Ophir (/ˈoʊfər/;[1]Hebrew:אוֹפִיר,Modern: ʼŌfīr,Tiberian: ʼŌp̄īr) is a port or region mentioned in theBible, famous for its wealth. Its existence is attested to by aninscribed pottery shard found atTell Qasile (in modern-dayTel Aviv) in 1946, dating to the eighth century BC,[2][3] which reads "gold of Ophir to/for Beth-Horon [...] 30shekels".[a][4] The location of Ophir is unknown, though the find confirms it as a real place which exported gold.[5]
Ophir inGenesis 10 (theTable of Nations) is said to be the name of one of the sons ofJoktan.[b] TheBooks of Kings andChronicles tell of a joint expedition to Ophir byKing Solomon and theTyrian kingHiram I fromEzion-Geber, a port on theRed Sea, that brought back large amounts of gold, precious stones and 'algum wood' and of a later failed expedition by kingJehoshaphat of Judah.[c] The famous 'gold of Ophir' is referenced in several other books of the Hebrew Bible, in particular Isaiah 13:12 refers to the "golden wedge of Ophir".[d]
In theSeptuagint, other variants of the name are mentioned:Ōpheír,Sōphír,Sōpheír andSouphír.[6]
TheNew Testament apocrypha bookCave of Treasures contains a passage: "And the children of Ophir, that is, Send, appointed to be their king Lophoron, who built Ophir with stones of gold; now, all the stones that are in Ophir are of gold."[7]
The 1st-century historianJosephus, in his "Antiquities of the Jews" (8.6.4), identified Ophir as "the Aurea Chersonesus, which belongs to India."[8] "Aurea Chersonesus" (Χρυσῆ Χερσόνησος) is Grecolatin for "Golden Peninsula." At that time,India was thought to comprise, not just the Indian subcontinent, but alsoIndochina, andIndonesia. Hence, in hisGeography, the nearly contemporaneous geographerPtolemy lists these additional lands within the province of "India beyond the Ganges." Ptolemy therein identifies exactly where this Golden Peninsula is, centering it inMalaysia, perhaps also extending somewhat intoSumatra. In particular, Ptolemy mentions a "golden river" (Χρυσοάνα ποταμος) somewhat south of the archaeological site of theBujang Valley (Βήσυγγα ἐμπόριον), and in the vicinity of the "Palandos river" (Παλάνδος ποταμος) (the modernPahang region, also common in the derivedtoponyms surroundingKuala Lumpur). These areas are indeed famous for gold.[9] Indeed, thelongest-lasting name for Sumatra,Svarṇa,[10] which also means "gold," may have derived directly from the word Ophir, by a means similar to the Classical Greek pronunciation displayed in theSeptuagint: "Soophaara"/"Souphir" (Σωφηρα[11]/Σουφιρ[12]).
Europeans, arriving later, consequently renamed mythologically-famous 'golden'Mount Ledang near Malacca, Malaysia, asMount Ophir.[13][14]
The 10th-century lexicographerDavid ben Abraham al-Fasi identified Ophir with Serendip, the old Persian name forSri Lanka (aka Ceylon).[15]
A Dictionary of the Bible bySir William Smith, published in 1863,[16] notes the Hebrew word for parrotThukki, derived from the Classical Tamil for peacockThogkai and Sinhalese "tokei",[17] joins other Classical Tamil words for ivory, cotton-cloth and apes preserved in the Hebrew Bible. This theory of Ophir's location inUvari inTamil Nadu is further supported by other historians.[18][19][20][21]
The most likely location on the coast of Kerala conjectured to be Ophir isPoovar inThiruvananthapuram District (though some Indian scholars also suggestBeypore as a possible location).[22][23]
Earlier in the 19th century,Max Müller and other scholars identified Ophir withAbhira, near theIndus River in modern-day state ofGujarat,India. According to Benjamin Walker Ophir is said to have been a town of theAbhira tribe.[24]
InJewish tradition, Ophir is often associated withUvari, a place in theIndian subcontinent,[e] named for one of the sons ofJoktan.[27]Ibn Sa'd says in hisKitab at-Tabaqat al-Kabir that the Indians, the Sindhis and the Bindis are the descendants of Yufir (Ophir).[28]
In Tomo III (1519–1522), pages 112–138, of the bookColección general de documentos relativos a las Islas Filipinas existentes en el Archivo de Indias de Sevilla,[29] found in theGeneral Archive of the Indies in Spain, Document No. 98 describes how to locate the land of Ophir. The navigational guide starts from theCape of Good Hope in Africa to India, Burma,Sumatra, theMaluku Islands,Borneo,Sulu, China, then finally Ophir, which is the Ryukyu Islands. These directions were misrepresented byLone District of Santa Rosa RepresentativeDanilo Fernandez in 2023, who suggested Ophir as the desirable name for the Philippines.[30]
Biblical scholars, archaeologists and others have tried to determine the exact location of Ophir.Vasco da Gama's companionTomé Lopes reasoned that Ophir would have been the ancient name forGreat Zimbabwe inZimbabwe, the main center ofsouthern African trade in gold in theRenaissance period — though the ruins at Great Zimbabwe are now dated to themedieval era, long after Solomon is said to have lived. The identification of Ophir withSofala in Mozambique was mentioned byMilton inParadise Lost (11:399-401), among many other works of literature and science.
Another, more serious, possibility is the African shore of theRed Sea,Gulf of Aden orSomali Sea, with the name perhaps being derived from the ancient city of Opone in modern daySomalia or fromAfar people living in theDanakil desert (Ethiopia,Eritrea) betweenAdulis andDjibouti.
Afri was a Latin name used to refer to theCarthaginians, who dwelt inNorth Africa, in modern-dayTunisia. This name, that later gave the richRoman province of Africa and the subsequent medievalIfriqiya, from which the name of the continentAfrica is ultimately derived, seems to have referred to a nativeLibyan tribe originally, however, seeTerence for discussion. The name is usually connected withPhoenicianafar, "dust", but a 1981 hypothesis[31] has asserted that it stems from theBerber wordifri (pluralifran) meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers.[32] This is proposed[32] to be the origin ofOphir as well.[33]
In 1976, the United States Department of Interior announced that a team formed by the United States Geological Survey together with experts from Saudi Arabia believes it has "a fairly airtight case” thatMahd adh Dhahab, or Cradle of Gold, in Saudi Arabia is the biblical Ophir. As evidence, the team states that "there are huge quantities of waste rock left behind by ancient miners, approximately a million tons, and that it has an average gold content of sixteenths of an ounce per ton, indicating that the mined ore must have been richer. From sampling old slopes and from production figures during the 1939 to 1954 period when the mine was reactivated to extract gold and silver, the geological survey scientists estimated that in biblical times much gold must have been found at or near the surface." Moreover, Mahd adh Dhahab is "within range of Israel's transport capability," and it "could easily have been known to Solomon or his advisers because it lies on a north‐south trade route that has run to Aqaba for some 4,000 years." Their conclusion is that "Mand adh Dhahab [sic] could have produced 34 tons of gold in ancient times and was the biblical Ophir."[34]
In a letter written in May 1500,Peter Martyr claimed that Christopher Columbus identifiedHispaniola with Ophir.[35]
The theologianBenito Arias Montano (1571) proposed finding Ophir in the name ofPeru, reasoning that the native Peruvians were thus descendants of Ophir andShem.[36]
TheCalifornia Gold Rush boomtown,Ophir, was renamed[37] after "the biblical source ofSolomon's treasure."[38]
Ophir, Oregon, is an unincorporated community on the coast in Curry County.
The site of the discovery of the first payable gold deposit in Australia is known asOphir, as is gold-mining settlement ofOphir, in Otago, New Zealand.
After their discovery by Europeans in 1568 by Spanish navigatorÁlvaro de Mendaña, theSolomon Islands were subsequently referred to asIslas Salomón (Solomon Islands) by others following reports of his voyage optimistically conflated with stories of King Solomon, believing them to be Ophir.[39][40][41]
Ophir Chasma, named after the biblical Ophir, is a canyon making up part of theValles Marineris canyon system on Mars.
For many references and a comprehensive outline of the products exported from Muziris, Ariake &c. cf. George Menachery ed. The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, 1973, 1982, 2009.
