Ezekiel 4:11Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem: (Ezekiel 4:1). Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem.
Assyrian and Babylonian records were kept, not only on sculptured slabs of stone, but also on pottery. There were “cylinders,” as they are called, some barrel-shaped, and some hexagonal or octagonal. These were made of very fine, thin, and strong terra-cotta, and were hollow. They were from a foot and a half to three feet in height, and were closely covered with cuneiform writing, which was often in such small characters as to require the aid of a magnifying glass to decipher it. These cylinders were placed at the corners of the temples, where many of them have been discovered. They were written in columns, and contain histories of the monarchs who reigned when the temples were built.
In addition to these, clay tablets of various sizes were used, from nine inches by six and a half to one inch by one and a half. These were sometimes entirely covered with writing and pictorial representations. It was on such a tile that Ezekiel was directed to make a representation of Jerusalem.
When the clay was in a soft, moist state, in its mold or frame the characters were put upon it, perhaps in some instances by a stamp, but usually by means of a sharp edged bronze style about a foot long, by means or which each character was traced separately by hand, just as we use a pen. After the completion of the writing or pictures the clay was baked, and such was the perfection of the manufacture that many of these articles have been preserved from decay for three thousand years.
They vary in color, owing, as some suppose, to the varying length of time they were in the kiln, while others think that some coloring matter must have been mixed with the clay. They are bright brown, pale yellow, pink, red, and a very dark tint nearly black. Usually the cylinders found are of a pale yellow, and the tablets a light red or pink. Some of them are unglazed, and others are coated with a hard white enamel.