Believing that he was acting “shrewdly, ” he attempted to reduce their numbers by subjecting them to tyrannical slave labor under the lash of taskmasters ​ — bearing burdens, making clay mortar, and meeting daily quotas of bricks. ​ — Exodus 1: 8 - 14; 5: 6 - 18.
पू. दुसऱ्‍या शतकात किंवा त्याहून आधी, गुलाम, मातीच्या विटा कसे बनवत होते त्याचे वर्णन दिले आहे.