Thanks. I was my understanding that the Egyptians used bricks.
Do you
happen to have a citation for "on the bricks." The Hebrew term "stones"
is in the dual it would be interesting to see if it is in the dual in
the Egyptian reference as well.
As for bricks/stones ... I was wondering whether it might have anything
to do with concepts of ritual purity. In much later Jewish halakah,
bricks might be considered to be unsuitable for reasons of ritual
purity. Stone was the material of choice for vessels/utensils in
frequent use that required ritual purification. I wouldn't want to push
the point too far, but I wondered if the ancient Hebrews might not have
had the same conception (no pun intended) of stone as a more appropriate
material for the birthing blocks.