The right ratio to make my own bricks?

according to the Egyptians straw is good too.

I did a quick google search and found this how-to website: http://www.ehow.com/how_2314179_make-bricks.html

@Judi – Wow, straw? That’s pretty interesting.

@Judi Early composite materials. Straw + clay is stronger than either separately.

I know, it’s just Google, but I though the ratio question was rather interesting. So I looked deeper and found:

Brick Size
In order to build stable, strong brick walls, the bricks needed to be geometric duplicates. Standard brick size can be traced back to ancient American civilizations that standardized their bricks to a 4:2:1 ratio. Furthermore, the Romans were the first to use mortar as part of their standardized brick placement and later brought that knowledge to most of what is present day Europe. Today, most brick walls are constructed with bricks that are a standard 8 by 4 by 2.25 ratio.

From link

@KrystaElyse I just know from watching the movie Exodus when I was little. when I visited Egypt in 2001 I was surprised to realize that a majority of the population still live in houses built with clay and straw bricks. They looked just like I would imagine the builders of the pyramids lived in.

@Judi – That’s fascinating! Egypt is definitely on my travel list.