Bribe ("iniy, shochad', a present, i. e. gift or re- ward, as often rendered, especially in the corrupt sense, a " bribe ;" also "133, ko'pher, a ransom or satisfaction, as generally rendered, once "bribe," 1 Sam. xii, 3), a valuable consideration given or taken for perverting justice ; a frequent practice in the East, both by judge and witnesses. See Gift.
Brick (""133,?, lebenah', so called from the whitish c\a.y of which bricks arc made, as described by Vitrnv. ii, 3; rendered "tile" in Ezek. iv, 1; hence the de- nominative verb "|3b, laban , to make brick, Gen. xi, 5 ; Exod. v, 7, 11). Bricks compacted with straw ami dried in the sun are those which are chiefly mentioned in the Scriptures. Of such bricks the Tower of Babel was doubtless composed (Gen. xi, 3), and the making of such formed the chief labor of the Israelites when bondsmen in Egypt (Exod. i, 13, 14).
1. Babylonian. — Herodotus (i, 179), describing the mode of building the walls of Babylon, says that the clay dug out of the ditch was made into bricks as soon as it was carried up, and burnt in the kilns, Kafiivoioi. The bricks were cemented with hot bitumen (atxpak- roe), and at every thirtieth row crates of reeds were stuffed in. This account agrees with the history of the building of the Tower of Confusion, in which the builders used bricks instead of stone, and slime (TCH ; aatpdkroc') for mortar (Gen. xi, 3; Joseph. Ant. i, 4, 3). In the alluvial plain of Assyria, both the mate- rial for bricks and tho cement, which bubbles up from the ground, and is collected and exported by the Arabs, were close at hand for building purposes ; but the Baby- Ionian bricks were more commonly burned in kilns than those used at Nineveh, which are chiefly sun- dried, like the Egyptian. Xcnophon mentions a wall
called the wall of Media, not far from Babylon, made of burned bricks set in bitumen, 20 feet wide and 100 feet high ; also another wall of brick 50 feet wide (Diod. ii, 7, 8, 12; Xen. A nub. ii, 4, 12; iii, 4, 11; Nah. iii, 14 ; Layard, Nineveh, ii, 46, 252, 278). While it is needless to inquire to what place or to whom the actual invention of brickmaking is to be ascribed, there is perhaps no place in the world more favora- ble for the process, none in which the remains of orig- inal brick structures have been more largely used in later times for building purposes. The Babylonian bricks are usually from 12 to 13 in. square, and 3| in. thick. (American bricks are usually 8 in. long, 3| to 4 wide, and 2i thick.) They most of them bear the name inscribed in cuneiform character of Nebuchad- nezzar, whose buildings, no doubt, replaced those of an earlier age (Layard, Xin. and Baby!, p. 505, 531). They thus have more of the character of tiles (Ezek.
Ancient Babylonian Brick, with Cuneiform Inscriptions.
iv, 1). They were sometimes glazed and enamelled with patterns of various colors. Semiramis is said by Diodorus to have overlaid some of her towers with sur- faces of enamelled brick bearing elaborate designs (l)i- odor. ii, 8). Enamelled bricks have been found at Nim- roud (Layard, ii, 312). Pliny (vii, 56) says that the Babylonians used to record their astronomical observa- tions on tiles (coctilibus laterculis). He also, as well as Yitruvius, describes the process of making bricks at Rome. There were three sizes : (a), li ft. long, 1 ft. broad; (b), 4 (Greek) palms long, 12.135 in.; (c), 5 palms long, 15.16875 in.; the breadth of these latter two the same. He says the Greeks preferred brick walls in general to stone (xxxv, 14; Vitruv. ii, 3, 8). Bricks of more than 3 palms length, and of less than IJr palm, are mentioned by the Talmudists (Baba Me- zia, c x, fol. 1176; Baba Baihra, i, '■'■ a). See Tilk.
2. Egyptian. — The use of crude brick, baked in the sun, was universal in Upper and Lower Egypt, both for public and private buildings; and the brick-field gave abundant occupation to numerous laborers throughout the country. These simple materials were found to be particularly suited to the climate, and the ease, ra- pidity, and cheapness with which they were made af- forded additional recommendations. The Israelites, in common with other captives, were employed by the Egyptian monarchs in making bricks and in building
BRICK
BRICK
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Foreign Captives employed in making Bricks by the ancient Egyptians. 1, Man returning after carrying the bricks; 3, C, Taskmasters; 4, 5, Men carrying bricks; 7, 9, 12, 13, Digging and mixing the clay or mud; 8, 10, Making bricks with a wooden mould, d, /; 14, 15, Fetching water from the tank, h. At e the bricks (tobi) are said to be made at Thebes.
(Exod. i, 14; v, 7). Kiln-bricks were not generally used in Egypt, but were dried in the sun, and even without straw are as firm as when first put up in the reigns of the Amunophs and Thotmes whose names they bear. The usual dimensions vary from 20 in. or 17 in. to 14 J in. long ; 8| in. to 6| in. wide ; and 7 in. to 4h in. thick. When made of the Nile mud or alluvial deposit, they required (as they still require) straw to prevent cricking ; but those formed of clay taken from the torrent beds on the edge of the desert held together without straw ; and crude brick walls had frequently the additional security of a layer of reeds and sticks, placed at intervals to act as binders (Wilkinson, ii, 194, abridgm. ; Birch, Ancient Pottery, i, 14 ; comp. Herod, i, 179). B iked bricks, however, were used, chiefly in places in contact with water. The}' are smaller than the sun-dried bricks (Birch, i, 23). A brick-kiln is mentioned as in Egypt by the prophet Jeremiah (xliii, 9). A brick pyramid is mentioned by Herodotus (ii, 1:30) as the work of King Asychis. Sesostris (ii, 138) is said to have employed his captives in building. Numerous remains of buildings of various kinds exist, constructed of sun-dried bricks, of which many speci- mens are to be seen in the British Museum with in- scriptions indicating their date and purpose (Birch, i, 11, 17). Among the paintings at Thebes, one on the tomb of Rckshara, an officer of the court of Thotmes III (B.C. cir. 1100), represents the enforced labors in brick-making of captives, who arc distinguished from the natives by the color in which they arc drawn. Watching over the laborers arc "task-masters," who, armed with sticks, arc receiving the "tale of bricks" and urging <>n the work. The processes of digging out the cla\-. of moulding, and of arranging, arc all duly represented ; and, though the laborers cannot be deter- mined to I"' Jews, yet the similarity of employment il- lustrates the Bible history in a remarkable degree