The builders of ancient Babel found no stone in the vicinity of the site they chose for their city and, therefore, utilized bricks instead of stone, and bitumen served as mortar for them. Apparently the bricks were kiln dried, that is, hardened “with a burning process.” (Ge 11:3)

In Babylonia bricks were commonly kiln dried, and such bricks were generally used for city walls and the walls and floors of palaces. Sometimes sun-dried bricks were used in the interiors of buildings or laid with burned bricks in alternate layers several feet thick.

In Babylonia, square, oblong, triangular, and wedge-shaped bricks have been found. However, brick of later periods, as that from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, was generally square-shaped, measuring about 30 cm (12 in.) across.