Where Lehi Landed – Part IV

Sometimes, one has to chuckle at the reasoning of these Mesoamerican and Other Theorists who have their own models they like to promote for the location of the Land of Promise. On one internet site recently, I ran across the rationale that the reason Frederick G. Williams chose the 30º South Latitude is because:

“Based on 1st Nephi descriptions of the family's journey through Arabia from Jerusalem as to lead future speculators to assume they must have traveled South-southeast and thereafter east throughout their journey to the 'Land of Promise'. It was from that overgeneralization that 30 degrees south latitude made sense in the context of Chile.”
Now, let’s take a look at this rationale. Joseph Smith said they traveled along about the 19º NORTH Latitude across the Arabian Peninsula to the sea. The location of Salalah, where most believe Nephi built his ship and from which they set sail, is about 17º NORTH Latitude (which is about 54º EAST Longitude). The landing site Joseph and Williams both mentioned is located 30º SOUTH Latitude (about 72º WEST longitude).

Maybe I’m just stupid, but I do not see how the Lehi Colony moving south-southeast along the Red Sea and then almost east to the sea relates in any way to a spot 49º south of one latitude, and half a world away in longitude, as the author of this website claims. Exactly how did “30º South Latitude make sense in the context of Chile” to these distances and locations with nothing in common to the latitude and longitude locations in Arabia?

Secondly, in reading 1st Nephi and the journey of the Lehi Colony, one need not “assume they must have traveled South-southeast and thereafter east throughout their journey” for that is EXACTLY what the scriptures claim.

Come on now, if someone wants to discredit Williams’ writing, let us use some reason and accurate context in the effort.

The Lehi Colony left Jerusalem and traveled SOUTH to the mouth of the Red Sea (1 Nephi 2:5), then they traveled SOUTH SOUTHEAST (1 Nephi 16:13,14,33) to a location along the banks of the Red Sea, and finally traveled EAST (1 Nephi 17:1) to the area they called Bountiful (1 Nephi 17:6). These are not my locations, words, or directions, but those of Nephi. If one is going to accept the Book of Mormon as factual, one cannot pick and choose which parts they are going to agree with and which parts they are going to discredit. The Book—the entire Book—is either accurate or it is not. It is either inspired scripture, or it is not.

Now recognizing the Lehi Colony was in a location they called Bountiful after traveling “nearly eastward from that time forth” until they reached Bountiful, which was an area along a coast of a sea they called Irreantum (1 Nephi 17:5). It is doubtful this could have been any sea but the Arabian Sea. Now from a place along this coast, you cannot sail east or you would run into the west coast of India (one would have to then turn south for 1500 miles to clear India and Sri Lank before turning east again). One could not sail west, or you would run into the Gulf of Adan and back up the Red Sea. One can only sail south from the Arabian coast along the Arabian Sea. Thus, east is not an option, and for the writer of the website mentioned earlier, the scriptures do not say they traveled “east throughout their journey to the 'Land of Promise'” but only to Bountiful.

The only comment in scripture beyond Bountiful, is that Nephi’s ship was driven forth before the wind. Therefore, to know where the Lehi Colony traveled once in the sea they called Irreantum, is to know where the currents moved and the winds blew.

(Next Post will show where the currents and winds blew off the coast of Arabia - See Where Lehi Traveled and Landed - Part V)