has taken on new forms since ancient times and its ancient uses have inspired the use of other

natural sources of tar such as wood and, more recently, the creation of various synthetic

waterproofing materials that do not contain tar. The fact that tar was discovered and used so

long ago gives credit to the people of that time as being innovative.

 Brick

 In the Near East and India, bricks have been in use for more than five thousand years.

Genesis 11:3 records the first reference to bricks being made and used, "they said to one another,

'Come, let us make bricks and bum {them} thoroughly.' And they used brick for stone, and they

used tar for mortar". Since the word "burn" is used in this verse, it can be assumed that they

made use of some sort of heat to dry the bricks. The use of this word does not necessarily

indicate that a fire kiln was used. Although this is a possibility, there is no archaeological

evidence of any fire kilns being used in Mesopotamia or in Palestine (Bullinger 1990).

 The ancient mechanism for "burning" these bricks is unknown but it was likely to be sun

drying. Sun drying bricks is still a common practice in Palestine (Unger 1988).There are "brick

kilns" mentioned in Jeremiah 43:9 and Nahum 3:14, but the word brickkilnn", (Hebrew malben)

is more appropriately translated as brick-work or brick pavement meaning a paved area (Unger

1988). Jeremiah the prophet said "Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in

the brickkiln, which [is] at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of

Judah" (Jeremiah 43:9 KJV). This verse points out that the brickkilnn" was at the entrance to the

Pharaohs house. It would be very strange to have an actual brick kiln at the entrance to a palace,

so the only logical conclusion would be that Jeremiah 43:9 refers to brick pavement. The other

verse in question is Nahum 3:14 "Draw for your self water for the siege! Strengthen your

fortifications! Go into the clay and tread the mortar! Take hold of the brick mold" (NASB)! The

King James Version of the Bible uses the word "brick-kiln" in lieu of the term "brick mold".