Crack Bricks Of Egypt 2 35
Elliott Davis
In ancient Egypt people used mud and straw to make bricks for their houses. The straw was added to the mud to make the brick stronger. They were placed in a mould to give them an oblong shape, which is easier to build with. This material helps to keep the houses cool when it is hot and warm when it is cool.
But even where trees and stone are handy, mud still offers several benefits. One can easily tailor mudbricks to the needed size and thus yield a uniform size facilitating construction (David 285). They are relatively inexpensive and quick to produce and require no-or-minimal specialization (David 286). An additional major benefit is their thermal quality; the porosity left by the straw/stubble provides a degree of insulation for warmth in the winter and coolness in the summer (Homsher 3).
While there are variations in the soil composition, bricks vary with combinations of clay, silt, sand, organic material, and carbonates (Rosen 75). The organic material is necessary for an effective temper (Homsher 19-20) and usually consists of straw and/or chaff and sometimes dung (David 285). Part of the value of the temper is to reduce the shrinkage of the brick as it dries, but it also yields a more durable product. An examination of the close-up of a brick from Tel Beth-Shemesh shows the imprints of decayed remnants of straw in the clay matrix (see photo below).7
Kitchen (1976) discusses aspects of brick production from the ancient world working with various ancient Egyptian documents, but the data are ambiguous leaving unclear the daily quota expectation. Nims (27), however, provides an ethnographic observation from Egypt in the 1940s A.D. when a village near the Valley of the Kings was under construction. He records that a brickmaker and the helper who transported the mud mixture could produce two thousand to three thousand bricks in the span of seven to eight hours.
Obviously, water is an arch enemy of mudbricks. It will dissolve the bricks as well as weaken them, especially near the base of the walls. Several strategies can help minimize the adverse effects of water. Typically, the construction techniques in the Ancient Near East involved building a stone foundation of 2-3 courses of stone upon which mudbricks were then placed to the desired height. The stone foundation would minimize the capillary action of water and salts seeping into the lower courses of bricks (Rosen 11). It would also help reduce the erosive effect of water splashing from the roof back onto the bricks or from water running in the street12 (Homsher 2).
Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE.
The history of mudbrick production and construction in the southern Levant may be dated as far back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (e.g., PPNA Jericho).[2] These sun dried mudbricks, also known as adobe or just mudbrick, were made from a mixture of sand, clay, water and frequently tempered (e.g. chopped straw and chaff branches), and were the most common method/material for constructing earthen buildings throughout the ancient Near East for millennia.[2][3][4] Unfired mud-brick is still made throughout the world today, using both modern and traditional methods.[5][6]
The 9000 BCE dwellings of Jericho were constructed from mudbricks,[7] affixed with mud, as would those at numerous sites across the Levant over the following millennia. Well-preserved mudbricks from a site at Tel Tsaf, in the Jordan Valley, have been dated to 5200 BCE,[8] though there is no evidence that either site was the first to use the technology. Evidence suggests that the mudbrick composition at Tel Tsaf was stable for at least 500 years, throughout the middle Chalcolithic period.[2]
The Mesopotamians used sun-dried bricks in their city construction;[11] typically these bricks were flat on the bottom and curved on the top, called plano-convex mud bricks. Some were formed in a square mould and rounded so that the middle was thicker than the ends. Some walls had a few courses of fired bricks from their bases up to the splash line to extend the life of the building.
Sun dried mudbrick was the most common construction material employed in ancient Egypt during pharaonic times and were made in pretty much the same way for millennia. Mud from some locations required sand, chopped straw or other binders such as animal dung to be mixed in with the mud to increase durability and plasticity.[4] Workers gathered mud from the Nile river and poured it into a pit. Workers then tramped on the mud while straw was added to solidify the mold.[citation needed] The mudbricks were chemically suitable as fertilizer, leading to the destruction of many ancient Egyptian ruins, such as at Edfu. A well-preserved site is Amarna.[13] Mudbrick use increased at the time of Roman influence.[14]
In the Ancient Greek world, mudbrick was commonly used for the building of walls, fortifications and citadels, such as the walls of the Citadel of Troy (Troy II).[15] These mudbricks were often made with straw or dried vegetable matter.[16]
The Great Mosque of Djenné, in central Mali, is the world's largest mudbrick structure. It, like much of Sahelian architecture, is built with a mudbrick called Banco,[17] a recipe of mud and grain husks, fermented, and either formed into bricks or applied on surfaces as a plaster like paste in broad strokes. This plaster must be reapplied annually.[18]
The command of the Pharaoh was but a boast, but a new question now arises: Were mud bricks ever burnt (baked) in Egypt at this time? In several articles by Christian missionaries the point is repeatedly made that Egyptians did not construct buildings out of baked bricks during this period. For example, in the article Tower of Burnt bricks in Egypt? we read:
We would like to examine these statements in the light of Egyptology to see whether the Qur'anic statement of using burnt bricks in Egypt during the time of Moses is indeed a historical contradiction.
The first thing to establish is whether there exist any hieroglyph that mentions the burning of bricks in ancient Egypt. A good place to start is Die Sprache Der Pharaonen Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch, a concise Egyptian-German dictionary. Under the entry "Ziegel Brennen" (i.e., "to burn bricks"), we see:[1]
In fact, a papyrus of the 19th Dynasty contains accounts of brick making and records the number of bricks produced by various workmen but unfortunately does not state the length of time required to make bricks. The same papyrus contains the word "gash" which Adolf Erman and Hermann Grapow in 1931 in their book Wörterbuch Der Aegyptischen Sprache stated it meant "to burn bricks". But the damaged state of the text made it impossible for them to be sure of the meaning.[2]
The use of burnt brick in Egypt did not become common until the Roman Period. However, there is enough evidence to show that burnt brick was known in Egypt from a very early date. Long bars of baked clay were employed in the Predynastic grain-kilns at Abydos and Mahasna, and, while these cannot be called bricks, they show a knowledge of the effect of baking on ordinary mud. It is impossible that early Egyptians were unaware of the fact that mud-bricks could be hardened by burning, since they could have observed this process in any building which, by accident or design, was gutted by fire.[3] There are several examples of accidental production of burnt brick. They occur in the 1st Dynasty tombs at Saqqara, due to their having been burnt by plunderers; and similar cases must have been fairly common. There is no evidence, as yet, that Egyptians deliberately prepared burnt bricks for use in buildings during the Predynastic Period or the Old Kingdom. However, there are examples of glazed tiles, appearing in a highly developed technique in both the 1st and 3rd Dynasties. This proves that the Egyptians during the advent of Old Kingdom Period were well aware of glazing as a method of decoration and protection.[4] The earliest example of the use of burnt brick comes from the Middle Kingdom fortresses in Nubia, in which they were used as paving-slabs measuring 30 x 30 x 5 cm.[5] The next instance of the burnt brick is recorded in the New Kingdom Period, when they occur in conjunction with funerary cones in the superstructures of the tombs at Thebes.[6] Burnt brick as a constructional material also appears at Nebesheh and Defenneh dated to Ramesside times to which we will now turn our attention.
The assertion of the missionaries that burnt bricks were not used in Egypt during the time of Moses is allegedly based on the book Manual Of Egyptian Archaeology. Although this book is mentioned, it is never once referenced completely or quoted accurately, and furthermore, the year of publication is always conspicuously absent. The exact details of our copy at least is Gaston Maspero (Trans. by Amelia B. Edwards), Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide To The Study Of Antiquities In Egypt, 1895, New Edition, Revised and Enlarged by the Author, H. Grevel & Co.: London.
Thus, although rare, baked bricks were manufactured in ancient Egypt but their use did not become common until the Roman period. The interested reader should consult Tanis, II, by W. M. Flinders Petrie and F. Ll. Griffith[10] for further information concerning the true nature and importance of these discoveries.
From the ongoing discussion it is clear that the burnt brick was known in all periods (i.e., Old, Middle and New Kingdom Periods) in Egypt. To claim that the mention of burnt bricks during the times of Moses is a historical contradiction is simply a case of sheer ignorance and shows a poor understanding of construction techniques employed throughout the ancient Egyptian period.
The missionaries contradicting themselves when faced with hard facts is not too surprising. They first stated that the mention of burnt brick is a "problem for the authenticity and accuracy of the Qur'an" since at the time of Moses "Egyptians didn't construct buildings out of burnt clay." When presented with the evidence that the burnt brick was known in Egypt in all periods, that is even before the arrival of Moses in Egypt, their tune suddenly changed. The missionary Vargo agrees that the "firing bricks was known throughout Egyptian history is hardly surprising" as "Egyptians were a sophisticated people." If this was indeed that case why is he contradicting himself by claiming that "the Qur'an makes an historical error when it claims that the Egyptians used baked bricks" when he himself agrees that burnt brick was known "throughout Egyptian history"? It is clear that the contradiction is in the stance of the missionaries rather than in the Qur'an.
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