MORTAR
This well-known utensil was employed by the Hebrews in preparing manna for use, Num 11:8 . Large iron mortars, for pounding grain, have been used by the Turks in the execution of criminals; but it is not known that the Jews ever practiced this mode of punishment. To this day a favorite article of food in Syria is prepared by pounding meat for hours in an iron mortar, and adding grain and spice while the process of “braying” goes on, Pro 27:22 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Mortar
[for building] stands in the Auth. Vers. for two Heb. words: (cho’mer, prop. red “clay,” as sometimes rendered), cement, of lime and sand (Gen 11:3; Exo 1:14), also potter’s clay (Isa 41:25; Nah 3:14); (aphar’, prob. whitish “dust,” as usually rendered), mud or clay, used as a cement in the walls of buildings (Lev 14:42; Lev 14:45). In Eze 13:10 the expression occurs, “One built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar” (there is no word in the original answering to this last), which the Targum and the Vulgate seem to understand not of plaster, but of the cement used in uniting the materials of a wall, rendering it “clay without straw,” clay and straw, well mixed together, being understood to have been the ordinary cement of Eastern buildings. There is no doubt that the Hebrews sometimes plastered their walls; and that kind of plaster now most common in the East is made with the same materials as the cob-walls, sun-dried bricks and mortar, namely, clay and straw mixed together, the straw such as they give to their cattle, chopped and beaten small, and serving the same purpose as the ox-hair which our plasterers mix with their plaster. This requires to be well tempered, which is generally done by long-continued treading or beating (Kitto, Pict. Bible, note ad loc.). SEE BRICK.
Mr. Rich, speaking of the Birs Nimroud at Babylon, says, “The fire-burned bricks of which it is built have inscriptions on them, and so excellent is the cement, which appears to be lime-mortar, that it is nearly impossible to extract one Whole.” SEE DWELLING. “Omitting iron cramps, lead, SEE HANDICRAFT, and the instances in which large stones are found in close apposition without cement, 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. SEE PLASTER.
In Assyrian, and also Egyptian brick buildings, stubble or straw, as hair or wool among ourselves, was added to increase the tenacity (Shaw, Trav. page 206; Volney, Trav. 2:436; Chardin, Voy. 4:116). If the materials were bad in themselves, as mere mud would necessarily be, or insufficiently mixed, or, as the Vulgate seems to understand (Eze 13:10), if straw were omitted, the mortar or cobwall would be liable to crumble under the influence of wet weather. (See Shaw, Trav. page 136, and Gesenius, Thesaur. page 1515, s.v. a word connected with the Arabic tufal, a substance resembling pipe-clay, believed by Burckhardt to be the detritus of the felspar of granite, and used for taking stains out of cloth; Burckhardt, Syria, page 488; Mishna, Pesach, 10:3.) Wheels for grinding chalk or lime for mortar, closely resembling our own machines for the same purpose, are in use in Egypt (Niebuhr, Voy. 1:122, pl. 17; Burckhardt, Nubia, ) pages 82, 97, 102, 140; Hasselquist, Trav. page 90).” SEE MASON.
Modern Orientals have several materials for mortar superior to bitumen. These consist of three kinds of calcareous earth found abundantly in the desert west of the Euphrates. The first, called niura, is, in present use, mixed with ashes, and employed as a coating for the lower parts of walls in baths and other places liable to dampness. Another, called by the Turks karej, and by the Arabs jus, is also found in powder mixed with indurated pieces of the same substance and round pebbles. This forms even now the common cement of the country and constitutes the mortar generally found in the burned brickwork of the most ancient remains. When good, the bricks cemented by it cannot well be detached without being broken, while those laid in bitumen can easily be separated. The third sort, called borak, is a substance resembling gypsum, and is founding large lumps of an earthy appearance, which, when burned, form an excellent plaster or whitewash. Pure clay or mud is also used as a cement; but this is exclusively with the sun-dried bricks (Kitto, Pict. Bible, note on Gen 11:3). SEE CLAY; SEE LIME.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Mortar (2)
[for pulverizing] is the rendering of (medokah’, something for beating), Num 11:8; also of (nzaktesh’, lit. a pounder, applied also to a “hollow” or socket, e.g. of a tooth, Jdg 15:19), Pro 27:22, an instrument for comminuting grain or other substances, by means of a pestle, in place of the later invention or mill (q.v.). In the representation of the various processes of preparing bread on the paintings of the tombs of ancient Egypt, it will be found that the mortar was similarly employed, and the form of the pestle and mortar is there given, and the manner of using them in pounding articles in large quantities. Their mortars were probably blocks of wood, similar to those employed in India. The pestles were different from those now generally employed, but the manner of use, by men striking them alternately, was the same. “Certain persons were also employed in the towns of Egypt, as at the present day in Cairo and other places, to pound various substances in large stone mortars; and salt, seeds, and other things were taken in the same manner by a servant to these shops, whenever it was inconvenient to have it done in the house. The pestles they used, as well as the mortars themselves, were precisely similar to those of the modern Egyptians; and their mode of pounding was the same; two men alternately raising ponderous metal pestles with both hands, and directing their falling point to the centre of the mortar, which is now generally made of a large piece of granite, or other hard stone, scooped out into a long, narrow tube to a little more than half its depth.
When the substance was well pounded, it was taken out and passed through a sieve, and the larger particles were again returned to the mortar, until it was sufficiently and equally levigated; and this, and the whole process here represented, so strongly resembles the occupation of the public pounders at Cairo that no one who has been in the habit of walking in the streets of that town can fail to recognise the custom, or doubt of its having been handed down from the early Egyptians, and retained without alteration to the present day” (Wilkinson, Anc. Eg. 2:166). “The simplest and probably most ancient method of preparing corn for food was by pounding it between two stones (Virgil, AEn. 1:179). Convenience suggested that the lower of the two stones should be hollowed, that the corn might not escape, and that the upper should be shaped so as to be convenient for holding. The pestle and mortar must have existed from a very early period. The Israelites in the desert appear to have possessed mortars and handmills among their necessary domestic utensils.
When the manna fell they gathered it, and either ground it in the mill or pounded it in the mortar till it was fit for use (Num 11:8). So in the present day stone mortars are used by the Arabs to pound wheat for their national dish kibby (Thomson, Land and Book, 1:134). Niebuihr describes one of a very simple kind which was used on board the vessel in which he went from Jidda to Loheia. Every afternoon one of the sailors had to take the durra; or millet, necessary for the day’s consumption, and pound it ‘upon a stone, of which the surface was a little curved, with another stone which was long and rounded’ (Descr. de l’Arab. page 45). Among the inhabitants of Ezzehhoue, a Druse village, Burckhardt saw coffee-mortars made out of the trunks of oak-trees (Syria, pages 87, 88). The spices for the incense are said to have been prepared by the house of Abtines, a family set apart for the purpose, and the mortar which they used was, with other spoils of the Temple, after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, carried to Rome, where it remained till the time of Hadrian (Reggio, in Martinet’s Hebr. Chrest. page 35). Buxtorf mentions a kind of mortar (, kuttash) in which olives were slightly bruised before they were taken to the olive-presses (Lex. Talm. s.v. ). From the same root as this last is derived the maktesh of Pro 27:22, which probably denotes a mortar of a larger kind in which corn was pounded: ‘Though thou bray the fool in the mortar among the bruised corn with the pestle, yet will not his folly depart from him.’ Corn may be separated from its husk and all its good properties preserved by such an operation, but the fool’s folly is so essential a part of himself that no analogous process can remove it from him. Such seems the natural interpretation of this remarkable proverb.
The language is intentionally exaggerated, and there is no necessity for supposing an allusion to a mode of punishment by which criminals were put to death by being pounded in a mortar. A custom of this kind existed among the Turks, but there is no distinct trace of it among the Hebrews. The Ulemas, or body of lawyers, in Turkey had the distinguished privilege, according to De Tott (Mem. 1:28, Eng. tr.), of being put to death only by the pestle and the mortar. Such, however, is supposed to be the reference in the proverb by Mr. Roberts, who illustrates it from his Indian experience. ‘Large mortars are used in the East for the purpose of separating the rice from the husk. When a considerable quantity has to be prepared, the mortar is placed outside the door, and two women, each with a pestle of five feet long, begin the work. They strike in rotation, as blacksmiths do on the anvil. Cruel as it is, this is a punishment of the state: the poor victim is thrust into the mortar, and beaten with the pestle. The late king of Kandy compelled one of the wives of his rebellious chiefs thus to beat her own infant to death. Hence the saying, ‘Though you beat that loose woman in a mortar, she will not leave her ways;’ which means, Though you chastise her ever so much, she will never improve’ (Orient. Illustr. page 368).” “We do not infer from the above passage in Proverbs that the wheat was pounded to meal instead of being ground, but that it was pounded to be separated from the husk. The Jews probably had no rice, but there are several passages from which we may gather that they used wheat in the same way that rice is now used that is, boiled up in pillaus, variously prepared.
In fact, we have partaken of wheat thus employed in the remote mountains where rice could not be obtained, or only at a price which the villagers could not afford; and it is also so used among the Arabs, forming a very palatable and nutritive food. For this purpose it is necessary that, as with rice, the husk should be previously disengaged from the grain; and if we suppose that this object was attained with wheat, by a similar treatment with that to which rice is now subjected, the present text may be very satisfactorily explained. There are men, and even women. who gain their bread by the labor of husking rice, which they generally perform in pairs. Their implements consist of a rude wooden mortar, formed of a block hollowed out; pestles, about five feet long, with a heavy block of wood at the upper end; and a sieve for sifting the pounded grain. They carry these utensils to the house where their services are required, and, if men, strip to the skin (except their drawers), and pursue their labor in a shady part of the court-yard. When two work together, they commonly stand opposite each other, and strike their pestles into the mortar alternately, as blacksmiths strike their iron. Sometimes, however, one pestle alone acts, and the laborers relieve each other, the relieved person taking the easier duty of supplying the mortar, and removing and sifting the cleaned grain. From the weight of the pestle, the labor of pounding is very severe, and the results of the process are but slowly produced” (Kitto, Pict. Bible, note on Pro 27:22). SEE PESTLE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Mortar (3)
a broad bowl of brass, latten, or copper, either with a pricket for a thick lighted taper, or else filled with a mixture of perfumed wax and oil, ill which a broad wick was kept burning both at festivals and funerals.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Mortar
(Heb. homer), cement of lime and sand (Gen. 11:3; Ex. 1:14); also potter’s clay (Isa. 41:25; Nah. 3:14). Also Heb. ‘aphar, usually rendered “dust,” clay or mud used for cement in building (Lev. 14:42, 45).
Mortar for pulverizing (Prov. 27:22) grain or other substances by means of a pestle instead of a mill. Mortars were used in the wilderness for pounding the manna (Num. 11:8). It is commonly used in Palestine at the present day to pound wheat, from which the Arabs make a favourite dish called kibby.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Mortar
medokah, wherein the manna was pounded for use (Num 11:8). So still the Arabs pound wheat for their national dish, kibby (Thomson, Land and Book, 8:94). The maktesh was a larger mortar. Pro 27:22; “though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, (yet) will not his foolishness depart from (upon) him.” The husk upon the grain can be bruised off it, but the mortar of trial cannot remove the fool’s folly inherent by nature and habit (Jer 13:23). So Ahaz (2Ch 28:22), Judah (Isa 1:5-6; Isa 9:13; Jer 5:3). The corrector’s patience is tried, the corrected is not reformed, Roberts (Orient. Illustr. 368) mentions in the East large mortars for rice worked by two women, each in turn striking with a pestle five feet long. Criminals at Kandy were so beaten to death in such a mortar.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Mortar
MORTAR (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] morter).See House, 1, 4, and cf. Bitumen.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Mortar
morter (, medhokhah Num 11:8, , makhtesh Pro 27:22): A hollowed stone or vessel in which grain or other substance was pounded or beaten with a pestle. The Israelites used a mortar in which to beat the manna in the wilderness Num 11:8, and Pro 27:22 declares, Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle … yet will not his foolishness depart from him, i.e. it is inherent and ineradicable. Some have supposed an allusion to an oriental mode of punishment by pounding the criminal to death in a mortar, but this is unlikely. In illustration of Pro 27:22 such proverbs are quoted as Though you beat that loose woman in a mortar, she will not leave her ways. See also BRAY. For mortar (the King James Version morter) see BITUMEN.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Mortar
The monuments of Egypt show that anciently, as now, stone mortars with stone pestles were used for pounding hard seeds. The manna was ground in mills or beaten in a mortar. Num 11:8. Though by this means the seeds were pounded very small, yet even such treatment would not cure a fool of his folly: it shows the incorrigible nature of him who despises wisdom and instruction. Pro 27:22.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Mortar
1. An instrument for pulverizing grains
– General references
Num 11:8; Pro 27:22 Grinding; Mill
2. A cement:
– General references
Exo 1:14
– Slime used as, in building tower of Babel
Gen 11:3
– Used to plaster houses
Lev 14:42; Lev 14:45
– Untempered, not enduring
Eze 13:10-15; Eze 22:28
– To be trodden to make firm
Nah 3:14
Figurative
Isa 41:25
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Mortar
Mortar.
1. “A wide-mouthed vessel in form of an inverted bell, in which substances are pounded or bruised with a pestle”. — Webster. The simplest, and probably most ancient, method of preparing corn for food was by pounding it between two stones. The Israelites, in the desert, appear to have possessed mortars and handmills among their necessary domestic utensils. When the manna fell, they gathered it, and either ground it in the mill, or pounded it in the mortar, till it was fit for use. Num 11:8. So, in the present day, stone mortars are used by the Arabs to pound wheat for their national dish, kibby.
Another word occurring in Pro 27:22, probably denotes a mortar of a larger kind in which corn was pounded: “Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.” Corn may be separated from its husk and all its good properties preserved by such an operation, but the fool’s folly is so essential a part of himself that no analogous process can remove it from him. Such seems the natural interpretation of this remarkable proverb.
The language is intentionally exaggerated, and there is no necessity for supposing an allusion to a mode of punishment, by which criminals were put to death, by being pounded in a mortar. A custom of this kind existed among the Turks, but there is no distinct trace of it among the Hebrews. Such, however, is supposed to be the reference in the proverb by Mr. Roberts, who illustrates it from his Indian experience.
2. Gen 11:3; Exo 1:14; Lev 14:42; Lev 14:45; Isa 41:25; Eze 13:10-11; Eze 13:14-15; Eze 22:28; Neh 3:14. The various compacting substances, used in Oriental buildings appear to be —
i. Bitumen, as in the Babylonian structures;
ii. Common mud or moistened clay;
iii. A very firm cement compounded of sand, ashes and lime, in the proportions respectively of 1, 2, , 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.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
MORTAR
(1) Cement or Slime
Exo 1:14; Lev 14:42; Eze 13:10; Nah 3:14
(2) A vessel for Pulverizing Substances
Num 11:8; Pro 27:22