The Potters of Fustat (Cairo) in 2008 - A Preliminary Report

In this preliminary report a short summary is presented of the first results ofan ethnoar­ chaeological documentation project by the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC), executed in cooperation with Leiden University and Deifi University, concerning potters of the Fustat area in Cairo. Since 2000 their workshops are being demolished and replaced by new government-built workshops. As a consequence, a traditional potters' quarter will dis­ appear in the near future. When the project started, about ten workshops were still active, ofthe more than 60 once located in the area. Most ofthe data described in this report, in which attention is paid to techniques ofpottery production, the use ofspace and the produc­ tion organization, were collected through fieldwork in November 2008.