The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1872-04-12
The Ancient Ophir.
Is it Identical with the African Dfa-
mOnd Fields?

mOnd Fields?
DR.. Petermann, the geographer,
in letter to the Oststee Zeitung,
expresses himself satisfied by the
latest report of the German expIor-
er, Herr Carr Mauch, that the dia-
mond fields in East Africa are iden-
tical with the Ophir of the Bible,
from which King Solomon is said to
have conveyed gold and ivory and
precious stones to Jerusalem for the
construction of the temple. The
whereabouts of the ancient Opdir
has long been a disputed point.
The porlugese, on 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 buildings Of which ruins
were still visable, owed their origin
to the Queen of Sheba, and Lopez
even asserted the existence of an
cient documents proving the re-
moval in ancient times of gold and
precious stones to Jerusalem. These
assertions cannot, however, In Herr
Petermann's opinion, stand beside
che discoveries made IN our new
colonies by .Britton and Mauch
Merensky and Grutner Zimbabye
is the place. It's neighborhood is
rich in alluvial gold, precious stones,
and diamonds. It possesses ruins
Of extensive piles of buildings, the
structure of which shows them to be
of unquestionable and remote
antiquity. Ornaments and instru-
ments are still found that could not
possibly have been left there by
Phoenicians. Three days journey
from Zinbabye, similar ruins have
been found, and the surrounding
country is rich in all that favors
agriculture. The present inhabi-
tants have been in possession only
about forty years, and they regard
the ruins and relics with a kind Of
awe, due to tradition, which invests
them With a sacred character. The
geography of the place tallies ad-
mirably with the indications iven
IN the Bible. Phoenicians 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 Petermann concludes
with a cut at the practical sense"
of the English, who "with the most
native coolness'' have annexed the
valuable territory.
But, on the other hand, DR.. Pc
termann's theory is fatty contracted
by Herr Kiepert, a no less compe-
tent authority on geographical
questions, who protests against the
revival of a controversy which has
by common consent long been re-
garded as closed, for the Gland of
Ophir" has, in his opinion, conclu-
sively been proved to be situated in
India. The words used in the Old
Testament to denote the various
articles carried thence to Jerusa-
lem-viz gold, ivory, peacocks,
monkeys, etc.-are indisputably of
Sanskrit origin, and the nameAbhira
has been accepted as corresponding
even etym biological to the "Ophir" of
the Jews. The distance tallies per-
fectly with Ethat indicated in the
Bible, and moreover, it is a recog-
nized fact that Phoenicians traded
largely with India, whereas their
commerce with the African coast,
despite Herr Petermann s ingenious
surmises, must be admitted to rest
wholly on hypothesis. The ancient
ruins found at Zinbabye and in its
vicinity are no proof at all, for
where, asks Herr Keipert, have
similar ruins been found owing their
origin to the Phoenicians did not
care about raising costly edifces,
which they probably considered
useless waste. What Phoenician
ruins there are, are IN a different
style from what Herr Mauch des-
cribes as being at Zimbabye. In
conclusion, Herr Kiepert condemns
the evidence of traditions about the
Queen of Sheba as altogether too
flimsy to be accepted as conclusive;
there would not be a city in the
whole east which might not claim
to be "Ophir" for the mystical and
mythical records OF that wealthy
queen are as widely spread as those
Of Iskender Dhulkarnein (Alexan-
der the Great or those Of entrants.
Rome is in ecstacIes over a new
ballet on the subject of the "Divine
Commedia' - A dancing Dante is
the hero. Frederic Barbarossa is
represented with a heavy black beard
running away from the italian bal
Ierini. Dante appears, gesticula-
ting wildly, and Virgil enters and
feels his pulse. Then, after being
Joined by Homer, the trio dance a
fandango in the Elysian fields. In
Purgatory Dante meets Beatrice,
who, in a very rickety conveyance,
carries him off to the Trono eteraO.
The last scene discovers Italy bound
n chains; at the sound of GaribaldIs
hymn her letters fall off Dante rush
es forward to bless her; the audi
ence shrieks with delight, and the
curtain falls.