Ophir

Ophir (in Hebrew אוֹפִיר) is a port or an area mentioned in the Bible which was known for its richness, in particular the Or. The king Solomon is supposed to have received every three years a gold cargo, of money, wood (probably of Santal), of invaluable stones, Ivoire, Singe S and Paon S of Ophir. Ophir is also one of the children of Joktan.

The disciples biblical, the Archéologue S and various other people tried to determine the exact place where was located of Ophir. It seems that the Bateau X returning from Ophir discharged to them Cargaison in a port from the South of the the Sinai, coming from the Red Sea.

Some suppose that Ophir was located some share in the south-west of the Arabia, in the area of the modern Yemen or in India. Another possibility, more probable, would be the African shore of the Red Sea, the Ethiopia and the current Érythrée, from which the name of the area D ''' Afar '' seems perhaps derived from Ophir. This area has moreover one long tradition of mining, artisanal and Community extraction. A thing seems to be sure, it is that this area is supposed near to the kingdom of the Queen of Sheba, silent partner of the sendings of goods. According to the legend, his/her son Ménélik Ier was king d' Éthiopie what would seem to accredit this last thesis.

Of the 19th century, a German explorer of the name of Karl Mauch thought of having found Ophir with the Zimbabwe actuel ; more precisely in the Large Zimbabwe, where a lost city is regarded as the greatest stone construction of the sub-Saharan zone précoloniale. Mauch could not believe that this realization was made by the ancestors of the local tribes. Large Zimbabwe indeed was a gold bearing production center and a place of trade for part of the South of Africa; but of more thorough archaeological research contradicted a bond with Ophir, showing that the construction of this monument was of purely African origin.

In the cycle of Conan the barbarian of Robert Ervin Howard Ophir corresponds to a country resembling by his inhabitants, his climate and his vegetation, in the south of the Central Europe.

See too

Mines of the king Solomon: Ophir is the required city
the Temple of Solomon where was used part of the gold of Ophir
the king Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

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