King Solomon's Mines

[Oroblanco]

Don Jose de la Mancha, without having done any research on the matter wrote:

Frankly I haven't done any research on it, but is it possible that they actually made a trip once every three years, not make around trip of three years? If sooooooo

If so, why bother to wait three years? Why not send them off every year? Every two years? Why not wait four years and have a bigger cargo? Why not five years? The three years figure is repeated <1 Kings 10:22 and 2 Chronicles 9:21> and points out that the ships are going to both Ophir and Tarshish. Tarshish is almost certainly Tartessus in SW Spain, now look at your map of the Mediterranean and notice where Ezion-geber is on the Red Sea, and where Tartessus is in SW Spain (near modern Gadiz) and figure out how long it would take to sail there. You could sail to Tarshish from Ezion-geber or from Joppa, as Job did. How would you get to Tarshish and back to Israel, departing from Ezion-geber?

The obvious answer is to set sail from Ezion-geber and return to Joppa as the most logical (shortest duration and distance) and sure enough, the only place where evidence of Solomon's fleet has been found other than Ezion-geber is at Joppa. To sail East from Ezion-geber, touch at India and then to Spain requires a long voyage no matter how you cut it. The Egyptian voyage around Africa also took almost three years, with Phoenicians doing the sailing, but they stopped and planted crops of grain twice along the way, allowing that grain to mature and harvest it before proceeding. This rather smacks of deliberately prolonging the voyage rather than necessity.

The short trip theory has plenty of supporters, this site presents some of the arguments:
http://bible.cc/1_kings/9-26.htm

The trouble is the arguments don't hold up well. Remember, Solomon was exporting copper and returning with those specified goods - gold, silver, ivory, apes, peacocks and algum wood. It is notable that Amerindians, when first encountered by European explorers (post Columbus and including Columbus) valued copper much higher than gold. Coincidence?

Loke wrote

There was a good program on 'history international' the other night - about a quest for the covenant of the arc.
It certainly mentioned the lemba tribe and also its jewish origin and how, when they left the arabian peninsula - they had brought the arc with them. I believe the 'conclusion' (if you can call it that) was that the arc was infact a drum ?! (hey - it's not _my_ theory - I'm just quoting!)

Well now it has your name on it! (I am kidding) Parfitt was on pretty solid ground until he got to the drum he concluded was the Ark. If he had not made that conclusion, perhaps he might have considered that the drum could be something holy brought from the Temple, just not the Ark. The drum itself is pure African, and one is tempted to theorize about the famous African 'Talking drums' which were really of West African origins and shaped like an hourglass, but it is not farfetched at all that such a drum could have been among Solomon's possessions and dedicated to the Temple. Remember, Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt which is in Africa after all.

The Lemba "ark"


what it would appear like (reconstructed)


The Ark of the Covenant


Interesting to research though!
Good luck and good hunting amigos, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.
Oroblanco

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[hamiddetecting]

Congratulation!

[Rebel - KGC]

(SMIRKING) Saw the SAME show... NOT convinced. Look at the original purpose of the ARK OF COVENANT; It was to be a "place" (portable) where the SPIRIT of FATHER/CREATOR could reside... a DRUM? LOL! Probably a "legend" which stated something like the VOICE of GOD... BOOMED out of it, to the ppl. BOOM! Does sound like a drum, doesn't it. It was ALSO "electrified" to SHOCK/KILL ppl who touched it. Sounds like a electro-magnetic generator or something... MAYBE a alien radio receiver... DUNNO. (WINK)