MORTAR. (r. inh ; 7rriX6s ; cementum ; Gen. xi. 3 ; Exod. i. 14 ; Is. xli. 25 ; Nah. iii. 54).
2. 1W; ; htetint; Lev. xiv. 42, 45. 3. .;11 ; /utum ; Ezek. xiii. to, it, 14, 15 ; xxii. ; derived from the Arabic, and used in the several verses noted in Ezek. in a contemptuous sense). Each He brew term is rendered mortar' in the A. V. The first (Chomer) is a word from the same root (Inn, boil '), as iron, 'slime' bitumen), as used in Gen. xi. 3, And they said to one another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly, and they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.' [CHF.mAR.] Kitto mentions three kinds of calcareous earth, found abundantly in the desert west of the Euphrates. The first, called noora, is, in present use, mixed with ashes, and employed as a coating for the lower parts of walls in baths, and other places liable to damps. Another, called by the Turks karej, and by the Arabs jus, is also found in powder mixed with indurated pieces of the same substance, and round pebbles. This forms even now the common cement of the country, and constitutes the mortar generally found in the burnt brickwork of the most ancient remains. When good, the bricks cemented by it cannot well be detached without being broken, whilst those laid in bitumen can easily be separated. The third sort, called borak,
is a substance resembling gypsum, and is found in large lumps of an earthy appearance, which, when burned, form an excellent plaster or whitewash. Pure clay or mud is also used as a cement, but this is exclusively with the sun-dried bricks (Pict. Bib., Gen. xi. 3). Besides mortar made from bitumen, from common mud and clay, mixed with straw such as they gave to cattle, chopped and beaten small, and serving the same purpose as the ox-hair which our plasterers mix with their plaster, the Hebrews had a mortar made from sand, ashes, and lime, well pounded and mixed with oil. When used as plaster to resist wet, the greatest pains were taken in tempering it. In the way of tempering, nothing affords a stronger manifestation of persevering and patient labour than the long continued and repeated beatings to which the Orientals subject the plaster (of lime, ashes, and straw), which is more especially intended to resist wet, and which does most effectually answer that purpose' [HousE] (Pict. Bib., Ezek. xiii. to). Mortar was usually trodden with the feet, but wheels were also used. These were wrought with oxen (Volney, Tray. u. ; Buckhardt, Nubia, p. 82, S9).—W. J. C.