One of the ancient methods of writing, was on stone or brick, of which,
as the earliest example on record, if allowable to be cited, may be
adduced that of the two pillars of Seth, the one of brick and the other
of stone, said by Josephus to have been erected before the deluge, and
to have contained the history of antediluvian arts and sciences. However
disputable this account may be, that of the tables of stone on which the
decalogue was written by the finger of the Deity, and delivered to Moses
on Mount Sinai, can admit of no doubt, no more than can the hieroglyphic
characters in the most ancient periods, engraved on the marbles of
Egypt, at present so abundant in the collections of Europe, and which
remain to this day, and will be, for centuries to come, a lasting proof
of the high advance in the engraving art, as well as in chemical
science, of a nation, who, at that early period, could fabricate
instruments to cut them so deep and indelibly on the almost impenetrable
granite.
In countries destitute of stone, like Chaldea, an artificial substance,
clay, intermixed with reeds, and indurated by fire, was made use of for
that purpose. Of this substance, formed into square masses, covered with
mystic characters, the walls and palaces of Babylon were, for the most
part, constructed: and it has been seen in the accounts of travelers who
have visited these ruins, examined the bricks, and observed those reeds
intermingled with their substance, how durable, through a vast
succession of ages, those bricks, with their inscribed characters, have
remained. Their real meaning, or that of the Persepolitan arrow-headed
obelistical characters, and the still more complicated hieroglyphics of
Egypt, however partially deciphered by the labors of the learned, will,
perhaps, never be fathomed in its full extent, by the utmost ingenuity
of man.
Of the bitumen with which these Babylonian bricks were cemented
together, and which was plentifully produced in the neighborhood of
Babylon, it may be proper in this place to remark, that it binds
stronger than mortar, and in time becomes harder than the brick itself.
It was also impenetrable to water, as was formerly well known, for both
the outside and the inside of the ark was incrusted with it. Gen. vi.
14. It may be proper to add here, that the bitumen, to deprive it of its
brittleness, and render it capable of being applied to the brick, must
be boiled with a certain proportion of oil, and that it retains its
tenacity longest in a humid situation. Mr. Rich informs us, that it is
“at present principally used for calking boats, coating cisterns, baths,
and other places which usually come in contact with water. The fragments
of it scattered over the ruins of Babylon are black, shining and
brittle, somewhat resembling pit-coal in substance and appearance.” It
will not be forgotten, that the custom above alluded to, of mixing straw
or reeds with bricks baked in the sun, in order to bind them closer, and
so make them more firm and compact, was also used in Egypt, as may be
inferred from Exodus v. 7, where Pharaoh commands the taskmasters of the
oppressed Israelites “not to give them straw to make bricks,” in order
to multiply their vexations and increase their toil.
Speaking of the Babylonian bricks, and their variety in respect to size,
color, hardness, &c., Mr. Rich tells us, that the general size of the
kiln-burnt brick is thirteen inches square, by three thick; and that
some are of about half these dimensions, and a few of different shapes
for particular purposes, such as rounding corners, &c. They are of
different colors: _white_, with a yellowish tinge, like what are called
fire-brick; _red_, like our ordinary brick, which are the coarsest of
all; and some _blackish_, and very hard. The sun-dried brick are
generally the largest, and more or less mixed with chopped straw, for
the obvious purpose of binding them; and some even of the fire-burnt
bricks seem to have been made of the same material. In the palace, or
Kasr, Mr. Rich found far finer specimens of art than the mere brick-work
affords; for in addition to the substances usually strewed on the
surfaces of all these mounds, he saw fragments of alabaster vessels,
fine earthen-ware, marble, and great quantities of varnished tiles, the
glazing and coloring of which was surprisingly fresh. The process from
making pottery to molding figures in clay, was not difficult; but the
designs in brass, and the grouping of figures, must have required much
greater skill and labor.