Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part X

Continuing with the list shown in the last nine posts (and below) of the various scriptural record descriptions of the Land of Promise and how any model must meet each and every one of these descriptions listed by Mormon. To make sure there are no chances of making things sound as one wants, which is often the case with other Theorists, we list the full scripture, and others along with it where applicable, for a complete understanding of what Mormon wrote. In addition, we list the existence or lack of existence of the subject in other models (under “elsewhere”), and the existence in the Andean South America area under “Andes.”

A Chart showing 31 major points of the Land of Promise in the scriptural record, all of which match Andean Peru and how so few other areas have any or much in the way of these descriptions. Those marked in yellow were covered in the previous posts
    • Scripture: “And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land” (Ether 10:20)
    Elsewhere: In the Heartland, Great Lakes and Mesoamerica, the narrow neck does not create a sea that divides the land; nor is such found in Malay or Baja. In Central America, Lake Nicarauga could be argued that it divides the land, however, it does not divide it strategically sufficient to meet the descriptions (to keep an enemy from having more than one access northward), nor does it provide a singular path from the Land Northward to the Land Southward.
    Andes: In the boundary area between present day Ecuador and Peru, the Bay of Guayaquil cuts into or divides the western coastal area of land, effectively dividing the Land Northward (Ecuador and Colombia) from the Land Southward (Peru, Bolivia and Chile). This existed from Jaredite times through Nephite times and up until the crucifixion (3 Nephi 8) when the great destruction in the Land of Promise took place.
    At that point in time, the Nazca tectonic plate along the coast of South America shifted eastward, subducting beneath the South American Plate, which uplifted, creating the mountain folds (crustal thickening), changing the density distribution of the crust and underlying mantle, and flexural support due to the bending of rigid lithosphere. What geologists often tell us takes millions of years occurred in just hours (3 Nephi 8:19), as the entire surface of the Land of Promise was changed during the three hours of earthquakes and three days of darkness accompanying the crucifixion. As Samuel the Lamanite foretold, “And behold, there shall be great tempests, and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great” (Helaman 14:23).

Left: A narrow neck with seas on both sides, one side the sea is a bay, cutting far into the land to create a narrow neck on the other side to the Sea East; Right: the bay shown as the sea that actually divides the land, meaning a division of land in the north and one in the south, or dividing the Land Northward from the Land Southward. Today, the Andes Mountains have replaced the Sea East, but the small land bridge and narrow pass still remain
    Indeed, the Andes mountains, whose height is truly great, with 101 peaks ranging through the Land of Promise in excess of 20,000 feet in height, with 16,000 to 19,000 feet of prominence for each. And when these mountains came up, some of the peaks rose at the eastern end of the Bay of Guayaquil, leaving the same narrow neck of land between the Bay and now the steep mountains where once had been the Pebesian Sea that flowed north and south along the uplift area that is now the Andes Mountains, and out into the Atlantic through the North, East and South portal seaways.

Once Again, these are the 31 scriptural references and subjects that describe portions of the Land of Promise. Any model, theory, or Land of Promise claim has to take into account each of these 31 items since they are all mentioned in the scriptural record. This list is not chosen at random, nor hand-picked from the scriptural record, but are the list of descriptions or descriptive information both Nephi and Mormon left for us to understand about their Land of Promise
    In addition, there are others, such as circumcision, which was the Law of Moses that Nephi said the Nephites lived (2 Nephi 5:10), and such areas as the Lord’s people turning deserts into roses, i.e., irrigation to make desolate places livable and to blossom, a very noticeable characteristic of the Jews in Israel (1948 onward), and the Saints in Utah (1847 onward). Both of these characteristics are found in Andean Peru, the first among mummies that have survived time and weather and irrigation levels that sometimes rival the imagination that brought water from the mountain tops down to the high level valleys and dry coasts since B.C. times.
    And there are still others that exist, though may be arguable by some. At the same time, there are those areas some Theorists claim should exist, but the scriptural record actually shows they should not be—such as the Written Language that Mesoamericanists love to claim must exist. So let’s take a look at this so-called requirement:
    The Written Language.
    There is no doubt, of course, that the Nephites had a written language. For daily purposes, it was Hebrew (Mormon 9:33), but for the sacred records, it was Reformed Egyptian (Mormon 9:32).
    One of the first understandings we should have is if any Nephite language survived, it could not have been read without the aid of the Lord. Moroni wrote near the end of the Nephite Nation, “But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof” (Mormon 9:34).
    That means of interpretation, of course, was Joseph Smith, the Urim and Thummim and the seer stone. None of which were involved in the translating, by the way, of the Maya language. In fact, in about 1566, the first bishop of Yucatan, Diego de Landa, compiled a key to the Mayan syllabary consisting of 27 Spanish letters and the Mayan glyphs with similar sounds. This became known as the Landa Alphabet and helped with the decipherment of the script (This is the same bishop, by the way, who destroyed most of the Maya writing codices by burning them).
    The first major breakthrough in decipherment came during the 1950s when a Russian ethnologist, Yuri Valentinovich Knorosov, proposed that the Mayan script was at least partly phonetic and represented the Yucatec Mayan language. His ideas were not welcomed by other Mayanists, but he was eventually proved correct.
    Further progress in the decipherment was made during the 1970s and 1980s when more linguistics began to take an interest in the script. Today most Mayan texts can be read, though there are still some unknown glyphs. For a complete understanding of this, see Michael D. Coe Breaking the Maya Code, or Coe and Mark Van Stone, Reading the Maya Glyphs, or Maria Longhena, Mayan Script: A Civilization and its Writing.
    It should also be understood that whatever writing the Nephites used, was an altered Hebrew or altered Reformed Egyptian. As Moroni stated: “And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.
And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record. But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof” (Mormon 9:32-34).
    However, the most important understanding is that had the Nephite nation continued, at least in some fashion, then the idea of written language would make sense, but since all Nephites were wiped out, there seems to be no correlation from what they did as a people, and what would be found in the Land of Promise over a thousand years later.
    To make sure we understand that Nephite writing ceased with their demise, Mormon informs us that he was told by the Lord that if the Lamanites found any of the Nephite writings, they would destroy them and that he should bury the plates that he had in his possession. As he put it: “having been commanded of the Lord that I should not suffer the records which had been handed down by our fathers, which were sacred, to fall into the hands of the Lamanites, (for the Lamanites would destroy them) therefore I made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni” (Mormon 6:6; Moroni 9:24; 10:2). Moroni also understood this, and buried those plates his father left him (Mormon 8:4).
    We have shown in previous posts the comparison between the Maya codice hieroglyphs and both Hebrew and reformed Egyptian. There is no comparison in any way. Thus, whatever idea the Mesoamericanists might want to portray with the written language of the Mayan, it does not equate to the Nephites or Land of Promise in any way.
    And thus we end the 31 issues involved in scriptural references of the descriptions of the Land of Promise. While others may disagree with our South American location, they cannot disagree with the scriptural references, and each must exist for any model to be considered accurate!

Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part IX

Continuing with the list shown in the last eight posts (and below) of the various scriptural record descriptions of the Land of Promise and how any model must meet each and every one of these descriptions listed by Mormon. To make sure there are no partial comments used here, as often found in such lists of other Theorists, we list the full scripture, the existence or lack of existence in other models (under “elsewhere”), and the existence in the Andean South America area under "andes."

A Chart showing 31 major points of the Land of Promise in the scriptural record, all of which match Andean Peru and how so few other areas have any or much in the way of these descriptions. Those marked in yellow were covered in the previous posts
    • Scripture:  “And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents around about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites” (Mormon 6:4). This land is also found in Limhi’s rescue party “having traveled in a land among many waters, having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind, having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel” (Molsiah 8:8).
    Thus, somewhere in the far north, in the Land Northward, where the Jaredites lived, battled and died, is a land of:
    1. Many waters
    2. Rivers
    3. Fountains
    We also need to keep in mind that while Limhi’s expedition that discovered the bones, buildings, armor, and plates, did not use the word “fountains,” obviously because they were not familiar with this area, Mormon, who was familiar with it, does use the term "fountains." That is, he knew that the origination of the water was in this area—something he would have known obviously being very familiar with the area and choosing it as a battleground for his beleaguered army as a last resort.
    It is also important that we distinguish between the three nouns Mormon uses. First of all, many waters would generally be interpreted as lakes, ponds, and pools; second, rivers would also include streams, rivulet, and brooks; and fountains would be natural springs, sources of water, rivers, wells, i.e., where a pool, lake or river begins by water seeping, or being pumped up, from beneath the ground. In Webster’s 1828 dictionary, he defines it as “the spring or fountain from which a stream of water proceeds, or any collection of water within the earth or upon its surface, in which a stream originates.” These springs have their sources in subterranean ponds, lakes, or collections of water.
    Consequently, to find an area that can be described as a “land of many waters, rivers and fountains,” we must have an area where numerous bodies of water exist whose sources are within these waters that form the lakes, rivers, streams, etc. It cannot be a collection of water, no matter how large, originating from other sources. We also should find an area high up in the mountains or at a great elevation where water sources would be expected to be found.
    Elsewhere: While the Great Lakes area is a land of many waters, it is not a land of source water. That is, according to the Office of the Great Lakes, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Great Lakes themselves are maintained from the upstream inflow, groundwater, and surface water runoff, which drain the adjacent land. In addition, heavy rain in Lake Superior causes a rise in all five great lakes, suggesting a continual runoff from other sources into the lakes in general. In 2013, because of low rainfall in the north drainage basin above the lakes, the runoff flow lowered the five great lakes, especially Michigan and Huron, to record lows, threatening shippers, carriers and industry, putting the $34-billion Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway shipping industry in peril.
    As for the Heartland, there are no fountains involved in the entire area of their Land of Promise, since their rivers all have their sources far to the north or west. As for Baja, much of the entire peninsula depends on wells for water. While the northwest is better watered with the Tijuana River and the Colorado River floodplain, the Colorado drains into the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). It might also want to be understood that the southern half of Baja is Mexico’s driest state, and is running out of water at the present time. In addition, water sources are also running out along the northern half of Baja. This is a very dry area with no place at all that could be truthfully designated as a land of many waters.
    The east coast of the Malay peninsula is water-rich, and the peninsular land is drained by a dense network of rivers and streams, the longest being the Pahang River. Two areas in Malay might qualify for a land of many waters, however, they are both south of the Kra Isthmus in the model’s Land Southward, i.e., Khao Sok Ratchaprapha, in the Ban Ta Khun (amphoe) District, located in the Surat Thani province; and another further south covering some six districts along the coast, called Songkhla Lake.
    However, these latter waters are not really lakes, but actually a lagoon complex with a 380-mile-wide strait to the Gulf of Thailand and, being salt water, not really “many waters” at all, and opens into the Thale Luang to the north, a mangrove swamp north of that and a small Thale Noi wetlands reserve beyond. One might even consider two areas far to the north of there, i.e., Vajiralongkorn and Sinakharin, but both lie beyond the Land Northward within the Asia mainland (mainland Thailand), northwest of Bangkok. The point is, there is no area of “many waters, rivers and fountains” located in the Land Northward of the Malay model.
    Andes: On old maps of Ecuador, there is an area labeled “Land of Many Waters,” in which there are numerous lakes, rivers, and their sources in an area to the southwest of Quito, Ecuador, which we have outlined and shown map diagrams in the past in these posts.
    • Scripture: “And they also had horses, and asses, and there were elephants and cureloms and cumoms; all of which were useful unto man, and more especially the elephants and cureloms and cumoms” (Ether 9:19).
    We need to keep in mind that these two animals were 1) unknown to Joseph Smith, a farmer, in the New England area in the early 1800s; and 2) they were on a par in worth with the elephant and of more importance and use than the horse and ass (donkey).
    Elsewhere: So far in the world’s Species List, there are no other animals that match Ether’s description in the entire Western Hemisphere other than the two now known in Andean South America. Certainly Sorenson’s claim of the sloth and tapir do not match the descriptions by any means.
    Andes: Much has been written about the two animals of great value to the indigenous people of the Andes in these posts over the years. The Llama (pronounced LAWH-muh) and Alpaca (pronounced El-PACK-uh), have been shown to be two animals that not only match Ether’s descriptions, but were unknown in the United States prior to the 20^th century, and are the only two such animals in all the Western Hemisphere. In addition, much has been written here over the past three years about these two animals, and their wild predecessors, the guanaco (pronounced Gwa-NAH-co) and the vicuña (pronounced Vye-COON-ya).
(See the next post, “Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part X,” for more comparisons based on the original chart shown at the top of this post and the scriptural references cited)

Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part VIII

Continuing with the list shown in the last seven posts (and below) of the various scriptural record descriptions of the Land of Promise and how any model must meet each and every one of these descriptions listed by Mormon. To make sure there are no misunderwstasndings, as is often found in such lists of other Theorists whoi choose only those scriptural references that they feel supports their model, we list all of Mormon's descriptions, and the full scripture, along with the existence or lack of existence in other models (under “elsewhere”), and the existence in the Andean South America area under "Andes."

A Chart showing 31 major points of the Land of Promise in the scriptural record, all of which match Andean Peru and how so few other areas have any or much in the way of these descriptions. Those marked in yellow were covered in the previous post
    • Scripture: “And there were many highways cast up, and many roads made, which led from city to city, and from land to land, and from place to place” (3 Nephi 6:8). Many of these highways were later destroyed, “And the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough” (3 Nephi 8:13).
    Obviously, these roads and highways were more than simple dirt trails, for “casting up” and “broken up” certainly denotes something more permanent, such as stone or some type of cement.
    Elsewhere: Only three places in the entire Western Hemisphere show signs of such roads, and that is in Peru, to a lesser extent in Mesoamerica and a few in Central America. There are no such road systems in the Eastern United States, Heartland, Great Lakes, etc., nor in Baja, and not in Malay, where ancient rivers were their highways.
    Andes: Throughout the Andes, from Ecuador to Chile, runs a 25,000 miles roadway that provided access to over 1.2 million square miles of territory. This road, which could reach 66 feet in width, ran between 1600 and 2600 feet above sea level, and on steep slopes they built stone steps resembling giant flights of stairs, and in desert areas near the coast they built low walls to keep the sand from drifting over the road.
    While it is called the Inca Road today, it was only used by the Inca to solidify their empire. While the Inca are given credit for building it by unknowing people, the road system was in existence more than a thousand years before the Inca came to power in the 1400s, some dating back to the Wari people (500 B.C.) and even long before—according to Professor Urton of Harvard University, as early as 1000 B.C.
   The system had various means to bridge water courses, with multiple types of bridges used throughout. Some bridges were made of simple logs, while others were built of stone or floating reeds were used in marshy highlands, and deep canyons and rivers were crossed by suspended rope bridges, and narrower mountains roads had walls to keep one from falling into the canyons. After the conquest, the Spaniards dug up many parts of the roads and allowed others to deteriorate and fall into ruin under iron-clad horses’ hooves. Today, only about twenty-five percent of the original road system is still visible.
    The roads were a miraculous feat of engineering, and the longest road, named the Qhapaq Ñan (Great Road), or Main Andean Road locally, was called the Royal Road by the Inca, and renamed the Camino Real by the Spanish conquerors, traversed virtually the entire length north to south of the South American Continent. It was comparable, experts say, to the Roman road system, but even more remarkable for the rugged terrain it traversed for more than 3,000 years.
    • Scripture: “And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land. And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder. And there were exceedingly sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land” (3 Nephi 8:5-7), and “And there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward. But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest and the whirlwinds and the thunderings and the lightnings, and the exceedingly great quaking of the whole earth“ (3 Nephi 8:11-12).
    As stated in the previous post, when Samuel the Lamanite prophesied of these events (Helaman 14:23), and Nephi saw them in a vision (1 Nephi 12:4), they were a portent, an omen, a sign to the people of the crucifixion and completion of the Savior’s mission. Obviously, these events were a foretoken for all the people to know and understand—they were not some insignificant event as John L. Sorenson claims, but an earth-altering, mind-numbing phenomenon that saw mountains tumbling into pieces and falling to become valleys, and elsewhere valleys rising into mountains of great heights, cities sinking into the earth or beneath the seas, others covered by the earth or shaken to the ground, as seen both by Nephi and by Samuel the Lamanite in visions. They both saw and heard tumultuous noises—loud, deafening, thunderous, and clamorous noises in the earth, as quakes “shook till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places left desolate” (3 Nephi 8:14). Solid foundational rocks “which are upon the face of this earth, which are both above the earth and beneath, which ye know at this time are solid, or the more part of it is one solid mass, shall be broken up; Yea, they shall be rent in twain, and shall ever after be found in seams and in cracks, and in broken fragments upon the face of the whole earth, yea, both above the earth and beneath” (Helaman 14:21-22), and those rocks on the surface were “broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the land” (3 Nephi 8:18).
    Elsewhere: According to the U.S.G.S., “Earthquake Hazards Program,” east of the Rocky Mountains it is rare for earthquakes to break the ground surface. In the Heartland, the area of Memphis, Tennessee, is considered vulnerable to a severe earthquake, but the Great Lakes barely has a possibility.

USGA Map of earthquake hazard areas in the lower 48. The area of Memphis Tennessee east of the Rocky Mountains, is the only area in the highest hazard category. The blue area of Great Lakes is nearly the least (only white is less)
    Chile and Peru, Central and Meso-America, Baja and Malay all fall in the Ring of Fire, which is a 25,000 mile stretch of geologically active land extending in a horseshoe shape around the Pacific Rim, which is an area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. Malay itself does not have much in this area of earthquakes and volcanoes, but is so close to Sumatra, which does, that it is included.
    Of the last 1500 earthquakes recorded in the Central United States, only 6 reached 4.0 or higher, with 4.3 the highest, of which four of these were in Oklahoma, one in Texas, and one in Michigan; more than 1200 were under 3.0, with 113 in the state of Missouri, all under 2.0 magnitude. 122 were recorded in Tennessee, all under 3.1. Seven earthquakes recorded in Ohio, all under 2.2. Only two in New York, 2.4 and 2.1 magnitude.
    The highest magnitude earthquake in Guatemala was recorded at 7.9 and the next at 7.6 over the past 300 years, with nine quakes over 7.0.
    Andes: The Peru-Chile trench, also known as the Atacama Trench, is one of the biggest trenches at a plate boundary, reaches a depth of 26,460 feet below sea level, is 3,666 miles long, and covers an expanse of 228,000 square miles. In the past 450 years, there have been 11 earthquakes of 8.0 magnitude or higher, with six of those at 8.7 or higher, and two at 9.0, with one of those at 9.5 magnitude, the largest earthquake ever recorded on the earth.
(See the next post, “Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part IX,” for more comparisons based on the original chart shown at the top of this post and the scriptural references cited)

Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part VII

Continuing with the list shown in the last six posts (and below) of the various scriptural record descriptions of the Land of Promise and how any model must meet each and every one of these descriptions listed by Mormon. To make sure there are no careless approaches to the scriptural record used here, as sometimes found in such lists of other Theorists, we list the full scripture, the existence or lack of existence in other models (under “elsewhere”), and the existence in the Andean South America area. Keep in mind that, unlike other lists from other Theorists, who take a few items that favor their particular model as their list, the following list of 31 items is taken directly from the scriptural record and nothing is left out from the record that is a direct description of the land and what was found on it as described by Nephi and Mormon. 

A Chart showing 31 major points of the Land of Promise in the scriptural record, all of which match Andean Peru and how so few other areas have any or much in the way of these descriptions. Those marked in yellow were covered in the previous posts
    • Scripture: “And behold, there shall be great tempests, and there shall be many mountains laid low, like unto a valley, and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great” (Helaman 14:23). Nephi verified this destruction at the time of Christ’s death (1 Nephi 12:4), suggesting its importance and very noticeable results with “mountains tumbling into pieces.”  So Nephi tells us at the time of the crucifixion, existing mountains tumbled into pieces and disappeared, and Samuel the Lamanite tells us other mountains rose, whose height was great.

Elsewhere: As seen from the map (left), there are no mountains of any height in the central and eastern U.S. For the Heartland: Missouri’s highest summit is Taum Sauk Mouintain at 1772-feet; Illinois highest summit is Charles Mound 1235-feet; Ohio’s highest summit is Campbell Hill at 1550-feet; Iowa Hawkeye Point at 1670-feet, and Indiana Hoosier Hill at 1257-feet. For the Great Lakes: highest summit in Pennsylvania is Mount Davis at 3213-feet way to the south; Bald Eagle Mountain is closer to their Land of Promise at 2008-feet; Highest summit in New York is Mount Marcy, far to the northeast, far beyond their Sea East; or Slide Mountain at 4180-feet, in the Catskills, far to the east of their Land of Promise, with the Adirondack Mountains the closest to Lake Erie at nearly 300 miles distance and far to the northeast of their Land of Promise.
    The highest peaks in Mexico are located near Cordoba, which is north of Veracruz and inland from Zalapa, which would be in the Land Northward, north of Sorenson’s Land of Cumorah (actually west on his map) and beyond most of the Mesoamerica land area. There is Pico de Orizaba at 18,491-feet and further north is Popocatépetl, close to Mexico City, at 17,802-feet—both are individual peaks; there are 15 peaks over 10,000 feet total, only four over 15,000 feet. The tallest mountain in Guatemala is Montana Siete Cruces, Solola, at 10,449-feet. Actually, there are five other mountains that are above 10,000 feet, and 14 others in the 9,000 foot range.

Top: Sierra Madre Range Guatemala; Center: Cerro Cotzic, San Marcos, 2^nd highest mountain in Mexico; Bottom: The highest mountain summit in Baja California is 10,157-feet and hardly distinguishable along the backbone range of Baja. Note, while the elevation of a range may be high, there are no peaks that stand out (called prominence) to suggest a feeling of mountains “whose height is great”
    Andes: In order to determine mountains “whose height is great,” we should consider two factors: 1) height of the mountain peak, and 2) the peak’s prominence, i.e., what is the difference in height between the peak and the surrounding mountain tops, hills, or land (Prominence is the elevation difference between a summit and the highest point (saddle) that separates that summit from any higher summit). That is, a peak of 18,000 feet is indeed high, but a prominence of 500 feet or less may not allow the peak to be distinguished among the mountain range since it would only be 500 feet higher than its surrounding range, which would hardly qualify for a mountain "whose height is great"; on the other hand, a shorter mountain peak of 15,000 feet with a prominence of 7,000 feet would appear very high.

Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile have 115 peaks with a prominence of more than 16,200 feet, and 55 peaks with a prominence of more than 19,600 feet. These individually towering peaks would be very noticeable from a very long distance and obviously appear as mountains “whose height is great.”
    Compare that with Mesoamerica which has 16 peaks with a prominence of over 19,600-feet, and 27 peaks with a prominence of over 16,200. However:
    * Only five of those in Mesoamerica would be in the Land Bountiful and Zarahemla, 3 in the Land of Nephi, and the other 19 in the Land Northward
    * In the entire Eastern U.S., only two mountain peaks are listed in the top 50 U.S. peaks, one is Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, with an elevation of 6,288-feet, and a prominence 6,138-feet, and the other is in North Carolina, Mt. Mitchell with an elevation of 6,699-feet, and a prominence of 6089-feet
and neither of these are located in any Land of Promise model.

The Andes Mountains have 72 peaks over 20,000-feet in height, including Aconcagua at 22,835 (with a prominence of 22,831 feet), the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, and many of these peaks stand out as being very high because they are not hidden within the mountain range (there are 102 peaks over 19,700 feet in height—all have a prominence of at least 1300 feet or more)
    While rivers may change their flow from earthquakes, upheavels, etc., and waterways disappear from land formation of plate movement, mountains, once formed, retain their height and location unless the Lord intervenes as he did in 3 Nephi, toppling mountains that became valleys, and creating mountains, Samuel the Lamanite said, “whose height is great.”

Even within the various Andes ranges, individual peaks stand out, suggesting mountains “whose height is great”
    This, by the way, is the one issue that no Theorist can eliminate with a lengthy dissertation or clever manipulation of facts and words. Samuel’s comment was a sign to the Nephites (Helaman 14:23) of the future death (crucifixion) of the Savior that would “bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the first death—that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual” (Helaman 14:16). Samuel went on to preach the importance of the death and the signs that would be given in the Land of Promise, as to its occurrence in Jerusalem, one of which was “and there shall be many places which are now called valleys which shall become mountains, whose height is great.”
    For this sign to be of any value, it had to be broadly seen and understood, like the three days of darkness (Helaman 14:20), highways broken up and cities destroyed (Helaman 14:24). In fact, Samuel did not just prophesy of this in Zarahemla and to the Nephites, but after he had finished delivering his message, “he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people” (Helaman 14:7)--in the Land of Nephi.
    Thus, for this sign to be of value, it had to have happened at least in the Land of Zarahemla and in the Land of Nephi where Samuel prophesied of it, and since the destruction also occurred in the Land Northward (3 Nephi 8:12), we might also suggest that the darkness, destruction, and the mountains rising also occurred throughout the entire Land of Promise so that all could know and understand that the signs had been given of the Savior’s crucifixion and the fulfillment of his mission to bring about the atonement and the salvation of all mankind.
    Obviously, then, there can be no doubt that these mountains rose, “whose height is great” throughout the Land of Promise, where all the Nephites and Lamanites could see and bear witness of the truth of Samuel’s prophesies and of the end of the Savior’s earthly mission.
(See the next post, “Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part VIII,” for more comparisons based on the original chart shown at the top of this post and the scriptural references cited)

Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part VI

Continuing with the list shown in the last five posts (and below) of the various scriptural record descriptions of the Land of Promise and how any model must meet each and every one of these descriptions listed by Mormon. To make sure there are no foot-loose approaches to the scriptural record used here, as sometimes found in such lists of other Theorists, we list the full scripture, the existence or lack of existence in other models (under “elsewhere”), and the existence in the Andean South America area. Keep in mind that, unlike other lists from other Theorists, who take a few items that favor their particular model as their list, the following list of 31 items is taken directly from the scriptural record and nothing is left out from the record that is a direct description of the land and what was found on it as described by Nephi and Mormon.

A Chart showing 31 major points of the Land of Promise in the scriptural record, all of which match Andean Peru and how so few other areas have any or much in the way of these descriptions. Those marked in yellow were covered in the previous posts
    • Scripture: “And it came to pass that they did multiply and spread, and did go forth from the land southward to the land northward, and did spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth, from the sea south to the sea north, from the sea west to the sea east” (Helaman 3:8), see also 2 Nephi 10:20-21: “And now, my beloved brethren, seeing that our merciful God has given us so great knowledge concerning these things, let us remember him, and lay aside our sins, and not hang down our heads, for we are not cast off; nevertheless, we have been driven out of the land of our inheritance; but we have been led to a better land, for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea. But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren” (emphasis mine).
    Two factors are involved here. As Jacob says they were on an isle of the sea, that is, an island in the middle of the sea, and Helaman says they had seas in all four directions. This sounds like the Nephite Land of Promise, at least during Nephite times prior to the destruction covered in 3 Nephi, was an island. And not just an island, but an island in the midst of the sea over which they had sailed from Bountiful. Note there is no mention anywhere of sailing up any river, or into any lake, or inland from the ocean--but "for the Lord has made the sea our path, and we are upon an isle of the sea." Since this is the first description given of the overall Land of Promise, one might want to start their search of the promised land with this fact in mind. The Nephites were on an island, and that island was in the midst of the sea over which they had sailed from Bountiful.
    Elsewhere: None of the other areas are islands. Baja and Malay are Peninsulas; Mesoamerica is an Isthmus; Heartland is a very large land area within another, larger land area; Great Lakes is a land area scattered among ancient lakes and rivers. But none can be conceived of as islands.
    Andes: The Andean area of South America was at one time before the uplift, according to geologists, an island, and even now, the western lands (west of the Andes) is separate from and different from the eastern South America areas of Brazil and Argentina in their early development. Geologists claim three seas separated the lands east of the Andes from the west: the Pebesian and Paranense seas, along with the north, east and south portal seaways, which isolated Chile, Peru, western Bolivia, Ecuador and southern Colombia from the rest of the continent, which was mostly underwater except for the Brazilian and Guayanan shields at the time of Nephi.
    • Scripture: It appears that for most of the Jaredite history, they had metal and were involved in metallurgy. Ether tells us: “And they did work in all manner of ore, and they did make gold, and silver, and iron, and brass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth; wherefore they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did work all manner of fine work” (Ether 10:23). Somewhere between 588 and 570 B.C. Nephi wrote: “And 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). About 160 years later, Jarom added, “And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war” (Jarom 1:8), and finally, about 370 years later in 29 B.C., Helaman wrote: “And it came to pass that they became exceedingly rich, both the Lamanites and the Nephites; and they did have an exceeding plenty of gold, and of silver, and of all manner of precious metals, both in the land south and in the land north” (Helaman 6:9).
    The point is, metallurgy was an obvious profession among the Jaredites and Nephites, covering nearly a 2500 year period, and evidence of such should be found today of such activity in the Land of Promise.
    Elsewhere: As for the Heartland and Great Lakes, Rapp, Gibbon and Ames (Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: an Encyclopedia, 1998), “Archaeological evidence has not revealed metal smelting or alloying of metals by pre-Columbian indigenous peoples north of the Rio Grande.” There were copper tools among the Woodlands and Great Lakes peoples, but these were made from cold-hammering surface copper left from the ice age glacial retreat, and not from smelting; however, gold, silver, and iron were not found to have been in use according to S.R. Martin (Story of Ancient Copper Working in Lake Superior Basin, 1999), though according to M. A. Levine (Journal of Archaeological Science, 2007) metal ore was present. In Mesoamerica, metallurgy has not been found to have been in use until 900 A.D., though some feel it was as early as 600 B.C. (at least 200 years after the demise of the Nephites and some 1200 years after the end of the Jaredites). A rare find on the island of Espiritu Santo off the coast of Baja California showed iron knives, iron nails and a copper ring dated to between 1180 and 1260 A.D., but nothing has ever been found earlier, and nothing on Baja itself.
    Andes:  Karen Olsen Bruhns in Ancient South America, Cambridge World Archaeology, Cambridge University Press (1994), writes: “The exploitation of metals as primary materials for objects has often been considered to be on e of the hallmarks of civilization. In South America the origins of complex metallurgy (that is, the use of metals as something more than a special, more malleable kind of rock) can be traced to the central Andean republics of Peru and Bolivia. The later metallurgical traditions of Ecuador and Colombia are almost certainly derived from the Peruvian one; Central America and southern Mexican metallurgy is clearly borrowed from Colombia” (Chapter 11 “Metallurgy,”p 174). She goes on to say that “abundant ozide and sulfide copper ores, deposits of cassiterite (tin oxide), silver ores, and gold.”
    Here, the first “worker’s tool kit was excavated” dating to 1800 B.C., and “technological innovations included welding and soldering, the fabrication of three-dimensional objects by joining preshaped metal sheets, and the making of gold alloys,” around 1000 B.C. to 600 B.C.
    Also, according to Aldenderfer, Craig, et al, in their “Four-thousand-year-old-gold artifacts from the Lake Titicaca basin, southern Peru” (2008), metallurgy developed in South American in the Andean region of modern Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina with gold dating to 2155–1936 B.C. and copper to 1432–1132 B.C. Scattolin, Bugliani, et al report that this metallurgy “was spread throughout Andean societies by the Early horizon period 1000-200 B.C.” In fact, two areas developed alongside each other–one in northern Peru and Ecuador, and another in the Altiplano region of southern Peru, Bolivia and Chile. According to R. W. Keatinge (Peruvian Prehistory, 1988), various slag heaps of ore and smelting areas. Extensive use of "portable" smelting kilns in the vicinity of Puma Punku, Bolivia, and at three additional sites in Peru and Bolivia to manufacture, in situ, "I" beams as connectors to large stone blocks during the construction process represent a seemingly anomalous function for metal smelting. The reported chemical analysis of these metal pours is 95.15% copper 2.05% arsenic, 1.70% nickel, .84% silicon and .26% iron.
    Thus we find that only in Andean South America, in all of the Western Hemisphere, was metal being worked as much as two thousand years before the time of Christ.
(See the next post, “Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part VII,” for more comparisons based on the original chart shown at the top of this post and the scriptural references cited)

Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part V

This is our 1500th post since first beginning this blog on January 1, 2011. Thank you for your valued support and interest

Continuing with the list shown in the last four posts (and below) of the various scriptural record descriptions of the Land of Promise and how any model must meet each and every one of these descriptions listed by Mormon. To make sure there are no partial scriptures or references are used here, as often found in such lists by other Theorists, we list the full scripture, the existence or lack of existence in other models (under “elsewhere”), and the existence in the Andean South America area. 

A Chart showing 31 major points of the Land of Promise in the scriptural record, all of which match Andean Peru and how so few other areas have any or much in the way of these descriptions. Those marked in yellow were covered in the previous posts
    • Scripture: “And it came to pass that they did not head them until they had come to the borders of the land Desolation; and there they did head them, by the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, yea, by the sea, on the west and on the east” (Alma 50:34); and “he also sent orders unto him that he should fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward, lest the Lamanites should obtain that point and should have power to harass them on every side” (Alma 52:9); and “the Lamanites did give unto us the land northward, yea, even to the narrow passage which led into the land southward. And we did give unto the Lamanites all the land southward” (Mormon 2:29); and also “And it came to pass that I did cause my people that they should gather themselves together at the land Desolation, to a city which was in the borders, by the narrow pass which led into the land southward” (Alma 3:5).
    To clarify:
    • Narrow pass is by border of land of Desolation
    • Pass led into the Land Northward
    • Pass led into the Land Southward
    • Pass between Bountiful and Desolation
    • Sea on the east and sea on the west of the pass
    • Jaredites built a city by the narrow pass
    • Pass was narrow enough to be defended militarily
    • If an enemy obtained entrance into the narrow Pass, they would have the advantage of obtaining a foothold in the Land Northward and with such, the Nephites in the Land Southward.
    Thus, two things are obvious. The Pass was the only way through the narrow neck, both being the only land between the Land Southward and the Land Northward. To alter or change this makes the importance of the narrow neck and the pass meaningless from a military standpoint, to which Mormon refers.
    Elsewhere: While other Theorists try to create their own narrow necks and passes, each misses the point of the military importance—which means the pass had to be the only way through the narrow neck and the narrow neck the only land mass between the Land Southward and the Land Northward, otherwise, blocking the pass or cutting off access to the pass would not have kept an enemy from getting into the Land Northward through other means. Mormon, in his descriptions makes this quite clear. This completely eliminates Mesoamerica (125-144 miles wide), the Heartland (the Great Plains and areas denoted are mostly flat and lack any strategic pass or neck), the Great Lakes, which leaves several approaches through and around the area; and the same is true with Central America and Malay. Baja California is 50 miles across at their narrow neck, and a mountainous area inland with two separate coasts with egress, plus the various canyons and valleys. There is simply no single area to defend.
    The problem with all these other areas is that you can point out a narrow pass, or a narrow area, but it is not singular. In the many miles of width involved in each, there are numerous other ways to get beyond or through their so-called narrow necks. (In past posts, we have shown maps of each of these narrow necks and passes and how easy it would be to circumvent any one area)
    Andes: As pointed out in the last post, the second image map, Andean South America has both a narrow neck (east of the Bay of Guayaquil, between the bay and the steep Andes mountains now, and the Sea East (Pebesian Sea) of antiquity.Through this narrow neck is a pass, called the Pass of Huayna Capac by the Inca, was identified by the Spanish conquistadores, written about in 1552 by the scholar soldier Pedro de Cieza de Leon and still identifiable as late as the 17th century.
    • Scripture: “And it came to pass that Hagoth, he being an exceedingly curious man, therefore he went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship, on the borders of the land Bountiful, by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward. And behold, there were many of the Nephites who did enter therein and did sail forth with much provisions, and also many women and children; and they took their course northward” (Alma 63:5-6), and “And in the thirty and eighth year, this man built other ships. And the first ship did also return, and many more people did enter into it; and they also took much provisions, and set out again to the land northward” (Alma 63:7).
    This first ship took its course to “a land which was northward,” suggesting a land different from the land northward, and the second ship went to the same (again) land northward. Since they were never heard from more, two possibilities exist: 1) they went to a land not connected to the Land of Promise and, thus, were not in the land of then Nephites any longer, or 2) the ship sank and were lost to history.
    However, since the first ship returned, it is understood that at least the first shipload reached its destination and, if they, too, were never heard from more, then it must be assumed that both ships and possibly others went to lands disconnected from the Land of Promise. This is seen especially in the final entry on this issue “And it came to pass that one other ship also did sail forth; and whither she did go we know not” (Alma 63:8). Thus, we should find a land to the north of the Land of Promise that shows Nephite-type culture and building.
    Elsewhere: There are several points here. It is impossible to sail a ship from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mesoamerica and have it take its course northward--at least not for over 1000 miles; All the rivers in the Heartland that could be used to sail northward and southward flowing waterways and almost impossible to sail into both the winds and currents; the Great Lakes northward sail from their west sea would be a very short trip and certainly not worthwhile to go by ship in such a short journey—nor could a ship sail down the Niagara River, not northward into the lakes against winds, etc. In addition, there are no great cities either in the Heartland or Great Lakes to the north of their Land of Promise, and nothing north of there to show Nephite development of groups that went north.

Top: A ship would have to travel 1000 miles before it could turn northward; Bottom: The journey into the West Sea would be useless in transporting emigrants only a few miles by ship

All Heartland rivers flow southward, most with very strong currents, and the rivers were filled with shoals and rapids before being cleared by the Corps of Engineers in the 17th and 18th centuries, making an “exceedingly large ship” impossible to sail up current against the winds

Left: If Hagoth’s ships went to a land which was northward and disconnected from the Land of Promise, it fits South America since the Panama Isthmus was underwater according to geologists, and ships leaving the Bay of Guayaquil could immediately turn northward once into the sea and land anywhere along both coasts of Central and Meso-America, where magnificent ruins match those of Andean South America
    Andes: As shown in the drawings above, Hagoth’s ships launched from the South American Land of Promise narrow neck would immediately take their course northward as Mormon describes and land along a wide front of northern Central America and Mesoamerica, where ancient civilizations built magnificient cities, palaces and temples that rival those of Andean South America.
(See the next post, “Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part VI,” for more comparisons based on the original chart shown at the top of this post and the scriptural references cited)

Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part IV

Continuing with the list shown in the last three posts (and below) of the various scriptural record descriptions of the Land of Promise and how any model must meet each and every one of these descriptions listed by Mormon. To make sure there are no misrepresentations used here, as often found in such lists of other Theorists, we list the full scripture, the existence or lack of existence in other models (under “elsewhere”), and the existence in the Andean South America area. 

A Chart showing 31 major points of the Land of Promise in the scriptural record, all of which match Andean Peru and how so few other areas have any or much in the way of these descriptions. Those marked in yellow were covered in the previous post
    • Scripture: “And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward” (Alma 22:32).
    First of all, this narrow neck of land served three purposes: 1) it was the only connection between the Land Southward and the Land Northward [Alma 22:32]; 2) it was narrow enough to serve as a defensive “choke point” for the Nephite military and keep dissidents like Morianton, or enemy like the Lamanites from getting beyond and achieving a foothold in the land Northward [Alma 22:33]; and 3) it separated the Land of Desolation (Land Northward) from the Land of Bountiful (Land Southward) [Alma 22:31]. There were also four characteristics about the narrow neck, and that was 1) it was narrow enough that a Nephite could walk across it in a day and a half [Alma 22:32]; 2) it was so configured that a narrow pass existed within it that led from the Land Southward to the Land Northward [Alma 50:34; 52:9; Mormon 2:29; 3:5]; 3) it served as the “line” between the north and south, i.e., “on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation” [Alma 22:32], that is, the Land Northward (Desolation) and the Land Southward (Bountiful) [Alma 22:32]; and 4) it was the dividing line between the Nephites (north) and the Lamanites (south) after the truce arranged by Mormon in 350 A.D. [Mormon 2:28].
    In addition, five events occurred near this location: 1) Hagoth built his shipyard [Alma 63:5]; 2) Emigrants boarded Hagoth’s ships and sailed to a “land which was northward” [Alma 63:6], and many emigrants passed through this area on foot to inherit the Land Northward [Alma 63:9]; 3) the Jaredites built a great city [Ether 10:20]; 4) Jaredite animals escaped the poisonous snakes by passing through this area into the Land Southward [Ether 9:31;10:19]; and 5) the Jaredites preserved the Land Southward as an animal preserve for hunting [Ether 10:21].
    It should also be kept in mind, that two lines are mentioned, one regarding the Nephite journey of a day and a half (Alma 22:32), and the other a defensive line the distance of a day’s travel (Helaman 4:6-7). These two lines are not the same and are not in the same location. The second line, a defensive line, was built in 38 B.C., “And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into the land of Bountiful; 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 foritified and stationed their armies to defend their north country” (Helaman 4:6-7).
    This defensive line was not from sea to sea, but in some way, gave the Nephites the defensive position to hold the road or way through Bountiful to the narrow neck to the north of the land. Also, for clarification, when it speaks of the line between Desolation and Bountiful, the “line” is in reference to a boundary, the same way it is used in “And thus he cut off all the strongholds of the Lamanites in the east wilderness, yea, and also on the west, fortifying the line between the Nephites and the Lamanites, between the land of Zarahemla and the land of Nephi” (Alma 50:11). This line was the narrow strip of wilderness, whose width we do not know, but again is described as “narrow.”
    Elsewhere: There is no other location where a narrow neck area in any theory model that is narrow enough for a boundary line to be drawn across it that was a day and a half width, or about 25-35 miles wide and the only egress between the Land Southward and the Land Northward, creating a defensive “choke point” to keep enemies out of the Land Northward.

Top: Great Lakes area, showing two approaches, between the lakes (their narrow pass) and southeast of the lakes, which is in opposition to Mormon’s descriptions; Bottom Left: Mesoamerica, showing three approaches in the 124-144 mile wide narrow neck, yellow arrow along the one coast, green arrow along the other coast, and red arrow through mountain passes in between, again in oppositon to Mormon’s description; Bottom Right: Andes area, showing yellow arrow Morianton’s flight toward the singular narrow neck and narrow pass into the Land Northward, and white arrow showing Moroni’s run to cut him off
    Andes: The Andean area has a 26-mile wide narrow neck at the east end of the Bay of Guayaquil, between this large bay and the steep Andes mountains—in the time of the Nephites, the Andes had not uplifted and the area was the Sea East, called the Pebesian Sea by geologists, also creating a 26-mile wide narrow neck.
    • Scripture: “And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land -- but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate” (Alma 46:40).
    Killer fevers of the period connected with climate was “malaria,” the most deadly and uncontrolled fever ever known to man.
    Elsewhere: There has never been a natural cure other than quinine for fever in the world’s history. And quinine was used for more than two thousand years, dating back into B.C. times in only one place, where the cinchona tree grew naturally.
    Andes: The only cure ever discovered for malaria fever was the bark of the cinchona tree, a natural plant and herb indigenous to Andean South America, and found nowhere else in the world until the Dutch pirated some seedlings out in the 19^th century and planted them in Indonesia.
    • Scripture: “And thus he did appoint chief captains of the Zoramites, they being the most acquainted with the strength of the Nephites, and their places of resort, and the weakest parts of their cities; therefore he appointed them to be chief captains over his armies” (Alma 48:5); and “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 “But he kept his men round about, as if making preparations for war; yea, and truly he was preparing to defend himself against them, by casting up walls round about and preparing places of resort” (Alma 52:6).
    It is interesting that these resorts, or forts, were built before the time of Moroni as chronicled in Alma. We find that in Mosiah, King Noah “caused a great tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom, which had been a resort for the children of Nephi at the time they fled out of the land” (Mosiah 11:13). That is, before Mosiah I left the City of Nephi, the Nephites had built a resort on a hill north of the land of Shilom which they used as a fort. Consequently, for at least some 300  years or so, the Nephites were builders of forts. And if the one they built on a hill over looking Shilom is any example, then one might expect to find these forts (or outposts) on hills overlooking valleys, canyons, or entrances to populated areas.
    Elsewhere: Heartland and Great Lakes people claim such buildings were built out of wood and, therefore, would not have survived to our day to see such ruins. However, we know that the Nephites built defensive positions and fortifications out of stone as stated in “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, emphasis mine). Consequently, some of these would have survived to our day, as such stonework has survived in both Mesoamerica and Andean South America. Baja, Malay, and Central America have no such resorts.
    Andes: Unlike Mesoamerica, in the Andes, there are hundreds of ruins of such resorts, occupying hillsides and mountain tops that served as small forts and lookouts or outposts, often near a much larger fortress, and always overlooking passes into populated city areas.
(See the next post, “Comparing Various Lands of Promise With the Scriptures – Part V,” for more comparisons based on the original chart shown at the top of this post and the scriptural references cited)