Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c23.12

v1.c23.12

Around 1015 BC, King Solomon and King Hiram of Tyre sent commercial ships which were the first to sail directly from the Arabian port to India (not following the sea coast). The expedition touched ‘Ophir’ — now identified as Sophir or Sauvira in the Gulf of Cambay, north of Bombay — and brought back gold, silver, ivory and peacocks. Regular sea-trade on the Arab-India Erythrean Sea commenced in the time of Nabonidus, beginning of the seventh century BC.