Now among ALL the characters you meet in the Bible, the fellow of that goes by the name of Hiram, can only be described in a modern context as an African nobleman to boot. Place him in the same pantheon of GREAT men such as Solomon and King David, and then you can start to see his reach in the ancient world. And people talk about Mansa Musas gold, it would have looked like chum-change when compared to Hirams wealth. His storehouses were Filled to the brim with treasure. They were stacked with precious things, among them more gold then we can imagine being in one place. Historically, we know him well through many sources as King Hiram, and he was quite the character indeed. King of the Phoenicians, we think these were African tradesmen, with King Hiram ruling from the coastal city of Tyre. Hence the phrase King of Tyre, and Tyre is not mentioned even ONCE in a festive setting in our Scriptures. We will in closing of the article bring the Scriptural references but first, lets look at what the contemporary historians say about Tyre and Phoenicia. Lets Dive !
The King of Tyre is more then often synonymous with the devil in Scripture. On the other hand, we can find good sources on King Hiram who seemed to be a decent chap, as we find quotes on him from The Bible, but also from the writings of Menander of Ephesus and the Great Ancient historian on African soil in Flavius Josephus Against Apion. All of these are relatively fresh and somewhat trustworthy sources. So lets dive into this, because just like some people are blessed with wealth and power today, people where blessed with wealth and power back in the day. And this includes people that were outside of the confines of The Promised Lands (under times of Solomon), SoNiNi saw fit to use him for His glory and the glory of His people. So lets get into this!

Now during King Hirams rule, Tyre grew to become mighty and became the hub of a bustling trading empire. Now Hiram allied himself with King David, and it was Hirams artisans that built King Davids Palace in Jerusalem. The palace was built using Cedars of Lebanon, which would have been used in Hirams ships as well. Now Tyre, we think would include ancient the East-African trade routes and countries like Tanzania and Mozambique, and Hirams ancestors were supplanted (or morphed into) Arab trade, like the Sultanate of Tanzania, over time and towards more modern times. Or we are wrong and Hiram was more Arabic (Persian) looking in his ethnicity. Still, we think he would cary a look close to the photo on the right. Now through these ancient areas of Tyre and the Phoenicians, we think are in what we call today East Africa, the City of Tyre (good candidates for this ancient city is Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Mtwara, Zanzibar and Mwanza). We would be just outside the Solomonic Borders of the promised lands, on the banks of the River Euphrates (Zambezi) going up and into ancient Mesopotamia. Remember here must fit Persians and Babylonians also. Now Hiram, ensured trade and had access to MAJOR trade routes with ancient Egypt, Arabia and Mesopotamia. And he would have been strategically places, smack right in between all of them. Having all of Asia to the far east wanting his goods. Now they had a joint trade route over the Red Sea (which would have been a vast inland African sea we think), where they had their own harbour Ezion-Beger not far away from a land called Ophir. So you see where we are going with this. Ophir and Sophala (Sofala), has historically been connected as not being that far apart in location. We will see they were close indeed.
Now according to Scripture, Both King David and Hiram grew VERY wealthy from trading agreements between the two Nations. And Hiram sent Davids son Solomon, architects, workers, cedar wood and lots of GOLD to build the First Temple in Jerusalem. Historian Josephus wrote that he extended the Harbour in Tyre, enlarging the city of Tyre by joining two islands, then he built the Royal Palace of Melqart (Against Apion), and all this was in an area called Lebanon. We have previously placed Lebanon further inland into South Africa, but in this we would be wrong. As this area would have been closer to Hiram and Tyre, in East Africa. With a base most likely in Tanzania (ancient Arabia). Swahili and Arabic, thats the Bantu connection people need to make here.

Now archeologically, we do not have much to go on here. Other than some old structures in the African interior, we have a quote from Josephus, that cites Tyrian court records and the writings of Meander. But know this, rather recent academic writers has said on numerous occasions that Ophir could have been active on the African continent in and around Rhodesia (Zimbabwe and others). And we are standing on much steadier and good independent researchers then say like Karl Mauch (1837-1875). Nothing against the German or his convictions, but there have been way more work done since his discoveries to see that there is indeed good grounds here to claim both this that and the other. Mauchs diaries make your hair stand on end though and are well worth the read if you care to do some exploring on your own in these areas. Even though we are certain Karl Gottlieb Mauch would have been very much ridiculed by his convictions, shown to him by SoNiNi no doubt in our minds. Now, in looking closer at Josephus writings, remember Carthage was founded many years after Solomon starting building his Temple. Josephus writes that Hirams reign began 155 years and 8 months BEFORE the event of Carthage. So furthermore we see that The construction of the Temple of Solomon began in the 12th year of Hirams reign. Which then turns out to be 143 years BEFORE Carthage was constructed.
So you want more sources hey? Tired of us quoting Josephus all the time. Well there are plenty others, take Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus (1st century) during the reign of Latin Literature, that has a pretty well fixed date for the Founding of Carthage. He says 825 Before Christ. If we do this, Hirams reign is around 1000 years before Christ walked the earth, and the Temple would have been constructed around 968, IF, Pompeius was not full of it or somehow we are read the timeline wrong in our time. Which could be, radio carbon-dating is not something we place our trust in. Its like a PCR test, magnify enough and you can get whatever reading you like. Either way, these dates are not important, and you will know from our blog that we do not put much weight on dates because well, we do not know for sure. So we think people should not lean so heavy on them, acknowledge them and remember that history is the spoil of the victor. This is more important to keep in mind. And that means the one who won the war can dictate what really happened. Cultures are born and lost that way. So, the corruption we are faced with trying to unravel the ancient past, is not easy at all.
Now King Hiram of Tyre, was the facilitator of King Solomons vast wealth and Golden age. It was certainly by SoNiNis hand and will that Solomon became so wealthy, but King Hiram was the conduit of all this wealth. You could say the Gold was funnelled to SoNiNis People through The King of Tyre. Now in this timeline we are way before Christ walked the earth here, some say even 1000 years before, but this is as we said before, always debatable. Only imagine this, it would have been at the Highest rise of the United States of Southern Africa, IE - The Promised Land, under King David and his son Solomon.
So its clear from our Scriptures that Hiram had a very close association with the Monarchs of The Promised Lands in Southern Africa (1 Kings 5):
5 When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father David, he sent his envoys to Solomon, because he had always been on friendly terms with David. 2 Solomon sent back this message to Hiram:
3 “You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of SoNiNi his God until SoNiNi put his enemies under his feet. 4 But now SoNiNi has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. 5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of SoNiNi my God, as SoNiNi told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’
6 “So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians.”
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s message, he was greatly pleased and said, “Praise be to SoNiNi today, for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. 9 My men will haul them down from Lebanon to the ANCIENT Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.”
10 In this way Hiram kept Solomon supplied with all the cedar and juniper logs he wanted, 11 and Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand cors of wheat as food for his household, in addition to twenty thousand baths of pressed olive oil. Solomon continued to do this for Hiram year after year. 12 SoNiNi gave Solomon wisdom, just as he had promised him. There were peaceful relations between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.
13 King Solomon conscripted labourers from all Israel—thirty thousand men. 14 He sent them off to Lebanon in shifts of ten thousand a month, so that they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, 16 as well as thirty-three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workers. 17 At the king’s command they removed from the quarry large blocks of high-grade stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. 18 The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and workers from Byblos cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.
And take a look at the share manpower assembled for this epic build, talked more about in II Chronicles 2,2-16:
2 He conscripted 70,000 men as carriers and 80,000 as stonecutters in the hills and 3,600 as foremen over them.
3 Solomon sent this message to Hiram king of Tyre:
“Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace to live in. 4 Now I am about to build a temple for the Name of SoNiNi NaNiNi my God and to dedicate it to him for burning fragrant incense before him, for setting out the consecrated bread regularly, and for making burnt offerings every morning and evening and on the Sabbaths, at the New Moons and at the appointed festivals of SoNiNi naNiNi. This is a lasting ordinance for Israel.
5 “The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods. 6 But who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him? 7 “Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving, to work in Judah and Jerusalem with my skilled workers, whom my father David provided.
8 “Send me also cedar, juniper and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants are skilled in cutting timber there. My servants will work with yours 9 to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent. 10 I will give your servants, the woodsmen who cut the timber, twenty thousand cors of ground wheat, twenty thousand cors of barley, twenty thousand baths of wine and twenty thousand baths of olive oil.”
11 Hiram king of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon:
“Because SoNiNi loves his people, he has made you their king.” 12 And Hiram added:
“Praise be to SoNiNi, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for SoNiNi and a palace for himself.
13 “I am sending you Huram-Abi, a man of great skill, 14 whose mother was from Dan and whose father was from Tyre. He is trained to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, stone and wood, and with purple and blue and crimson yarn and fine linen. He is experienced in all kinds of engraving and can execute any design given to him. He will work with your skilled workers and with those of my lord, David your father.
15 “Now let my lord send his servants the wheat and barley and the olive oil and wine he promised, 16 and we will cut all the logs from Lebanon that you need and will float them as rafts by sea down to Joppa. You can then take them up to Jerusalem.”
17 Solomon took a census of all the foreigners residing in Israel, after the census his father David had taken; and they were found to be 153,600. 18 He assigned 70,000 of them to be carriers and 80,000 to be stonecutters in the hills, with 3,600 foremen over them to keep the people working.
What a logistical nightmare it must have been. Just look at the share number of men, hundreds of thousands. Remember, Keeping all these men fed and happy, not easy. Now Solomon and Hiram being as rich as they were was certainly did help the men in keeping focused. Incentives or just a good ground salary tend to help on morality and effort. However, it cannot have been easy to keep morals high. Unless SoNiNi oversaw the construction Himself...

Now the relationship between Hiram and King David is seen through these writings. Hiram supplied labourers, cedar and others woods, and lots of other materials to Kind David during the construction of his Palace in Jerusalem (I Chronicles 14,1). Furthermore we see this AGAIN during Solomons reign, very detailed descriptions of a deeply cooperative relationship between the two leaders. There would have been an agreement between them for the construction of these monumental project(s) in Jerusalem. Solomons Temple and his royal Palace (I Kings 5). This agreement suggest a partnership even friendship between these two men. Hiram provided artisans and skilled labourers, the best cedar trees and cypress wood from Lebanon forest. Which must have been from East Africa, and outside the Promised Lands. Tyre and Hiram in return, wold be getting a great deal of resources like wheat, olive oil, barley (millie meal) and wine. Just a huge economic deal and boost for both parties.
Hirams Gold
Now this map, a long with most of contemporary ancient history, takes the stance that Hirams Tyre was based in the Middle East. We beg to differ. Not that the map is outrageously wrong, as the Phoenicians have been traced to Spain and even UK(!), but their base, we think, was in SouthEast Africa.

Historically Hiram was connected to Mesopotamia, which we believe is just a rather small misspell of the word Monomotapa, the Lands between the Great Rivers Euphrates (Zambezi) and Tigre (Congo). Now Gold was according to the Bible the principal export of Ophir, long associated with Sophala (Mozambique) and the area north of the Zambezi. Africa has ALWAYS been a gold-producing place, and writers such as French scholar Pierre Daniel Huet (1630-1721), French Orientalist and Biblical Scholar Ètienne Marc Quatremére (1782-1857), French explorer Captain Charles Guillain (1808-1875), British Historian James Bryce (1838-1922) with many others as we shall see, and all the above agree on the vast amounts of gold to be found in and around Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). And remember some of these people actually went to the locations (!) and had many things to say about the Rhodesian ruins and the thought gold output of these areas. We can find, from all the above writers and many others that the claims of Monomotapa (Rhodesia) was the Ophir of Scripture. These claims, in unison, say that the African Ophir was inland from Sofirla (Sofala) in Southeast Africa (Monomotapa). We also have the work of an academic person British Archeologist and explorer James Theodore Bent (1852-1897) and German Explorer in Karl Peters (1856-1918), that examined several ruins and even visited these ancient Gold-Working Stations, Bent and Peters came to the same conclusions. Thars Gold in`em Hills !
Now if you read these claims in details, you will see that the presence in ancient Rhodesia of these ruins are dated to around the same time of the historically activity of Hiram and Solomon. (some 1100 Before Christ). Coincidental? Well, the earth holds the secrets, and the architectural style does show that there were indeed different times of occupation, which spans many centuries. But the research agrees very much in one thing, all of these different layers of occupants, were busy mining gold. The Gold industry was paving these streets, setting up the trade-routes and building these massive smelting furnaces.
Now you can go and read a book by Viscount James Bryce called Impressions of South Africa (Bryce, 1899):
("In very remote times there existed, as is known from Egyptian monuments, a trade from South-East Africa into the Red Sea… There are other indications that gold used to come from East Africa, but so far as we know it has never been obtained in quantity from any part of the coast between Mozambique and Cape Guardafui Thus there are grounds for believing that a traffic between the Red Sea and the coast south of the Zambesi may have existed from very remote times of its late, existence there is, of course, no doubt."
Quotes like this are numerous, pointing to great a traffic of gold in ancient times, from rather unknown authors. WE think they remain somewhat unknown and never could develop into the great authors, because the writers would get publicly humiliated for even proposing such logical and evidence bases historical notions. They say, We all know the historical base for the Phoenicians was in what we know as the Middle East. We do not agree. Mesopotamia - Mwenemutapa was on the continent.

Moving on, the American mining engineer and philanthropist John Hays Hammond (1855-1936), the man who was given complete charge of mining in South Africa by a certain Cecil John Rhodes (1853-1902), got going in the early days of mining in Rhodesias gold belts. He said that people had already been mining many centuries before him and extracted millions (pound sterling, which means billions today) worth of gold. And this was from the Rhodesian portion of Monomotapa alone, Hammond reported. Estimates from gold-output in 1897 from these areas was 75k Sterling, at the very least. Which means millions of pounds in todays commutations.
Now placing these areas into the Biblical context, the goldfields from Monomotapa would have been known well before Hirams time. Ophir indeed. Now Hiram may have been the market maker for Solomons steady supplies of traded items like Gold, Ivory, various slaves, African animals, precious stones, sandalwood and the odd rare bird. In these trade voyages 420 talents would be obtained in a single voyage (Kings 9,28). Which is hard to calculate in todays money, but we speculate it to be worth hundreds of millions of USD.
Now another ancient source that we find increasingly more interesting as we connect these dots is the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, it states that Rhapta as mentioned in Ptolemaeus Geography, was a dependency of Sabea (Nubia) which may have been close to Babylonian lands (Horn of Africa). Other sources talks about Ophir and Queen Sheba, in Conto that referred to Mount oFura (Ophira) Gold Mountain in Rhodesia, where there are many ruins. This source from Conto is obscure and hard to substantiate, there are plenty other Portuguese sources as we shall see, that gives food for thought about the interiors in these areas. We will get to those, areas Riddled with gold.

King Hiram was also know for Ivory, and Africa has ALWAYS been the numbers one exporter of Ivory. And this is why India is even considered as being Ophir, well because of the mentions of Ivory in the Bible. India has elephants - And Ivory comes from Elephants, and there is only two places where you can find decent amounts of this large animal, Africa and India. But in much greater herds in Africa, especially in ancient times. And Ivory trade reached great highs during Rhodesias colonial peaks (remember Rhodesia is basically Zimbabwe) at least in terms of felling animals. However we think during Hirams times the Elephants were more and so was the Ivory. It would have flourished.

Another thing or shall we say trade, that flourished was that of having and owning slaves. You might say it even came in the same wagon as the gold and the ivory. Same area and port even. Then came precious stones from the African interior, Read article
Sacred Stones of Southern Africa as an introduction into what these stones may have looked like), there would also have been other commodities like Spices, Myrrh, Frankincense and other exotic animals, like Peacocks and trained Monkeys. One can only imagine what wagons of treasure King Hiram would have conducted and extracted from the deepest inlands of Africa. And also, deliveries would have been made by ships, remember Ships of Tarshish with docks at the Red Sea...
Now for more sources on these resource rich areas, just have a look at one of the Greatest English Writers, in John Milton (1608-1674), and see for yourself what he had this to say about Ophir, in Paradise Lost (Milton, 1667:399-401):
“Mombaza, and Quiloa, and Melind, And Sofala (thought Ophir) to the realm Of Congo, and Angola farthest south."
So indeed, there were different consensus among people during these times, then what they are now. Now we know everything about ancient history right? And the VAST rich continent of Africa is but a mere footnote, only ever full of nomadic tribes and simpleminded Africans. As long as this sentiment is allowed, there will not be curiosity about the past. Lets change that. Say brother, you might be descendant of a Biblical King or King Hiram the greatest trader of all time? Are you interested now...? Do you wanna know your past?
Now if you go into the traditions of Sofala, according to the Portuguese, you will find stories of Queen Sheba coming from the gold-rich inlands, not far from Sofala. Now we can read books by people such as the Scottish cartographer John Ogilby (1600-1676) who likely never went to Africa, and he certainly quoted another work written by Olfert Dapper (1636-1689) in Description of Africa or Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaenische Gewesten (1668), ANOTHER man who never travelled outside his country the Netherlands. Telling you all about the history of Africa.... People, we gotta do better then this. We gotta read first hand, Still, these men were right about Ophir, it is and always was in the area in question. And not surprisingly, we see that Dapper quoted a Portuguese chap called Alvarez (Dapper, 1668):
"Yet divers make Ophir the same with Sofala, because it bath much gold and ivory, and if all the mainland included between the river Magnice and Quarna and submitting unto Monomotapa, be all, as Barros calls it, Sofala, as well as the rest on the sea-coast, it can with great reason be judged that this country be none but the Golden Ophir of Solomon, partly because of the houses there to be found near the gold mines, not built after the manner of the country, but seem the work of foreigners, and partly because of the inscriptions being strange and unknown. Moreover, Lopez, in 1) is voyage to the Indies, affirms that among the inhabitants of this country there remain books which show that Solomon every three years had his gold thence… Besides gold and ivory, this region produced apes (dog-faced baboons) in myriads, and if for peacocks we read ostrich feathers, and for almug trees we substitute ebony, or stink-wood, it leaves nothing to be desired."
Good and solid quotes, and it does not matter to us who said them, regardless they have been said out loud and that solidify to us the area as Being Solomons Ophir. Now a great deal of writers on the subject have gone out of their way to proof the point that Ophir, judging from the Old Testament sources, cannot be and never was in India. We have a selection of quotes below from German explorer Karl Peters, he had this to say about Ophir and India (Peters, 1899):
"The best-based theories are three, of which the one places Ophir in Arabia, another in India, and the third one in South Africa," (..) " I, personally, since I have been studying this problem, have always been of opinion that we have in the Semitic word 'Ophir,' or 'Afer,' the root of our present name of the continent of Africa, 'Africa' being the Latin adjective of 'Afer.' This purely philological derivation led me to believe at once that we must look for Ophir not in Arabia and India, but in some part of Africa."
If the Indian Ophir existed, writes James Theodore Bent in Ruined Cities in Mashonaland (1891), it could only have been at the Malabar Coast (Bent, 1891):
"India has never furnished large quantities of gold to the commercial world. In fact, it was frequently an article of import into that country. So far as ivory is concerned, it is well known that Asiatic elephants were, from time immemorial, made use of as beasts of burden, and that their value in this way prevented their slaughter."
So we can see, India is far fetched and large disagreements on where this Phoenician Harbour would be, let alone the accessibility of all the commodities available to Hiram. Besides these academia did not have at their disposal all the writings we now possess. It should be obvious. The Ophir of ancient times would have been on the Continent of Africa. As well as the Red Sea, close to the Phoenician Kanaanites (and possibly Himyarites, although we do not want to open that door just yet). Anyways, the Tyrian fleet (Hirams ships) can be connected to the SouthEast coast of Africa, in areas such as the whole country of Mozambique (very long country in terms of coastal lines) and specifically Sofala at the height of Solomons power reign in Southern Africa. Now these areas of Gold would have been know to the Idumaeans (also Black Africans), well before the times of David. The Idumaeans would be located towards Central Africa, not far from other ancient Tribes Biblical again. We will get back to this as we Chronicles the Promised Lands first, then we will get to the Idumaeans, Moabites, Edomites and Ammonites, as being the most mentioned.

Going back to Ophir, and its location and we go deeper into this, Colonial administrator and explorer Karl Peters gave more of his thoughts for the location of Ophir in Monomotapa in his book King Solomon`s Golder Ophir (1899), here we can find a plethora of quotes on Ophir and many other contemporary sources as quoted in Peters times. His quotes are based on the verses we find and read in (mostly) I Kings 9, 27-28, I Kings 10,11 & I Chronicles 31,4. Before we quote him, we can also conclude the fact that he said on the placement of Ophir that it had been put in Armenia, Phrygia, Spain, Peru, Malayan Peninsula, Ceylon and Sumatra. He even mentions that Italian explorer Christopher Colombus (1451-1506) was convinced that he found Ophir in the West Indies and reported to the King of Spain on his third voyage he wrote (Peters, 1899):
"The mountain Sopoto " (the name for Ophir, which in the Septuagint is written "Sophora"), " which it took the king’s (Hiram) ships three years to reach, on the island of Haiti, has now come with all its treasures into the possession of their Spanish majesties.
Thats quite a comment from the world wide famous Colombus, and he seemed so certain in his convictions. And it makes us wonder just how much of Ancient history is in fact hearsay. Mark Twains quote about obvious things we believe are right that really are wrong, is ultimately what gets us into trouble. Because in fact, what we believe to be so turns out not to be so. Now think of the consequences, because if someones says, with ardent belief that Ancient Israel is in the Middle East and those that live there are its People. Because someone said this, either through some major flaunt of history or serious historical misunderstanding - some people are destined to believe just that. And believing in gut feelings from men we never got the opportunity to speak to, so we could not know what ideologies they had, their innermost thoughts on matters or if they truly believed in the sacrifice Christ has made for all men. Makes you wonder if, some of them were only in it, when thinking of men such as Colombus, for the fame and glory and not for SoNiNis people? Where they interested in the Kingdom Now, and not the Kingdom to Come? If it is so, and it seems for som men it is like that, how harshly will such a one be judged?
Back to Karl Peters that wrote more on his convictions (Peters, 1899)
"The above-stated arguments in favour of Ophir being the present Rhodesia by no means exhaust the tale of "proofs" advanced by those authorities that favour this theory. Unfortunately, when this question was raised in the principal papers and scientific journals in Europe a few years ago, there was practically little or no evidence from Rhodesia forthcoming. Mr. Bent (1891) had only visited some ten ancient ruins, and he speaks of thirteen others he was told of, and several of the ruins mentioned by Mr. Bent were of minor importance, and of the later Zimbabwe periods.
Even Professor Bryce, who in 1895 visited Rhodesia, says:
"I have heard of ten or twelve pieces of wall in different parts of the plateau (Mashonaland and Matabeleland); probably others exist!' All the late writers, excepting Dr. Schlichter, mention a less number of ruins than Mr. Bent refers to, and the majority of them are the same identical ruins. The most able, exhaustive, and reliable arguments are undoubtedly those advanced in the works of Dr. Schlichter, on the question of the ancient ruins in Rhodesia, while Dr. Karl Peters has many further "proofs" gained in the Mount Fura district, (the gold mines of Mount Furn were, in 1721, known to the Portuguese as "Ofura.") which place very few writers on this subject appear to have visited. But from the more than five hundred ruins known to exist in the Rhodesian portion of Monomotapa, of which (thanks to the discoveries of Messrs. Neal and Johnson, the sole lessees under the grant to explore all ancient ruins south of the Zambesi) we propose in this work to give particulars concerning some two hundred ruins, and further proofs may probably be forthcoming to strengthen the theory advanced by those who already thoroughly believe that Rhodesia is the Ophir of the Scriptures. Additional evidences may also probably he afforded by the many known ruins scattered over the present Portuguese portion of Monomotapa. However, it is beyond the sphere of the writers of this work to indulge in any theories on the Ophir question, their province being to state all information of authoritative character concerning the actual ruins themselves, and allow these facts to tell their own story.
Powerful quotes from Peters and Bryce, and gives comfort to researchers that its okay to go against the flow of the academical River. Even if it, like the Nile, flows upwards and seemingly the wrong way on our proposed Round and Glob shaped earth. Worry not, you can say that it cannot be flowing upwards even though someone will tell you it does. You can call it out as you see it. And we can certainly call out Archaeological research done on the African continent - Because someone has already gone there before you.

There are alternative theories everywhere where people have left behind little traces and often solid pieces of evidence. For the discerning mind. Now this gives you a choice, because what you choose to believe is ultimately completely up to you, but we think your allegiance will shine through when questioned on the matter. As we see it there is plenty of evidence to support the fact that Monomotapa is historically closely linked with both Mesopotamia and the so-called Phoenician Sidonians. However, you will have to admit the former Glory and total Dominion of Africans and Bantu alike, and that seems to be something the world is not quite ready for.
Now, we wont go to much into the Himyaritic occupation of Monomotapa, as we believe things start getting complex at that time. It basically means that the Himyarites (later Arabic Caliphates and or Conglomerate Trade?), these Himyarites had dominion over most of African trade, in the South-East side, inland with Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, then ocean way with India and towards Egypt. Traces of this can be found in their culture, visible in such things as: the Phalli worship, the Temple to Heaven, sacred circles of trade, monoliths (Nubia), Phalli(c) worship and Betylae (Sacred Stones are plenty in the area). Dhlo-Dhlo, Regina, Meteme and Khami are all potential sites. Along with terraces fortresses which covers Sardinia, Alexander Wilmot writes much more on the topic in History of South Africa, we will quote from it further below.

No before we quote Wilmots informative book, in Zimbabwe and the ancient areas of Monomotapa you will find various artefacts made out of soapstone. Some cylinder in shape, with rings of rosettes, which when interpret could imply Sun worship, which are common in Phallic worship systems connected to the Phoenicians. These are similar to the ones found at the Temple of Paphos in Cyprus. So Perhaps The Phoenicians settled in Cyprus later, taking with them their culture and leaving remains there after they moved of the continent. Or forced to move of the continent? Empires rise and Fall remember. This Could be. We could be talking thousands of years in between its relocation, who knows. Furthermore, there are soapstone birds found at Zimbabwe, connected to Astarte also worshipped by the Phoenicians. Archeologist James Theodore Bent connected these soapstone ingot moulds corresponded exactly to some tin ingots (of Phoenician manufacturing) found at Falmouth (near Cornwall), now at Truro Museum. So academia can place Phoenician artefacts in UK, but struggle to come to terms with huge settlements of the same people on the African continent. Now get this, Sir Clement le Neve Faster (1841-1904), who was a British geologist stated that Injakalfura, which is near the Zambezi where Karl Peters located Ophir and talked about a Great Mine, corresponds to the name Wheat Vur in Cornwall. So we see some interesting connections to the UK here.

All the above taken into consideration we think there is an obvious connection this SouthEast African Phoenician (Sidonians or Kanaanites). Now Portuguese records simply amplify that these inland territories and its Natives (aBantu and other tribes) were vibrant, exceedingly hard to colonize, and the territory was hard to access out from the Riverbanks (Mazoe and Unifuli, parts of Zambezi). There are many more arguments here that we could flesh out and add to, but you get the point. The Ground is littered with circumstantial evidence to prove the point that the Phoenician Kanaanites ONCE did (for sure) settle Rhodesia (Monomotapa/Mesopotamia) and worked the vast gold reefed areas. Now going through the body of work that is left from the Portuguese explorer and business men, it will elucidate greatly the mysteries about the ruins of these areas. However, if your Portuguese is rusty, you can simply read Wilmots book, which does wrap these things up nicely. Because we can see through the writings of Wilmot, the Portuguese did hold these inland territories (16th and 17th century) for a brief moment in time (for as long as SoNiNi allowed them). We can see that they never subjugated the Natives (Jacobs Tribes or other), the Portuguese found themselves almost without stop, always at war. The People fought back (!)

In travelling, the Portuguese stuck to the Rivers as it was their only communication line to the coast, they did not venture deep into Monomotapa. As we said they came along Mazoe and Unifuli rivers, and occupied the northern parts of Mashonaland, building forts and erecting crosses a long they way. They held a furthest southwest as far as Sebakwe, where they established a settlement not far from the Chicago-Gaika mine (North bank of Sebakwe). Not far from there was built the last known Southern Portuguese Fort, ruins which spans 50 acres, with loop-holed kopjes (or Inseblergs) on either side of the River. Two large cannons where left here one bronze and one iron for at another ruin at Dhlo-dhlo (Upper Insiza), bearing the Portuguese Coat of Arms. Speculated to have been brought by Jesuit (specially trained Catholic) priests and missionaries. Now it needs to be said that Jesuit missionaries and other traders did successfully penetrate deep into these areas. Rapports say that Jesuit priests resided at Khami, with stories of people actually being skinned alive (Mombo and ruins of Thaba Imamba). Now the Portuguese did not really get to do much mining, there are some traces but not much although some at Bonsor Mine where they have found double-pointed iron picks. Along the Zambezi the Portuguese where far more successful which is attested through their numerous forts and now literal cities along the riverbanks of the Euphrates (Zambezi).
Moving on, we can read many things in Alexander Wilmot (1836-1924) and his book History of South Africa (1901), and on the topic of Monomotapa (Rhodesia), a book prefaced by Henry Rider Haggard (1856-125), who by the way wrote the book and over-dramatised King Solomons Mines (1885). Haggard, who wrote in his Book that the Mines of Solomon where located 1000 miles from The Port of Natal, had this in the preface (Wilmot, 1901):
"Mr. Bent proved to the satisfaction of most archaeologists that the ruins of Zimbabwe are undoubtedly of Phoenician origin. There are the massive and familiar Phoenician walls, there the sacred birds, figured, however, not as the dove of Cyprus, but as the vulture of her Sidonian representative, Astarte, and there in plenty the primitive and unpleasant objects of nature-worship, which in this shape or that are present wherever the Phoenician reared his shrines. There also stands the great building-half temple, half fortress -containing the sacred cone in its inner court, as at Paphos, Byblos, and Ernesus… Although some testimony is lacking, the many external evidences force the student to conclude that these buildings must have been constructed and that the neighbouring gold mines were worked by Phoenician Canaanites, or by some race intimately connected with them and impregnated with their ideas of religion and architecture."
Then later on Alexander Wilmot himself writes, (Wilmot, 1901,36-37):
"The builders of the Zimbabwes in South-East Africa and of the nauraghes in Sardinia were nature-worshippers of the early Phoenician cult, when stone-worship was one of the leading features of that religion!'(ib.) "The arguments of MM. Perrot and Chipiez point to the fact the nauraghe builders (in Sardinia) came from (Laptis Magna, another Phoenician city on the Mediterranean) coast of Libya"(ib.) "We may venture to attribute a very remote antiquity of the Bronze Age to both classes of buildings. Certainly we can scarcely be wrong in concluding that the oldest of the Zimbabwes of South-East Africa were erected before the ninth century B.C. There is little doubt that some of them existed when Hiram, King of Tyre, obtained gold for the Temple of Solomon."
Wilmot wrote more on the lack of images in Zimbabwe (Wilmot, 1901,38-46):
"In the Zimbabwes of South-East Africa there are no images of gods — no idols, except blocks of stone. This seems to give some indication of the early periods when the temple forts were built. Of course, roughly hewn images of birds have been found, but these are scarcely idols. The vulture was the totem of the Himyarites." (..)
" In the ninth century B.C. the Phoenician religion began to decline. Though it flourished in the Phoenician colony of Carthage, it languished in its original home (Phoenicia)."
Wilmot wrote even more on the Phoenician Kanaanites (Wilmot, 1901,73):
"The Phoenician Canaanites were so intimately connected with the colonisation and settlement of the countries of the Southern Ocean that we must consider all history there in connection with that of this great ancient people. They held exactly the same stone-worship of the early Sidonian and Tyrian periods, and their monuments and inscriptions testify that they unquestionably practised the same religion as that professed by the men who built the South African Zimbabwes."(ib.) "So far as it is possible to judge, it seems probable that it was the people of Saba who landed on the coast of Sofala, penetrated to the mines, and established a colony there."
A great book, with even greater sources inside it. Now if you go even deeper, you will find that the Phoenicians/Hirams People), also called Phoenician Kanaanites or Sidonians, and Bantus had a clear relationship. And this can be traced through language, the Bantu Languages and our Bibles. Now literature will call it Semitic, and historically maybe thats more fitting, but it will only confuse if we use the epitaph of Semites here. Bantu is better. So what language did the Ancient Phoenicians, clothed in Purple Robes on trade missions far and wide for Tyre and King Hiram, did they speak? Well, we think this one is simple. They Spoke Swahili, Bantu mixed with Arabic. An active trade language of the times, perhaps with a touch of KoineGreek.
Various Sources on the Rhodesia and Himyarites
Now before we go into our Bibles, we have collected various sources we could not really weave into a storyline for you, so we have just collected them below for you to read and check up on it you want to deepen things or make some academical waves. It is not hard to do with quotes like the below.
The Phoenicians had two Pillars or Sacred Pillars erected in the Phoenician Temple of Baal, the book Religion of the Semites (1889) by Scottish Orientalist William Robertson Smith (1846-1894) is of interest when it comes to Phallic worship. Here we can see Phoenician influence having been ascertained and conjectured in Demerara, Mexico, Peru, Yucatan, North America, Polynesia and Europe. Whether this is remains from before flood pagan worship having same elements as the Phoenicians but being a different time period then the one during King Solomons time in Souther Africa, is not certain. The similarities are still there.
If you go head first into the work of linguist and investigative journalist Augustus Henry Keane (1833-1912), he dealt with Peters theory of connecting Rhodesia with the Egyptian Hamites, Keane wrote in his book The Gold of Ophir - Whence Brought and by Whom? (1901) (Keane, 1901):
"Nothing so far has been advanced to upset the view put forward by the late Mr. Theodore Bent that the first colonisers and exploiters of South Zambesi were not Egyptian Hamites but Semites, most probably Himyarites or Phoenician Canaanites, or both."
Professor Keane also cited Bernard Moritz (1859-1939) in Verhuandlungen der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde (1896) in strong opposition to Peters conclusions. But these men, arguing over the wrong origin in People in our opinion, did agree towards the end the Himyarites did occupy Rhodesia.
Now this whole Himyaritic occupation theory could be explained easily in that a branch of the Semites (presumably from the Middle East originally). had settled in the area. This could explain how they got a hold of Babylonian and Hebrew Bibles. Very old ones, even written ones from Babylonian exile, still no the Continent of Africa. This inclusion of Himyarites is to us, is just acrobatic attempts of fitting a people that were never really established there. Phoenicians where Africans we think, could be Persians but ethnically we think they where Africans. Anyways, that is neither here nor there - They do manage somehow to proof the Himyarites from YEMEN in the Middle East may have been there, coming in offshoots of Phoenician colonies of Carthage, Sardinia, Malta, Sicily, Cyprus, Hippo, Utica, Pelusium, Cilicia and Memphis in Egypt. These where apparently the same people that worked for tin in the British Isles. With structures standing in Ireland, Scotland and England (some say even Iceland). Same people that gave Spain their early history, erected stone temples, similar circles and monoliths in South America. Are these the same people or an ancient shared culture? We are not sure, as things get exceedingly complicated looking that far back in time. We may be talked pre-flood even.
If one read the writings of German Egyptologist Heinrich Karl Brugsch (1827-1894), he made a point to emphasise the Himyaritic occupation of Monomotapa and that the soapstone birds found at Zimbabwe represented the Zodiac signs and light. Another equally interesting comment comes from Swiss writer Marguerite-Isabelle Naville (1852-1930), who actually married the Swiss Egyptologist and Bible Scholar Henri Èdouard Naville (1844-1926) and they had many trips and explorations in Egypt. She made the comment that there is a VERY strong connection between Venus (The Star of the Himyarites) an the goddess worshipped in Zimbabwe. This is way more interesting because the local Shona tribes STILL worship this deity, and is a much strong clue then a possible occupation by Arabs in the area.
Now besides the fact that the nation we know historically as the Himyaritic Nation, was exceedingly rich in Gold. If you look at very old (1500 Before Christ) Egyptian Monuments, we see references to the exports of Punt. Namely items such as Ostrich feathers, leopard skins, giraffes, lions, monkeys (cynocephalus - dog looking apes), elephant tusk, ivory and golden ingots. ALL these items you will find in SouthEast Africa in abundance.
Now The Greek (legendary) poet of Aristeas (Arimaspeia) also described as a miracle worker, and Greek historian and geographer Agatharcides, AND The Old Testament (you see how Ancient Old Sources tend to agree with one an other), all of these use the phrase, The Merchants of Sheba as we can find written in (Ezekiel 27,21-22):
21 “‘Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your customers; they did business with you in lambs, rams and goats. 22 “‘The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your merchandise they exchanged the finest of all kinds of spices and precious stones, and gold.
We can see here references to enormous gold holdings of the Merchants of Sheba (Himyarites), they also supplied who knows how much of the world with precious metals. Now the aforementioned Aristeas, stated that the Gold brought in to Rome did not come from Arabia. Which means Arabia of ancient would have been located elsewhere.
Further, we have a quote from the Austrian Archeologist Eduard Glasser (1855-1908) stated quite firmly (Glaser, 1895):
"So much is absolutely certain, that Himyar then possessed almost the whole of East Africa. Such a possession, however, was not won in a night, but rather presupposes…centuries of exertion."
What a quote. These Phoenicians where literally all over East-Africas Coast. Another quote from Wilmot is needed here (Wilmot, 1901:77):
"So far as it is possible to judge, it seems probable that it was the people of Saba (the Himyarites) who landed on the coast of Sofala, penetrated to the mines, and established a colony there."
The Himyarite influence with connections to Yemen keeps popping up, but do not mind that if it is a connection or not. We believe that its just an attempt to bring Yemen into the mix, and as we believe the Ancient locations would be within the Borders of Southern Africa, not in the Middle East. We do not put much weight towards that theory. It is most likely wrong. They have to connect things to the Middle East right? Because Jerusalem is there right? Well, we have another set of theories. So when they write Himyarite or Himyaritic, we can say they are basically referencing the Phoenician Kanaanites. Nothing more. Now if you check very interesting The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (unknown author really), we can see that the Himyaritic King called Kharabit, in the times AFTER Christ, he was in possession and control of the East Coast of Africa. Rather in full control. Further in this, there are more connections to the Biblical name of Sabaeans, which could be connected to Sabze or Sabi River in Rhodesia. This again would be connected to the Kingdom of Sheba, and Queen of Sheba. What Karl Mauch said all along. The Sabaea or Sabi River forms the natural outlet to the coast for people living in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, between Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers. Now old Roman and Greek historians say unanimously that the Phoenicians (Himyarites) were gold merchants of the known world and had penetrated all known countries. Either they were producer and distributer, or they were according to Augustus Keane ONLY distributors of the Gold that came in vast amounts from the deepest Africa inland mines. We think they were both, Augustus Keane had read Job, he would have seen they where quite willing and able bodies miners. We think they had systems for conquering both, after all they helped build Solomons Temple. They were very talented.
Lastly, a very strong quote from Heinrich G. Schlichter (1861-1901) co-written by J. Theodore Bent, and The Ruins of Mashonaland (Schlichter & Bent, 1893):
"Huet, writing early in the eighteenth century on the voyages of Solomon, declares that he feels compelled to accept the fact that the place called "Ophir," from which gold was fetched by the Tyrian fleet, was unquestionably on the south-cast coast of Africa, in that part known under the names of Mozambique and Sofala; that at the time when King Solomon reigned and Phoenician navigators traded with these shores; and that this commerce was anterior to the exact period referred to in Scripture.
What does our Scriptures say?
So getting towards the end of this article, after looking through all of these contemporary sources, we have to ask the important question: what does our Bible say? Well, lets see. In Judges we can see that the Phoenician Sidonians (from Sidon, the main port), dwelt there on the coast, careless and quiet lives in a secure area (Judges 18,7). Now the Phoenician tribes are mentioned even in Genesis (14,18) we can find names such as Malchizadeck (Melchizedek) and Abimelech (20) are indeed Phoenician names. If we look into deity names, we find Baal, Astoreth and Moloch being the most common ones, along with Dagon (I Samuel 2 and Maccabee's 10,84).

Furthermore, there are even mentions of Phallic worship in our Scriptures, in form of sacred stones, pillars, various towers and the famous `high places` where the Phoenicians went to make sacrifices. All these are mentioned by the Prophets many times, warnings of what they were really serving. But apparently, not so with King Hiram. He showed through his actions and words that he bowed before SoNiNi naNiNi.
Now if we go through our Bible with a tooth-comb, can find many traces of Phoenician and of their gods baked into the names of cities:
Gebaal, not far from Byblos (Joshua 13, 5 & Psalm 83,7)
Baal-Zephon, a Phoenician port on the Red Sea (Exodus 14,2-9)
Elith, a Phoenician colony (I Kings 9, 26-28)
Akkra or Acre could be the big port in Ghana (Judges 1,31)
Tyre, Fortress and The Phoenician Capital (Joshua 19,29 & Ezekiel 27,3)
Tartessus, Phoenician colony (Genesis 10,4, Psalm 72,10 & Isaiah 16,10)
More references to Phoenicians in the Bible:
Descriptions of Phoenicians migration towards the West (Genesis, 14,1-12)
Gideon destroyed The Sacred Tower of the Alidianites (Judges 8,7)
Phoenician extensive trade with The People (I Kings 5,9 & Ezra 3,7)
Wheat, Honey and Oil obtained from Ancient Israel (Ezekiel 27,17)
Phoenician luxury (Ezekiel 26,16 ; 27,3-25 ; 28,13)
Tyre had massive wealth in gold (Zecharia 9,3)
The violence of the Phoenicians (Ezekiel 28,16)
Phoenicians as slave traders (Ezekiel 28,13)
Pleasant Houses (Brothels or Happy Hour House) of Tyre (Ezekiel 26,12)
Phoenicians as miners (Job 28,1-11)
David is given cedar trees (I Chronicles 22,4)
The Phoenician Fleet of Ships on the Eastern Sea (South East African) also called the Ancient Sea and Indian Ocean (I Kings 9, 27-28 ; 15,22)
Hiram supply Solomon materials for SoNiNis Temple (II Chronicles 2,3-10)
Phoenician artisans built Solomons Temple (II Chronicles 2,17-18
Hirams created ornaments for Solomons Temple (II Chronicles 2,14)
Solomon gives a district of Galilee to Phoenician Kanaanites (I Kings 9,11)
The People of Israel builds High Places to Baal (Jeremiah 32,35 ; 19,6)
Ahab builds Temple of Baal in Samaria, and at Jezreel (II Kings 21,7 ; 22,6)
In the New Testament we also find references to Phoenicians:
Christ talks with a Phoenician woman in Mark 7,26
Phoenicians receives the Gospel in Acts 9,19
Herod´s Death is entwined with Phoenicians in Acts 12,20
Concluding Phoenician Influence
Now we can also read that Solomon did marry a Phoenician princess, and was either out of love for her or a diplomatic matrimony, he was still seen worshipping in the Tempe of Baal at Sidon. The daughter of the King of Tyre (another generation then Hiram) and High Priest of Astoreth (Phoenician Osiris) married King Aliab of Ancient Israel. And again, Athaliah who was Jezebels daughter and a Phoenician princess married Ahazaih - King of Juda. During this time the Phoenician religion became the state religion in Juda. Bad bad times. We can see that the People did shun their own and the Samaritans who accepted Phoenician worship. Traits we see among His People still to this day. This is why intermingling and marrying people that are not inclined to SoNiNi will bring on many sorrows, and if they do not turn, their ways become your ways. Their gods become your gods. And SoNiNi is to jealous for that.
Now then, in the Parable we all know as The Good Samaritan, this person was probably following the Phoenician worship, THEREFORE his kindness towards the Hebrew (Bantu) was remarkable. Again, the woman that Christ met after His fast, could have been a Phoenician Samaritan worshipper talking about what mountain to worship at (we believe this could be in SouthEast Africa and where Engai is worship with his mountain, although this needs more research). This parable and connection is deep deep and needs a trip to Tanzania and Kenya to confirm. Important to remember most of Phoenician Kanaanite Religion was/is purely material focused (like society today), and the ways of The People of Scripture was (supposed to be) deeply spiritual. Non-Material.
Another fitting quote in closing now, from Wilmots often quoted book on the material focus of the Phoenicians (Wilmot, 1901,41):
Betûli, Baitulia = sacred stones. Phoenician = Bêthül. These stones were considered not merely the "dwelling-place of God," but even as God Himself.
Like worshippers of the Saba stone or any other relic you choose to bow down to, the Phoenicians has already beat you to it. This stone at Bethul was the dwelling-place of god himself. Still, the Phoenicians where elemental in the Building of the Temple of Solomon. We will talk more about that further down. Now, for anyone who wants to dive deeper, other decent sources are earlier works like Phoenicia (1855) by Historian John Kenrick (1788-1877), and History of Phoenicia (1889) by British Scholar and theologian George Rawlinson (1812-1902), in the last mentioned book he wrote (Rawlinson 1889):
"The Temple of Solomon, though modelled in sonic respects upon the 'Tabernacle of the Congregation,' must be regarded as essentially a Phoenician building, at once designed by Phoenician and the work of Phoenician hands "
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