OVEN
It was used to separate iron from ore (Deut. 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51;
Gold, silver, copper, tin, and lead were refined in crucibles (Prov. 17:3; Ezek. 22:20).
The oven was also used to bake bread (cf. Neh. 3:11; Is. 31:9; see BREAD).
According to Dn. 3:6 ff., one of the ovens mentioned above could have been used in Babylon for the torture of fire.
The Assyrian term “atoûnou” (Aram. “a’ttoun”) appears on the Tell el-Amarna tablets, designating a furnace for melting metals.
In Persia a terracotta cylinder has been discovered with the mention of a blasphemer “thrown into a furnace and completely burned.”
In Babylon, an oven has been found with this inscription: “Behold the place where the men who blasphemed against the gods of Chaldea died by fire.”
King Assurbanipal himself punished his brother who rebelled against him, “throwing him into a fiery furnace.”