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Iraq’s ancient pottery struggles to outlive modern plastic

Adel Al Kawwaz expertly spins the potter's wheel, shaping the wet clay into a smooth jug. His family is famous for this millennia-old Iraqi craft, but Adel is struggling to keep it alive. For thousands of years, clay utensils for storing food and cooking were found in virtually every home in Sumer, the earliest known […]

AFP reports:

Adel Al Kawwaz expertly spins the potter's wheel, shaping the wet clay into a smooth jug. His family is famous for this millennia-old Iraqi craft, but Adel is struggling to keep it alive.

For thousands of years, clay utensils for storing food and cooking were found in virtually every home in Sumer, the earliest known civilisation in modern-day southern Iraq.

But now, with a flood of more modern products, demand for the handmade clay items has dried up.