Using the 17th century encyclopaedic text "Tiangong Kaiwu", historian Timothy Brook outlined the brick production process of Ming Dynasty China::"...the kilnmaster had to make sure that the temperature inside the kiln stayed at a level that caused the clay to shimmer with the colour of molten gold or silver.
Najstarejša odkrita opeka izdelana iz blata in datirana okoli 7500 pred našim štetjem, je bila najdena v "Tell Aswad", v zgornjem območju Tigrisa in v jugovzhodni Anatoliji, blizu Diyarbakira.