Handbook of Energy Crops. Some even speculate that it was only natural that Moses should turn to shittium when he came to build the Ark of the Covenant and the Tabernacle and needed beams and timber. No one can really be sure which species of Acacia was meant. Ancient Egyptians made coffins, some still intact, from the wood. Nigerians used sapling stems, or also the roots for spear shafts.
Tree also yields a gum of good quality, inferior to that of A. senegal .
Systematic tapping has produced a product of better color and taste. Bark contains tannin and yields a red liquid extract. The gum is said to be edible. The leaves are important for forage and the wood for fuel where the trees are abundant. In parts of Africa the tree is important for livestock, natives driving their animals to where it is common and lopping off branches for them, both leaves and young pods being eaten.