United Arab Emirates · Ceramics
Al-Fukhari (pottery); Hib (a pottery jar that keeps water cool); chirr and kharas (pots for storing dates and dried fish)
The hand- and wheel-forming of red and green clay into pottery, a tradition documented in the United Arab Emirates since the fifth millennium BCE, evidenced by archaeological finds at Julphar and Mleiha in Ras Al Khaimah among other sites, making it one of the oldest continuously documented crafts in the country. Traditionally central to daily desert and coastal life, pottery produced practical necessities including water jugs and coffee pots; named traditional forms still in use include the hib, a jar specifically engineered to keep water cool through evaporative properties, and the chirr and kharas, pots used for storing dates and dried fish. Two distinct clay types -- red and green -- are traditionally used, worked today with a combination of hand-forming and potter's wheel technique. At the Al Ghadeer Emirati Crafts center, formed pieces are dried for five to ten days before undergoing two separate firings, a process specifically engineered to achieve correct strength and coloration in the finished piece. Contemporary Emirati pottery blends inherited traditional forms with modern decorative motifs -- desert scenes, camels, marine imagery, and national symbols -- reflecting an active, ongoing creative evolution within the ancient craft tradition, with workshops in Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah specifically noted as centers for continued practice and visitor instruction.
Risk level: Vulnerable · Not independently inscribed
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