BRICK (brik), (Heb. made of white clay).
(1) Bricks compacted with straw and dried in the sun arc those which are chiefly mentioned in the Scriptures. Of such bricks the tower of Babel was doubtless composed (See BABEL, TOWER OF; BABVLON), and the making of such formed the chief labor of the Israelites when bondsmen in Egypt (Exod. :t3. 14). This last fact consti tutes the principal subject of Scriptural interest connected with bricks: and leads us to regard with peculiar interest the mural paintings of that country, which have lately been brought to light, in which scenes of brick-making are depicted.
(2) 'The use of crude brick, baked in the sun, was universal in Upper and Lower Egypt, both for public and private buildings; and the brick-field gave abundant occupation to numerous laborers throughout the country.
'We find that, independent of native laborers, a great many foreigners were constantly engaged in the brick-fields at Thebes and other parts of Egypt. The Jews, of course, were not excluded from this drudgery; and, like the captives de tained in the Thebaid, they were condemned to the same labor in Lower Egypt. They erected granaries, treasure-cities and other public build ings for the Egyptian monarch ; the materials used in 'heir construction were the work of their hands and the constant employment of brick makers may be accounted for by the extensive supply required and kept by the government for sale' (Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, ii, pp. 97, (3) Captive foreigners being thus found engaged in brick-making, Biblical illustrators, with their usual alacrity, jumped to the conclusion that these captive foreigners were Jews, and that the scenes represented were those of their actual operations in Egypt. Sir J. G. Wilkinson satisfactorily dis poses of this inference by the following remark : 'To meet with Hebrews in the sculptures cannot reasonably be expected, since the remains in that part of Egypt where they lived have not been preserved ; but it is curious to discover other for eign captives occupied in the same manner, and overlooked by similar "task-masters." and per forming the very same labors as the Israelites de scribed in the Bible; and no one can look at the paintings of Thebes, representing brick-makers, without a feeling of the highest interest.' (4) The great quantity made at all times may be inferred from the number of buildings which still remain constructed of these materials; but it is worthy of remark that more bricks bearing the name of Thothmes 111 (who is supposed to have been the king at the time of the Exodc) have been discovered than at any other period, owing to the many prisoners of Asiatic nations employed by him, independent of his Hebrew captives.
(5) The process of manufacture does not mate rially differ from that which is still followed in the same country. The clay was brought in bas kets from the Nile, thrown into a heap, thoroughly saturated with water, and worked up to a proper temper by the feet of the laborers. This labor in such a climate must have been very fatiguing and unwholesome, and it consequently appears to have been shunned by the native Egyptians. There is standing in the fields, he would have shown him self an idiot as well as a tyrant ; but the narrative shows us that the Israelites found the stems of the last year's harvest standing in the fields; for by the word 'stubble' (Exod. v:12) the historian clearly means the stalks that remained from the last year's harvest. Still the demand that they should complete their tale of bricks was one that could scarcely be fulfilled; and the conduct of Pharaoh on this occasion is a perfect specimen of Oriental despotism." (See Pithorn.) (brik'kil), a kiln for enclosing bricks while they are being burned (2 Sam. xii:31 and Nah. iii:14, where R. V. margin translates brickmould; Jer. xliii:o, in R. V., brickwork).
an allusion to the severity of this labor in Nahum iii :14,15. The clay, when tempered, was cut by an instrument somewhat resembling the agricultural hoe, and molded in an oblong trough ; the bricks were then dried in the sun, and some from their color appear to have been baked or burned, but no trace of this operation has yet been discovered in the monuments (Dr. W. C. Taylor's Bible Illus trated, p. 82).
(6) The writer just cited makes the following pertinent remarks on the order of the king that the Israelites should collect the straw with which to compact (not burn) their bricks: "It is evident that Pharaoh did not require a physical impos sibility, because the Egyptian reapers only cut away the tops of the corn. (See AGRICULTURE.) We must remember that the tyrannical Pharaoh issued his orders prohibiting the supply of straw about two months before the time of harvest. If, therefore, the straw had not been usually left