Ophir should not be confused with Orphir.
Ophir (;[1]) is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth. Its existence is attested to by an inscribed pottery shard found at Tell Qasile (in modern-day Tel Aviv) in 1946, dating to the eighth century BC,[2] [3] which reads "gold of Ophir to/for Beth-Horon [...] 30 shekels".[4] The location of Ophir is unknown, though the find confirms it as a real place from which gold was imported.
Ophir in Genesis 10 (the Table of Nations) is said to be the name of one of the sons of Joktan. The Books of Kings and Chronicles tell of a joint expedition to Ophir by King Solomon and the Tyrian king Hiram I from Ezion-Geber, a port on the Red Sea, that brought back large amounts of gold, precious stones and 'algum wood' and of a later failed expedition by king Jehoshaphat of Judah. The famous 'gold of Ophir' is referenced in several other books of the Hebrew Bible.
In the Septuagint, other variants of the name are mentioned: Ōpheír, Sōphír, Sōpheír and Souphír.
The New Testament apocrypha book Cave of Treasures contains a passage: "And the children of Ophir, that is, Send, appointed to be their king Lophoron, who built Ophir with stones of gold; now, all the stones that are in Ophir are of gold."[5]
The 1st-century historian Josephus, in his "Antiquities of the Jews" (8.6.4), identified Ophir as "the Aurea Chersonesus, which belongs to India."[6] "Aurea Chersonesus" (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Χρυσῆ Χερσόνησος) is Grecolatin for "Golden Peninsula." At that time, India was thought to comprise, not just the Indian subcontinent, but also Indochina, and Indonesia. Hence, in his Geography, the nearly contemporaneous geographer Ptolemy lists these additional lands within the province of "India beyond the Ganges." Ptolemy therein identifies exactly where this Golden Peninsula is, centering it in Malaysia, perhaps also extending somewhat into Sumatra. In particular, Ptolemy mentions a "golden river" (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Χρυσοάνα ποταμος) somewhat south of the archaeological site of the Bujang Valley (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Βήσυγγα ἐμπόριον), and in the vicinity of the "Palandos river" (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Παλάνδος ποταμος) (the modern Pahang region, also common in the derived toponyms surrounding Kuala Lumpur). These areas are indeed famous for gold.[7] Indeed, the longest-lasting name for Sumatra, Sanskrit: Svarṇa,[8], which also means "gold," may've derived directly from the word Ophir, by a means similar to the Classical Greek pronunciation displayed in the Septuagint: "Soophaara"/"Souphir" (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σωφηρα[9] /Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Σουφιρ[10]).
Europeans, arriving later, consequently renamed mythologically-famous 'golden' Mount Ledang near Malacca, Malaysia, as Mount Ophir.[11] [12]
The 10th-century lexicographer, David ben Abraham al-Fasi, identified Ophir with Serendip, the old Persian name for Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon).[13] Moreover, as mentioned above, A Dictionary of the Bible by Sir William Smith[14] notes the Hebrew word for parrot Thukki, derived from the Classical Tamil for peacock Thogkai or Sinhalese "tokei".[15] Both Sinhalese and Tamil are native to Sri Lanka.
A Dictionary of the Bible by Sir William Smith, published in 1863,[14] notes the Hebrew word for parrot Thukki, derived from the Classical Tamil for peacock Thogkai and Sinhalese "tokei",[15] joins other Classical Tamil words for ivory, cotton-cloth and apes preserved in the Hebrew Bible. This theory of Ophir's location in Uvari in Tamilakam is further supported by other historians.[16] [17] [18] [19] The most likely location on the coast of Kerala conjectured to be Ophir is Poovar in Thiruvananthapuram District (though some Indian scholars also suggest Beypore as a possible location).
Earlier in the 19th century, Max Müller and other scholars identified Ophir with Abhira, near the Indus River in modern-day state of Gujarat, India. According to Benjamin Walker Ophir is said to have been a town of the Abhira tribe.
In Jewish tradition, Ophir is often associated with Uvari, a place in the Indian subcontinent, named for one of the sons of Joktan.[20] Ibn Sa'd says in his Kitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabir that the Indians, the Sindhis and the Bindis are the descendants of Yufir (Ophir).[21]
In Tomo III (1519–1522), pages 112–138, of the book Colección general de documentos relativos a las Islas Filipinas existentes en el Archivo de Indias de Sevilla,[22] found in the General Archive of the Indies in Spain, Document No. 98 describes how to locate the land of Ophir. The navigational guide starts from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa to India, Burma, Sumatra, the Maluku Islands, Borneo, Sulu, China, then finally Ophir, which is speculated to be the Philippines. Parallel to this Spanish archive an older text called the "Periplus of the Erythean Sea" cited the directions to Chryse, a golden island in the Eastern Ocean, is an island right to the south of China, where the Philippines is.[23]
Biblical scholars, archaeologists and others have tried to determine the exact location of Ophir. Vasco da Gama's companion Tomé Lopes reasoned that Ophir would have been the ancient name for Great Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe, the main center of southern African trade in gold in the Renaissance period — though the ruins at Great Zimbabwe are now dated to the medieval era, long after Solomon is said to have lived. The identification of Ophir with Sofala in Mozambique was mentioned by Milton in Paradise Lost (11:399-401), among many other works of literature and science.
Another, more serious, possibility is the African shore of the Red Sea, with the name perhaps being derived from the Afar people living in the Danakil desert (Ethiopia, Eritrea) between Adulis and Djibouti.
Afri was a Latin name used to refer to the Carthaginians, who dwelt in North Africa, in modern-day Tunisia. This name, that later gave the rich Roman province of Africa and the subsequent medieval Ifriqiya, from which the name of the continent Africa is ultimately derived, seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe originally, however, see Terence for discussion. The name is usually connected with Phoenician afar, "dust", but a 1981 hypothesis[24] has asserted that it stems from the Berber word ifri (plural ifran) meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers.[25] This is proposed[25] to be the origin of Ophir as well.
In 1976, the United States Department of Interior announced that a team formed by the United States Geological Survey together with experts from Saudi Arabia believes it has "a fairly airtight case” that Mahd adh Dhahab, or Cradle of Gold, in Saudi Arabia is the biblical Ophir. As evidence, the team states that "there are huge quantities of waste rock left behind by ancient miners, approximately a million tons, and that it has an average gold content of sixteenths of an ounce per ton, indicating that the mined ore must have been richer. From sampling old slopes and from production figures during the 1939 to 1954 period when the mine was reactivated to extract gold and silver, the geological survey scientists estimated that in biblical times much gold must have been found at or near the surface." Moreover, Mahd adh Dhahab is "within range of Israel's transport capability," and it "could easily have been known to Solomon or his advisers because it lies on a north‐south trade route that has run to Aqaba for some 4,000 years." Their conclusion is that "Mand adh Dhahab [sic] could have produced 34 tons of gold in ancient times and was the biblical Ophir."[26]
In a letter written in May 1500, Peter Martyr claimed that Christopher Columbus identified Hispaniola with Ophir.[27]
The theologian Benito Arias Montano (1571) proposed finding Ophir in the name of Peru, reasoning that the native Peruvians were thus descendants of Ophir and Shem.[28]
The California Gold Rush boomtown, Ophir, was renamed[29] after "the biblical source of Solomon's treasure."[30]
After their discovery by Europeans in 1568 by Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña, the Solomon Islands were subsequently referred to as Islas Salomón (Solomon Islands) by others following reports of his voyage optimistically conflated with stories of King Solomon, believing them to be Ophir.[31] [32] [33]
For many references and a comprehensive outline of the products exported from Muziris, Ariake &c. cf. George Menachery ed. The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, 1973, 1982, 2009.
ALMUG or ALGUM TREE. The Hebrew words Almuggim or Algummim are translated Almug or Algum trees in our version of the Bible (see 1 Kings x. 11, 12; 2 Chron. ii. 8, and ix. 10, 11). The wood of the tree was very precious, and was brought from Ophir (probably some part of India), along with gold and precious stones, by Hiram, and was used in the formation of pillars for the temple at Jerusalem, and for the king's house; also for the inlaying of stairs, as well as for harps and psalteries. It is probably the red sandal-wood of India (Pterocarpus santalinus). This tree belongs to the natural order Leguminosæ, sub-order Papilionaceæ. The wood is hard, heavy, close-grained, and of a fine red colour. It is different from the white fragrant sandal-wood, which is the produce of Santalum album, a tree belonging to a distinct natural order.Also see notes by George Menachery in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. 2 (1973)