Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-03-19
UUODEsIA AND OPHIN.

Tho "clvilzers" Of the interior OF the
mark continent have hitherto conhHed
Themselves largely 10 killing the natives
with gunpowder or gin, tracing the "a.
roction Of water courses, building rah-
WAYS constructing teegraphic lines col
lecting geographical and ethnosraphicai
data developing mines and trade ETC.
II has been contended, however 'haI
Africa was destined 20 disclose under
archaeological research rich treasures
that would throw important light on
ancient history and it would now appear
| from an article in a recent issue Oh tho
Matabele Times. that interest in TINS neiu
! Of African work is about TO take pracuc'l
shane The Times makes The clam
that the Monomatopa region in Hhodes'@
! IS the original land OF Ophir. 1t says
! that the gold-mine discovery there was
lrediscovorv: also. that the ingot mouids
lately unearthed in Khodesia are luenu-
cal with the tin ingot moulds USED by 'he
Phoenicians in Cornwall.
The.claim of our far-away contemporary
Is not original with it, and its statement
lreearding the ipgot moulds Is not new.
tradition. at least, has long associated
tho interior Of Africa with the land OF
4 nh,r and this tradition has lured more
than one avarlcious adventurer 10
his death. The identification, or attempt
cd identification. Of the mouds was, II we
mistake not. made several years ago.
"In its further grouping of evidence
70 s,,etofn IFS contention that the region
was the seat Of ancient civilization ana
ministry. the Times notes that Scripture
tolls us how Hiram, the Phoenician King
brought enormous quantities OF goi''
ivory and slaves for King solomon; and
e. asl,s where could all these have been
discovered together, and in such large
quantities as described in Holy writ II
a, not in that portion Of Africa? jobs re-
! rorouces TO gold dust locate the sources
p Of so,omon's wealth in those parts, II
y savs and certainly. it argues, neither
!, the ivory" nor the slaves, nor th'
/ ZINES" Of Bible history came from india
k for Africa. as Is well known, has ever
i been credited in history as the worry
/, slave" and "ape" producing country
20 Further. remarks the Times there Il
70 considerable doubt whecler any othc
Il country. India included. could at tina
poriod have produced the quantity OF golt
mentioned in Chronicles and Kings. tn
n Times then calls attention TO the fact tina
Il scattered throughout the country are co
lossal ruins Of fortresses, and temples o
+ distinctly Phoenician origin, Identical
u with the ruins now seen in the land O
tho Phocnicians, and evidently be- b
er the same race as erected StonehenSe o
~ salisbury Plain, and later built the rounC
's ed towers of Ireland, and in conclusion
Vi saws: Here is the herring -bonc style
s. building. as in Arabia, Sardinia, and tn
} British Isles: there. too, are the sigant
ne monoliths. cloven stones, and stone eli
D" clos. with affairs and sacred Enclosures
'o Both in the matter Of argument an
% statement of fact, much of this also
NOT new. None the less the length Z
Do which the Times goes into the subjo
d." indicates. as we have suggested, NOV
U' ment TO mako the region give up full
e' IT'S archaeological secrets. Whether
'o shall be proved that Rhodosia is the lar
io7 of Ophir or not. there seems hardly
question that systematic archaeologic
-. labor there is fun OF promise Of valuab
- results