Clay, (Hastings' Dictionary)

This word is frequently used in the Bible either in a literal or a meta- phorical sense, in which latter it is parallel with 'dust' (conip. Gn 2' and Is 64"). Clay is widely di.striliuted over the surfnce of nearly all countries, especially in valleys, and from the earliest tinier of the human race was tised both for the con struction of buihlings and habitations and for the maniifacture of pottery ami works of art.

It is a mixture of decomposed minerals of various kinds, and hence is exceedingly variable in com 448 CLEAN CLEAR CLEARNESS position. Alumina, silica, and potash are tlie principal constituents; but along Avitli these may tie variable quantities of linie, ma^gnesia, and iron, which give variety both to the quality and colour. Hence various kinds of clay are suited for dili'erent uses in the arts. 1. As a building material, clay has been used from the earliest ages.

Ancient Babylon, as de- scribed by Herodotus, and verified by modern dis- covery, was buUt altogether of brick, either baked in kilns or dried in the sun ; and amongst the jther remains is the great quadrilateral pile of brickwork, — known as Babil, the Gate of God, cor- rupted by the Jews to ' Babel,' * — which might well have been supposed to be the ' Tower of Babel ' described in Gn 11'"', but that the inscriptions found thereon, by Sir Henry Rawlinson, show it to have been the famous Tower of the Seven Planets buUt by Nebuchadrezzar II.

(B.C. 604-562). Of similar materials was built, in the main, the capital of Assyria, though blocks of limestone, alabaster, and other materials were also employed. The clay used in Nineveh was derived from the alluvia of the Tigris.t The brickmaking in Lower Egypt of the time of the Exodus is still carried on, the clay used being derived from the silt of the Nile ; and bricks in the British Museum, inscribed with the names of Tahutmes I., B.C. 1700, and Kamses II., B.C.

1400, show straw mixed with the clay in order to bind it together as described in OT (Ex 1" 5'). Most of the \'illages both in Lower Egypt and in the Nile Valley are built of sun-dried clay ; bricks of clay were also largely used in the construction of ancient Troy.J 2. The use of clay for pottery was coeval with its use for building purposes. Remains of jars, vases, bowls, and other vessels are found amongst the most ancient ruins of Assyria, Babylonia, and Egj'pt.

The potter's wheel was corumonly em- ployed in such works, and is often referred to in the Bible ; but of all the purposes for which clay was employed in very ancient times, none was more interesting than its use for imprinting letters of cuneiform characters on tablets which liave been discovered in immense numbers amongst the ruins of As.syria and Babylonia ; § they were either in the form of bricks or cylinders of clay, baked after the inscription had been impresscd.

H Amongst the inscrijitions is the story of the Crea- tion, the Fall, and the Deluge, deciphered by the late George Smith of the British Museum : H of only less interest are the Tel el-Amarna tablets in Egypt, one of which has been discovered by Bliss amongst the ruins at Tell el-Hesy in Southern Palestine (supposed to be Lachish, one of the live Amorite cities, Jos 10°), and dating as far back as B.C. 1480.** E. Hull.