durable bricks were used in the more important structures for veneered walls and for paved areas. Some houses excavated at Ur (Abraham’s onetime residence) have the lower level built with burnt bricks, while the second story was evidently of sun-dried bricks. Sun-dried bricks, while not as durable as kiln-fired bricks, were inexpensive, easy to manufacture and satisfactory in dry climates.—See BRICK.

Egyptian pottery kilns were like a tapered chimney, with a perforated baffle between the fire pit below and the firing chamber above. The pottery was placed in this chamber before the fuel was ignited. The correct firing of the kiln was a trade secret among Egyptian potters, and skill was required to bring out the desired qualities in the finished products. The draft created by the air rushing from the fireplace up the flue drew the fire through the baffle perforations and allowed it to circulate around the pottery before passing out at the top of the stack.

In preparation for His sixth blow against Egypt and its proud Pharaoh, Jehovah commanded Moses and Aaron: “Take for yourselves both hands full of soot from a kiln, and Moses must toss it toward the heavens in Pharaoh’s sight.” Complying with these instructions, “they took the soot of a kiln and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses tossed it toward the heavens, and it became boils with blisters, breaking out on man and beast.”—Ex. 9:8-10.

Palestinian kilns or furnaces discovered at Megiddo, measuring about eight by ten feet (c. 2.5 by 3 meters), are “U”-shaped. In this type, the fireplace is located in the bend of the enclosure. Evidently, the draft entering below the fireplace door forced the flames through the two firing chambers and out the two flues located at the rear of the kiln.

LIMEKILNS

Limekilns were used in ancient Palestine due to the abundance of limestone. Today in that land such a kiln is usually built on a hillside, the hill forming part of its rear wall. The kiln is constructed of rough stones without mortar, the spaces between the stones being filled with clay. Its overall shape ranges from cylindrical to conical, with a large open flue at the top. After the interior is properly packed with crushed limestone, a hot fire made from brush is started in the fireplace at the base of the kiln. The strong draft entering through a tunnel in the bottom of the kiln carries the flames up through the limestone, heating it until it is converted into lime. This process normally continues for several days, while a dense pillar of black smoke rises high into the air. Crews work night and day fueling the kiln from supplies of brush piled nearby for that purpose.—See LIME.

The first direct Biblical reference to a kiln is at Genesis 19:28. There the black voluminous smoke of a kiln is used to describe the scene Abraham saw when he looked down upon the burning cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the District and observed that “thick smoke ascended from the land like the thick smoke of a kiln!”

When the Israelites gathered at the base of Mount Sinai to ‘meet the true God,’ the awe-inspiring spectacle before their eyes included Mount Sinai’s smoking all over, “due to the fact that Jehovah came down upon it in fire; and its smoke kept ascending like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain was trembling very much.”—Ex. 19:18.

The Authorized Version uses “brickkiln” at Nahum 3:14 whereas other more modern translations read “brick mold.” (AT; RS; NW) The Authorized Version’s rendering of 2 Samuel 12:31 makes it appear that David caused Ammonite captives to “pass through the brickkiln,” but the sense of the Hebrew text is that he “made them serve at brickmaking.”—NW; AT; RS.

KIMAH CONSTELLATION

(Heb., Ki·mahʹ, from root meaning “to accumulate, heap up”).

This term is used at Job 9:9; 38:31 and Amos 5:8 as referring to a celestial constellation or “star-heap.” It is usually considered to refer to the Pleiades, a star group formed of seven large stars and other smaller ones, enveloped in nebulous matter and situated about three hundred light-years from the sun. At Job 38:31 Jehovah asks Job if he can “tie fast the bonds of the Kimah constellation,” and some relate this to the compactness of the Pleiades cluster, the star cluster most likely to be noted by the naked eye. While the identification of the particular constellation intended is indefinite, the sense of the question asked evidently is whether a mere man can bind together in a cluster a group of stars so that they comprise a permanent constellation. Thus, by this question, Jehovah brought home to Job man’s inferiority when compared with the Universal Sovereign.

KIN, KINSMAN

Relative, either by common ancestry or by marriage. Kinsman has special reference to a male relative. There are several words in the original Bible languages having the following meanings and usages.

Go·ʼel’ (from Hebrew ga·ʼalʹ, meaning “to redeem” or “to buy back”) has reference to the nearest male relative with the right of a repurchaser or an avenger of blood. Willful murderers were to be put to death by the “avenger of blood.” (Num. 35:16-19) Boaz’ relationship to Naomi and Ruth was as a “repurchaser.” (Ruth 2:20; 3:9, 12, 13; 4:1, 3, 6, 8, 14) Jehovah himself, the Great Father or Life-giver, is both an Avenger and a Repurchaser for his servants.—Ps. 78:35; Isa. 41:14; 43:14; 44:6, 24; 48:17; 54:5; 63:16; Jer. 50:34.

Sh^eʼerʹ (Hebrew, meaning “flesh”) has reference to a fleshly relative or blood relative. God’s laws forbade having sexual relations with a close “blood relation,” such as one’s aunt. (Lev. 18:6-13; 20:19) If a fellow Israelite fell into debt to an alien, then a brother, an uncle, a cousin or any other “blood relative,” could buy him back. (Lev. 25:47-49) Or if one died having no sons, daughters, brothers or uncles, then the next closest “blood relation” received the inheritance.—Num. 27:10, 11.

Qa·rohvʹ (Hebrew, meaning “near”) includes, not only one closely related, but also an intimate acquaintance. If a brother became so poor that he had to sell his possessions, then one “closely related” had to buy them back for him. (Lev. 25:25) Job grieved that his “intimate acquaintances” had left him, and David lamented that his “close acquaintances” also stood aloof.—Job 19:14; Ps. 38:11.

Ya·dhaʽʹ (Hebrew, meaning to “know,” “to be acquainted”) could mean a kinsman or just an acquaintance. Naomi had a “kinsman of her husband” named Boaz. Jehu executed all of Ahab’s house including his “acquaintances.”—Ruth 2:1; 2 Ki. 10:11.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures we find syg·ge·nesʹ (kin, relative), meaning a relative by blood, but it is never used in speaking of the relation between parents and children. Following this rule, note that Jesus said to his followers: “You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives [syg·ge·nonʹ] and friends.” (Luke 21:16) When the twelve-year-old Jesus was missing, his parents began looking for him among the “relatives.” (Luke 2:44) When you spread a feast, Jesus counseled, do not invite your “relatives” who could pay you back, but, rather, the poor people. (Luke 14:12-14) When Peter brought the good news of salvation to Cornelius his “relatives” were also present. (Acts 10:24) Paul, in his letter to the Romans, referred to the Israelites as well as a number of individuals as his “relatives.”—Rom. 9:3; 16:7, 11, 21.