Dict: smith - PRISON

smith:

PRISON - P>@ - For imprisonment as a punishment, see PUNISHMENTS It is plain that in Egypt special places were used as prisons, and that they were under the custody of a military officer. kjv@Genesis:40:3 kjv@Genesis:42:17) During the wandering in the desert we read on two occasions of confinement "in ward"
kjv@Leviticus:24:12; kjv@Numbers:15:34) but as imprisonment was not directed by the law, so we hear of none till the time of the kings, when the prison appears as an appendage to the palace, or a special part of it. (Kings:22:27) Private houses were sometimes used as places of confinement. By the Romans the tower of Antoni, was used as a prison at Jerusalem, kjv@Acts:23:10) and at Caesarea the praetorium of Herod. The royal prisons In those days were doubtless managed after the Roman fashion, and chains, fetters and stocks were used as means of confinement.
See kjv@Acts:16:24) One of the readiest places for confinement was a dry or partially-dry wall or pit. kjv@Jeremiah:35:6-11)