ABSTRACT
There was the gold of Ophir, but in the present day we obtain gold from many parts of the world, and for a while the gold of Ophir is off the market. It is probable that, in the days of Suleiman, gold was won partly by driving tunnels with charcoal fires and partly by hammering lime into rock cleavages, and then wetting the lime to gain expansion. Such methods were sufficient to clean off the surface outcrops, but would not allow of deep mining. Therefore Suleiman received gold tribute from kings of Arabia and from lands where we hear of gold being present, though the natives are now unable to win it. Probably all the gold that came to Ophir was exported from there as gold of Ophir, so that it included gold from Africa as well as the Arabian gold of Havilah.
