APE

[Heb., qohph, linked with the Sanskrit kapi and the Egyptian gif].

Apes and peacocks were imported by King Solomon. (1 Ki. 10:22; 2 Chron. 9:21) One suggestion is that the apes were a species of longtailed monkey referred to by ancient writers as being native to Ethiopia. The fact that the Hebrew word qohph may derive from the Sanskrit word kapi and that peacocks are considered to be native to SE Asia has given rise to the conclusion that the apes were brought by Solomon’s fleet from India or Ceylon. However, the imported items need not necessarily have come directly from the country of origin nor from the same land, in view of the indications that commercial intercourse existed between India and Africa even before Solomon’s time.—See PEACOCK; TARSHISH No. 1; OPHIR.