Ophir

Joseph of Arminthia, Jesus’s uncle, was a Roman Senator and Decurio of Rome. Joseph was in charge of minerals and mining for Rome.In the first century in Great Briton they referred to the miners frequently as the old Jews or the Jewish tin miners, the Cornwall Jews.

This is where Judea, Palestine, Tyre, Egypt, Greece and  Morocco obtained their minerals- Bronze, Tin, Copper, and lead from.  Gold was a different story!

The Phoenician King Hiram son in law was King Solomon. King Solomon amassed a great Treasure for the Building of a Temple in Jerusalem that is known to history as Solomons Temple. The Temple was built out of gold. But where did the gold come from?

King Solomon made a fleet of ships in Ezion-Gerber, which is beside Eilat, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. Hiram sent in the Navy of his servants, and sailors, who had knowledge of the Sea. They worked with the servants of King Solomon to build the temple.

They came to Ophir, and fetched from hence, Gold, four hundred twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon. Once in three years the fleet came in bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, peacocks and a great amount of sandalwood and precious stones.

The ship came in once every three years but is this to say that the resupply trips actually took three years?  When Queen Sheba arrived at King Solomon’s court she came bearing gifts. Four and a half tons of gold, Precious stones, exotic woods and jewels to decorate his palace with.

Could she have come from Ophir? Ophir is now thought to be a generic name rather than a specific location, kind of like saying "the mountains" or "desert" or "Island" rather than naming a specific mountain or desert or island. It simply referred to a place where there is a lot of gold, "Ophir".

I decided to consult with an maritime associate.  The captain stated that he "Thought of the Phoenicians as leaving the Mediterranean out toward the Atlantic Ocean and rounding the southern tip of Africa to journey to Rhodesia.

When I looked at the globe sitting in my room, I realized the Journey would have been much less troublesome if the Suez Canal had existed at the time, but it didn't.

While looking at the globe it became evident these early traveler/sailor/traders should have known the shorter trip would be to travel up the Red Sea, to Egypt's eastern shores.

The problem for me was I often thought of the Phoenicians relative to their contributions in the area of the Mediterranean Sea, Greece, Italy, Moroccan, and Spanish influence.  

Since the origin of civilization was said to occur in the fertile valleys between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Those rivers dump into the Gulf of Arabia.

At the southern portion of the Gulf of Arabia lays the very old fishing villages of "Qatar" with shallower waters at the mouth of the Arabian Sea.

The Phoenicians were also referred to as Canaanites. Qatar was the earliest known source of the Phoenician vessels. Sailing west out of the gulf of Arabia, you enter the Gulf of Aden and the next great body of water off the Gulf of Aden to the north is the Red Sea.

If a Sailing vessel or Rowing Galley wanted to sail north, they would have to fight the winds, something you can't do very well with a square rigged galley. Just the same, a rowing vessel, would be able to conquer that issue.

Once the Red Sea is discovered, the next port of call would be sailing northerly along the African coastline. Doing this you would encounter the gold producing countries of Zimbabwe and Rhodesia. 

The distance up the coast of Africa to the Northern reaches of the Red Sea for a delivery route is comparable distance to someone delivering goods to Nova Scotia from the Gulf of Mexico.

It would not be unreasonable to presume native people living in the area of the Mediterranean Sea to know about the Red Sea and vice versa.

Curiosity to the Phoenician sailors would likely develout how long the journey is around the African continent.