Or the _tukkiyim_ may have been Guinea-fowl--a bird of the same class with the peacock.
In return, Solomon opened to Hiram the route to the East by way of the Red Sea.

Solomon, doubtless by the assistance of shipwrights furnished to him from Tyre, "made a navy of ships at Ezion-Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom,"[14102] and the sailors of the two nations conjointly manned the ships, and performed the voyage to Ophir, whence they brought gold, and "great plenty of almug-trees," and precious stones.[14103] The position of Ophir has been much disputed, but the balance of argument is in favour of the theory which places it in Arabia, on the south-eastern coast, a little outside the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.[14104] It is possible that the fleet did not confine itself to trade with Ophir, but, once launched on the Indian Ocean, proceeded along the Atlantic coast to the Persian Gulf and the peninsula of Hindustan.

Or Ophir may have been an Arab emporium for the Indian trade, and the merchants of Syria may have found there the Indian commodities, and the Indian woods,[14105] which they seem to have brought back with them to their own country.

A most lucrative traffic was certainly established by the united efforts of the two kings; and if the lion's share of the profit fell to Solomon and the Hebrews,[14106] still the Phoenicians and Hiram must have participated to some considerable extent in the gains made, or the arrangement would not have continued.
It is thought that Hiram was engaged in one war of some importance.
Menander tells us, according to the present text of Josephus,[14107] that the "Tityi" revolted from him, and refused any longer to pay him tribute, whereupon he made an expedition against them, and succeeded in compelling them to submit to his authority.

As the "Tityi" are an unknown people, conjecture has been busy in suggesting other names,[14108] and critics are now of the opinion that the original word used by Menander was not "Tityi," but "Itykaei." The "Itykaei" are the people of Utica: and, if this emendation be accepted,[14109] we must regard Hiram as having had to crush a most important and dangerous rebellion.