The Situation of Ophir

Abstract

A REUTER'S correspondent has had an interview with Dr. Carl Peters on the subject of the re-discovery and identification of the ancient gold-bearing site now so well known by the name of Ophir. According to the eminent German traveller, this much discussed locality is situated on or near the Zambesi river, and he is confident that the theories which would place Ophir either in India or in Arabia are both wrong. Dr. Peters is not the first who has convinced himself that Ophir lay somewhere on the east coast of Africa, for the late Mr. Bent and other recent writers believed that they had identified the famous emporium whence Solomon, the king of Israel, obtained gold for the temple at Jerusalem. It must, of course, be admitted that remains of extensive gold workings undoubtedly exist in the locality, and that these possess considerable antiquity cannot be denied. It is, however, open to discussion whether the ruins and workings are “of undoubtedly Semitic type,” and also whether the emblems which Dr. Peters identifies as phallic are really connected with “the ancient Semitic sun worship.” Until Dr. Peters distinctly states his case in print, and gives his reasons for the faith which is in him, we can do little more than point out that up to the present the theory which would place Ophir, or Aphar, or Sôphir (I Kings ix. 28; x. 11; 2 Chron. viii. 18; ix. 10) the great metropolis of the Sabeans, which is described in the “Periplus” attributed to Arrian, on the Gulf of Akabah, has not been disproved. The theory which would place Ophir in India, on the banks of the Indus, has much in its favour, and when it is remembered that the precious stones and almug trees, which are mentioned with the gold of Ophir, are the peculiar products of India, it is a little difficult not to accept it without more ado. On the other hand, the apes and peacocks (or parrots as some would translate the word tukkiyyîm), which were brought to Solomon from the neighbourhood of Ophir, indicate that its site was nearer Palestine than India; for it is well known that peacocks would not survive a long voyage which must have lasted several months, and must also have been made in an open boat. The fact is that many places can produce, and must always have produced, gold in great abundance, and we are driven irresistibly to the conclusion that more than one place bore the name of Ophir.