The United Royal Houses of the Philippines created this website to consolidate the researches of the historians that relates to Lakan Dula.

The House of Dula: Lakan Dula, the King of Tondo

Chapter 8 : The Ancient Philippines is Ophir, but what part of the country was the Ground Zero of Ophir?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the region mentioned in the Bible. For other uses, see Ophir (disambiguation).

Ophir (/ˈoʊfər/;[1] Hebrew: אוֹפִיר, Modern Ofir, Tiberian ʼÔpîr) is a port or region mentioned in the Bible, famous for its wealth. King Solomon received a cargo of gold, silver, sandalwood, pearls, ivory, apes, and peacocks from Ophir every three years.

Biblical references

Ophir in Genesis 10 (the Table of Nations) is said to be the name of one of the sons of Joktan.[Note 1] The Books of Kings and Chronicles tell of a joint expedition to Ophir by King Solomon and the Tyrian king Hiram I from Ezion-Geber, a port on the Red Sea, that brought back large amounts of gold, precious stones and 'algum wood' and of a later failed expedition by king Jehoshaphat of Judah.[Note 2] The famous 'gold of Ophir' is referenced in several other books of the Hebrew Bible.[Note 3]

Early Christian traditions

The New Testament apocrypha book Cave of Treasures contains a passage: "And the children of Ophir, that is, Send, appointed to be their king Lophoron, who built Ophir with stones of gold; now, all the stones that are in Ophir are of gold."[2]

Archaeology

In 1946 an inscribed pottery shard was found at Tell Qasile (in modern-day Tel Aviv) dating to the eighth century BC.[3][4] It bears, in Paleo-Hebrew script the text "gold of Ophir to/for Beth-Horon [...] 30 shekels"[Note 4][5] The find confirms that Ophir was a place where gold was imported from,[6] although its location remains unknown. The Philippines is the Land of Ophir.

The most comprehensive study among Bible Scholars and archaeologist points to the fact that the modern Philippines could be the Land of Ophir. The Bellwood Theory and the Principalia Inter migration Theory both state that the peopling of Polynesians and Austronesian happened with the Philippines as the center of the activities. This was supported by the latest scientific findings such as the DNA of Chickens ( Australian ) and dogs (American study) of Austronesian countries trace their ancestry from the Philippine chicken and dogs. Dogs are chickens are important household animals being brought people migrating to other places big boats. Digging s in the Philippines such as the Rhinoceros Man (French Study), Dawn Man (Otley Beyer study), Luzonensis and Tabon Man (Philippine Studies) pointed out that the Philippines is one of the places (the other one is Out of Africa) where a human race have evolved naturally with Rhinoceros Man, Dawn man, Luzonensis and Tabon Man being 700,000; 200,000; 70,000; and 40,000 years old respectively. As mentioned by Rep. Dan Fernandez in a celebrated speech in the Philippine Congress, the Lakanate of Lawan in Northern Samar is the oldest Kingdom of the ancient Philippines (then called Ophir). The Kingdom was once headed by a Lequios Waray people with a Hebrew sounding name Datu Iberein (according to the writings of Henry Scott , citing Alcina). The Esquire Magazine described Datu Iberein as one of the richest ancient king of the country, together with Lakan Bunao Dula of Tondo and Sultan Kudarat of Mindanao. The Kingdom of Spain renamed the whole Island from Ibabao to Samar, apparently to reconnect with the homeland of Datu Iberien, the Samaria in Israel. Apparently, the people of the evolving civilization of the Rhinoceros Man, Dawn man, Luzonensis and Tabon Man being 700,000; 200,000; 70,000; and 40,000 years old respectively, intermarried with the Lequios and scatter people all over the Philippines and even in the Austronesian lands over thousand years for their homeland in Israel and later in search of Gold for the Temple of King Solomon.

The Following are the Detailed Historical Facts from different Bible Scholars and Historians Triangulating that the Philippines is the Land of Ophir

Comment from the Public:
@benjamingoldstein4956

3 days ago (edited)

The hypothesis: Philippines is Ophir. A hypothesis must be triangulated with facts from independent research. One fact that could triangulate this hypothesis is the Spanish document about the Ophir route. Another fact is the existence of Lequios people in the country. Another fact is the existence of a Lequios king in Lawan, the oldest kingdom of the Philippines, named Datu Iberein. Another fact is the history of Samaria when they where invaded and their people were thrown into different places, one of which is the farthest eastern end of the word which is the Philippines. Next fact is the historical narrative that Ibabao and Tandaya were renamed by the Spaniards as Samar, probably in relation to the ancient Samaria of the Lequios people. Also, the name of God of the ancient native Pinoys is "abba", a Hebrew word for God the father, and finally, our Baybayin and a lot of native words have a lot Hebrew similarities, especially in the area of the Lakanate of Lawan, the probable ground zero of Ophir in the Philippines. In other words, these are independent facts from different Bible scholars and historians that triangulated the hypothesis so its unfair and unintellectual for one “historian” (or Chinese spy, some people say) to dismiss all of these facts and dismiss at once the hypothesis and supporting facts, like a Chinese pulitburo dictator would do. The least he can say is: we should welcome further research...and then, let us do the research. Confirming that the Philippines is Ophir is good for the country and for the Filipinos because they will have a Jewish connection all over the world and it will be able to prove that they have a prosperous ancient civilization when the Spaniards came and therefore, they are not savage people... that is why many patriotic historians and Filipinos are doing their own researches to support the hypothesis. There are two kinds of Pinoys however who are against it: the pro Maharlika/Tallano groups and those working for the secret agenda of “Chinafication of the Philippine history” so that it's easier for China to invade the country someday…please ask the Chinese guy in the video about it..

In a book found in Spain entitled Colección General de Documentos Relativos a las Islas Filipinas (General Collection of Philippine Islands related Documents), the author has described how to locate Ophir. According to the section "Document No. 98", dated 1519-1522, Ophir can be found by travelling from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, to India, to Burma, to Sumatra, to Moluccas, to Borneo, to Sulu, then finally Ophir facing the Pacific Ocean , occasionally, to Taiwan (China) and some other Polynesian Islands to collect precious stones and commodities, and then back to Ophir and eventually to Israel using the same route. Ophir was said to be "[...] in front of China towards the sea, of many islands where the Moluccans, Chinese, and Lequios met to trade..." this group of islands could not be Japan because the Moluccans did not get there, nor Taiwan, since it is not composed of "many islands." Only the present-day Philippines, could fit the description. Spanish records also mention the presence of Lequios (big, bearded men, probably descendants of the Phoenicians, whose ships were always laden with gold and silver) in the Islands to gather gold and silver.Some historians believe that the seat of Ophir in the Philippines is the Pacific Ocean side of the Island of Samar which was led once upon a time by a Samaritan Hadi Iberein (according to historian Henry Scott). Datu Iberein is a staunch ally of the Kingdom of Tondo. The Pacific side of Samar is also recognized by some historians as the ancestral homeland of the Polynesians/Austronesians. Ophir is more formally called by some historians as the Lakanate of Lawan. According to Hebrew scholars like Dr. Narag, the original inhabitants of Lawan, the Lequios Waray Tribe, named the place after Awan or Aklia, the daughter of Adam. It also means in Hebrew as white beach which pointed to the golden white beach named Onay, in Lawan. In a note to the head of the Principalia Council, Dr. Narag said: "What I discovered is that Lawan is the center of Ophir." In 726–722 BC, the new king of Assyria, Shalmaneser V, invaded the land and besieged the city of Samaria. After an assault of three years, the city fell and much of its population was taken into captivity and deported.They settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes and in far away pacific island, using the Ophir route, whom he named as Samar. Their growing tribe is known as lequios tribe, or waray hadlok, in local dialect of the Philippines. The ancient Philippine (Ophir) aborigines or natives are the descendants of the mixture of the Rhinoceros Man, Dawn Man and Callao Man who intermarried with the lequios and they are called Ophirians since there is no Philippines on those ancient times.

The Timeline of the Pre - Hispanic Philippines

The Dawn man (Prof. Otley Beyer) and Callao man (recent diggings) existed in the Philippines as early as 250,000 and 70,000 years ago, but only the following ancient settlements appears in most Philippine history books:Based on the Principalia Theory of Austronesian Inter Migration, the Rhinoceros man, Dawn man and Callao man existed in the ancient Philippines (Ophir) as early as 709, 000; 250,000 and 65,000 years ago respectively.

1800 BC – ancient Lawan pacific settlement: Ophir, the ancestral homeland of the Polynesians and forebear of Tondo settlement, and other Philippine ancient settlements because travel by sea was the fastest and easiest mode of ancient migration compared to migration by land (some historians believe that the estimated location of Ophir settlement is in the present - day Northern Samar, the name Samar was derived from Samaria, the ancestral homeland of Lawan chieftain Hadi Iberein)

1000 BC - Igorot Society (CAR)

601 AD - Chiefdoms of Zabag and Wak-Wak (Pampanga and Aparri

800 AD - Namayan (Mandaluyong, Sta. Ana Manila)

900 AD - Tondo (Tondo, Manila)

971 AD - Huangdom of Ma-i

1176 AD - Kingdom of Tondo (Manila)

1200 AD - Rajahnate of Cebu, Madjas-as Confederation, Dapitan, Butuan

1252 AD - Lupah Sug (Sulu)

1376 AD - Bruneian Empire

1408 AD - Caboloan Vassal State of Ming China (Pangasinan)

1430 AD - Sultanate of Sulu

1450 AD - Kingdom of Tondo reached its peak with the largest territory in the archipelago

1470 AD - Namayan became a vassal state of Tondo

1492 AD - Kingdom of Taytay (Palawan)

1499 AD - Brunei conquered Ma-i and Sulu

1500 AD - Brunei conquered Tondo's Manila territory and established the puppet Kingdom of Maynila

1501 AD - Maguindanao established

1502 AD - Brunei totally took-over Tondo which lost its territories up north of Luzon.

1521 AD - Magellan reaches the Philippines & is killed by Lapu-Lapu in the battle of Mactan

1522 AD - Maranao established

1532 AD - Lanao established

1564 AD - Sultanate of Ternate established, Spain conquered Cebu

1567 AD - Datu Pagbuaya established

1573 AD - Spain conquered Madjas-As and Tondo

1577 AD - Spain conquered Caboloan

During the WWll, Philippine President Manuel L.Quezon, a native of the Pacific side of the Philippines within the influence of the ancient Lakanate of Lawan (Ophir), saved more than thousand Jews from Europe to be butchered by the Nazis by accepting them into the Philippines and settling them in his properties in Marikina Valley. The rest is history.

Further Proofs that Points to the Philippines as the Ophir

Ophir.mp4

The Lakanate of Lawan (Ophir) in Samar (from their homeland in Samaria) is at the influence center of several prosperous settlements in the pacific side of the Philippines - from Surigao, Butuan, Mactan, Quezon Province and Albay - have created lots of legends, curiosity and attraction from as far as India, Israel, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Brunei, Spain, USA and Japan. Forces from Majapahit, Srivijaya, India, Borneo and China tried to interact with the Lakanate of Lawan (Ophir), bringing their own people and culture and ended up settling in different places near the center of the Lakanate instead. The Sanskrit - speaking people ended in Butuan, the Muslims ended in Sulu, the Bornean Datu, Indonesians and Negritoes ended in Panay, as per the theory of migration of Otley Beyer…only the people historians describe as lequios – hebrews – warays - lapita managed to settle right at the heart of the Lakanate of Lawan (Ophir) as natives of the settlement and their operation base to bring gold and other items to Israel every three years. Meantime, these natives of the Lakanate which are known in some history books as the hebrew, lequios, lapita people or waray intermarried with migrants and their captives. They are known for their Viking - like characteristics: love of the seas, bravery, adventurous and loyalty to their homeland that wherever they settled – Tondo, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao and other land in faraway countries, seas and ocean - they still dream of going back to the Lakanate of Lawan, a trait that even the modern day warays still carry today. Their ships are made in Butuan and the ancient port is in Palapag which became the ship repair center of the Galleon trade. Thus, the very nature of the people of Lawan (Ophir) led to the series of inter migrations and intermarriages in this part of the world – settle, go, return, settle, go, return, process - exchanging culture, ways of life, beliefs, religion, stories and writing system. Though thousands of long and arduous years, the writing system of the people of Baybay (poblacion) of Lawan (Ophir) and the native Hebrew of Israel have influenced each other as well as with the other writing systems of nearby civilizations and settlement, their bloodline have spread as well, so with their practices, such as circumcision. Tagalog (pronounced təˈɡɑːlɒɡ in English) is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV (CALABARZON and MIMAROPA) and of Metro Manila. Its standardized form, commonly called Filipino, is the national language and one of two official languages of the Philippines. It is related to—though not readily intelligible with—other Austronesian languages such as Malay, Javanese, and Hawaiian. The word Tagalog derived from tagailog, from tagá- meaning "native of" and ílog meaning "river". Thus, it means "river dweller". Very little is known about the history of the language. However, according to linguists such as Dr. David Zorc and Dr. Robert Blust, the Tagalog dialect originated, along with their Central Philippine cousins, from Northeastern Mindanao or Eastern Visayas. The Lakanate of Lawan (Ophir) is in the Eastern Visayas or Waray Region. The western writers garlanded the Philippine land with more names such as Maniolas, Ophir, Islas del Oriente, Islas del Poniente, Archipelago de San Lazaro, Islas de Luzones(Island of Mortars), Archipelago de Magallanes and Archipelago de Legaspi. The western writers and ocean navigators called the islands Ophir before the Western people arrived and renamed it as Felipinas from the name of King Felipe of Spain. When the first European historian set their foot in the land of Ophir, it was written by historian Gregorio F. Zaide in page 2 and page 24 of History of the Filipino People, that Padre Chirino an eminent Jesuit historian found in Tagalog language that “it has the Mystery and obscurities of the Hebrew language”. Since the Tagalog dialect came from ancient Waray dialect. Therefore in the islands of Ophir the people speaks Ancient-Hebrew. (http://www.scribd.com/doc/78713593/Philippines-is-Ophir, retrieved December 23, 2012). Baybay is the poblacion at the center of the Lakanate of Lawan (Ophir). Their ancient script was described in nearby Palapag by Spanish Priest Alcina in 1668 and this ancient form of Baybayin is called by Dr. Bonifacio Comandante as Surat Waray. It is so ancient that it has only 14 pelasgic scripts. Further away from the center Baybay is the same crude 14 pelasgic Baybayin scripts recorded by historian Delgado in 1751 in Guian, Eastern Samar. It is also identified by Dr. Comandante as an older version of Baybayin as Surat Waray. The expansion of the ancient Baybay 14 pelasgic Scripts was also recorded in Carigara Leyte in 1683 by Spanish historian Esguerra and Dr. Comandante also identified it as Surat Waray. The 14 crude scripts from Baybay, Ophir may have been used by the Viking – like people describe by historians interchangeably as lequios, warays, lapita or hebrews primarily to list the names of people and materials they bring in and out of different settlements they create or invade or trade with, but in the process, different settlements kept on improving or adding additional scripts. Even today, the Warays and the Samoans have almost the same way of pronouncing their numbers from 1 to 10; the scripts of the Tagalogs of Luzon and as far as people of Java in Indonesia developed further the ancient and crude scripts of Baybay from the poblacion of Ophir.

Slowly through thousand years, from the Lawan homeland, the Lequious (waray) tribe spread in the asian, polynesian and Austronesian settlements and in other parts of Bisayas, Luzon and Mindanao. In a place called Sawang in Batag Island in Laoang, an ancient grave yard was excavated in the 60's with martabanas, antique plates and jewelries. But what is noticeable are the human bones on that grave yard which are basically longer than the average Filipinos, maybe the bones of Lequios tribesmen. Dr. Borrinaga mentioned lequios (waray) settlements in Biliran, Mactan and Bohol. He also thinks that the Pi She Ye pirates who are regularly attacking mainland China are the pintados from Samar because of a legend of Sumaga. Dr. Boni Comandante mentioned an ancient map in Quezon Province with a name Lequios River. He also mentioned a place in Masbate whose local history says that their ancestors were lequios (waray). He went to the place and they are fair skinned and tall people. He intend to lecture about it in the eBaybayin Buhayin Lecture Series. The Lequios settlement slowly expanded over thousand years into Luzon. In the book of Tome Pires, he said that it was also the Lequios tribe who built the Luzon empire in the ancient Philippines. Historians would say that the original settlers of Tondo came from several big karakoas coming from the nearby Bisayan islands.With all of these historical citations, it can be said that based on history, the modern Filipinos came from the lineage of the Lequios (ancient Hebrew) blood. As time goes by, with a very prosperous civilization, the ancient Philippines (Ophir) attracted the inter migration through settlements, marriage and trades of different people and races from all over the world: sanskrit, arabs, chinese, majapajits, sri vijayans, spaniards, americans, etc making the Philippines a virtual melting pot of races saturating further its original lequios blood. Today, with the advent of Filipino seafarers and overseas workers, the once "melting pot" further became more mixed of bloods and races that young Filipinos are confused whether they are Asian, Pacific Islanders or Latinos. But beyond all of these historical phenomenon, patriotism should be: knowing that all polynesians, austronesians and Filipinos of today came from Lequios (Hebrew) blood in the ancient beginning of times.

A comparative study of the two most prominent ophirians or Filipino authors claiming that Philippines is Ophir. Namely they are Isagani datu Aca Tabilog, the author of the article Ang Pilipinas ay nasa Biblia 2010, (Philippines is in Bible) and Dr. Richard Vincent Narag TH. D Dr. HUM author of the most controversial books like Rizal Code 2009, Philippines is Ophir “Greatest Ancient Sacred Secrets De Coded" and The Ophirian.

The said books are copyrighted in the Philippine National Library Manila. In which the said controversy that Philippines is the ancient Ophir the place where king Solomon got gold to build the Temple of Jerusalem as written in I Kings 10:1-15. , this puzzled almost all scholars, historians and theologians all over the world. What is their basis of writing this? What is the importance of this to Filipino People and what will be the significance of this?

Isagani Tabilog in his writings emphasized more on the historical evidences on how Philippines became Ophir while Dr. R V Narag shed light on the Biblical evidence and the Scientific evidence why Philippines is Ophir. This paper discussed the Biblical, then the historical evidences.

Biblical Evidence that Ophir is the ancient Philippines

According to both authors I. Tabilog and Dr. R. Narag that Shem the son of Noah become the father of Eber ( Hebrew ancestors), which is the father of Peleg the Ancestor of Israel and Joktan the father of Ophir and Sheba which is the ancestor of Southeast Asian countries including Philippines. Genesis 10:25-30. That is why Filipinos has Hebrew origin. Tabilog stopped right here while Dr. R. Narag gave more evidences from the start why did Noah blessed Shem so much that is why he gave the three most sacred places on earth, The Mount Sinia, Zion and Garden of Eden as it is written in Jubilees 8. Dr. Narag said just using only the Bible with prayer and fasting one may find Ophir and here are they. Dr. Narag emphasized that according to Antiquities of Jews by Flavius Josephus in Chapter 4. That Eber is where the Hebrew originated so Philippines have a Hebrew origin.

1. Ophirians live in Sephar.

Sheba, Ophir and Hawilah , Obal and the some of Joktan sons went to Sephar. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mountain of the east. Genesis 10:30

According to Dr. Narag , Sephar which is written in Hebrew SPR because according to him there is no bowels in Hebrew and getting the meaning of this through hermeneutics. Sephar in hermeneutics Se with the root word para means the place of budding or origin, also sephar means book, scribe and numbering. In Genesis 10:30 Sephar is the eastern border of earth. This suggest that place in the eastern borders of Shem are China, Philippines, Indonesia and Japan. Using the location we can easily rule out all countries that do not fall on the Eastern parts of the world like India and Yemen.

The word eastern derived from the Hebrew word Qedem in which in Hebrew it means front of the rising sun it also means , that which is before, aforetime. front or east, in front, mount of the East ancient time, aforetime, ancient, from of old, earliest time; anciently, of old (adverb),beginning . So Sephar is the land where the sun rises, probably Japan or Philippines.

Sephar is linked to In Deuteronomy 33:15 as the ancient mountains that is very rich in natural resources as it is written

May Yahweh bless their land with crops, the best gift the sun can give, the best produce of each month, “And with the best things of the ancient mountains. Deu. 33:15

According to Dr. Narag, Sephar is the old or the ancient mountain where Noah live before the flood as the word qedem implies, he seems trying to convince us to believe the ancient eden location perhaps. With best things as stated in Deu 33:15 which includes gold and all natural resources.

Tabilog consider Philippines as Ophir as the ancient land of Gold which is written in the Bible, while Dr. Narag Consider Philippines not only as the Biblical Land of gold Ophir but he is pointing out to be the ancient habitat of the ancient humanity, that’s why king Solomon knew it before.

2. Ophir is rich in gold.

The gold used for the building of temple Jerusalem is from Ophir. And they came to Ophir, where they got four hundred and twenty talents of gold, and took it back to King Solomon.I Kings 9:28

King Solomon built a fleet of ships to Ezion Geber to get gold from Ophir because the gold there is numerous and high grade which is the best to be offered to the house of YHWH. The question now here according to Dr. Narag is why they built Fleet of ship as written in I kings 9:26-27.

Philippines become the No.1 site of Gold during ancient times according to Morga and Pigafetta. Rare in India and Japan. Also claimed by Tabilog in which he gave more historical explanations.

3. Ophir is Island or group of Islands

King Solomon built a fleet of ships to Ezion Geber to get gold from Ophir because it is an island or group of island. 26 King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea. And Hiram sent his men—sailors who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men. I kings 9:26-27. I Chronicles 9:21

The answer according to the Philippines is Ophir “Greatest Ancient Sacred Secrets De Coded" by Dr. Narag is that because Ophir is Island in the eastern part of the world. As written in. Psalm 72; 10. This is the Sheba the brother of Ophir that live in Sephar. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles

Shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Psalm 72:10.

4. Ophir has Almug wood the red sandal wood (Narra).

King Solomon sent to Hiram, king of Tyre, saying, "Send me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and algum-trees, out of Lebanon" (2 Chronicles 2:8). In 1 Kings 10:11 it is said that the navy of Hiram "that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug-trees and precious stones." In the parallel passage in 2 Chronicles 9:10 it is said that "algum-trees and precious stones" were brought.

Almug or Narra is the Kopher wood or the wood of Atonement. The wood used by Noah to build the Ark. According to Dr. Narag The letter G in the word Gopher (Genesis 6:14.) is interchangeable in Hebrew with letter K making it Kopher the wood of atonement. Like the word Gamel it came along to be Camel. Narra is endemic in Philippines and the no.1 producer in East during the ancient times but very rare in Japan.

5. Ophir distance takes Three years round trip from Ezion Geber

And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the YHWH, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the YHWH. So he finished the house. I Kings 9:22

In a round trip travel we will conclude that from Ezion Geber by using a boat 30 miles per day this will took 3 years round trip. 6 months round trip to India and 4 years round trip to japan. So Only Philippines fit the description. This is both emphasize by Tabilog and Narag.

6. Ophir is known before by King Solomon

According to Dr. Narag it is not accidentally discovered but planned and the building of the temple is a command from YHWH that it should be the same or similitude of the things used there. It is described there as the word Taybit which means same place you got it and same kind which is written in I Chronicles 28: 13-19 as follows: 13 He gave him instructions for the divisions of the priests and Levites, and for all the work of serving in the temple of the Lord, as well as for all the articles to be used in its service. 14 He designated the weight of gold for all the gold articles to be used in various kinds of service, and the weight of silver for all the silver articles to be used in various kinds of service: 15 the weight of gold for the gold lampstands and their lamps, with the weight for each lampstand and its lamps; and the weight of silver for each silver lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand; 16 the weight of gold for each table for consecrated bread; the weight of silver for the silver tables; 17 the weight of pure gold for the forks, sprinkling bowls and pitchers; the weight of gold for each gold dish; the weight of silver for each silver dish; 18 and the weight of the refined gold for the altar of incense. He also gave him the plan for the chariot, that is, the cherubim of gold that spread their wings and overshadow the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 19 “All this,” David said, “I have in writing as a result of the Lord’s hand on me, and he enabled me to understand all the details (taybit) of the plan. The temple of Jerusalem is same as the shape of the Noahs ark because it is Taybit of it. That is why it is rectangle and the wood used is Narra. The Atonement wood used by Noah in Genesis 6:14. According to Dr. Narag, Ophir is not accidentally discovered but King Solomon knew it before. Because of the word Sephar or Origin of Plants and Animals.

7. Ophir is in the place of Middle Earth in a not hot and cold region of the Earth.

Shems land is in the middle Earth as stated by book Jubilees 8:12 and it is neither hot nor cold in Jubiless 8:30. And that is the temperature of places in Sephar. Philippines is a non - hot and non - cold country and it is found in the eastern limits of the middle earth. Japan and China is cold while Papua Guinea is hot. So Only Philippines fits the region.

8. Ophirians clothes are Blue and Purple. Jeremiah 10:9

Ancient Filipinos love to wear Blue and purple.

Historical evidences from the book “According to My Evidences That Philippines is Ophir in the Bible” 2004 by Isagani Tabilog

Isagani Tabilog sparks the truth on the historical evidences why Philippines is Ophir.

1. Magellan and the Search for Ophir

Magellan's contemporary, Duarte Barbosa, wrote that the people of Malacca (in modern Malaysia) had described to him an island group known as the Lequios whose people were as "rich and more eminent than the Chins (Chinese)," and that traded "much gold, and sliver in bars, silk, rich cloth, and much very good wheat, beautiful porcelains and many other merchandises." However, Barbosa was not the only one to mention the Lequios from the Pacific empire. The quest for spices and precious metals ushered in what is known as the Age of Exploration. Magellan’s personal documents indicated his desire to find the golden islands of Tarshish and Ophir. The explorer Sebastian Cabot was appointed as commander of an expedition “to discover the Moluccas, Tarsis, Ophir, Cipango and Cathay.” The expedition finally reached Samar, and declared that they had found Ophir and they decided to eventually colonize the Philippine archipelago after that Samar (Ophir) landing. The Boxer Codex was created on the order of Luis Pérez Dasmariñas, the 9th Governor-General of the Philippines (1593-1596). The said codex depicts the life of the Filipinos including their clothing wherein the whole body of both male and female Filipino is adorn with gold. This suggests that Philippines is rich in gold. The Lakanate of Lawan in the pacific side of Samar is the seat of Ophir that for many earlier centuries had been the center of intermigration of people to different Polynesians islands in the pacific and other islands in the Philippine archipelago. The people of Malacca called them Lequios. Later, the ten datus of Borneo decided to settle in Lawan due to its prosperity of the Lequios and peace in their land but they only reached Panay (Otley Beyer).

2. Trade Missions to China

The name Lusung (LUZON) first appeared in Chinese History in 1373 AD in the Ming Annals. In this document, Lusung was one of the first to answer the call for tribute missions to the new Ming Dynasty [1368 - 1644]. It was Brunei who first responded in 1371 AD, followed by Liuchiu in 1372, and then by Lusung in 1373 AD*11. Despite the fact that it made its first appearance on Chinese records as late as 1373 AD, evidences suggests that the Chinese had long known the existence of LUZON as far back as the Sung Dynasty[960 - 1278 AD]. The presence of thousands of recognizable pieces of Sung and Yuan Dynasty porcelains found in ancient burial sites in the Provinces of Pampanga, Samar and Manila suggests an active trade with China long before the Ming period. In the book entitled Collecion General de Documentos Relativos a las Islas Filipinas, the author has described how to locate Ophir. According to the book, particularly in Documento No. 98, Ophir can be found by travelling from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, to India, to Burma, to Sumatra, to Moluccas, to Borneo, to Sulu, then finally Ophir in the Pacific, then to Taiwan (China), and other Pacific Islands and back to Ophir and then finally to Israel.The search for Ophir by different expeditions, including that of Magellan, ended up when they found Samar (name derived from Samaria) island in the Pacific.

Some Historians Claim that their place could be the Ophir, despite the presence of few Historical Data that may Triangulate their Claim. Their supporting data and theories are not as comprehensive as that of the Philippines. They are as follows:

India

A Dictionary of the Bible by Sir William Smith, published in 1863,[7] notes the Hebrew word for parrot Thukki, derived from the Classical Tamil for peacock Thogkai and Cingalese "tokei",[8] joins other Classical Tamil words for ivory, cotton-cloth and apes preserved in the Hebrew Bible. This theory of Ophir's location in Tamilakkam is further supported by other historians.[9][10][11] Locations on the coast of Kerala conjectured to be Ophir include Poovar and Beypore. [12][13]

Earlier in the 19th century Max Müller and other scholars identified Ophir with Abhira, near the Indus River in modern-day state of Gujarat, India. According to Benjamin Walker Ophir is said to have been a town of the Abhira tribe.[14][15]

Africa

Biblical scholars, archaeologists and others have tried to determine the exact location of Ophir. Vasco da Gama's companion Tomé Lopes reasoned that Ophir would have been the ancient name for Great Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe, the main center of sub-African trade in gold in the Renaissance period — though the ruins at Great Zimbabwe are now dated to the medieval era, long after Solomon is said to have lived. The identification of Ophir with Sofala in Mozambique was mentioned by Milton in Paradise Lost (11:399-401), among many other works of literature and science.

Another, more serious, possibility is the African shore of the Red Sea, with the name perhaps being derived from the Afar people living in the Danakil desert (Ethiopia, Eritrea) between Adulis and Djibouti.

Afri was a Latin name used to refer to the Carthaginians, who dwelt in North Africa, in modern-day Tunisia. This name, that later gave the rich Roman province of Africa and the subsequent medieval Ifriqiya, are from which the name of the continent Africa is ultimately derived, seems to have referred to a native Libyan tribe originally, however, see Terencefor discussion. The name is usually connected with Phoenician afar, "dust", but a 1981 hypothesis[16] has asserted that it stems from the Berber word ifri (plural ifran) meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers.[17] This is proposed[17] to be the origin of Ophir as well.[18]

Americas

The theologian Benito Arias Montano (1571) proposed finding Ophir in the name of Peru, reasoning that the native Peruvians were thus descendants of Ophir and Shem.[19]

Other assumptions

In 1568 Alvaro Mendaña the first European to discover the Solomon Islands, and named them as such because he believed them to be Ophir.[20]

In Jewish tradition, Ophir is often associated with a place in India,[dubious – discuss] named for one of the sons of Joktan.[21] The 10th-century lexicographer, David ben Abraham al-Fasi, identified Ophir with Serendip, the old Persian name for Sri Lanka (aka Ceylon).[22]

In literature

Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65 Aria Gold aus Ophir ist zu schlecht.

Ophir is the subject of H. Rider Haggard's novel King Solomon's Mines, which places the lost city in South Africa.

H P Lovecraft mentions Ophir in his short story "The Cats of Ulthar", in the pulp magazine 'The Tryout' November 1920.

Charles Beadle published a three-part serial, The Land of Ophir, in the pulp magazine Adventure, issues of March 10, 20, & 30, 1922.

Ophir is also a kingdom in Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian series of stories; see Hyborian Age for more information.

Several of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan novels happen in and around the lost city of Opar, deep in the African jungles — with Opar evidently being another name for Ophir. The city appears in The Return of Tarzan (1913), Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916), Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1923), and Tarzan the Invincible (1930).

Philip José Farmer took up the theme from the Tarzan books and wrote two books of his own, taking place in Opar at the height of its glory thousands of years ago: Hadon of Ancient Opar and Flight to Opar.

Wilbur Smith's novel The Sunbird is set in ancient Ophir (called Opet) and its modern ruins, located in modern Botswana.

Ophir is the name of the Nordic Utopia in M. M. Scherbatov's 1784 novel "Putishestvie v zemliu ofirskuiu" ("Voyage to Ophir").

Clive Cussler's The Navigator places the mines of Ophir on the eastern seaboard of the United States, postulating a pre-Columbian voyage by the Phoenicians.

Ophir is also referenced in Alexander Dumas's book The Count of Monte Cristo. "...but these two tears disappeared almost immediately, God doubtless having sent some angel to gather them as being more precious in His eyes than the richest pearls of Gujarat or Ophir."

John Masefield's poem "Cargoes" refers to Solomon's trade with Ophir.'Quinquereme of Nineveh from distant Ophir'

Ophir is the destination of the adventures in the movies The Mistress of the World (1919) and Legend of the Lost (1957).

Ophir is the name of a board game created by Jason D. Kingsley and Charles Wright in early 2015. It is published by Terra Nova Games.

Ophir is the suspected location of an archaeological discovery near Aden, in the novel Biggles Forms A Syndicate (1961), by W. E. Johns

The name appears in two Emily Dickinson poems, "Sister of Ophir" and "Brother of Ophir," written two years apart.

The name in turn appears in Hart Crane's poem "To Emily Dickinson."[23]

In his novel, "King Solomon's Pilot", Jerold Richert finds Ophir on the Indian mainland, and fictionally suggests its naming.