Abel-shittim, or Shittim
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(meadow of acacias) (Num. 33:49; 35:1) — a city situated some six or seven miles from the eastern bank of the Jordan, opposite Jericho, in the plains of Moab. It was the site of one of the last (forty-second) encampments of Israel on that bank of the river. It was thought that Shittim was the city, and Abel-shittim the plain on which it stood — an opinion confirmed by the researches of more recent geographers. In this place, almost at the end of their wandering, the Israelites fell into the most disgraceful idolatry, for which they were punished with a terrible plague, from which 24,000 people perished (Num. 25:1–9).
The spies sent by Joshua to Jericho likewise came from Shittim (Josh. 2:1). According to Stanley, acacias still line the green upper terraces of the Jordan valley to this day.