Mortar

( Genesis 11:3 ; Exodus 1:14 ; Leviticus 14:42 Leviticus 14:45 ; Isaiah 41:25 ; Ezekiel 13:10 Ezekiel 13:11 Ezekiel 13:14 Ezekiel 13:15 ; 22:28 ; Nehemiah 3:14 ) The various compacting substances used in Oriental buildings appear to be --

1. Bitumen, as in the Babylonian structures;
2. Common mud or moistened clay;
3. 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.