shapes, with pointed bases. The further we come down, the more distinct become the proofs of Egypt’s having supplied models to the Grecian potters. It would be impossible to specify all the shapes, but reference may be made to those with handle arching the top from side to side, and of so small a size that they are thought to have been used by children as toys. [Illustration: Fig. 36.--Egyptian Red-polished Terra-cotta.] The larger vessels, which answered all the purposes of a modern meat-safe, have no handle, and have the usual pointed base for fixing them upright in the floor of the cellar. They taper gradually from the base upward, until their greatest girth is reached, when they curve more suddenly inward to a short neck. From these the forms vary through the intermediate shapes of oval jars, bottles with long necks, and narrow oil vases, to wide bowls or dishes and plates. Reference was made in the introduction to the multitudinous purposes to which clay vessels were put by the Egyptians. They used their ware in many ways which to us appear very primitive and strange--for storing all manner of eatables and drinkables, for cooking and smelting. In fact, whatever one may think of their ideas of beauty in pottery, there can be no doubt that they took a very wide view of its infinite usefulness. [Illustration: Fig. 37.--Egyptian Red-polished Terra-cotta Bottle. (British Mus.)]