MORTAR

MORTAR: (Genesis 11:3; Exodus 1:14; Leviticus 14:42,45; Isaiah 41:25; Ezekiel 13:10,11,14,15; 22:28; Nehemiah 3:14) The various compacting substances used in Oriental buildings appear to be -- Bitumen, as in the Babylonian structures; Common mud or moistened clay; A very firm cement compounded of sand, ashes and lime, in the proportions respectively of 1,2,3, well pounded, sometimes mixed and sometimes coated with oil, so as to form a surface almost impenetrable to wet or the weather. In Assyrian and also Egyptian brick buildings, stubble or straw, as hair or wool among ourselves, was added to increase the tenacity.