Chittim

The knowledge of this fact induced the Deity to command the Israelites to "make no idols nor graven image; neither rear you up a standing image:" but He afterwards made them bring their skill into operation by creating for His worship the ark of the covenant, of chittim wood, and the mercy seat, with cherubims of gold — and appointed to design the work Bezaleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, who was skilled to devise cunning works, to work in gold and in silver, and in brass; and in the cutting of stones to set them; and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

These dowels appear to be of tamarisk, or chittim-wood, of which the ark is said to have been constructed, — a sacred tree in ancient Egypt, and now very rarely found in the valley of the Nile.

It has been suggested that it was called "sacred (or holy) bark" because the early missionaries mistook it for "chittim wood" which is mentioned in the bible.

Owing to the low price offered for chittims bark the amount peeled in Oregon and Washington this year is limited.

We peeled "chittim" bark, on and off for at least thee years through the summers of my fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.

The most superficial observer of lumber knows that there is generally a considerable difference between the wood of trees belonging to different species. Sometimes it is quite small, so that lumbermen have no constitutional objection to working off short leaf for long leaf yellow pine, hemlock for white pine, chittim wood, or yellow cottonwood for poplar and red birch for cherry, if it can be done without detection.

This was the chittim wood, otherwise called yellow wood, a very ornamental tree and one of the prettiest in the forests of the State.

This family is represented in our range by only one species. chittim-wood, the woody buckthorn (Bumelia launginosa).