ופת, Exod. ii, 3; Isaiah xxxiv, 9; Septuagint ἄσφαλτος; a fat,
combustible, oily matter, sometimes called asphaltos, from the lake
Asphaltites, or Dead Sea, in Judea, on the surface of which it rises in
the nature of liquid pitch, and floats like other oleaginous bodies; but
is condensed by degrees, through the heat of the sun, and grows dry and
hard. The word which our translators have rendered _pitch_ in Gen. vi,
14, and חמר, _slime_, Gen. xi, 3; xiv, 10, is generally supposed to be
bitumen. In the first of these places it is mentioned as used for
smearing the ark, and closing its interstices. It was peculiarly adapted
to this purpose. Being at first soft, viscous, and pliable, it might be
thrust into every chasm and crevice with the greatest ease; but would
soon acquire a tenacity and hardness superior to those of our pitch. A
coat of it spread over both the inside and outside of the ark would make
it perfectly water proof. The longer it was kept in the water, the
harder and stronger it would grow. The Arabs still use it for careening
their vessels. In the second passage it is described as applied for
cement in building the tower of Babel. It was much used in ancient
buildings in that region; and, in the ruins of Babylon, large masses of
brick work cemented with it are discovered. It is known that the plain
of Shinar did abound with it, both in its liquid and solid state; that
there was there a cave and fountain which was continually casting it
out; and that the famous tower and no less famous walls of Babylon were
built by this kind of cement, is confirmed by the testimony of several
ancient authors. The slime pits of Siddim, Gen. xiv, 10, were holes out
of which issued this liquid bitumen, or _naphtha_. Bitumen was formerly
much used by the Egyptians and Jews in embalming the bodies of their
dead.
combustible, oily matter, sometimes called asphaltos, from the lake
Asphaltites, or Dead Sea, in Judea, on the surface of which it rises in
the nature of liquid pitch, and floats like other oleaginous bodies; but
is condensed by degrees, through the heat of the sun, and grows dry and
hard. The word which our translators have rendered _pitch_ in Gen. vi,
14, and חמר, _slime_, Gen. xi, 3; xiv, 10, is generally supposed to be
bitumen. In the first of these places it is mentioned as used for
smearing the ark, and closing its interstices. It was peculiarly adapted
to this purpose. Being at first soft, viscous, and pliable, it might be
thrust into every chasm and crevice with the greatest ease; but would
soon acquire a tenacity and hardness superior to those of our pitch. A
coat of it spread over both the inside and outside of the ark would make
it perfectly water proof. The longer it was kept in the water, the
harder and stronger it would grow. The Arabs still use it for careening
their vessels. In the second passage it is described as applied for
cement in building the tower of Babel. It was much used in ancient
buildings in that region; and, in the ruins of Babylon, large masses of
brick work cemented with it are discovered. It is known that the plain
of Shinar did abound with it, both in its liquid and solid state; that
there was there a cave and fountain which was continually casting it
out; and that the famous tower and no less famous walls of Babylon were
built by this kind of cement, is confirmed by the testimony of several
ancient authors. The slime pits of Siddim, Gen. xiv, 10, were holes out
of which issued this liquid bitumen, or _naphtha_. Bitumen was formerly
much used by the Egyptians and Jews in embalming the bodies of their
dead.