The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1872-03-03

Ever and ever the night brings in
Its tide OF bitter sadness.
Ever and ever the eye Of God
Looketh upon US with pity;
And ever the light is shown to us,
That CLEANS from the Golden City.
CURIOUS CoNTRovERsY-ARE THE AZ
RICAN DIAMOND FIELDS IDENTICAL WITH
THE OPHR OF THE BIBLE?-Dr. Peter
mann, the geographer, in letter to the
Ostsee Zeitung; expresses himself salts
fed by the latest report of the German
explorer, Herr Oar Mauch, that the dia-
mond fields in East Africa are identical
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
Ophir has long been disputed point.
The Portuguese, on taking possession Of
Sofala, invested that colony with the
Biblical character. Legends were af-
firmed to be current among the natives
that the rich gold mines and the build
ings OF which ruins were still visible
owed their origin to the Queen of Sheba,
and Lopez even asserted the existence Of
ancient documents proving the removal
in ancient times of gold and precious
stones to Jerusalem. These assertions
cannot. however, in Herr Petermann's
opinion, stand beside the discoveries
made in our new colonies by Britton and
Mauch, Merensky and Grutner. Zim.
babye is the place. It's neighborhood is
rich in .alluvial gold, precious stones and
diamonds. It possesses ruins Of extern
sive piles OF buildings, the structure of
which shows them to be Of unquestiona-
BILE and remote antiquity. Ornaments
and instruments are still found that
could not possibly have been made by
the natives, but might we'll have been
left there by Ph@nioians. Three days.
journey from Zimbabye, similar ruins
have been found, and the surrounding
country is rich in all that favors agricul-
ture. The present inhabitants have been
in possession only about forty years,
and they regard the ruins and relics
with certain awe, due to tradition,
which invests them with sacred oharac.
ter. The geography of the place tallies
admirably with the indications given in
the Bible. Phmnician 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. tha.
Bible. Herr Petermanp. concludes with
cut at the practical sense" OF the
English, who. with the most nafue
coolness," have annexed the valuable
territory.
But, on the other hand, DR.. Peter
mann's theory is fatty contradicted by
Herr Kiepert, 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
Gland of Ophir" hos, in his opinion,
conolusively been proved to be situated
in India. The words used in the Old
Testament to denote the various articles
clrried thence to Jerusalem, viz: gold,
ivory, peacocks, monkeys, &C., are in
disputably of Sanscrit origin, and the
name Abhira has been accepted as cor
responding even etymologically to the
"Ophir" Of the Jews. The distance
tallies perfectly with that indicated in
the Bible, and, moreover, it is O recoc-
nized fact that the Pbonicians traded
largely with India, whereas their COM
merce with the African coast, despite
Herr Petermann's ingenious surmises,
must be admitted to rest wholly on hy-
pothesis. The ancient ruins found at
Zimbabye and in its vicinity ore no
proof at all, for where, asks Herr Kie-
pert. have similar ruins been found
owing their origin to the Phpnicians?
Bent on making money, the Phenicians
did not care about raising elaborate and
costly edifices, which they probably con-
sidered useless waste. What Phmnician
ruins there are, are in very different
style from what Herr Mauch describes
as being at Iimbabye. In conclusion,
traditions about the Queen Of Sheba as
altogether too aimsy to be seriously
brought forward. II every suoh tradi-
tion wero to be accepted as conclusive,
there would not be city in the whole
East which might not claim to be
"Ophir:" for the mystical and mythical
records OF that wealthy queen are OF
widely spread az those of Iakender.
Dhulkarnein alexander the Great OF
those of Semiramis.