The Lost Land of Ophir

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 110, 30 July 1927, Page 24

The Lost Land of Ophir

H BRITISH naval officer’s account of his 20 years’ search for the lost lands of Ophir, and of his discovery of them 400 miles east of Aden, after a 15months’ cruise in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Persian Gulf, formed the subject of a fascinating lecture at the Royal United Service Institution. The whereabouts of Ophir, from which Bilkis, the Queen of Sheba, brought to Solomon her magnificent gift of incense, spices, gold, jewels, apes, peacocks, pearls of price, and almug trees, has been one of the mysteries of the ages, but Commander C. Crauford claims that it has been solved, and he revealed his secret iu his lecture. He said:—If Ophir is lost to modern geography, the loss is not due to lack of information. After 20 years’ search I had the good fortune to visit Ophir T found it exactly where it ought to he—in Arabia—and it has taken mo another seven years or so to furnish proofs of the identity of Ophir. Red Sea Clue Ophir has been declared to be in various parts of the world. Commander Crauford said he began his search in China, and proceeded to Africa, South America, and Cevion, but he found the first clue in the Red Sea. He continued: “The problem of Ophir was the problem of finding a land where all the things which comprised the Queen of Sheba’s great gift to Solomon could he obtained. “When the queen arrived in Solomon’s country with her 33 tons of gold, jewels, and the like, King Hiram, who was friendly with Solomon, was

given the task of looking over the merchandise. In doing so he noted the wholesale markets, and used a sailor’s knowledge, which I followed. “He planned a trading scheme that the mercantile marine of to-day could not better, and it was by following his route in a dhow (a single-masted ship of about 200 tons), the same tvpe cf craft as he used, that we found the lost lands of Ophir. “Hiram’s fleet traded all the way from Ezion Gebir (at the head of the Red Sea), which I suggest was t.lie great Zion, and Tarshish, down the Red Sea, across the ocean to Socotra Island, then on to Ceylon, back to the Persian Gulf, and along the east coast of Arabia. They traded all the way, and returned to Ezion Gebir in three years. “By studying the ships from before the Flood to the present day we found that the ships of Ezion Gebir were identical with the modern Red Sea dhow. So we got a dhow and set out before the same trade winds as Hiram utilised to take him upon this greatest of all trading routes. “During our voyage down the Red Sea we passed many a harbour that is hardly known to modern navigation, past Aden, or Eden, the land of pleasantness, where the Queen of Sheba stopped on her journey to Solomon’s lands, and on to the Sheba Islands. Here we waited, as Hiram did. for the second monsoon wind, which took us up to the Persian Gulf. “With the third monsoon we coasted back, passed Muscat and Ras el Hadd, and along the coast of Oman (South-east Arabia). As we worked southwards Sabaean traces—that is,

falling stones and hidden crevasses j add to the danger, so that men always j go in parties, being roped together | for safety, and in charge of a guide ; who knows the particular mountain thoroughly. The dreadful avalanche, which is a i huge mass of snow and boulders that > slides down the mountain-side, is the | most terrible danger of the Swiss | mountains. Sometimes the avalanche ! will fall into an uninhabited valley, j in which case no harm is done; but sometimes it sweeps across populated slopes, destroying, perhaps, some un- j lucky peasants, or even wiping out a ' whole village. Zermatt, a tourist centre, is famous for its guides. From this town the famous Matterhorn can be seen, its peak outlined against the vivid blue sky in solitary grandeur. Many lives have been lost on this mountain, but every year fresh enthusiasts set up to conquer its precipitous sides. The most famous life-savers of the j mountain passes are the self-sacrific- i ing monks of St. Bernard, w T ith their well-trained dogs, who live in the famous hospice at the summit of the j pass of St. Bernard, from which thev | get their name. They live in this ! isolated station all the year round, so ; that they may help travellers and search in the snow for anyone who ' is lost—a noble work they have car- 1 ried on for centuries.

'of the kingdom of Sheba—grew stro& ger, and inscriptions were plentiful Then we came to Ophir, 400 miles east of Aden, with its ruined temple of God. This was about halfway on or cruise. Many a seaman and many i political officer have visited that an* ent fort, but they merely saw a lit* ter of massive ruins. Digging is sometimes weary -work, but you are richly repaid if you find a jewel lik! Ophir. Sand That Ended Ophir “The city is ideally situated. lias # a harbour to the north, and it lias a river which gave wharfages | the seaport. But a thin ribbon of ; coral sand is drawn across the terhour mouth. It was this strip of sari I which strangled the life of Ophir. i “There is great wealth in Opt- { still. Palestine at the present tin**

j the Palestine of King Saul, and it--j in our power to develop the lan I the prosperity of Solomon. Tk®* gold mines and precious stones | ground. There is a veritaw#T r *r ' vaal there. With the help Dphir lands we may have a hat includes all Arabia and als 1 -j* extended kingdom of Sabaea, an we shall see the fulfilment 0 ireams of the two greatest rui - . history—Solomon the Wise, an iis. the beautiful queen of She

111 recent rears it has been » f*2 J ite theory that Ophir was situ* East Africa, and this view *as larised by the works of Theod and others, including Bid« in his "King Solomons : centre of speculation was a pr ruins at Zimbabwe, in v scientific researches showed -s*l ruins were magnified kraals, a® l than 300 or 400 years old.