(7) Ruins of buildings. “I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance“ (2 Nephi 5:15), and the land “was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind”(Mosiah 8:8). Only the Andean area and Mesoamerica in the Western Hemisphere have such ruins.(8) Fortresses and resorts. “Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort; throwing up banks of earth round about to enclose his armies, and also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land“ Alma 48:8), and “had built forts of security, for every city in all the land round about” (Alma 49:13). A regular fort is a fortress, a stronghold, from which military excursions can move about. A resort is a small fort, a place of lookout, usually strategically located high along passes, above canyons, valleys, etc.
(9) Defensive walls. “defend himself against them, by casting up walls round about and preparing places of resort” (Alma 52:6), and “And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day's journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country” (Helaman 4:7). These walls were large and strong enough to turn the tide, stop the Lamanites and help the Nephites regain half their lost lands (Helaman 4:8-9). The Great Wall of Peru matches this latter wall, built from the sea eastward for many miles to keep southern invaders from attacking northward.(10) Circumcision. Condemning the crowd, the disciple Nephi uses a phrase well known to them “ye uncircumcised of heart” (Helaman 9:21). Circumcision was practiced in the Andean area anciently as shown by numerous mummified burials.
(11) High mountains. “And there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great” (Helaman 14:23). The tallest mountains in the Western Hemisphere are the Andes of South America. These mountain peaks along the Andes are so high and along such a continuous line, that there are 69 peaks over 20,000 feet, and 115 more in the 19,000 foot range, for a total of 185 peaks over 19,000 feet. In fact, the crystalline Andean axis, the "avenue of volcanoes," arises amidst majestic scenery to the great heights of 22,000 feet or more, the tallest at 22,831 feet. On the other hand, Guatemala (Sorenson’s Land Southward) has only three peaks in the 13,000 foot range, with five more at 12,000 feet. An * is placed on the chart for Mesoamerica since the Citlaltepetl peak is 18,000 feet in southern Mexico (Sorenson’s Land Northward), but the next highest is Pico de Orizaba in the Sierra Negra, at 15,223 feet. This subsidiary peak is still higher than anything in the 48 contiguous states. But none can compare to the enormous amount of moiuntains “whose height is great” in the Andes.(12) An island. “For the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea” (2 Nephi 10:20). According to the geologic record, the Andean area of South America was once an island with everything east of the present Andes under water. Mesoamerica was never an island, nor anywhere in the U.S.
(13) Narrow neck. (See previous posts) From the eastern shore of the Bay of Guayaquil in Ecuador/Peru to the Andes is about 26 miles—prior to their rising, the Atlantic sea came within 28 miles of this bay. The area in Mesoamerica is 140 miles wide and not much of a narrowing of the land, providing no actual “neck” of land.
(14) Four seas. At one time the region of the Andes was surrounded by water—the Pacific and Atlantic, the Caribbean passage, and what is now the Drake Passage.
(15) Winds Currents. See numerous earlier posts showing the winds and currents off the southern Arabian Peninsula, through the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and to the Southern Ocean into the Prevailing Westerlies and West Wind Drift across the southern Pacific to South America, dying out at 30º South Latitude leading to the Bay of Coquimbo.
Obviously, the overwhelming evidence of ALL the points in the scriptural record show that we do know where the Land of Promise is located.
No comments:
Post a Comment