why did they use straw to make bricks?
Straw made the bricks stronger, because the clay clinging to the straw would be less likely to apart. Q: In Ex 5:6-7, how did the Israelites cope with having to gather their own straw? A: First you must understand that straw was important to make strong bricks, because it acted as a binder to reduce bricks just crumbling away. Also while bricks were more common in Mesopotamia than in Egypt, some cities of Egypt such as Pithom were built with brick. The tomb of an Egyptian noble named Rekhmere / Rek-mi-Re at Thebes in the 15th Century B.C. has a painting of slaves making bricks. A picture of this is in The New International Dictionary of the Bible p.174. The ruins at Pithom show bricks with straw at the lowest level, bricks with only stubble at the intermediate level, and bricks with no fibrous material at the top level. Bricks varied from 13 by 13 by 3 inches (33 by 33 by 9 cm) to 16 by 8 by 6 inches (41 by 20 by 15 cm). See also Can Archaeology Prove the Old Testament? p.30, the Wycli
