Ancient Brick Museum

  Okay, you have to be a real history buff to get excited over this one. While I was researching something else online, I came across the General Shale Ancient Brick Museum. After finding out that it was only 20 minutes away (and free), we decided to go check it out. The "museum" consists of several glass cases in the office of the General Shale Brick company. This is a collection of bricks ranging from more recent famous buildings, to really ancient sites. Some are the size of modern bricks but most are the size of large tiles.
Here is a description of some of them:
A burned clay brick from Pompeii, destroyed by Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
A sun-dried mud brick from a town in Israel that was located on the shortcut route from Egypt to Jerusalem and was also the last town before Gaza on the Great Incense Route from Southern Arabia, 3rd century B.C.
Byzantine brick from Constantinople (modern Instanbul Turkey) bears Greek brick masters stamp, 1,500 years old.
A Plano-convex brick from Pre-Pottery Neolithic settlement discovered beneath the biblical city of Jerico. Indisputably the oldest brick ever found and possibly one of the first bricks man ever made. Carbon 14 tests establish that this brick is between 9,000 and 10,000 years old.
Brick found in the ruins of Babylon and inscribed in cuneiform: "Nebuchadnazzar, King of Baylon, Beautifier of the Temple of Esagila and Ezida, First Son of Nebupolassar, King of Babylon." (Nebuchadnazzar reigned from 604 - 562 B.C.)
We found these old bricks to be very interesting. I wish we had been able to touch them. I spent long moments looking at them and wondering what life was like and who walked on them.