| Word | American Tract Society - Definition |
| BRICKS | Were usually made of clay, dried and hardened in the sun, Ge 11:3, though brick-kilns were sometimes used, 2Sa 12:31 Na 3:14. The tower of Babel was constructed of brick, cemented with bitumen. The bricks used were often a foot square; and great numbers of them are found, both in Babylon and Egypt, impressed with some royal or priestly stamp. The principal subject of interest connected with brick making is the fact that it was the labor in which the Hebrews in Egypt were most oppressed. On the monuments of Egypt, all the parts of this hard and ancient task-work are painted-the carrying, tempering, and molding of the clay, and the drying and pilling of the bricks-all done by foreigners under the orders of taskmasters. The straw was probably mixed with the clay to compact it. See Wilkinson's "Ancient Egyptians." |