At the time Gen­e­sis was writ­ten, clay was the pre­mier mate­r­i­al of arti­sans. Of it were made con­tain­ers, tablets for writ­ing, and effi­gies of ani­mals and men. So what was more nat­ur­al than for the Cre­ator to do his work in the same medi­um. Accord­ing to the author of Gen­e­sis, the Lord took up clay into his hands and mold­ed it into the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. And the first man.