The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-02-29
Curious Conffovarsy-.-Are the African
Dianaestl Fields Identical with the
lDsssssr NJ fine Rtbao?

Dinufeutt Fields Identical with the
OpsaiR Tfsae Biblef
DR.. Petermann, the geographer, in letter
to the Ostsee Zeitsng, expresses himself satis-
| fed BY the latest report of the German eX-
plorer, Herr Car Mauch, that the diamond
fields I'm East Africa are identical with the
Opllir of the Bible, from which King Solo
mon is said to have conveyed gold and ivory
and precious stones to Jerusalem for the con-
struction OF the Temple. The whereabouts
of the ancient Ophir has long been dispu-
ted point The Portuguese, on taking pos
session 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 buildings
of which ruins were still visible owed their
origin to the Queen Of Sheba, and Lopez
even asserted the existence Of ancient doctl-
meuts 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 dis
coveries made in our new colonies by Brit
ton and Mauch, Merensky and Grutner.
Zimbabye is the place. It's neighborhood is
rich in alluvial 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 instruments
are still found that could not possibly have
been made by the natives, but might well
have been left there by PhGnicians. Three
days. journey from Zimbabye similar ruins
have been found, and the surrounding country
is rich in all that fayors agriculture. The pres
ent inhabitants have been In possession only
about forty years, and they regard the ruins
and relics with certain awe, due to tradl-
ton, which invests them with sacred char
acter. The geography Of the place tallies ad-
mirably with the indications given In the
Bible. Phenician 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 Peter
mann concludes with cut at the "practical
sense +" of the English, who, "with the most
maize coolness," have annexed the valuable
territory.
But, on the other hand, DR.. Petermann's
theory is fatty contradicted by Herr hiepert,
no less competent authority OH geographic
cal questions, who protests against the re-
vival Of a controversy which has by common
consent long been regarded as closed, for the
Gland of Ophir" has, i'll 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
Jerusalenl-viz., gold, ivory, peacocks,
monkeys, &c.-are indisputably of Sanscrit
origin, and the name Abhira has been ae-
copied as corresponding even etymologically
to the Ophir OF the Jews. The distance tai
lies perfectly with that indicated in the Bible,
and moreover it is a recognized fact that the
Phnnicians 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
Zimbabye and in its vicinity are no proof at
all, for where, asks Herr Kiepert, have SINH
lar ruins been found owing their origin to
the Phencians? Bent on making money,
the Ph9nicians did not care about raising
elaborate and costly editices, which they pro-
badly considered useless waste. What Phe-
nician ruins there are, are in very different
STYLE from what Herr Mauch describes as being
at Zimbabye. In conclusion, Herr hlepert
condemns the evidence of traditions about
the Queen of Sheba as altogether too flimsy
to be seriously brought forward. If every
such tradition were to be accepted rs conclll-
siyc there would not be city III the whole
East which might not claim to be "Ophlr,
for the mystical and mythical records OF that
wealthy queen are as widely spread as those
of Observation-Disclosures alexander the
| Great or those Of ScmiramiS.