In Search of King Solomon's Mines

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Summary: "A journey is of no merit unless it has tested you."
Review: "As soon as there's a bomb, an earthquake...or a riot, I call the travel agent," Tahir Shah says, explaining his thirst for adventure. In this account he searches for King Solomon's legendary gold mines, armed with books and research he acquired in preparation for his trip and a "treasure map" he purchased in Jerusalem. King Solomon had built a lavishly appointed temple there three thousand years ago, using gold which the Queen of Sheba had brought from Ophir. No one knows from what direction she came or where the legendary Ophir actually was, however, with different researchers claiming that it was in Zimbabwe, South Africa, or even Haiti or Peru.

A sacred Ethiopian text claims that the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon is the ancestor of the Ethiopian emperors, and since Ethiopia's gold is also one of its richest resources, Shah accepts the idea that the legendary Ophir was probably in Ethiopia. Hiring a guide and translator, he checks out many mines, both legal and illegal, where gold is so close to the surface that men, women, and children dig for it with their hands. Always, Shah seeks some connection to Ophir.

The author keeps the reader constantly intrigued with the fascinating characters he meets during his many side trips. When he hears that hyenas guarded Solomon's gold, Shah travels to Harar seeking out Yusuf, the hyenaman, who handfeeds wild hyenas each night so they will not steal the town's children. He meets Noah, a powerful miner at a dangerous, illegal mine; Rachel, an elderly woman, who is the last survivor of Beta Israel, the group of Ethiopian Jews who were airlifted to Israel; a "miracle man," who performs four miracles; and Kefla Mohammed, leader of a salt caravan, who weeps when he must euthanize one of his camels. And Shah also includes wonderfully revealing photographs of these people and the artifacts he finds.

Occasionally, Shah, a member of Afghan royalty who grew up in London, betrays an unfortunate sense of entitlement in his attitudes toward the people around him. He does not give his devoted interpreter a "sick day," even when he is clearly very ill, and he does not always share his supplies and equipment, once hiding from his employees to eat canned food. He also fails to offer assistance at the site of a terrible road accident--something which he says never occurred to him. His unflagging sense of adventure is admirable, however, and he brings fascinating and unique Ethiopian cultures and people to the attention of readers who would not otherwise be exposed to them. In providing rare glimpses of a world which few tourists have seen, he provides a service for which we can all be grateful. Mary Whipple

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Summary: Romantic Explorers Still Exist
Review: Although Shah starts his book in old Jerusalem, where he purchases a dubious treasure map off the wall of an even more dubious shop named Ali Baba's Bazaar, this is actually an excellent travel book about modern Ethiopia. Apparently Shah's grandfather and father both harbored obsessions about locating the source of the gold King Solomon used for his great temple in Jerusalem. This obsession was passed down to the intrepid Tahir, who embarks on his own quest to find the ancient gold mines. Shah is not hoping to cash in (he swears an oath not to harvest gold), rather, the trip is another of his retro-adventures (cf. The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Trail of Feathers) in the style of Victorian-era explorer/romantic adventurers like Richard Burton.

According to the ancient sources, Solomon's gold was brought to him by the Queen of Sheba from the land of Ophir. Shah briefly outlines a geographical and etymological case for Ophir being located in present day Ethiopia, and organizes himself to visit this country largely known in the West for its poverty and famines. Armed with a trunk of books and articles (and far too much equipment), he arrives and promptly hires his taxi driver Samson to be interpreter, guide, and all around fixer. Samson is an extremely devout Christian and a reluctant guide throughout the trip, but the money is a boon to his precarious existence. Together, they set out by train and bus to visit a a series of potential locations Tahir has marked out. After a great deal of hardship in getting to the first site, they return to Addis Ababa and hire a driver-even though Ethiopian roads sound as bad as any I've read about. This is Bahra, a qat-addicted Somali cardsharp who likes to break up the tedium with deliberate roadkill. One of my favorite moments in the book is when, near the end of the journey, he simply stops in the middle of nowhere and declares that his luck has run out and he won't drive any more.

What emerges from Shah's trip is a land far more naturally varied and lush than the typical perception of Ethiopia-though desperately poor. Although there are numerous places where gold is so near the surface that impromptu (and illegal) mining communities spring up to pan for gold and dig tiny tunnels to extract it, the avenues for selling it are such that wealth-as in much of the third world-is highly concentrated at the top. The depiction of one such camp, where even the suspicion that one has found a nugget of gold and swallowed can result in your throat getting slit and your entrails opened up for inspection, is terrifying. Of course, the only thing more desirable than gold is getting to America, and at one point Shah is called upon to give a seminar to several hundred miners on the best way to cross the American border.

Although the focus is obviously on the gold, Shah always has his eyes open for a good story. He visits ancient churches hewn from the rock, hangs out with a "hyena" man whose designated task is to feed hyenas at night so they don't steal children from the town (hyenas are said to be the guardians of Solomon's secret mines), consults with the guru of a Rastafarian sect, travels across desert with a salt caravan, debunks a traveling miracle worker, and sit in many a seedy roadside bar with the ubiquitous prostitutes. Shah details everything with crisp writing and many a well-turned phrase (one of my favorites is "To most Ethiopians, the idea of a hotel without prostitutes is a bad joke.") that act as nice counterpoints to the hardship and struggle he witnesses. The book is bound together with a spirit of adventure rare in modern travel books, and despite a rather rushed and unsatisfactory end, is valuable reading for anyone interested in modern Africa.

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Summary: In Search of King Solomon's Mines
Review: I found this book on a table in a book store in Morro Bay. I'm a sucker for travel books of this sort, looking for history as well as adventure. Although a tad slow, it is an engrossing story, humorous as well. Like Paul Theroux, Tahir Shah goes off the beaten path, and tells the truth about people and conditions he meets. Unlike Paul Theroux, he seems to like the people and enjoy the hardships. And seeing the grim side of life doesn't seem to make him grim. Anyway, I enjoyed it, and I'm going to order more of his books.

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Summary: Drawing upon a map discovered by chance
Review: In Search Of King Solomon's Mines is the travelogue of Tahir Shah, a man who is determined to find the legendary source of the Bible's wisest king. Drawing upon a map discovered by chance, a multitude of fascinating clues, hits from ancient texts including the earliest form of the Bible, and much more, author and traveler Tahir Shah sets out on a captivating journey of discovery. An inset selection of black-and-white photographic plates adds a visual touch to this rich and enjoyable saga.


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Summary: Excellent Read
Review: Tahir Shah presents an obsession to go on with his trip, no matter what. Sometimes the risks he takes seem uncalculated and borders on the insane, but probably I wouldnt be reading his book if he didn't do that! He presents many interesting and touching tales of Ethiopians. An excellent read. Good luck to the author for his next travel (and hence the next book?)

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Summary: 3rd World Poverty made real
Review: This book is more about 3rd world poverty than the search for a lost gold mine. In that respect, I was disappointed. Otherwise, well written and engaging.

Rating:
Summary: 3rd World Poverty made real
Review: This book is more about 3rd world poverty than the search for a lost gold mine. In that respect, I was disappointed. Otherwise, well written and engaging.

Rating:
Summary: ...do you want to know what Africa is really like?
Review: This is a travelogue with a difference. Shah becomes obsessed with the tale of the Queen of Sheba and her relationship with King Solomom. While in the holy city of Jerusalem, he purchases an old map from a dubious shopkeeper. The map points to the mysterious country of Ethiopia, the land that allegedly possesses the prized Ark of the Covenant. He then takes on the quest to find the legendary city of Ophir, the ancient home of Makeda, the Queen of Sheba. It is this location that King Solomon's mines might have existed. In the Ethiopian holy text, Kebra Negast, (The Glory of Kings) tells the story in full of Sheba's relationship with the wise king, their exchange of unimaginable riches, and the theft of the Ark, which supposedly still resides in the city of Axum. Shah begins his journey in this mysterious and misunderstood country, experiencing many hardships, adventures and disappointments along the way.

Tahir Shah is a walking-talking anachronism - as he models himself after the great explorers of the 19th century - Stanley, Burton and Livingston. He has that dogged-persistence and general Romantic spirit of the old explorers, which makes this text inspiring and enormously entertaining. The book contains a myriad of strange characters that have many unusual, funny and macabre stories to tell. Shah's central guide, Samson, an Ethiopian taxi driver and devout Christian, reluctantly accompanies our narrator to the end, and the reader will empathize with Samson because of his many hardships throughout the journey. Then there is Bahra, the 'qat' consuming Somalian, who chauffers Shah and Samson around Ethiopia for most of the trip. Close to the end of the journey, Bahra simply stops the truck, claiming adamantly that 'his luck has run out' and simply refuses to go any further. This proves to be extremely frustrating for Shah, and totally hilarious, but there's nothing he can do about it, and must leave the man behind.

Most Westerner's usually think of Ethiopia as a barren, dusty desert. Surprisingly, though, we discover that parts of the country are rich in vegetation and quite beautiful. However Ethiopia ia a developing country and one is constantly reminded of this with Shah's descriptions of the people's general living conditions. This is an irony because the country still, after thousands of years of mining, continues to be rich in gold deposits. The big question is who is benefiting from this wealth, because it certainly isn't the common people?

This is an extraordinary modern adventure that rings of the 19th century Romantic traditon. Shah writes with enthusiasm and wit and makes one envious of his adventurous spirit. Excellent reading.