Lehi’s Direction of Travel leaving Jerusalem

As you leave Jerusalem and travel south, then south-southeast along the Red Sea as Nephi tells us (1 Nep 2:5; 16:13-14, 33), an understanding of the terrain is helpful in better appreciating the scriptural account. Much of the wilderness of Judah is an endless sea of rock. The ancient Hebrew words for this type of lifeless terrain are Jeshimon (desolation) and Tsia (wasteland). South of Jerusalem lay the Judean Hills that fall away to the east in the Wilderness of Judah. This is a lengthy tract of land running from the Jezreel Valley, just south of the Sea of Galilee and west of the Jordan River, all the way along the Dead Sea and in the mountains and across the Ghor Plain to the far south, then on into the wastes of the Sinai Peninsula. This wilderness is to the east of the Jerusalem ridge and receives little rainfall because the prevailing westerly winds from the Mediterranean deposit their rain along the watershed of the west side of the ridge.

There were four possible routes out of Jerusalem to the south in 600 B.C. First, in the Jericho Route, the traveler could go east to Jericho, cross the Jordan River, then follow the King's Highway from Ma'daba down to Ezion-geber (meaning Giant’s backbone). Second, along the Dead Sea Route, the traveler could again go east toward Jericho, turn south along the west shore of the Dead Sea, then continue through the Wadi al'Araba to Ezion-geber. Third, on the En-geddi Route, the traveler could go south to Hebron, cross over to En-geddi along the west coast of the Dead Sea, then turn south down the Wadi al'Araba to Ezion-geber. Fourth, on the Beer-Sheba Route, the traveler could go south to Hebron, southwest to Beer-sheba, continue down the Wadi al'Araba to Ezion-geber. This Wadi currently runs along the Jordan-Israel border.

A Wadi is the bed or valley of a stream in regions that are usually dry except during the rainy season and that often forms an oasis. A shallow usually sharply defined depression in a desert region which is called a gully or wash in America.

In order for the Lehi colony to travel south to the Red Sea, it is almost certain they would have passed through, or close by, the city of Ezion-geber, a seaport at the head of the Red Sea along the northern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. This city, situated a few miles west of the modern site of the city of Aqaba, at precisely the point where the Wadi al'Araba opens into the gulf, was abound with stately date palms, brightly flowering oleander, and dozens of sweet water wells. This coastal city was renowned for the clear blue sea that shimmered in the bright sunlight.

Called Tall al-Khaltfah today, this seaport located in the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba was where Solomon had his fleet of ships built and from which he sailed for his trade with Ophir, as well as having a large-scale copper refinery, the largest ever unearthed anywhere. Archaeological findings show that this port city had been a fortified settlement surrounded by strong walls for the 10th to the 4th centuries B.C., and trade was carried on with Phoenicia, Arabia, Egypt, Sinai, and Greece.

In Lehi’s time, Ezioin-geber was not only a seaport, but a busy shipbuilding port. Just beyond this point, down past the Aqaba Sea to where it empties into the Red Sea, would be the valley of Lemuel where they stopped and camped. From this point, the boys were first sent back for the brass plates, and then later for Ishmael's family.