Clay pots were left in Egyptian tombs beginning as early as 4,500 BCE. The pots often held food offerings. Clay dug from the alluvial silt on the banks of the Nile was rich in iron oxides, producing a reddish-brown color when fired. This pot was made before the advent of the pottery wheel in Egypt, which first comes into use in the Old Kingdom (ca. 2649 BCE - 2150 B.C.E.).

Predynastic pots like this one were shaped by hand, dried in the sun, and then sometimes coated with red ochre. The surface was often burnished with a stone to add a sheen. They would be fired over an open fire or in a simple kiln.

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The black area near the mouth of the pot is typical of pottery from this period. Experiments suggest that the black color may result from the absorption of carbon from the smoldering of organic material like chaff. The pots may have been placed upside-down on such materials before, during, or after firing.

Sources:

"Pottery, Stoneware, and Ceramics. Minnesota State University EMuseum.

Patch, Diana Craig. "Life in Ancient Egypt: Ceramic Dishes."
Excerpted from Reflections of Greatness: Ancient Egypt at The Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 1990. Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Baba, Masahiro and Masanori Saito. "Experimental Studies on the Firing Methods of the Black-topped Pottery in Predynastic Egypt." Institute of Egyptology, Waseda University, Tokyo (Japan). International Conference: Origin of the State, Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt.
Cracow, Poland: 28th August - 1st September, 2002.

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