II. MINERAL SUBSTANCES :- I. Marble. We find the court of the king of Persia's palace covered with marble of various colours (Esth. 6). David is recorded to have possessed abundance of marble (1 Chron. xxx. [xxix.] 2 ; comp. Cant. v. 15), and it was used by Solomon for his palace, as well a.s for the Temple.
2. Polphyry and Granite are supposed. to be the glistering stones, and stones of divers colonrs,' named in Chron. xxix. 2. If so, the mountains of Arabia Petrxa furnished the nearest source of ' supply, as these stones do not exist in Palestine or Lebanon.
3. Bricks. Bricks hardened by fire were em ployed in the construction of tbe tower of Babel (Gen. xi. 3), and the hard bondage of the Israelites in Egypt consisted in the manufacture of sun-dried bricks (Exod. v. 7, to-13). This important build ing-material has been noticed under another head [Balcics] ; and it only remains to remark- that no subsequent notice of bricks as being used by the Hebrews occurs after they had entered Palestine. Yet, judging from existing analogies, it is more than probable that bricks were to a considerable extent employed in their buildings. From the ex pense and labour of quarrying and conveying stone, bricks are often extensively used in Eastern countries even where stone is abundant ; and it is not unusual to see the foundations and lower parts of the house of stone, while the superstructure is of brick.
4. Chalk. and Gyfisum, which the Hebrews ap pear to have comprehended under the general name of "It', sid. That the Hebrews were acquainted with these materials appears from Deut. xxvii. 2 : and fmm Dan. v. 5 ; Acts xxiii. 3, it further ap pears that walls were covered with them. A highly instructive and curious account of the .plas ters used in the East may be seen in tome iv. of Langles's edition of Chardin's Voyages.
s. Martar, a cement made of lime, ashes, and chopped straw, or of gypsum and chopped straw. This is probably meant in Jer. 9 ; Ezek. xiii. to-is.
6. Asphaltum, or Bitumen, rchicb is mentioned as being used for a cement by the builders of Babel. This must have been in the want of lime-mortar, the country being a stoneless plain. But the Israel its, who bad no lack of the usual cements, clicl not employ asphaltum [CHEmmt.] 7. The metals also must be, to a certain extent, regarded as building materials : lead, iron, and copper are mentioned ; and even silver and gold were used in combination with wood, for various kinds of solid, plated, and inlaid work (Exod. xxxvi. 34, 36, 38).