A black wood that people valued highly in ancient times for making furniture. Ebony trees grow mostly in tropical climates in southern Asia. These trees have hard, dark-colored wood at their center.
Ebony comes from the date plum or date tree (Diospyros ebenaster and Diospyros melanoxylon) of India. This tree is very different from the date palm. Phoenician ships carried ebony across the Arabian Sea and up the Red Sea to the market in Tyre. From there, traders moved it overland using camel caravans.
The outer wood of these trees is white and soft. But when the tree gets old, the inner wood becomes hard, black, heavy, and long-lasting. This inner part makes up most of the valuable ebony sold today. Ebony can be polished to a smooth finish. People value it highly for making cabinets, for turning into shapes, for making fancy decorative items and instruments, and for covering other woods.
Ezekiel mentions ivory and ebony together (Ezekiel 27:15). Both in the past and today, craftspeople often set ivory into ebony because the colors create such a strong contrast with each other.