Bench

The bench enters the biblical record once, as a luxury fitting on the ship of Tyre in Ezekiel's lament over the city.

Ivory Benches on the Ship of Tyre

In the catalogue of Tyre's imported splendor, the city's seagoing vessel is built from the finest materials of every neighboring land. Among these are her benches: "Of the oaks of Bashan they have made your oars; they have made your benches of ivory inlaid in cypress-wood, from the isles of Kittim" (Eze 27:6). Ivory inlaid in cypress-wood marks the bench as a sign of Tyre's wealth and reach — the same wealth the larger lament will see swallowed by the sea.