In Search of King Solomon's Mines [Paperback]

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.

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 begins his search, checking out mines 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: Yusuf, the hyenaman, who handfeeds wild hyenas each night; a "miracle man," who performs four miracles; and Kefla Mohammed, leader of a salt caravan. Shah also includes wonderfully revealing photographs of these people and the artifacts he finds.

Occasionally, Shah, a member of Afghan royalty, betrays an insensitivity toward the people around him. He does not give his devoted interpreter a "sick day," he does not always share his supplies and equipment, and he offers no assistance at the site of a terrible road accident. 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. Mary Whipple