Ophir

Ophir was a land of legendary wealth in the ancient world, famous as the destination of the joint trading expeditions of Solomon and Hiram king of Tyre. The fleet sailed from Ezion-geber on the Red Sea and returned with gold, almug wood, precious stones, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks (1 Kings 9:26–28; 10:11, 22). The gold of Ophir became proverbial in Hebrew poetry: Job 22:24 and 28:16 compare the finest gold to Ophir's gold, and Isaiah 13:12 uses it as a simile for extreme rarity.

The location of Ophir has been debated for centuries. Proposed identifications include southern Arabia (Yemen), the African coast of Somalia, the Indian subcontinent (Gujarat), Zimbabwe (associated with ancient gold mines), and southern Sudan. The combination of products — gold, apes, peacocks, almug wood — best fits the Indian Ocean littoral. The Ophir of Genesis 10:29 is a Joktanite people of Arabia, which may be distinct from the trading destination.