Charles Ellicott Commentary Ezekiel 4:1

"Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it a city, even Jerusalem:" — Ezekiel 4:1 (ASV)

Take you a tile. —The use of tiles for such purposes as the one indicated here was common both in Babylonia and in Nineveh. When intended for preservation, the writing or drawing was made upon the soft and plastic clay, which was afterwards baked. It is from the remains of great libraries prepared in this way that most of our modern knowledge of Nineveh and Babylon has been derived. It is, of course, quite possible that Ezekiel may have drawn in this way upon a soft clay tile; but from the whole account in this and the following chapters, it is more likely that he simply described, rather than actually performed, these symbolical acts.