Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 10:22

"For the king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the navy of Hiram: once every three years came the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks." — 1 Kings 10:22 (ASV)

This is given as the reason for the great abundance of silver in the time of Solomon. The “navy of Tharshish” (not the same as the navy of Ophir mentioned in 1 Kings 9:26) must therefore have imported very large quantities of that metal. Tharshish, or Tartessus, in Spain, had the richest silver mines known in the ancient world and also possessed a good deal of gold.

Apes and ivory were produced by the opposite coast of Africa. While it is uncertain if North Africa produced “peacocks,” it may have produced the birds called “tukkiyim” here, which some translate as “parrots” and others as “guinea-fowl”—the latter being a purely African bird.

The etymology of the Hebrew words translated here as “ivory,” “apes,” and “peacocks” is uncertain. Even if the words are of Indian origin, the Jews may have first learned of these items—and incorporated their names into their language—through nations that traded with India long before the time of Solomon. Once these names were established, they would have been retained, regardless of where the goods were later sourced.