Shittah-tree is Hebrew for acacia. Acacia albida, Acacia seyal, Acacia tortilis and Acacia iraqensis can be found growing wild in the Sinai desert and the Jordan valley. Shittah wood was employed in making the various parts of the Tabernacle and of the Ark of the covenant in the wilderness. It was the acacia or mimosa (Acacia nilotica and A. seyal).