Bricks Of Egypt Game

[Autumn Pitz]

Thericher and more important the person had been during their life, the larger and more decorative the paintings would be. Sometimes they were used to tell of the person's achievements in their life or offer prayers to the gods.

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.

Buildings in ancient Egypt were constructed from either stone or mudbrick. Temples were generally built with stone and they were meant to last throughout the ages. Palaces on the other hand, were built for comfort out of mudbrick, which was cool in the day and warm at night. Each type of construction was considered specialised labour: in other words, people who did one did not do the other.[1]

The Papyrus Anastasi VI from around 3200 years ago describes how the Egyptian authorities allowed a group of Semitic nomads from Edom who worshiped Yahweh to pass the border-fortress in the region of Tjeku (Wadi Tumilat) and proceed with their livestock to the lakes of Pithom.[5] More evidence of the presence of Semitic[6] people in Egypt.

The slaves working here are: The captives that His Majesty has bought back to work in the temple of Amun. One thus understands the presence of light-skinned Asian (others have referred to them as Semitic) and dark-skinned Nubians dressed in leather loincloths. Their task is explained: Making bricks to rebuild nine workshops of Amun in Karnak.

The reservoir where men will draw water is represented as an ornamental pond, surrounded by trees, with a green bank and having rippled water with floating lilies. Two workers draw up water for the production of bricks. These are made using a mixture of the Nile mud and chopped straw, worked with hoes or by trampling; the mixture is then brought to brick makers who mould the bricks using a wooden template, and then line them up in the sun to dry.

Transportation deals with white rectangular blocks (limestone) and pink (another stone?); the latter are stacked in front of an Asian who, kneeling, holding his hoe to the right. A heavily loaded Nubian is trying to stand up again while one of his companions is already walking to his destination. A porter returns empty handed, yoke on shoulder and meets a man who carries a single block of limestone (white).

In order to test the accuracy of scripture, Robert Littman and associates, went to Timai in the Nile delta region where the remnants of some ancient mudbrick buildings remain, learnt the process from some locals and commenced work.[9] They established the following facts:

Thank you for your comment Gerry. There are differences in pigmentation of the slaves. There are four darker ones who would be Nubians and the Semitics and Egyptian task master being similarly pigmented. Please keep in mind that this image is about 3.500 years old, so we would not expect it to be as it was when originally constructed.

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

The process of making mudbrick is well illustrated in a wall painting from the tomb of Rekhmire9 who was an Egyptian vizier under Thutmose III (ca. 1504-1450 B.C.) and Amenhotep II (ca. 1450-1425 B.C.; see photo at top of article). The accompanying photograph of an Egyptian model from the 12th dynasty (ca. 1991-1786 B.C.) depicts making mudbrick also demonstrating part of the process.

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).

Another maintenance issue was regularly to plaster and re-plaster the walls. This helped retard the effects of moisture and erosion, as well as the intrusion of plants, insects, and animals (Homsher 3).

Mudbrick was a ubiquitous construction material in the ancient world. The materials for making brick were easily accessible and its construction required essentially no specialization. It is thus not surprising that mudbrick in some fashion would become part of the storyline of the Bible and even part of the teaching mechanism for the people. Familiarity with the use of mudbrick and some of its characteristics of construction and its use can help refine our understanding and appreciation of the message of the Bible. It can also aid our efforts to Keep Thinking.

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 were 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]

In areas of Spanish influence, mud-brick construction is called adobe, and developed over time into a complete system of wall protection, flat roofing and finishes which in modern English usage is often referred to as adobe style, regardless of the construction method.

The Great Mosque of Djenn, 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 birth brick also shows a scene of a mother and newborn sitting on a throne. Assisted by two figures and flanked by images of the goddess Hathor depicted atop tree branches, this scene appears to constitute a two-dimensional visual spell to invoke Hathor as well as to symbolically transfigure the mother into an incarnation of Hathor at the moment of birth. This rich iconography suggests the importance of two-dimensional magical imagery which functioned in combination with spoken magical spells and ritual actions during birth.

This painted reconstruction shows the mother and newborn scene on the birth brick.

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