much gold.”She was so impressed with his wisdom she gave him an addi-
tional 120 talents of gold plus more precious stones and spices. This was
intended as an act of competitive gift exchange, and when the queen depar-
ted, Solomon gave her“all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what
was given her by the bounty of King Solomon.”
The new commercial and geopolitical configuration in the Red Sea did not
last long. When Solomon died, Israel split into two states. In Egypt a new
and more vigorous pharaoh, Sheshonq (945– 924 BCE), conquered Jerusalem
in 930BCE, reestablishing Egyptian influence in the region. The connec-
tion with Ophir was broken. In the mid-ninth century a later king,
Jehosaphat, attempted to reestablish it, going so far as to build a new
fleet at Ezion-geber, but the ships were wrecked (no details are given), and
Jehosaphat died shortly thereafter. As for Tyre, by this time its interests
had turned elsewhere, and the old commercial tie between the two peoples
faded.
Despite Sheshonq’s muscleflexing, for Egypt the golden age had passed.
With the exception of the energetic XXVI Dynasty (664– 525 BCE), the great
expeditions were over, and Egypt slipped into a mode of passive trade in
which others, particularly Phoenicians and Greeks, came to Egypt. The
kings of the XXVI Dynasty were more interested in business than was usual,
and one in particular, Necho II (610– 595 BCE), was responsible for one of the
most audacious adventures of the ancient world. Inc. 600BCE, according to
Herodotus, Necho sent out ships manned by Phoenicians to circumnavigate
Africa by sailing south from Egypt through the Red Sea. To keep from
starving, they landed periodically and planted crops. After more than 2 years
they returned to Egypt via the Straits of Gibraltar although how they con-
quered the African winds and similar problems have given skeptics afield
day. Assuming this trip was actually made, the Phoenicians found no new
sources of wealth nor opened any new trade routes. At the time the kings of
the XXVI Dynasty were making plenty of money closer at hand, so from a
commercial perspective the great voyage was a bust.
Necho’s schemes were not all wild-eyed and pie-in-the-sky. Closer to
home he was particularly interested in the Red Sea and in reopening the
Punt connection. According to Herodotus, Necho attempted to dig a canal
from a branch of the Nile to the Gulf of Suez during which 120,000
Egyptians died. The work was stopped before completion because an oracle
warned Necho that he was making it easier for an invader to penetrate into
the delta. Necho’s canal was eventually completed in 497BCE by King
Darius after Egypt was invaded and conquered by the Persians. Sailing
through the canal took four days as it was quite crooked, but it was wide
enough for two triremes to be rowed abreast. Herodotus provides no infor-
mation on its commercial impact. Both Strabo and Pliny tell other stories
about this canal. According to both, Ramses II (1279– 1213 BCE) had the
original idea, and Strabo claims that under him“the canal wasfirst cut.”
50 Land of gold