Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BRICK

One of the most common building materials in the ancient Near East. In Mesopotamia kiln-fired bricks were common (as in the Tower of Babel account, Gen. 11:3); sun-dried bricks were used in Egypt and Palestine until the Roman period. In the hills of Palestine, where it was abundant, stone was used for foundations and mudbrick for the superstructure; in Egypt stone was used to build temples and royal monuments.

Excavations have shown that mudbrick was used extensively from as early as the Neolithic Period. At Neolithic Jericho handshaped “hog-back” bricks were common, followed by “bun” bricks, and later rectangular mold-made bricks in the Early Bronze Age. Mudbrick was used to build monumental city walls, private dwellings, and public buildings like temples.

The making of bricks has been an important occupation from prehistoric times to present-day Egypt. Egyptian wall paintings depicting the making of bricks are known from as early as Old Kingdom times; these paintings show the soaking of the clay, the mixing of the clay with straw or other materials, and the shaping of the bricks either by hand or in a wooden mold. Some Egyptian bricks were stamped with the pharaoh’s name, although more numerous examples of stamped bricks have been found in Babylonia.

Jennie R. Ebeling

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BRICK

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)