What is the mystery of acacia?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

February 8, 2002

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Historic Mahogany Monk's Bench, St. Thomas Aquinas Gothic Bookstand—>Click here.

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In Greek, the trees were called akakia meaning thorns from this we derived the name Acacia. In ancient Egypt, the trees were called shent. The Egyptian thorn trees were used to make barges to float stone to the construction sites of temples and burial chambers. In a translation of Weni the Elder, he describes a barge of shent 60 cubits (90 feet or 28 meters) by 30 cubits (45 feet or 14 meters) built to float a single slab of Hatnub alabaster for the "Mernere-appears-in-splendor"

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The shent barges did not last in contact with water, but were used to bring logs of cedar from Lebanon and meru (cypress?) wood from Byblos. Shent provided the furniture and doorways of the average Egyptian home. When kept dry, the coffins and funerary items of acacia have lasted for millennia.

The Copts (Egyptian Christian after 69 AD) called the tree, shonte. In Arabic, the tree was known as sunt. These were the trees that survived the sayl or torrents in the valleys and desert wadis. The seyyal (torrent trees) provided the "incorruptible wood" for spear shafts, tent poles, altars, and sacramental tables.

The ancient Hebrews called the tree, shittah. Jacob is said to have planted shittim [she tem', plural of shittah] in the Land of Goshen to be cared for by generations of descendents. It was an act of faith that someday the shittim would be needed for the exodus from Egypt.

After the exodus, Moses was ordered to construct the Ark of the Covenant of shittim wood overlaid with gold. Bezaleel of Judah and Aholiab of Dan were the selected artisans. The ark held the Testimony—the commandments, Aaron's budded staff, and a golden pot of manna. The top of the ark was the Mercy Seat between the outstretched wings of two cherubim.

The second book of Maccabees says Jeremiah hid the Ark in a cave and covered over the entrance. Others say King Josiah hid the Ark in a secret place built by Solomon. In the greatest archaeological mystery, somewhere is believed an Ark built of shittim planted by Jacob.

Cromwell International has posted a page of the unbelievable terrain of the Sinai. To view photographs of the Sinai Desert, click on the link:

http://www.cromwell-intl.com/travel/travel-egypt-sinai-pix.html

The Ark of the Covenant has been a mystery of millennia. A well researched article can be found in the Catholic Encyclopedia. To learn more, click on the link:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01721a.htm

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Suggested Reading:

Why was a bishop accused of falsifying Scripture? What's in a Name? - February 20, 2004
What fruit may have been St. John's locusts? What's in a Name? - August 16, 2002
How was this Biblical plant used? Herbal Folklore - May 13, 2002
Why have a mandrake on the mantle? Herbal Folklore - December 15, 2003
What was the sycomore of the ancients? What's in a Name? - September 6, 2002
What is fagot-wood? Plants that Changed History - March 18, 2003

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