IVORY

Mentioned in the reign of Solomon, and referred to in Ps 45:1-17, as used in decorating palaces. Solomon, who traded to India, brought thence elephants and ivory to Judea. "For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish, with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver and ivory," 1Ki 10:22 2Ch 9:21. Solomon had a throne decorated with ivory, and inlaid with gold, these beautiful materials relieving the splendor and heightening the luster of each other, 1Ki 10:18. Ivory, as is well known, is the substance of the tusks of elephants, and hence it is always called in Hebrew, tooth. As to the "ivory houses," 1Ki 22:39 Am 3:15, they may have had ornaments of ivory, as they sometimes have of gold, silver, or other precious materials, in such abundance as to be named from the article of their decoration; as the emperor Nero’s palace was named aurea, or golden, because overlaid with gold. This method of ornamenting buildings or apartments was very ancient among the Greeks, and is mentioned by Homer. See Eze 27:6,15 Am 6:4 Re 18:12.

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Ivory. Ivory
(Heb. pl. shenhabbim, the “tusks of elephants”) was early used in decorations by the Egyptians, and a great trade in it was carried on by the Assyrians (Ezek. 27:6; Rev. 18:12). It was used by the Phoenicians to ornament the box-wood rowing-benches of their galleys, and Hiram’s skilled workmen made Solomon’s throne of ivory (1 Kings 10:18). It was brought by the caravans of Dedan (Isa. 21:13), and from the East Indies by the navy of Tarshish (1 Kings 10:22). Many specimens of ancient Egyptian and Assyrian ivory-work have been preserved. The word habbim is derived from the Sanscrit ibhas, meaning “elephant,” preceded by the Hebrew article (ha); and hence it is argued that Ophir, from which it and the other articles mentioned in 1 Kings 10:22 were brought, was in India.

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IVORY. → General scriptures concerning So 5:14; 7:4; Eze 27:15 → Exported from Tarshish 1Ki 10:22; 2Ch 9:21 → Chittim Eze 27:6 → Ahab's palace made of 1Ki 22:39 → Other houses made of Ps 45:8; Am 3:15 → Other articles made of
* Stringed instruments Ps 45:8
* Thrones 1Ki 10:18; 2Ch 9:17
* Benches Eze 27:6
* Beds Am 6:4
* Vessels Re 18:12

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1Ki 10:18; 22:39; Ps 45:8; So 7:4; Eze 27:6; Am 3:15; 6:4; Re 18:12

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ivory. Ivory, n. an elephant's tooth; a. made of ivory

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I″vo‐ry (ī″vō̍‐ry̆), n.; pl. Ivories (#). [[OE. ivori, F. ivoire, fr. L. eboreus made of ivory, fr. ebur, eboris, ivory, cf. Skr. ibha elephant. Cf. Eburnean.]] 1. 1. The hard, white, opaque, fine-grained substance constituting the tusks of the elephant. It is a variety of dentine, characterized by the minuteness and close arrangement of the tubes, as also by their double flexure. It is used in manufacturing articles of ornament or utility.
☞ Ivory is the name commercially given not only to the substance constituting the tusks of the elephant, but also to that of the tusks of the hippopotamus and walrus, the hornlike tusk of the narwhal, etc. 2. 2. The tusks themselves of the elephant, etc.
3. 3. Any carving executed in ivory. Mollett.
4. 4. pl. Teeth; as, to show one's ivories.
Ivory black. See under Black, n. — Ivory gull (Zoöl.), a white Arctic gull (Larus eburneus). — Ivory nut (Bot.), the nut of a species of palm, the Phytephas macroarpa, often as large as a hen's egg. When young the seed contains a fluid, which gradually hardness into a whitish, close-grained, albuminous substance, resembling the finest ivory in texture and color, whence it is called vegetable ivory. It is wrought into various articles, as buttons, chessmen, etc. The palm is found in New Grenada. A smaller kind is the fruit of the Phytephas microarpa. The nuts are known in commerce as Corosso nuts. — Ivory palm (Bot.), the palm tree which produces ivory nuts. — Ivory shell (Zoöl.), any species of Eburna, a genus of marine gastropod shells, having a smooth surface, usually white with red or brown spots. — Vegetable ivory, the meat of the ivory nut. See Ivory nut (above).