BRICKMAKING

BRICKMAKING

Bricks (Gen. 11:3) made of clay or a claylike mixture of mud and straw were one of the primary materials used for construction in the ancient world. There were probably two methods for making bricks. The easiest was to pack clay into a mold and let the block dry in the sun. The Hebrews probably used this method in Egypt (Ex. 5:7) and later in the Promised Land (2 Sam. 12:31; Jer. 43:9).

The Babylonians, whose ancestors probably constructed the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4), used a more advanced technology of firing their bricks in kilns to make them harder and more durable. They also made them larger, up to a foot square, and flatter in order to support more weight than an ordinary brick.