Ivory (;; ). 'Elephant's tooth,' or simply 'elephant,' is a common name for ivory, not only in the Oriental languages and in Greek, but also in the Western tongues; although in all of them teeth of other species may be included. Elephants' teeth were largely imported as merchandise, and also brought as tribute into Egypt. The processions of human figures bearing presents, etc., still extant on the walls of palaces and tombs, attest by the black crisp-haired bearers of huge teeth, that some of these came from Ethiopia or Central Africa; and by white men similarly laden, who also bring an Asiatic elephant and a white bear, that others came from the East. Phoenician traders had ivory in such abundance, that the chief seats of their galleys were inlaid with it. In the Scriptures, according to the Chaldee Paraphrase, Jacob's bed was made of this substance (); we find king Solomon importing it from Tarshish (); and if was written before his reign, ivory was extensively used in the furniture of royal residences at a still earlier period. The tusks of African elephants are generally much longer than those of the Asiatic; and it may be observed in this place, that the ancients, as well as the moderns, are mistaken when they assert elephants' tusks to be a kind of horns. They are genuine teeth, combining in themselves, and occupying, in the upper jaw, the whole mass of secretions which in other animals form the upper incisor and laniary teeth. They are useful for defense and offence, and for holding down green branches, or rooting up water-plants; but still they are not absolutely necessary, since there is a variety of elephant in the Indian forests entirely destitute of tusks, and the females in most of the races are either without them or have them very small; not turned downwards, as Bochart states, but rather straight, as correctly described by Pliny.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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