This word occurs only in , where Jacob, wishing to conciliate the ruler of Egypt, desires his sons on their return to 'take of the best fruits in the land in their vessels and carry down the man a present,' and along with other articles mentions 'nuts and almonds.' There is little doubt that pistachio-nuts is the article here meant.
The pistachio-nut-tree is well known, extending as it does from Syria to Afghanistan. From the latter country the seeds are carried as an article of commerce to India, where they are eaten in their uncooked state, added to sweetmeats, or as a dessert fried with pepper and salt, being much relished by Europeans for the delicacy of their flavor. The pistachio-tree is most common in the northern, that is, the cooler parts of Syria, but it is also found wild in Palestine in some very remarkable positions, as Mount Tabor, and the summit of Mount Attarus (Nebo?). It delights in a dry soil, and rises to the height of 20, and sometimes 30 feet. As it belongs to the same genus as the terebinth-tree, so like it the male and female flowers grow on separate trees.
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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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