All language subtitles for Forbidden.History.S07E08.Mystery.of.Solomons.Mines.1080p.DSCP.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN_track3_[eng]

[narrator] In a remote desert
of southern Israel,

lies a labyrinth
of ancient tunnels.

Unlikely discoveries

have unearthed evidence
that they may have belonged
to the richest man

who ever lived.

Solomon's wealth
was absolutely out
of this world.

He had gold, silver,
precious jewels,
monkeys, peacocks.

This was an incredibly
wealthy man.

[narrator] According
to legend,

mining made the biblical
King Solomon
unimaginably wealthy.

A single season of mining
brings in around $800 million.

[narrator] Today,
archeologists are scouring
the region for these mines.

This is where I think
we found evidence
for King Solomon's mine.

[narrator] What is the truth?

How did King Solomon
get his incredible wealth?

And could these tunnels
really be the answer?

It's one of the greatest
treasure hunts of all time,

the hunt for King
Solomon's mines.

[woman vocalizing]

[narrator] Timna
National Park,

southern Israel.

Home to a labyrinth
of sandstone tunnels,

which could be
the historical remains
of King Solomon's mines.

If this is correct,
in the 10th century BC

they would've been a hive
of activity,

mining precious metals
that made Solomon

one of the wealthiest men
who ever lived.

If we compare King Solomon's
wealth to today,

then he would probably be
the richest man in the world,
by far.

We're talking, like,
a trillionaire.

[narrator] King Solomon,
and his great wealth,

has been the subject
of many books
and blockbuster films.

Yet the truth of how
the king became so rich
is a mystery.

One of the great
intriguing questions

has to be "What
happened to the source
of Solomon's wealth?"

[narrator] As archeologists
aim to uncover the truth,
they're faced with a problem.

Jerusalem, which was the heart
of Solomon's empire,

has been reconstructed
many times over the centuries.

As an archeologist,
it is plausible that

treasures associated
with King Solomon
are still out there.

[narrator] For many,
they key to finding the source
of Solomon's wealth

is understanding the truth
behind the man himself.

Biblical texts tell us he
was the son of King David,

who had united
the tribes of Israel
under one religion.

Yet according to the Bible,

it was Solomon who built
the first temple on Earth
to the Old Testament God.

King Solomon's temple
is very important in Judaism,
and Christianity and Islam.

King Solomon is right
at the start of the life
of Israel as a nation.

[narrator] But why
was Solomon chosen
to build the first temple

instead of his all-conquering
father, David?

Getting to the roots
of the legend,
Bena Mantel is in Jerusalem.

So the Bible is very
clear to us

in telling us why is it
Solomon who gets
to build the temple

and not David.

And the Bible says that David
is unworthy of building
a house for God.

because of the blood
that's on his hands.

King Solomon, however,
the son of King David,

already inherited this
full-blown kingdom

and never had to shed
blood over it.

And therefore he could
be the one to build
a house for God.

[narrator] If the story
is to be believed,

Solomon made his temple
one of the most lavish
buildings ever constructed,

with two bronze pillars
welcoming worshipers

inside
the gold-laden building.

[Newman] Solomon's temple
would've been very impressive,

and would've been constructed
using the finest masons
at the time.

And so no doubt
it would've been
an architectural wonder.

To some who were going
into this temple
it would've been, literally,

like entering paradise.

I mean, we're talking
about something
with huge columns,

and gold and jewels,
and everything painted
richly and ornately.

[narrator] While the stories
of grandeur make
for a wonderful tale,

today the archeological
evidence for this
great temple is nonexistent.

Solomon temple in Jerusalem
is a big riddle.

We know very little about it.

We don't have any
archeological remains.

Of course, it's not possible
to dig in the place
where the temple was built.

Today it's a very, uh,
important and holy place
for Islam.

[narrator] With a lack
of hard evidence,

the Holy Scriptures
offer the best clues

to how Solomon
became so wealthy.

They say that during a dream
the king was visited by God.

So we have a wonderful story

about Solomon praying to God.

And then God essentially
appearing before Solomon

and asking him
what does he want.

Typically, in these kinds
of stories,

uh, kings ask for power,
money, domination,
this kind of thing.

But what Solomon asked
for was wisdom.

[narrator] The Bible claims
God grants the young king
his desire.

And in the 3,000 years
since his reign,

Solomon has become
synonymous with wisdom.

[Tony McMahon] And there's
a classic story,

and it's two women
who come to the king
with a baby

and both are claiming
ownership of this baby.

[Dr. Boakye] The way Solomon
chose to resolve the issue

was to say he was going
to cut the child in half
and they can have half each.

[McMahon] Now, one
of the women says,

"Yeah, all right,
I'll take my half."

The other one says,
"No! Keep the baby
whole, give it to her."

And Solomon realizes
that must be the mother,

because what mother
would want to see

such a terrible thing
happen to her child?

[narrator] But according
to legend,

wisdom wasn't the only thing
God gave Solomon.

[Mantel] God is so pleased

that he tells him,
"Not only I will
give you wisdom,

but I will give you the wealth
and all the other things
to go along with it."

[narrator] If the Bible
is to be believed,
it was from this point

that Solomon became one
of the richest men
who ever lived.

Solomon's wealth,
it's been estimated,

is the equivalent today
of something like $2 trillion.

He had everything a man
could possibly want.

[narrator] Despite the Bible
claiming Solomon's wealth
was a gift from God,

today scholars are hunting
for a more tangible source.

There wasn't much
being written

about where his wealth
really came from.

It's opened up
this possibility of mines,

but where are these mines?

[narrator] In the time
of Solomon, a thousand years
before Christ,

kings became powerful
by controlling
natural resources.

Many believe that precious
metals dug from ancient mines

were the source
of Solomon's wealth.

Yet if this is the case,

it's a mystery why
they are not mentioned
in the Bible.

When you go to the Bible
we don't...

We don't hear
about King Solomon's mines.

There are actually
no mines in the text.

[narrator] Strangely, the idea
of these mines didn't enter
public consciousness

until the late 19th century.

There is no mention
in any ancient source
of King Solomon's mines.

In fact, they were
only invented
in the Victorian period

by an English author,
H. Rider Haggard,

who wrote a rip-roaring
Victorian adventure story

and called it
King Solomon's Mines.

[narrator] While Haggard's
bestselling book was fiction,

some scholars argue
that the tale it tells
could be based in reality.

Well, I think like a lot
of Victorian
colonial authors,

he was probably a man
who'd gone and done service
in the empire.

He heard local myths,
local folklore.

He will have heard something
that excited his interest,

and that he turned
into a bestselling novel.

[narrator] Ever since
the release of the book,

treasure hunters
and archeologists alike
have been dreaming

of finding
King Solomon's mines.

With many believing,
if you find the mines,

you may find the source
of Solomon's treasures within.

So if we are wondering
to ourself,

"Where are Solomon's mines?"

Well, I would have to look
to the nearest
most likely place.

And the nearest place
would be the desert.

[narrator] The Timna Valley,
southern Israel.

Many 20th century scholars
have dismissed any connection

between this place
and King Solomon.

But one archeologist,
Professor Erez Ben-Yosef,
believes they're wrong.

He spent over a decade
trying to unearth its secrets.

This is the Timna Valley.

This is where I think
King Solomon's mines were.

We have evidence,
uh, that dates the site

to the period
of King Solomon,
10th century BC.

[narrator] Could this desert
hold the answers

to King Solomon's
mysterious wealth?

Wow, this is amazing.

[narrator] The quest
for King Solomon's mines

is one of the greatest
biblical treasure hunts.

There are few historical
accounts of where his wealth
came from.

But Professor Erez Ben-Yosef
believes the Timna Valley,

150 miles from Jerusalem
in southern Israel,

could hold the answers
to this mystery.

Well,
this is the Timna Valley.

This is where I think
we found evidence

for King Solomon's mines.

[narrator] Legend has it
that the Old Testament king
had a number of gold mines,

which were the source
of his great riches.

[Ben-Yosef] Here
we have an entrance

to a very cool mine.

We can go to the mountain.

These are the ancient
mines of Timna.

We are inside one
of the mines.

And you can see that
it's like, uh, Swiss cheese.

The entire sandstone is full
of tunnels and shafts.

[narrator] After nearly
a decade of research,

Erez is convinced that around
the year 1,000 BC,

these were the source
of King Solomon's wealth.

We can see also
chisel marks.

There are thousands
of mines like that all over
the Timna Valley.

You can see the work here
was extremely challenging.

It's barely one person
that can go inside.

In some places, we believe,
it was only children.

It's fair to say
that life for a miner

in the Timna mines
would've been horrendous,

utilizing very simple tools

to extract these ores.

[Dr. Karen Bellinger] We know
they had to dig down
as much as 60 feet.

And then they're crawling
around in these underground
tunnels,

zero ventilation,
very little water.

It would've been
absolutely horrible.

[narrator] Stretching over
27 square miles,

for Erez, these mines
are on a scale large enough

to have generated
King Solomon's fabled riches.

It's incredibly exciting
to think that the mines
at Timna

could have been owned
by King Solomon.

This is something
that wouldn't have
been glamorous,

but it certainly
would have been impressive.

It would've been industry
on a scale

that we don't think
of existing
in the ancient world.

[narrator] Incredibly,
there is still evidence
of what Solomon's miners

could've been digging for.

[Ben-Yosef] This green stuff,
this green vein.

This is what
they were looking after.

This is copper mineral.

So these were copper mines.

[narrator] Copper would
have been incredibly important
in the time of Solomon,

since his reign
was during the Bronze Age.

Given the centrality
of copper

to the ability to produce
wealth in the Bronze Age,

it's absolutely possible
that King Solomon's wealth,

properly, should be
measured in copper.

[narrator] During
the time of Solomon,

most tools and weapons
were made of bronze,

which is a metal alloy
made using copper.

These mines must have been
incredibly lucrative.

Copper was essential
to making bronze,

and you need bronze
for weapons.

So this could very well be
King Solomon's mines.

Don't fixate on gold,
fixate on copper instead.

You cannot exaggerate
the importance of copper
at the time of King Solomon.

Whoever had control

over this metal,
had the...
the source of power.

[narrator] But if these mines
were the source
of King Solomon's wealth,

an industrial-sized process
of turning ore into metal
would have been required.

Investigating the smelting
process, historic
metalworker Fergus Milton

has spent the last
20 years researching
ancient metallurgy.

For copper smelting,

you would start
with raw materials,

rocks, that we call ores,

that are dug from the ground.

This particular ore
is called malachite.

This is an oxidized ore
that would normally be found
closer to the surface.

And at Timna,
they would've exploited these,

but then they would
have had to follow
the copper underground.

[narrator] Fergus
is processing the copper ore

using the same techniques
that were employed
in the Bronze Age.

[Milton] For
the smelting process
to work

we need a lot of heat.

By pushing air
into the burning charcoal,

we can get it above
1,600 Fahrenheit,

which is the temperature
we need

to start changing
the copper ore
into copper metal.

The flames are a weak purple,

and that tells me
there's carbon monoxide
gas being produced.

The carbon monoxide just helps
to break down the chemical
bonds in the rock,

so that we can separate
out the components

and be left with the metal
that we're actually after.

[narrator] After 20 minutes
of purple flames,

all of the green ore
should have turned
into copper,

with the other chemicals
burning off as gas.

[Milton] So this
is some of the copper
we've produced.

We can cast it to make
axes, knives, arrowheads,
anything we want.

Or we can combine it
with other metals like tin

to make bronze.

[narrator] Were these mines
to have been the source
of Solomon's wealth,

industrial-scale smelting
would have happened here.

And Erez might have found
the remains of just that.

This is Slaves' Hill.

This is the largest
smelting site in Timna.

This is the center
of copper production.

Look at that.

This is a pile of slag.

This means that furnaces
were here in this location.

[narrator] Slag
is the byproduct of smelting.

And there's an abundance
of this ancient remnant
at this site.

Erez believes that during
the time of Solomon,

this hill would have had
dozens of smelting furnaces,

operated by over
a hundred people.

Yet, despite the name
Slaves' Hill,

he believes these people
were anything but slaves.

We excavate the slag mounds,

and find fantastic stuff
that tells us

the metal workers were,
you know,

part of the elite
of the society,
maybe even priests.

[narrator] During
Solomon's reign,

the process of smelting
copper would have been
seen as divine magic

to the common worker.

Therefore, because of their
connection to God,

priests would have led
the copper production,

making it
a ritualistic process.

And making King Solomon
one of the wealthiest men
to ever live.

But the Timna mines
have long been controversial.

One mainstream
archeological dig,

carried out at the site
in the 20th century,

dated these mines much earlier
than the era of King Solomon.

What's kind of interesting
about the Timna mines,
specifically,

is that there's a great deal
of evidence that the Egyptians
were implicated

in this mining.

[narrator] Over the past
50 years,

many archeologists
have claimed these mines

were under the control
of the ancient Egyptians

during the 19th
and 20th dynasties,

hundreds of years before
the time of Solomon.

Like the biblical king,
copper would have been crucial
to the Egyptian pharaohs.

But Erez is sticking
to his new theory.

[Ben-Yosef] This is
the entrance
to the Timna Park.

And for years

people believed
that these were
Egyptian mines.

And this is why we have
Egyptian statues here.

And I believe that the park
now should change
these figures to King Solomon.

[narrator] Could 50 years
of archeological research
be wrong?

And could these really
be the legendary
King Solomon's mines?

Professor Erez Ben-Yosef
is in the Timna Valley
of southern Israel.

He's found evidence
that he believes is proof

that these caves
were the source
of King Solomon's wealth.

Although Erez is sure
that these mines belong
to the Old Testament king,

half a century
of archeological research
says otherwise.

The Timna copper mines
are in an area
of the ancient Middle East

that was actually associated
with the Egyptian empire,
with the pharaohs.

[narrator] Ancient Egyptian
records show

that the pharaohs ruled
the region 300 years
before the time of Solomon.

And archeological evidence
found in 1969
supports this theory.

This is the famous
Egyptian temple of Timna.

It was found by
Beno Rothenberg.

And this was
a major discovery,

because he didn't
know what they excavated.

And then they started
digging and artifacts
came from the ground

telling the story of Egypt.

The Egyptian temple
is dedicated to the goddess
Hathor,

the goddess of the sky,
women and love.

And the date of this temple
was around about 1,300 BC,

so that's about 300 years
older than King Solomon.

[narrator] For
the archeologist
who found this temple,

Beno Rothenberg,
it's discovery was only
the tip of the iceberg

that proved that
the Timna mines

were a part of the ancient
Egyptian empire.

Beno Rothenberg found
almost 10,000 artifacts.

It was beautiful stuff
with inscriptions
telling the story

of the Egyptian expeditions
to... to Timna

from the, uh... From Seti I
all the way to Ramses V.

About 150 years
of Egyptian activity
in the mines.

[narrator] For many
archeologists, this evidence
was overwhelming.

The mines of Timna
predated Solomon
by centuries.

But Erez made
a bizarre discovery

that he thinks proves
these mines could still
have been the source

of King Solomon's wealth.

The secret lies
in something that is found
all over the site...

Donkey droppings.

[Ben-Yosef] So, first
we thought maybe

some Bedouins were
here 50 years ago,

but this is dated
by radiocarbon to
the times of King Solomon.

For sure, this is donkey dung
from the time of King Solomon.

You can see the larva
of flies, like yesterday.

You see all these brown

pieces here?
These are all related
to the flies in the stable.

It was here that you
should imagine, like,
dozens of donkeys.

When they came up to here,

they had to park on both
sides of the gatehouse.

[narrator] This
three-millennia old dung
is safe to handle.

And proves that centuries
after the Egyptian pharaohs,

during King Solomon's reign,

these mines were active.

It is historically
extraordinary

that that donkey excrement
has survived to present day.

But the sand and atmospheric
conditions at Timna

are so unique,
that they preserved it.

[narrator] Erez has found
so much ancient dung
dating to the time of Solomon,

that he is sure the mines'
heyday was during
the biblical king's reign.

The archaeological
evidence suggests

that 300 years after
the Egyptians mined the site,

during the time of Solomon,
it was expanded into
an industrial powerhouse.

[Dr. Brunache] So, what's
become obvious through
excavation and analysis,

is that, when the Egyptian
temple was built,

the Timna mines
were functioning
at a very small scale.

But within just
a couple hundred years,

it grew into
this vast operation,
an industrial operation,

during King Solomon's era.

[narrator] But geographically,
the mines fall on the
outskirts of Solomon's empire,

150 miles from his capital,
Jerusalem.

That has many
questioning if they
actually belong to the king.

Yet intriguingly,

Erez believes he's
found something inside
the donkey droppings

that connects them
directly to Solomon.

And within this dung,
we find...

interesting material,
I can try to show you.

Here's a grain of something
that was in their food.

This piece here,
you can see clearly.

This is a grape pip.

It's a grape seed, you see?

It's just, almost like fresh.

So we have
hundreds of grape seeds
within this dung.

And we didn't
understand this at first,
what it was doing here.

[narrator] Although
grape seeds may
seem like a trivial find,

they reveal
something unexpected.

Grapes are not
grown in this area.

The nearest grape growing
region is on the Mediterranean
coast, near Jerusalem,

the heart
of Solomon's kingdom.

Fundamentally, the donkey
excrement is a link,

a link between
the mines of Timna
and King Solomon.

Because, what it shows
is that foodstuffs

were being brought from
the heart of King Solomon's
kingdom, on the Mediterranean,

all the way
into the desert
to the mines of Timna.

[narrator] If Erez
is correct, this donkey
dung is a surprising link

to King Solomon's mines,

and therefore,
his fabled wealth.

But, while skeptics
question if this is enough
to conclusively say

that these mines
belong to the biblical king,

Erez has made another
discovery, which could
prove the connection.

So, in this location,

this is where we found
the purple fabric.

This were three
tiny fragments,

and we took them
from here to the lab.

[narrator] In
the Old Testament era,

purple was the color
of gods and royalty.

Therefore, the discovery
of purple fabric
at the Timna mines

suggests that a great
king once visited.

Could these fragments
have been left at
the site by King Solomon?

[narrator] Professor
Erez Ben-Yosef

suspects the copper
mines in the Timna Valley,

were the source
of King Solomon's wealth.

He's found donkey
droppings on the site

which date to
the time of Solomon.

But he believes another find
could be the crucial link
to the biblical monarch.

Fragments of purple fabric,
which were carbon-dated
to 3,000 years ago,

the time of Solomon.

So, this is the smoking
gun that connects
the mines in Timna

to King Solomon, to Jerusalem.

You can see
the true purple here,
on the screen,

which is beautiful.

[Selwood] These three
small scraps of material,

they matter because
they're dyed purple,

which was the most expensive
dye in the ancient world.

Only used by
the wealthiest people.

The color, it was
the most expensive
dye in antiquity.

It's made out of
sea snails that are
endemic to the Mediterranean.

These sea snails
are hard to harvest.

And the dyeing technology
was very sophisticated.

[narrator] Only produced
in the ancient city of Tyre,

which today is
located in Lebanon,

this purple color

was made from
the dehydrated mucus
glands of murex sea snails,

which can grow up
to nearly four inches long.

It would take tens
of thousands of snails
to produce enough dye

to make a small
strip of purple fabric.

Which is why
it was only accessible
to the very rich.

The Bible says Israel
and Tyre had a close
trading relationship.

So this dye
would've been within
reach of Solomon.

The purple cloth that
was found at Timna

is an extremely
fascinating discovery.

And this is because
it tells us

that somebody
of elite prestige

would have visited Timna.

This matches the description
that we have of King Solomon
as the wealthiest man.

It is highly likely that
Solomon wore purple clothes.

The Bible even
says that he bought
purple dyed material.

It's very much possible that
King Solomon himself wore
a purple garment like that,

exactly like that.

[narrator] Could Solomon
have come to Timna
to inspect the mines

that provided him
with his wealth and power?

These fragments of cloth
are as close as
archaeologists will ever get

to confirming that
the Timna mines
belong to the king.

However, could the
copper mines at Timna

really have been Solomon's
only source of wealth?

While today, many scholars
do believe that
copper from Timna

would've heavily contributed
to the king's treasury,

the Bible claims
that at least a portion
of it came from gold.

The Bible seems to be quite
clear that Solomon's wealth
came from gold.

There is a mention
of this place Ophir.

[McMahon] Ophir
is a mysterious place

that, allegedly, sent
a tribute of gold, silver,

pearls and ivory
to Solomon every three years.

But where it is remains
something of a mystery.

[narrator] Among all
the treasures said
to have come from Ophir,

it is most
famous for its gold.

According to the Bible,

Solomon received a cargo
of the precious metal
from the biblical land

every three years.

While to some, the frequency
of the shipments may seem low,

the volume of gold
received demonstrates
the significance of Ophir

as a source
of wealth for the king.

Solomon comes
back with about
14 tons of gold

from a single trip to Ophir.

If you wanna do the math,
in today's terms,

uh, a kilo of gold,

currently, is somewhere
in the neighborhood of
$56,500.

Multiply that,

and now you're already making
somewhere in the neighborhood
of about $800 million.

[narrator] To have
generated such
quantities of gold,

some scholars believe
Ophir must've held gold mines.

So, the Bible tells
us that Solomon
went to Ophir.

Now, why would Solomon,
himself, go to Ophir

if it was just
another trading center?

I think that Ophir
must have been
a mining land.

So, in my opinion,
Ophir is definitely
a gold mine.

I don't know exactly
the nature of mining
that was conducted there,

that they physically had
to go into the ground
itself or was water involved.

But, without a doubt at all,

Ophir is a name of a place
where gold is being mined.

[narrator] Yet, modern-day
scholars are
at a loss

to identify where
Ophir was located.

One of the biggest mysteries
is the location of Ophir,

which we know was
a real place and clearly
a place of significance.

Yet, we really have
no clue where it was.

[narrator] Is Ophir the key
to King Solomon's wealth?

And if it is, where could
this golden land be?

[narrator] One of the greatest
mysteries of the Bible

is the source of
King Solomon's wealth.

The holy book describes
the king was receiving
gold in huge quantities

from a place called Ophir.

Today, all records
of its location are lost.

Traditionally,
Ophir was key to all
of Solomon's operations

where his treasure
was concerned.

The problem is,
where is it today?

[Dr. Brunache] In
biblical references,

there are many theories
as to where Ophir is located.

Some believe it lies
along the Red Sea.

East Africa, Southern Africa,
even as far as Spain.

In the late 19th century,
one of the theories as to
where Ophir was located

was Great Zimbabwe,
in Zimbabwe.

What's interesting about
this part of Africa is that
all over the area,

there's hundreds
of ancient mines
where they were mining gold.

Great Zimbabwe is an
absolutely fantastic ruin
in Southern Africa,

which provides evidence
for an incredible civilization
that existed once.

And it's flummoxed
people, what
civilization this was.

And it's not surprising
that some people have thought

maybe King Solomon
had forged links
all the way down

to Southern Africa,
to the kingdom of
Great Zimbabwe.

[narrator] First
investigated by Europeans
in the 19th century,

Great Zimbabwe is
a stone city, spanning
nearly three square miles.

Thinking it was too complex
to have been built by
the indigenous people,

white explorers assumed
the site was ancient.

Which led some
to suspect it was Ophir.

Yet, modern
archaeology has proved
this is not the case.

[Newman] So, Great Zimbabwe
does tick many boxes,

regarding it being
the location of Ophir.

However, in recent times,
with carbon dating,

it's only been dated to,
like, a few hundred years old.

So it's well out of the time
range of King Solomon.

[narrator] Even though
Great Zimbabwe has been
proven not to be Ophir,

nor the source
of Solomon's gold,

many other
possibilities still exist.

Like the gold mines
of South Africa,

which inspired Rider Haggard
to write his book
King Solomon's Mines.

Dr. Ellena Lyell spent
nearly a decade researching
the Old Testament,

trying to unlock its secrets.

So, one of the key clues
as to the location of Ophir

is the fact that Solomon,
himself, traveled there.

The Bible says
that he went
there to get gold.

It had to be
easily accessible.

[narrator] In
the time of Solomon,

journeys by sea were
long and arduous.

Therefore, Ellena believes
it's likely that Solomon
traveled over land

by camel caravan.

So the location of Ophir
must have been
closer to Jerusalem.

So I think Ophir
is located along
the Arabian Peninsula,

which is modern-day
Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

And this is because
of Ophir's appearance
in Genesis 10.

[narrator] The tenth chapter
of Genesis contains a list
of the descendants of Noah,

and describes three
brothers with kingdoms
named after them

in the time of Solomon.

Ophir in Genesis 10
is the son of Joktan.

And he has brothers,
Sheba and Havilah.

[narrator] By the time
of Solomon, both
Sheba and Havilah

are also the names of kingdoms
on the Arabian Peninsula.

Most scholars tend to think
that Havilah and Sheba

are located along
the Arabian Peninsula.

I think the land of Ophir

has to be around
Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

[narrator] Ellena
believes these kingdoms
were connected in some way,

with perhaps Ophir
being a region of Sheba.

The Bible tells of Solomon
receiving a wealthy visitor
from one of these lands,

which could suggest
a trade connection.

The Queen of Sheba,
in 1 Kings 10, comes
to test Solomon.

She hears of his
infamous wisdom,

and she wants
to experience it for herself.

So she comes to test him.

She asks him riddles
and really hard questions

and he answers them correctly.

She then gifts him gold.

Now, if we are to assume
that the land of Ophir is
part of the land of Sheba,

it makes sense for their
ruler, the Queen of Sheba,

to go herself
to visit King Solomon.

[narrator] For some,

Ellena's theory that Ophir
was connected to Sheba
on the Arabian Peninsula

supports the idea
of it being Solomon's
gold mine.

[McMahon] If Ophir
was in southwest Arabia,
where we think Sheba was,

there are also mines
down there, gold mines

that apparently had
nuggets the size of walnuts,
according to the ancients.

So this could be,
not just Ophir,

but King Solomon's mines.

[narrator] One of
the most likely countries
on the Arabian Peninsula

to be the location
of Ophir is Yemen,

which today is stricken
by civil war,

making archaeology
almost impossible.

Yet, until someone
finds solid evidence,

Ophir's whereabouts
will remain a mystery.

But where is Solomon's
wealth hidden today?

Is there any trace of it left?

Some believe that
the Copper Scroll
could be a map

to the location
of King Solomon's
fabled wealth.

[narrator] King Solomon
is said to have possessed
wealth unimaginable

by today's standards.

Many believe parts
of it still lie hidden.

But it's whereabouts
remain a mystery.

Some scholars
hope that an
archaeological discovery,

made in the 20th century,

might shed some light on
this biblical treasure hunt.

One of the most
important discoveries
made in recent times

is the Dead Sea Scrolls
in the area of Qumran.

[narrator] The Dead Sea
Scrolls are a set of ancient
religious manuscripts,

dating from around
the time of Christ.

While this is about
a thousand years
after King Solomon's reign,

some believe one
may hold the key
to finding his treasure.

What was found was
called the "Copper Scroll."

Now,
this is really interesting,

'cause it's
completely different
to the other scrolls.

[narrator] Unlike the other
scrolls, which are made
of animal skin or papyrus,

this scroll is made of copper.

And it contains a detailed
list of someone's treasure.

The Copper Scroll
is enormously detailed.

Great lists of all
sorts of treasure.

Weights of gold.

Weights of silver.

[narrator] In the year
since its discovery in 1952,

no one has successfully
identified the owner
of the treasure

described in
the Copper Scroll.

Some believe it might've
belonged to the man

said to be the richest
in the ancient world,

King Solomon.

So, one of the interesting
things I find about
the Copper Scroll

is the fact that it may

indicate where King
Solomon's treasure is,
because no one knows

exactly who wrote
the Copper Scrolls,
when it was written,

and when it was
buried and hidden.

It's entirely understandable
that people sought
to associate the Copper Scroll

and the treasures
of King Solomon.

And that's because
the treasures

that the Copper Scroll
enumerates, are astonishing.

[narrator] It is estimated
that the wealth described
in the Copper Scroll

would today be
worth over $1 billion.

Many believe these
riches were hidden

when the second temple
of Jerusalem was destroyed
in 70 AD.

The Copper Scroll,
it's a list of treasures.

Treasures from
the temple of Jerusalem,

which was about to
be destroyed by the Romans.

And many of those treasures
would've been the treasures

that King Solomon
put in the temple

all those centuries before.

[narrator] Where do
all those riches lie now?

So, nothing's actually been
found using the Copper
Scroll as a treasure map.

Nothing has actually
been discovered.

[Picknett] It never says
anywhere on the Copper Scroll

"We are talking about
Solomon's treasure."

But there's a lot
of "could haves"
in this story.

There's no solid answers.

[narrator] According
to the Bible,

3,000 years ago,
King Solomon walked among us.

Some believe that
the source of his fortune

was in these copper
mines in southern Israel.

Well, now we have
evidence that shows

this might have been
the source of King
Solomon's wealth.

Copper was the
most important
material at that time.

It was used for agriculture
and weapons and the
temple in Jerusalem.

And this might be the reason
why King Solomon became

the richest man
alive at the time.

[narrator] Yet others
believe this is not
the full story,

and Solomon's riches
came from many sources.

So, while many theories

suggest numerous
locations for Ophir,

numerous ideas as to where
Solomon's wealth came from,

the sad truth is
we will never know,

unless some
kind of archaeological
dig happens.

[narrator] Whatever the truth,
the hunt for these
treasures is still on.

Have we found
mines from antiquity?

Absolutely, yes.

Have we found mines
that date back to the
times of Solomon

that are containing
treasures of Solomon?

Unfortunately, no.

[Newman] King Solomon's
mines and the treasure,

none of it's been discovered,

none of it has been found by
anybody, so where could it be?

The jury's out. We really
don't know where it is.

But considering the value
of $2 trillion

does suggest there's
much to be discovered.

[Dr. Bellinger] I don't
think it's at all
unreasonable to say,

"Hey, if King Solomon
had this great treasure,

and if it's out there, that
it still remains to be found."

It's by no means assumed that
we would've found it already.

We don't actually
have a map leading to it.

If the treasure
of King Solomon
really was on the scale

that the Bible suggests,

then we could be looking
at a future discovery

that would be on a scale
of several Tutankhamun tombs,

with huge
amounts of gold,
silver and jewels

that will be yielded
at some point from the earth.