Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-03-18
THE ANCIENT OpHIR.
Is A. Identical with the African Dis
mOUd Fields:

!
DR.. Petermann, the geographer, in ;
letter to the Ostsee Zeitung, expresses
himself satisfied by the latest report o
the German explorer, Herr Carr Maucb
that the diamond fields in East Aries
are identical with the 0phir Of the Bible
from which King Solomon is said tC
have conveyed gold and ivory and pre-
cious stones to Jerusalem for the con
struction Of the temple. The wherea
bouts of the ancient 0phir has long been
disputed point. The Portuguese, OF
taking possession of Sofala, invested
that colony with the Biblical character
Legends were affirmed to be current
among the natives that the rich gold
mines and the building of which ruins
were still visible, owed their origin to
the Queen Of Sheba, and Lopez even as
serted the existence of ancient docu-
ments proving the removal in ancient
times Of gold and precious stones to Je'
rusalem. These assertions cannot, how
ever, in Herr Petermann's opinion, stand
beside the discoveries made in our
new colonies by Britton and Mauch
Merensky and 6rutner. Zimbabye is the
place. Its neighborhood is rich in allu-
vial gold, precious stones. and diamonds.
1t possesses ruins of extensive piles of
buildings, the structure of which shows
them to be of unquestionable and re-
mote antiquity. Ornaments and instru-
ments are still found that could not pos
sibly have been left there by Pheni-
clans. Three days journey from Tim
baye, similar ruins have been found, and
the surrounding country is rich IN all
that favors agriculture The present
Inhabitants have been in possession
only about forty years, and they regard
the ruins and relics with kind of awe,
due to tradition, which invests them
with a sacred character. The geogra-
ply of the place tallies admirably with
the indications given in the Bible. Pho
nician vessels would naturally sail along
the eastern African coast for the Red
sea, and proceeding by this route they
would be about three years coming and
going, as stated in the Bible. Herr Pc
termann concludes with a cut at the
practical sense Of the English, who
with the most naive GOODNESS have
annexed the valuable territory.
But, on the other hand DR.. Peter
MAINS theory is fatty contracted by
Herr Kiepert, a no less competent au-
thority on geographical questions, who
protests against the revival of contro-
versy which has by common consent
long been regarded as closed, for the
land of 0phir has, in his opinion,
conclusively been proved to be situated
in India. The words used in the Old
Testament to denote the various articles
carried thence TO Jerusalem-viz. gold,
ivory, peacocks, monkeys, etc.--are in
disputably of Sanskrit origin, and the
name Abhira has been accepted as cor
responding even genealogical to the
=" Ophir of the Jews The distance
tallies perfectly with that indicated in
the Bible, and, moreover, it is recog-
nized fact that Phenicians traded largely
with India, whereas their commerce with
the African coast, despite Herr Peter
MAINS ingenious surmises, must be adj
mitted to rest wholly on hypothesis. The
ancient ruins found at Zimbabye and 10
its vicinity are no proof at all, for where,
asks Herr Kfspert, have similar ruins
been found owing their origin to the
Phenicians. Bent on making money,
the Phenicians did not care about rails
ing costly edifices, which they probably
considered useless waste. What PhRui-
clan ruins there are, are in a different
style frem what Herr Mauch describes
as being at Zimbabye. In conclusion,
Herr Kiepert condemns the evidence Of
traditions about the Queen of Sheba as
altogether too fimsy to be accepted as
conclusive; there would not be city in
the whole east which might not claim to
be "0phir for the mystical and myth
cal records of that wealthy queen are as
widely spread as those of Iskender-
Dhulkarnein alexander the Great or
those of Semiramis