A mine in western Saudi Arabia is now believed to have been the principal producer of King Solomon’s gold, according to a new study by scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Department of the Interior, working with their counterparts in the Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral Resources (DGMR).
Although many mines scattered throughout the region may have contributed gold to King Solomon’s treasuries, the principal producer and most likely candidate to be the fabled biblical Ophir is the Mahd adh Dhahab (Cradle of Gold) mine, located about midway between Mecca and Madina, the scientists believe.
The conclusion was reached after a four-year (1972–75) detailed geologic, geochemical, and geophysical investigation of the Mahd adh Dhahab mining district by the USGS-DGMR team that also found indications of additional gold-bearing zones.
Dr. Robert W. Luce, geologist, USGS National Center, Reston, Va., and member of the U.S.-Saudia Arabian study team, said, “Mining engineers who operated the Mahd adh Dhahab gold-silver mine during 1939–54 in Saudi Arabia suspected that it was the site of biblical Ophir. Our investigations have now confirmed that the old mine could have been as rich as described in biblical accounts and, indeed, is a logical candidate to be the lost Ophir.
“In fact, we believe that the mining district still contains workable deposits of gold, silver, and other metals,” Luce said. “Our geochemical sampling, for example, indicates that the mineralized zones continue into an area that has not been productive in the past. Shallow diamond drilling in this new area has outlined a mineralized zone with a potential gold resource equal in size and grade to the ore bodies mined during the period 1939–54.”
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Map of the Near East showing the location of Mahd adh Dhahab.
Luce and USGS scientists Ralph J. Roberts, Ronald G. Worl, Richard H. Blank, and Mark E. Gettings, worked in collaboration with Abdulaziz Bagdady, Habib Merghelani, and Abdul-Rahman Gazzaz of the DGMR.
A prominent mining company has expressed interest in conducting further exploration in this area and has applied to the Saudi Arabian government for an exploration license.
One of the intriguing questions is how this fabulously rich area was “lost” in the first place. The Bible reports that King Solomon brought to Jerusalem from Ophir a total of 1,086 talents of gold (1 Kings 9:26–28 and 10:14). A talent was about 28.5 kilograms or 917 troy ounces. This indicates an early-day production of nearly 31 metric tons (63,232 lbs.) of gold, or about half the known gold supply of the ancient world.
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Although Ophir is mentioned a number of times in the Bible, the location of the mine is never pinpointed. The name of Ophir was also found on an inscribed fragment of pottery excavated at Tell Qasile in 1948 (see Bible and Spade, Spring 1974, p. 52). Despite its wealth, the mine escaped the attention of historians and virtually disappeared from the literature from 950 B.C. until 1932 when the American mining engineer, T.A. Rickard, summarized the recorded history of Ophir. Rickard himself finally expressed doubt about the existence of any gold mine in Arabia capable of meeting the requirements of biblical Ophir.
Credit for first linking Mahd adh Dhahab to Ophir belongs to an American mining engineer, K.S. Twitchell, who first visited the mine in 1931. He reported that “the workings of Mahd adh Dhahab are
A U.S. Geological Survey field camp sits at the base of Jabal Mahd adh Dhahab — “Hill of the Cradle of Gold” — in western Saudi Arabia and the most probable site of King Solomon’s lost mine of Ophir, according to USGS and Saudi Arabian scientists.
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Scientists inspect deep mine shafts cut by hand at Jabal Mahd adh Dhahab.
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the largest I saw in Arabia…(and) it is reasonable to guess that this might have been the source of King Solomon’s gold.”
The USGS-Saudi Arabian team believes it can now turn Twitchell’s “reasonable guess” into a fairly airtight case.
To demonstrate that Mahd adh Dhahab is indeed Ophir, they first had to show that the mine is easily accessible from the Gulf of Aqaba, the port from which Solomon’s ships were launched (1 Kings 9:26). They also had to demonstrate that Mahd adh Dhahab could yield the large quantities of gold credited to Ophir in the biblical account.
The distance from the port of Aqaba to the mouth of the Gulf is 160 km (99 miles), another 600 km (372 miles) to a point on the Red Sea nearest Mahd adh Dhahab, and then 240 km overland (149 miles) to the mine, a total of about 1,000 km (620 miles). With favorable winds, ships could make this round trip in a few months, and the overland part could be traveled in a month. Mahd adh Dhahab is also located on a natural north-south trade route that has been in operation for more than 4, 000 years, and one branch passes close to Aqaba.
The second requirement, that of gold production adequate to satisfy the biblical account, can also be met.
When mining engineers first visited Mahd adh Dhahab, they found a million tons of mine dumps and waste rock left by ancient miners. This is by far the largest waste dump found in Saudi Arabia and obviously the site of a major mining operation. Analyses of this waste material showed an average gold content of 0.6 ounces per ton, indicating that the ore mined must have been much richer.
Based on sampling of the old slopes and modern production figures during 1939–54, it is inferred that much gold must have been available at or near the surface during biblical times. These surface deposits would have contained gold in the form of nuggets, wires, and crystals that could be easily separated by simple panning and winnowing. The first 420 talents (about 26,400 pounds, or 12,000 kg) mentioned in the Bible (1 Kings 9:28) could likely have been recovered quickly by a few hundred workers.
The later production of an additional 666 talents (1 Kings 10:14) was undoubtedly more difficult and may have involved many more people using crude copper and stone tools to mine the hard gold-bearing quartz veins. The gold ore was then crushed and ground with stone hammers and grindstones, thousands of which now litter the mine slopes.
“Thus,” the USGS spokesman said, “we conclude that Mahd adh Dhahab could have produced 31 metric tons of gold in ancient times
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Grindstone and trough that were probably used in biblical times to crush gold ore were among the clues that have helped relocate the fabled King Solomon’s lost mine of Ophir.
and was the biblical Ophir. We believe that the legendary ‘King Solomon’s Lost Mines’ are no longer lost.”
The mining area was later reworked at least two more times: radiocarbon dating shows that mining flourished during parts of the Omayyed and Abbasid periods of rapid expansion of Islamic culture and industry (about 660–900 A.D.). More recently, from 1939 to
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Stone hammers and blocks that were probably used in biblical times to crush gold ore.
1954, the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate produced 1.77 million ounces (55 metric tons) of gold and silver from the mine dumps and from deeper underground workings.
(U.S. Department of the Interior news release dated May 24, 1976.)
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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