the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Battering-ram
Smith's Bible Dictionary
or Battering-ram. Ezekiel 4:2; Ezekiel 21:22. A large beam, with a head of iron, which was, sometime, s made to resemble the head of a ram. It was suspended by ropes to a beam supported by posts, and balanced, so as to swing backward and forward, and was impelled by men against the wall. In attacking the walls of a fort or city, the first step appears to have been to form an inclined plane or bank of earth, compare Ezekiel 4:2, "cast a mount against it," by which the besiegers could bring their battering-rams and other engines to the foot of the walls.
"The battering-rams," says Mr. Layard, "were of several kinds. Some were joined to movable towers which held warriors and armed men. The whole, then, formed one great temporary building, the top of which is represented in sculptures, as on a level with the walls, and even turrets, of the besieged city. In some bas-reliefs, the battering-ram is without wheels: it was then, perhaps, constructed upon the spot and was not intended to be moved."
These files are public domain.
Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Battering-ram'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/sbd/b/battering-ram.html. 1901.
