Birth Bricks, Potter’s Wheels, and Exodus 1,16 309 2. Jeremiah 18,3 Jer 18,3 reads: µynbahAl[ hkalm hc[ [awhAhnhw] (whnhw) rxwyh tyb draw Most English translations render ’obnayim here as some form of potter ’s equipment. For example, the RSV and the NIV translate this as wheel. BDB suggests this reading as well. Also mistakenly taking ’obnayim as a dual form of ’eben, BDB provides an explanation for why this word can mean potter’s wheel — potter’s wheels, according to BDB, consisted of two discs that revolved one above the other, that looked like mill-stones (7). BDB provides further explanation for how this word came to mean both a potter’s wheel and a birthing stool. The entry reads: “fr. likeness to potter’s wheel; on custom of labor upon stool”. Here then, the word is explained in both contexts as descriptive — both pieces of equipment are made up of two stones. Although this is a relatively ingenious solution to the problem, it is not entirely convincing. It is based once again on the premise that ’obnayim is the dual form of ’eben, a premise that has already been rejected. The context of the use of this word in Jeremiah necessitates a translation that fits within the context of ceramic production. That the same terminology may have been used to describe birthing equipment and ceramic equipment is not all that surprising in an ancient Near Eastern context. In Mesopotamia, Egypt, and possibly Biblical Israel there seems to have been a conceptual or at least semiotic connection between these two arenas of activity. 3. Clay Technology and Human Reproduction In Mesopotamia, there is much evidence that points to a conceptual link between manufacture involving clay and human reproduction. The Sumerian sign TU/DU2 has a wide semantic range. Prominent meanings though are “to fashion clay on a wheel”, “to give birth”, or “to assist in giving birth”. The link between these two spheres of human creative activity is more directly manifest in the story of Atrahasis. In this text, the goddess Mami is described as the creator of human life and her creation of humans is described in terms of ceramic production. Lambert’s translation of this section reads: (7) F. BROWN – S. DRIVER – C. BRIGGS, Hebrew and English Lexicon (Peabody, MA 1996) 7.