1st November 2011
Pottery Works - Deir el Ballas
Deir el Ballas is on the West Bank and is 38 kilometers north of Luxor. Apparently mud bricks and pottery have been made at this site for thousands of years; probably this is due to the very special mud/clay in this area.
I sat at a café having tea wondering whether I was ever going to find this pottery works. It’s quite impossible to find places because of the language problem and the fact I don’t speak Arabic. I was trying to find the place that makes pottery vases and urns. I knew I had to take a road to the left out into the desert to a village names Sheikh Tayb Saha. So I got speaking to the café man, well, he knew where it was and said he lived in the same village. He offered to come on the back of my motorbike and show me where it was, and indeed he did.
Pottery Works - Deir el Ballas
Deir el Ballas is on the West Bank and is 38 kilometers north of Luxor. Apparently mud bricks and pottery have been made at this site for thousands of years; probably this is due to the very special mud/clay in this area.
I sat at a café having tea wondering whether I was ever going to find this pottery works. It’s quite impossible to find places because of the language problem and the fact I don’t speak Arabic. I was trying to find the place that makes pottery vases and urns. I knew I had to take a road to the left out into the desert to a village names Sheikh Tayb Saha. So I got speaking to the café man, well, he knew where it was and said he lived in the same village. He offered to come on the back of my motorbike and show me where it was, and indeed he did.
Here they are treating the clay mix. I wonder if they did this a thousand years ago! The whole area around this pottery works is involved in making bricks for house building.
Pots above the furnace The furnace
Fuel for the furnace
Deir el Ballas Village/Town
After taking the man back to the café, I went to have a look at Ballas town/village itself. I asked was it a village or a town, I was told “a bit of both” "in between". It is a typical non-tourist village with dirt roads, many holes, bumps and wet parts where they sprinkle water on it to keep the dust down. As usual, there were a great number of people all going about their business. When I get a camera out, they all want to be in my pictures, it is easy to oblige
Danfiq
On my way back I stopped off again at this roadside café in Danfiq to say hi to the locals who I met some four days earlier when I was looking for a Monastery in their area. They were so nice, polite and friendly the last time I was there. They again welcomed me enthusiastically. I had two teas and the owner did not want to take money, I insisted but only paid for one tea.
The man sitting on my right is a schoolteacher. On my visit this time, the owner was trying to keep the young locals away from me thinking they were being a nuisance, I said it was no problem; I suppose I was a bit of a novelty.
Asment
Then off again towards home where I passed yet another café at Asment where the men called out to me as they did the last time I passed. The trip is 38 kilometers so I stopped here also; well, there were some nice motorbikes here.
Asment
Then off again towards home where I passed yet another café at Asment where the men called out to me as they did the last time I passed. The trip is 38 kilometers so I stopped here also; well, there were some nice motorbikes here.