What is a ruined vessel (that still retains some if its status)?

Any whose handles were broken off.

If it had protrusions extending from it (i.e. the jagged edges at the point where it broke),

all that can contain olives (i.e. where the teeth of the jagged edges are so close to each other as to not allow an olive to pass through)

can impart tumah by contact,

and opposite them imparts tumah through [entering their] airspace (as if the jagged edges were a solid wall);

and all that cannot contain olives

can impart tumah by contact,

and opposite them does not impart tumah through airspace.

If it was lying on its side

in the manner of a cathedra (a type of chair with the seat enclosed on three sides by its back and arms; in this case, the vessel, which was cylindrical and open at the top, was split in half from top to bottom, and the half was laid down, such the the wall of the vessel lies on the ground like the seat of the chair would have, and the now-upwards curve of the wall, which end in jagged edges where the vessel was split, form what would be the chair's arms at its sides, and the bottom of the vessel is positioned like the chair's back),

all [of the jagged edges of the vessel] that can contain olives (i.e. the gap between them is too small for olives to pass through)

can impart tumah by contact,

and opposite them imparts tumah through [entering their] airspace (as if the jagged edges were a solid wall);

and all that cannot contain olives

can impart tumah by contact,

and opposite them does not impart tumah through airspace.

The bottom rims of Kurfian [vessels] (these were used

and the bottom rims of Sidonian cups,

even though

they cannot sit [upright]

without support [due to the fact that their bottoms were pointed]

are tamei,

as that is how they are originally made.

פרק ד משנה ד

An earthenware vessel

that has three rims [one inside the next, so that they form three concentric circles, with only the innermost rim forming the edge of the vessel's opening],

if the inner one is higher,

everything [in the other ones] is tahor,

if the outer one is higher,

all are tamei;

if the middle one is higher,

from it inwards is tamei,

from it outwards is tahor;

if they were even,

Rabbi Yehuda says

we split [the space inside] the middle one [the inner half of which is tamei, the outer half of which is tahor]

and the sages say

all [but the innermost] are tahor.

An earthenware vessel,

from when is it susceptible to tumah?

From when it is fired in the kiln,

and that [is considered] the completion of their manufacture.