What was Mulek’s Course to the Land of Promise? – Part I

There have been many opinions presented over the years about how Mulek got to the Land of Promise and where he landed. Many consider that he landed on the eastern shores of the North America Land Northward, and over time moved  inland and some moved down into the Land Southward to found the city of Zarahemla where Mosiah found him. Others think he crossed the Pacific Ocean to land on the western coast of Central America (Mesoamerica), also in the Land Northward and then some moverd down into the Land Southward to found Zarahemla.
    Specifically, these courses break down into four specific beliefs:

Orange is course 1; Blue is course 2; Yellow is course 3; Red is course 4. The red line on a round globe is shorter than any of the others because while the circumference around the Earth at the equator is 24,901 miles; at 90º south Latitude (poles) it is only 69.4 miles. The greater the latitude of sailing, the shorter the distance

  
1. He left Jerusalem and sailed west out of the Mediterranean Sea and across the Atlantic Ocean to land on the east coast of either North or Central America;
2. He left the Arabian Peninsula and sailed directly east, around India and through Indonesia and then across the Pacific Ocean to land on the west coast of Central America;
3. He left the Arabian Peninsula and sailed south and around the tip of Africa and up the Atlantic and across to land on the east coast of North or Central America;
4. He left the Arabian Peninsula and sailed in the same direction that the Lehi Colony took, down through the Indian Ocean and into the Southern Ocean, picking up the Prevailing Westerlies in the West Wind Drift and eastward across the southern Pacific Ocean to the west coast of South America to land on the west coast of the Land of Promise.
    Obviously, only one of these courses could have been correct. Which one is easily determined by understanding the four choices and their physical properties and the information given in the scriptural record.
1. As an example, if one thinks it was off the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and out through the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar) and across the Atlantic Ocean on the currents Columbus would take more than a millennium later. This then opened the opportunity of landing on the east coast of Mesoamerica, the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico or eastern coast of Florida.
    From a Gulf landing, Heartlanders claim that Nephi moved northward into what is now Tennessee to settled in the area of Chatanooga. Mesoamericanists claim Mulek landed on the east coast of Mexico (Yucatan) and moved inland and southward. Either way, the first part of this theory hangs on Mulek leaving Jerusalem and picking up a ship along the coast that would take them across the Mediterranean then across the Atlantic. This, of course, hinges on the fact that such a ship was available and that the crew would know how to sail into the ocean and knew how to get across it to the Americas in 600 BC.
    Most think that this was a Phoenicians ship and crew. However, three things work against this idea:
1. While the Phoenicians were the greatest seafaring civilization of the ancient world, and dominated trade in the Mediterranean for nearly a thousand years, they never sailed out through the Pillars of Hercules. Records show them only in the Mediterranean trading among the settlements they established;

The Phoenicians were traders and sailed coastal waters, hugging the coasts around the Mediterranean trading with the settlements they established

2) They were traders, thus rather than just establishing settlements around the Mediterranean like the Greeks, the Phoenician ships went from outpost to outpost trading goods—they were not explorers, but traders of material and goods, especially high-end products like the timbers of Lebanon; murex shells used to make the purple dye; purple cloth; glass trinkets; perfumed ointments and fish (Department of Ancient near Eastern Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, October 2004).
    They traded with the pharaohs of Egypt and carried King Solomon's gold from Ophir. There are Egyptian records, dating to 3000 BC of Lebanese logs being towed from Byblos to Egypt, and by 2650 BC there is record of 40 ships towing logs. Phoenicia competed with the Greeks and Etruscans and later the Romans. A 2,500-year-old gold plate with Phoenician letters found in Prygu, Italy in 1964 is offered as proof that they traded with the Etruscans by 500 B.C., before the rise of Rome.
    The majority of the trade between the eastern and western Mediterranean passed through the strategic waterway off Cape Bon, Tunisia, between North Africa and Sicily.  That is, for more than a thousand years, the Phoenicians were limited to the eastern Mediterranean, finally passing into the western Mediterranean.

Replica of a Phoenician Ship 600 BC

Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, wrote: “The Phoenicians, who had formerly dwelt on the shores of the Persian Gulf, having migrated to the Mediterranean and settled in the parts which they now inhabit, began at once, they say, to adventure on long voyages, freighting their vessels with the wares of Egypt and Assyria. They landed at many places on the coast, and among the rest at Argos, which was then pre-eminent above all the states included now under the common name of Hellas (Greece). After the power of the Phoenicians declined, the Greeks became the main traders and economic power in the Mediterranean (Herodotus, Histories, Book I, '1-2 (480 BC); translated by George Rawlinson, New York: Dutton & Co., 1862).
    It should be noted, that after nearly two thousand years, the Phoenicians had barely reached the eastern side of Lake Tunis, in what is now called Tunisia, and the ancient area of the hostile indigenous Berbers. Here they established a small trading post, which did not get its independence from Lebanon until 650 BC, and not gain power until around 312 BC. It was one of a number of Phoenician settlements in the western Mediterranean created to facilitate trade from the city of Tyre. Beyond this point, the sea opened in the western part of the Mediterranean.
3) Babylon, originally a small settlement called “The country of Akkad,” a deliberate archaism in reference to the previous glory of the Akkadian Empire,” by 620 BC when Nabopolassar seized control and eventually gained power over the Medes, Babylonians, Scythians and their allies. With their defeat of Egypt, Babylon controlled the entire Levant, or eastern Mediterranean and known today as the Babylonian Empire. Nabopolassar was followed by his son, Nebuchadnezzar, who rose to be ruler of much of the civilized world.

Zedekiah plotting to  break with Babylon

In 598 BC, a siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians occurred, king Johoiakim was killed and his son Jaconiah placed on the throne by Nebuchadnezzar. However, after a three-month siege, Judea was soundly defeated and Mattanyahu (“Gift of God”), under the name of Zedekiah given him by Nebuchadnezzar, was named regent and placed on the throne as a puppet king controlled by Babylon. Later leading a revolt against Babylon, he was captured in 589 BC and his sons killed.
    Babylon held such power over the entire eastern Mediterranean and controlled all the countries along the coast from northern Syria to Egypt, and eager to kill anyone in leadership of Judea, there would have been no way for Mulek to escape.
    Thus it can be seen from historical records and factual knowledge of the events of the time, that Mulek would never have been able to leave Jerusalem and reach the northern lands, Egypt or any coastal area. This should eliminate any claim or belief that Mulek sailed west across the Mediterranean and then across the Atlantic.
    This, of course, means that any theory that Mulek sailed across the Mediterranean, or that ancient Phoenicians took them across the Atlantic is completely without merit according to the historical record. For more support of this, we need to keep in mind that the Phoenicians were traders, not explorers, and since at the time ships did not sail away from land, an Atlantic crossing would have been so unlikely for a Phoenician vessel, which was made and sailed for trading, that a Mediterranean route should be rejected out of hand.
    For those who quote the Phoenician crew sailing around Africa in 600 BC, we should consider that this voyage was one that took two years to complete, setting in each night and sailing only in the daytime, and twice staying on land long enough to plant and harvest two crops to provide required food to continue their voyage.
(See the next post, “What was Mulek’s Course to the Land of Promise? – Part II,” to continue this information, picking up with Point Two, or the second course considered by theorists)

Another Major Settlement Near the City of Nephi

We have shown from time to time that for the Nephites to have lived for the first 400 years from Nephi to Mosiah in and around a single location—the city and land of Nephi, there would have had to have been numerous settlement areas in that area.

Huancacalle at Espiritu Pampa, a hilltop site overlooking the valley below

We have also listed numerous towns and village and other cities nearby in the area of Cuzco, or the ancient city of Nephi. Another has recently been uncovered, and this one the Espiritu Pampa archaeological site in the southern Cuzco region, lies five miles to the west of the present city of Cuzco, and nearby is Conceibidatoq, Quilabamba, Kiteni, Huacacale and others.
    From Cusco to Espiritu Pampa through what is today called the Inca Trail, then from there to Vilcamba across suni, puna, or short coarse grass, and the high jungle called rupa rupa, reaching a minimum altitude from 1,640 feet to a maximum 12,664 feet, where the icy wind blows. At 9,780-feet lies Espiritu Pampa with its warm climate, which is located at the base of a mountain on a natural valley overlook, situated in the triangle between the Chomtabamba and the Pampaconas rivers, the latter being a tributary of the Urubamba river. It is situated on the oriental hillside of the Andes, in the middle of the forest sub-tropical wet, typical of the high forest, in the valley of the Rio Urubamba.
    It is now believed that this site, located in a rugged, hard to access region, was the fabled city of Vilcabamba (Willkapampa), the Lost City of the Inca and their last refuge until the Empire fell to the Spaniards in 1572.

According to Vincent Lee (left), the Andean explorer and mountaineer, this area is known as Espiritu Pampa (“plains of the spirit” or “land of ghosts”) in the Cuzco region. Long before the Inca, it was the home of the Wari culture, a society that flourished in South-Andean Ayacucho region and stretched over Cusco’s rainforest.
However, it was mistaken as Eremboni Pampa by Hiram Bingham, who once visited the area on the outskirts of Espiritu Pampa (Vincent Lee, Forgotten Vilcabamba, Sixpac Manco, 2000).

One of the Espiritu Pampa buildings almost hidden in the overgrowth of the Peruvian selva

Research at the stronghold of Espiritu Pampa led to the discovery of extensive structures of stone and massive stone walls, which are part of an immense D-shaped temple. They also found a smaller D-shaped structure within the walled temple, and given its symbolic location, is believed to have served as an astronomical observatory. There were also ceramics and other pieces of evidence of probably added later, of pre-Hispanic Wari (Brian S. Bauer and Javier Fonseca, Vilcabamba and the Archaeology of Inca Resistance, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, UCLA Los Angeles, 2015).
    The archaeologists also discovered two spaces built with small stones within the temple. Tooth fragments were found in the first one; and two Wari style ceramic bottles, a silver chest plate, and a silver crown or headdress in the second. One of the bottles features a human face with big eyes, a nose, and a mouth, but the most remarkable feature is the crown painted over its head: a sign that the area housed elite government figures during Wari’s zenith. There were also eight other graves of the nobility were found there.

Espiritu Pampa Ruins

Since the style of building at Espiritu Pampa was an unmistakable Cuzco style, it belonged to a culture preceding the Wari, such as the Moche and Tiwanaku cultures, or the Nazca, all of which may have had access to Espiritu Pampa. At the site were over 400 buildings, spread out over a site just under two square miles, with most of it covered by jungle today. On the outskirts of Espiritu Pampa was a small settlement, its walls now covered with ferns and overshadowed by huge trees. An ancient aqueduct ran through the buildings, and a tomb discovered inside a structure, not occupied by and preceding the Inca style and, located inside were the remains of a ruler, now dubbed “Lord Huari of Vilcabamba. This find is considered as important as that of the Lord of Sipán, a similar circumstance of the Moche culture, which preceded the Inca by more than a thousand years. It should be noted that no evidence to confirm the existence of characters of singular prestige during the period are known, but are given titles for reference. This also evidences the territorial expansion of the Moche Empire, thus confirming that it also covered part of the Amazon rainforest.  
    Eleven megalithic cistas, or monuments, were found, their construction consisting of four flat stones or slabs, placed vertically forming a rectangle. On them was placed another horizontal stone as a cover, and inside were bodies. These cysts appear most of the times associated with other megalithic formations, like in the center of a burial complex, or inside sepulchral caves.

Three of these cistas had bodies, the others contained a variety of objects, evidently deposited as an offering or to have in the afterlife. There were numerous silver foils and four silver cephalic feathers, along with gold bracelets. In the main tomb of the pre-Inca sovereign "Señor Wari" (left), they found his trousseau and a magnificent silver pectoral in the shape of "Y", two wide golden side bracelets with images of human and animal characteristics, a silver mask, with an anthropomorphic figure, a wooden staff lined with silver, an ornament made up of 156 sheets of silver and three necklaces with precious stones of turquoise and lapis lazuli inset. There were also two wood weapons of chonta and 234 silver small strips, among which 90 % were egg-shaped and the others of circular shapes. All of these items were generally used for the burial of the nobility of this very ancient culture (Javier Fonseca Santa Cruz, The Hidden Face of Pampa Spirit, Iberoamerican Archaeology, vol.10, Cusco Peru, pp3-7).

One of the buildings at Epiritu Pampa that has been restored with a thatched roof

Those who lived here were comfortable with thre extreme heights, as evidenced by their road crossings of high passes and the ruins that are still being discovered to this day on exposed mountain ridges. To communicate urgent messages the people here maintained a line of sight communication system (using fire on exposed ridge tops) and a network of runners. The Inca followed this pattern more than a thousand years later, calling such communication runners chaskis who, with a mouthful of coca to bolster their energy, would run on the roads to the next manned post to relay their message to the next runner.

Top: A col on a ridge between the Andes mountains, also called a notch or gap; Bottom: One of the outposts or overlooks as part of the early-warning system

Anciently, there were outposts or lookout posts perched on the rocky col or gap, which is the lowest point of a ridge between two mountains, for the purpose of providing an early warning station of approaching danger. The Nephites would have had numerous such stations in order to obtain an early warning of Lamanite attack (Mosiah 19:6; 23:25; Alma 43:4; 49:5).
    This overall area of scores of ancient settlements surrounding Cuzco, especially to the north through the Sacred Valley to the Vilcabamba Mounain Range was the home of thousands of early Peruvians and certain marks the area those early Nephite would have expanded, as Jarom wrote “multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land” (Jarom 1:8).

Yaynu: Another Ancient Fortified Peruvian City

On a hilltop in Ancash about halfway between Pachacamac (Lima) and Chiclayo, along the northern slope of mount Panahirka (Panajirca) was the fortified city of Yaynu (Yaino, Yayno), the home of an ancient people called the Recuay culture. This gigantic stone construction or fortress was in the highlands of Peru of the Cordillera Blanca range in the Central Andean mountains. The valleys and mountains in this region are covered with scattered high Andean forests and puna grassland as well as the ruins of numerous ancient archaeological settlements, terraces, tombs and fortresses, such as Ichik Yaynu, Willka Marka, and Runa Marka.
    The mountains at Yaynu are resolutely covered in clouds with 360° panoramic views with the peaks of Cordillera Blanca to the west with their sparkling glaciers. In the valley below was the settlement of Pomabamba (Puma Pampa, meaning “cougar plain”). Higher, beyond fallen stones from a rocky outcrop, sat the fortress of Yaynu.
    A day away was the settlement of Quishuar, where the famed and sacred Quishuar tree grew, that anciently was used for numerous purposes because of its unique propertied, such as fuel and building bridges because the wood was impervious to water and became very hard and did not rot when immersed in water.

Native in the Andes is the Quishuar tree, which grows between 9850 and 14,800 feet above sea level

To the north was the Copa mountain, whose summit reaches 20,302 feet, and further north is Cajamarca in the central highlands, where the Recuay built numerous forts and where many battles took place. To the west was mount Huayllan.
    The Rucuay culture flourished from 200 BC to 600 AD and was related to the Moche culture of the north coast and very close, especially in stonework, to the earlier Chavin culture at the center of Chavin de Huantar that lies just to the west. The culture developed in the Callejón de Huaylas valley, and its art style of kaolin clay (China clay) involving highly complex work called Huaylas, was related to that in Cajamarca and also to the Virú culture. Their textiles were of very high quality, and used similar decorative motifs as the ceramics as those of the Pukara and Tiwanaku cultures, and found throughout the Peruvian Highlands.

The Peruvian highlands as viewed out the entrance gate of the walled city of Vaynu

The fertile land on the eastern slopes gave birth to one of the biggest pre-Inca confederations of powerful warriors, the federation of Conchucos within the Callejón de Conchucos (or “Valley of Conchucos”).
    This entire area, including Yaynu, had advanced metallurgy, and they made very fine Recuay style jewelry of gilt arsenic bronze (Terence Grieder, et al., The Art and Archaeology of Pashash, University of Texas Press, Austin, 2010, pxviii, 27).
    The descendants of these early settlers of Peru became a powerful confederation and were an iron agglomeration of people that presented a hard and brave resistance to the Inca and later Spanish armies.
    In addition, archaeologists have found that at Yaynu, besides having pyramidal construction of public buildings, such as temples, palaces, etc., included numerous private housing showing a high degree of social interaction, and highlights the general autonomy of households as units of economic production and social reproduction (George F. Lau, “Compounds at Yaynu,” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2010).
    The Recuay hilltop settlement is considered the most important evidence of their culture in the Ancash Region. The ancient stone constructions are situated about four miles south of Pomabamba at a height of 13,123 feet on the northern slope of Pañahirka (Pañajirca). Also to the south was the Valley of Conchucos about 50 miles distance.

The ancient ruins of Yaynu

Yaynu is the largest known Recuay site and is best described as a fortified hilltop town covering an area of 61 acres, with the entire site 260 acres.
    It had The central sector is bounded by perimeter walls and long trenches, with circular and quadrangular compounds of monumental character within. The fortress is at the center of a network of early villages and protected the community from outsiders and attack, which was common during the period of this settlement, especially in hilltop dwelling and defense. The buildings were of stone and densely built up (George F. Lau, (2010). "House forms and Recuay culture: Residential compounds at Yaynu (Ancash, Peru), a fortified hilltop town,” Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Vol.29, no.3, 2010, p327).
    The Recuay tradition formed at the center of a network articulating small nearby farming villages, with Yaynu featuring an impressive series of natural and built defensive strategies, that worked in concert to protect the community from outsiders where the archaeology of warfare is quite evidenced at Yayno.
    Once again, we find reference to Mormon’s description of “building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities” (Alma 48:8) and they dug “up heaps of earth, round about all the cities, throughout all the land” (Alma 50:1), creating ditches all around (Alma 49:22). Obviously, archaeologists have found, as mentioned above, such walls of stone and trenches all around these ancient Peruvian cities.

The high wall around the ancient city of Yaynu

Yaynu is just another of the numerous settlements, forts and fortresses scattered through the Andes that their archaeological descriptions of today match those descriptions left to us by Mormon in his abridgement of the ancient prophets.

Importance of Comparison

Things don’t happen in a vacuum. Things happen in a place and location. When one situation occurs, relatively speaking, other situations are affected. Many situations interact with one another, though not necessarily noticeably. From this type of situation, important information can be verified, if factual, or exposed if not. As an example, when the parable of the Good Samaritan is given—which was a story told by Jesus to the Jews that was, in brief, a teaching incident about a traveler who is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a Samaritan happens upon the traveler.”

The isolated Jericho Road from Jerusalem down to Jericho in the area of the West Bank

In the time of Jesus, the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notorious for its danger and difficulty, and was known as the "Way of Blood" or “Bloody Pass,” because of the blood which is often shed there by robbers. In fact, the way from Jerusalem down to Jericho is a winding, meandering road which one traveled with a certain trepidation or fear of being attacked by robbers. It is certainly possible that when the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground, they might well have been concerned about the robbers still being around, and hurried past the area; or even that the man on the ground was a plant, faking his injury, to lure some unsuspecting traveler to approach and let down his guard—so it might have been that the first question in the minds of the priest and Levite would have been: “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?"
    But that has little to do with the purpose of mentioning the story. The main part has to do with the Samaritan—an unknown man in the parable, but one with a side story among the Jews to whom Jesus was addressing.
    First of all, a Samaritan was a Samaritan Hebrew which originated from the Israelites (Hebrews) of the Ancient Near East, inhabiting Samaria, an area now known as the West Bank. According to Samaritan tradition, the split between them and the Judean-led Southern Israelites began during the biblical time of the priest Eli when the Southern Israelites split off from the central Israelite tradition. In the Talmud, they are called Cutheans (כּוּתִים‎, Kutim), referring to the ancient city of Kutha, geographically located in what is today Iraq.

The area between Jerusalem and Jericho, the ancient Kutha, is half mountain and half desert, as the road drops from Jerusalem at 2474’ down to Jericho -864’ below sea level, or a total drop of 3338’

In the biblical account, Kuthah was one of several cities from which people were brought to Samaria, after the Ten Tribes had been led away, who worshiped Nergal—a solar deity, sometimes identified with Shamash, known at times as the God of war and pestilence. He was also associated as the god of the underworld, and the Babylonians related him to the planet Mars, as did the Greeks (Ares).
    Just prior to the time of Christ, the Samaritans were hated by the Jews (even today), they have a stand-alone status in Israel. During the time of Jesus, they were part of the province of Judaea and the Herodian Kingdom. According to Josephus, the Samaritans were willing to rename their temple in the Greek fashion as Zeus Hellenios, and were considered aliens by the Hebrews who would not accept the Hellenistic Olympian Zeus.
    At this time, Samaria was largely divided between a Hellenizing faction based in Samaria (Sebastaea) and a pious faction in Shekhem and surrounding rural areas, led by the High Priest. Samaria was a largely autonomous state nominally dependent on the Seleucid Empire until John Hyrcanus, the Hasmonean ruler of Judea, destroyed the Samaritan temple and devastated Samaria.
    The point is, the parable was meant to show that while the priest, and similarly a Levite, represented the more righteous of the Jews who passed by a severely injured man without stopping to see to his needs and care for him, while a hated Samaritan showed compassion and love.
    Key expressions that had to be accurate to an area: “Down to Jericho,” “Robbers on the Road,” and “half dead injured man.” The point is, Jerusalem is above Jericho in elevation, a point which can be verified, so to go down to Jericho is a correct statement. The road from Jerusalem was filled with robbers anciently. It was called “The Way of the Blood” or “Blood Pass,” another point that can be verified. Leaving the attacked man half dead was also a common sight on this road anciently, and again, the reason for the nickname of the road, another point that can be verified from ancient writings.
    It is interesting that many people feel the geography of the Book of Mormon is of no importance. And certainly, it is not the major emphasis of the book, which is a second testament of Jesus Christ; however, it can add to the experience of study and make much more clear than at first glance.

The ancient road to Jericho was from Jerusalem down the mountain to the plains where stood Jericho

As an example, as much as we know about the Bible Lands, two scholars have written a book on the geography of these lands, claiming the words and events of the Bible are far more understandable and meaningful, when understanding the geography involved. In fat, their comment is: “delivers fresh insight by paying attention to an often overlooked component of the Gospel stories—their geographical setting—grasping the geographical context of these passages and scores of others is vital to understanding the text” (Barry J. Beitzel and Kristopher A. Lyle, Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, Lexham Press, Bellingham Washington, 2018). Barry J. Leitzel is a doctorate Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. His publications on Near Eastern geography have appeared in a variety of monographs and journals, from Biblical Archaeology Review and The Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research to Iraq: The British Institute for the Study of Iraq.
    In the Book of Mormon, a narrow and small narrow neck of land had to be narrow and small. A Land Northward and a Land Southward had to be to the north and south. An event that “did shake the whole earth as if it was about to divide asunder” is a severe earthquake; an isle is an island; four seas are four seas; a narrow pass is a narrow pass; the Land Southward was nearly surrounded by water except for the small neck of land means exactly that; mountains “whose height is great,” means very high mountains were raised all over the Land of Promise; roads and highways from city to city, from land to land, and place to place,” again means exactly that—the entire Land of Promise had a road system that covered the entire land; stone walls around the entire land of promise means that stone walls were built and should be evidenced today; Land on the west seashore of the Land of Promise means exactly that and verification of where Lehi landed; and numerous other scriptural points mean exactly what they say and do no n3ed o be interpreted as something else.

Where Were the Roads and Highways?

One of the many ways to find where the Land of Promise is located, is to look for ancient roads and highways that went from “place to place, there must be roads and highways that went throughout the land, “which led from city to city, and from land to land, and from place to place” (3 Nephi 6:8). When the Disciple Nephi wrote this and Mormon abridged it, the importance of indicating where the Nephite roads went with three different examples, is quite revealing.
    First of all, by the time this is written at the end of the BC period, the Nephites had “multiplied and spread, from the Land Southward to the land Northward,” and Nephites covered the Land of Promise “on 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). That is, Nephite villages, towns and cities could be found all over the Land of Promise.
    Thus, with a road and highway system that led to all the cities, settlements and towns, as well as all the lands and places, it would have to have been an extensive and lengthy series of roads.

Top: Roads across miles and miles of open land along the coastal range; Bottom: Roads through mountain heights

These highways and roads would have been built over time during the one thousand years of Nephite occupation of the Land of Promise. In order to serve the kingdom appropriately, the highways and roads would have had to lead to all settled areas. In fact, the highways and roads went to every corner of the Nephite lands, connecting all parts of the land to a central roadway system. Indeed, they went from city to city, and from land to land, and form place to place.
    The Peruvian road system is about 25,000 miles long—that’s equivalent to traveling from Los Angeles to New York City 9 times. It is the longest and most complete of any road system in the ancient world other than those of the Roman Empire, which according to conquistadors who had seen both, the Peruvian roads were on a par with the Roman roads.
    There were certain values the Peruvian roads would have offered the Nephites.
• They were the key to military might. They provided supply lines, fast movement of troops, and the ability to put troops where the enemy would pass by, since Lamanites as well as Nephite would use the road rather than trek across unbroken ground—this is seen in the incident of Moroni splitting up and hiding his troops to attack the Lamanites around the hill Riplah (Alma 43:31-35);
• They would have been incredibly efficient. The Nephite road had direct routes to every town, land and place. Like the Roman roads, they would have been direct, shooting straight up hills and along a straight line for many miles—this is seen in Coriantumr’s charge up the center of the land to attack Bountiful (Helaman 1:22-25);
• They would have been expertly engineered. The engineering of the roads would be apparent in the fact they lasted throughout the Nephite period of 1000 years;
• Since travel was by foot, these roads would have had road-side inns or post houses;
• It stands to reason that these roads and highways would have been well-protected and patrolled, since they were available to Lamanites as well as Nephite usage;
• Like other things Nephite, they were built to last. Nephi, who had learned from the Lord how to build, engineer, and achieve the results desire, taught his people how to build as well (1 Nephi 18:2-3; 2 Nephi 5:15).

Top: A rock based road across the empty hillsides; Bottom: another isolated road in an undeveloped area with a three foot high wall or curbing on one side

These early Peruvian roads and highways were the most advanced road system in all of pre-Columbian Americas, and after all the centuries since its construction and centuries of use, including heavy use during the Inca period, the highways and roads are still in quite good condition and used regularly by many of the locals, especially those in the mountains.
    There were two main systems in the ancient Andean lands, one was the eastern route, which ran high in the mountains, through mountain valleys, from northern Ecuador to southern Chile and into Argentina. The second, or western route followed the coastal plain except for where the deserts ran and then the road moved inland and hugged the foothills. More than twenty routes ran over the western mountains, while others traversed the eastern cordillera in the mountains and lowlands.
    The roads and highways connected the northern most modern city of Quito, in Ecuador, to the southern most modern city of Santiago in Chile, and from the coast to high in the mountains, extending over almost 25,000 miles, providing access to over 1,200,000 square miles of territory, with some of these roads reaching elevations of over 16,000 feet above sea level.
    In addition, some of these monumental roads were 66 feet wide—today a modern highway has lanes 12-feet wide, with an outside paved shoulder of 10 feet and inside shoulder width of 4 feet, making a modern four-lane highway 60-feet wide, and a modern 4-lane freeway 82-feet wide.

Tunnels were dug into the side of a mountain to gain access to the narrowest part of a canyon to allow for a rope bridge to be built across

Often these roads went along steep cliff faces, and even though tunnels dug into the mountains, and others had steps either provided up mountain sides, or through tunnels.
    When Moroni moved his armies across the land, he used these highways and roads; when Morianton rushed northward and Teancum cut him off, they used these roads; when Coriantumr sacked Zarahemla and led his Lamanite army northward toward Bountiful, he used these roads. These roads were what allowed the Inca later to quickly conquer such a large territory in such a short time, as well as administer all the regions because they could move so quickly from one place to another.
    When these ancient builders came to impassable canyons and rushing rivers, they built rope bridges across the chasms. It was one of these rope bridges that Moroni threw the bodies of the Lamanites off of and into the river to clear the path across to the other side (Alma 2:34).
    These roads were a large part of the Nephite nation, tying in all parts of the nation from one end to the other. Their construction began not long after Nephi founded the city of Nephi in the Land of Nephi, and as the Nephites began to multiply and spread out across the land (Jarom 1:6). After nearly 600 years, and before the destruction of the crucifixion, the Nephites had a road and highway system that connected all the towns, villages, settlements and cities of the nation.
    Consequently, some remnant of these roads would be visible today—and not just dirt roads of paths, for the Nephites had 1000 years of development behind them by the time Lehi landed and that would have been increased in accomplishments. As Nephi said, he taught his people how to build.
    Thus, we only need to look at some of the prevalent theories that exist to see if any match the Nephite descriptions. First of all, ancient roads have been found in many parts of the world. Not only do we have numerous Roman roads, but ancient stone pre-Roman roads were found in England (Bill Cooper, translated from the original medieval Welsh by Saint Tysilio in the 7^th century AD, Chronicle of the Early Britons, Llanerch Publishers, Great Britain, 1811), also an ancient Greek road in Miletus and another outside Ireon Amos Island, and another in Corinth called the Lechaion road. There are ancient roads in Pompeii, as well as Stratonikeia, Turkey; Yorkshire, England. Others have been found not only in Guatamala and all through western South America, but also in Pueblo Alto, New Mexico.
    The point is, in all these and numerous other places, ancient roads are visible and easily identified.
    Consequently the Heartland and Great Lakes areas do not have any ancient rock roads, and little more than foot paths by the time the Europeans arrived. Mesoamerica, on the other hand, does, though by comparison to those of the Andes, and the description in 3 Nephi, the paucity of their roads is minimal. Nor are there such ancient roads in Baja California, Florida, or the Colombia area of South America. In Central America, there were ancient trails, paths and roads, but mainly trails and paths==and no roads to match the width and breadth of of the Nephite descriptions. There were none in Baja California, and none in Malay.

The Seed of My Brethren

It is made clear that the seed (descendants) of Nephi were the Nephites, and the seed (descendants) of “my brethren” were the Lamanites, who descended principally from Laban and Lemuel—Nephi’s brother. Consequently, when Nephi tells us of his vision, we get a clear understanding of whom Nephi refers.
    First of all are the actual passages that Nephi wrote: “And it came to pass that I looked and beheld many waters; and they divided the Gentiles from the seed of my brethren. And the angel said unto me: Behold the wrath of God is upon the seed of thy brethren. And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land. And I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters. And I beheld many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise; and I beheld the wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren; and they were scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten” (1 Nephi 13:10-14).
    Second, let’s consider the meaning of Nephi’s words in these 12 passages that were italicized in the scriptures cited above:
1. Man among the Gentiles

Columbus before Queen Isabella of Castile and king Ferdinand of Aragon, seeking financial backing for sailing westward to what he thought would be China and Japan

There was only one man who initially visited the area where the seed of Nephi’s brothers were located. That man was Christopher Columbus. Others followed later, but the initial explorer is the one that Nephi singles out. Obviously, Columbus was a Gentile himself and lived among the Gentiles of the Iberian Peninsula in the southwest corner of Europe. 70% to 90% of the DNA haplogroup analysis shows that Spanish and Portuguese populations are most closely related to other populations of western Europe. Truly a man among the Gentiles.
2. Separated from the seed of my brethren
First, Nephi’s brothers were Laman, Lemuel and Sam. Sam’s descendants were linked with those of Nephi (2 Nephi 4:11), and called Nephites. Thus the seed of his brethren (at the time of this vision Jacob and Joseph had not yet been born) would have to be the descendants of Laman and Lemuel, called Lamanites in the scriptural record. As a side note, the sons of Ishmael when in the Land of Promise, were considered sons of Lehi (2 Nephi 1:28).
    Thus, Nephi’s phrase: “the seed of my brethren,” has reference to the descendants of Laman, Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael, which were all called Lamanites (Jacob 1:13-14).
3. Many waters

Many means “a multitude, a great number; numerous, comprising a great number.” Thus, the Atlantic Ocean opens into the North Atlantic and the Southern Ocean, the latter part of all oceans, thus “many waters”

This phrase means a large body of water, like an ocean. In this usage, it was the ocean or sea that initially separated the Gentiles from Lehi’s family. That is, Lehi’s Land of Promise was in the Western Hemisphere upon the Americas, while the Gentiles, at this time, were across the Atlantic Ocean in Europe, Asia and elsewhere. When Lehi reached the shore where they would settle while Nephi built his ship, they reached the edge of the Sea of Arabia, which opened into the Indian Ocean, and both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Nephi describes that sea as being “called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters” (1 Nephi 17:5).
    Thus, the many waters that separated the Gentiles from the Lamanites at this time was an ocean—a vast ocean that opened into other oceans.
4. Wrought upon the man
The word “wrought” means “guided, shaped, molded, formed” and is no longer used in English regarding people, though still lingers on in manufacture, such as “wrought iron” is iron that has been worked or molded to form a certain look.
    “Wrought upon” in this case means that the Spirit of God dwelt upon the man and led him to certain action—in this case, to cross the ocean and discover the New World.
5. Went forth upon the many waters
Columbus spent much time working out distances, wind and ocean currents, courses, time and methods of reaching what he thought we be China and Japan. He spent much time seeking financial support from the King and Queen to back his sailing endeavor. Finally, obtaining the means (ships and crews), he set of and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.
6. Who were in the promised land
Columbus went to the area where the Land of Promise (the land promised to Lehi) was located. First is mentioned the people, that is, he went to the seed (Lamanites) of Nephi’s brothers, and secondly, it is mentioned that Columbus visited the seed of Nephi’s brethren. That is, he reached the land where Lamanites dwelt at the time he sailed and reached them. It might be noted that Columbus only sailed to the Bahamas, lower Central America and South America. He did not land in Mesoamerica nor North America, and had no idea those areas existed.
7. Other Gentiles

Many ships crossed the Atlantic to the New World from Europe, bringing settlers, builders, and entrepreneurs; many others came from Spain for conquest and wealth
These would be people living in Europe, specifically those from England and France as well as those from Spain. The former came to resettle, the latter, for the most part, came seeking wealth and power. Settlements by the former were along the northern coastal areas, from Virginia to Massachusetts. The latter landed in the Caribbean and Central America, then moved southward into the western coastal regions of South America
8. Out of captivity
These Gerntiles left the confines of kings and queens and sailed to a land where they were free of government controls. In fact, thirty-five of the Pilgrims who crossed the Atlantic were members of the radical English Separatist Church, who traveled to America to escape the jurisdiction of the Church of England, which they found corrupt. All the Pilgrims reaching North America came in search of religious freedom—originally escaping England and going to Holland, but persecution there also forced them to flee Holland and sail to the Americas. Sailing for the area of present-day Virginia, they were blown off course and ended up in Massachusetts
9. Many multitudes of the Gentiles upon the land of promise
Before long, there were indeed multitudes of Gentiles in the Americas, including English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch explorers claiming lands. This led to suspicion and conflict and finally wars.
10. Wrath of God, that it was upon the seed of my brethren
When the Spanish arrived, they first landed in Hispaniola, then spread out into Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Cuba. Eventually, the Spanish Empire expanded across the Caribbean islands, and into Central America, then southward into Western South America, and northward into Mexico, Florida and the southwestern portion and western coastal region of what is now the United States.  
    In all this expansion, the Spanish from Castile were the most barbaric in their approach to the local indigenous groups, killing and enslaving hundreds of thousands, eliminating an estimated 80% of the population.
11. Scattered before the Gentiles and were smitten

The indigenous population of these areas were driven out of their lands, resettled elsewhere, and outright killed, eliminated through wars, and died of diseases brought by the conquistadors. Those who survived were enslaved under Encomienda, a Spanish labor system that rewarded conquerors with the labor of particular groups of subject people. The conquered indigenous people were enslaved for perpetuity to particular Iberian enomendero and their descendants forever (James Lockhart and Stuart Schwartz, Early Latin America, Cambridge Latin American Studiers No.4, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1983, p138).
12. And were smitten
In 1828, the dictionary definition of the English language as known in New England at the time, shows that the word “smite,” had two meanings: 1)  to kill, to destroy; having the same meaning as slay; 2) to strike, drive or force against one’s will. Both definitions describe what happened to the indigenous population of those living in the New World at the time of the Spanish arrival.
    Thus we see that the scriptural reference in 1 Nephi of his vision, showing the Land of Promise and the Gentile who would visit the seed, or descendants of his brothers—Laman and Lemuel—is perfectly clear.

Surviving Final Battles – Part II

Continued from the previous post, regarding Mesoamerican theorists’ such as John L. Sorenson, who claim that there were large numbers of Nephites who survived the final destruction at Cumorash. However, we have in the previous post provided a clear picture based on several of Mormon and Moroni’s comments to the contrary. Having discussed the first two points of Sorenson’s argument in the previous post, we continue here with the following five points:
3. “Naturally, large numbers of people of Nephite descent had never consented to flee their lands in the first place” (Mormon 2:7-8).
As the Lamanites, with their numberless armies march northward, the Nephites were frightened and ran before them. During this swift retreat, Mormon tells us that “we did gather in our people as fast as it were possible, that we might get them together in one body” (Mormon 2:7, emphasis added). Note that Mormon did not say “some of our people,” “most of our people,” or “almost all of our people.” He said “our people,” which can only mean all of them.

The Lamanites destroyed all Nephites they could find

This is further made clear as Mormon additionally says that as they retreated toward Cumorah: “whatsoever lands we had passed by, and the inhabitants thereof were not gathered in, were destroyed by the Lamanites, and their towns and villages and cities were burned with fire (Mormon 5:5, emphasis added). Note that Mormon tells us:
• Those not joining with the Nephite flight were killed;
• Nephite towns, villages and cities were destroyed.
    It can hardly be said that large numbers of Nephite did not agree to join Mormon’s forces and somehow escaped destruction by the Lamanite forces. Those not joining Mormon were killed and their city areas burned to the ground.
4. “Nephite towns, villages and cities were destroyed, but some Nephites did not join in the fight against the Lamanites.”
Actually, there were no villages, towns and cities refraining from joining in the flight of Mormon’s army. As Mormon tells us, since his flight continued each time the Lamanites came down to battle “and we did again take to flight, and those whose flight was swifter than the Lamanites did escape, and those whose flight did not exceed the Lamanites were swept down and destroyed” (Mormon 5:7, emphasis added).
    In fact, the blood and carnage wrought by the Lamanites against all Nephites they encountered was so extensive, that Mormon refused to write more about it (Mormon 5:8-9).
    To be sure, there is certainly nothing in the record to suggest that any Nephites “never consented to flee their lands in the first place.” The opposite picture seems quite clear—the Lamanites were bent on destroying all the Nephites, and those who did not escape with Mormon and his army, were killed.
5. Some Nephites switched their allegiance rather than move out.”

Dissenters were distinguished from the Nephites, for they had marked themselves with red in their foreheads after the manner of the Lamanites

What Sorenson describes as “switching their allegiance,” Moroni describes as “denying the Christ.” Those that did throughout the scriptural record became known as Lamanites and took upon themselves the curse the Lord placed upon the Lamanites from the beginning (Alma 3:7-10). However, in the specific case he quotes, this description is an overall statement by Moroni about 421 A.D., some 37 years after the final battle where the last of the Nephites, including his father, had been killed, and about 21 years after his earlier statement that all the Nephites that escaped into the south countries were hunted down by the Lamanites and killed.
    One might wonder why Moroni would be alone if there were any Nephites left alive? Why would he not find them and seek his peace with them, and make a comment about it?
    After all, 37 years had passed of his wandering about, surely he would have run across some of the “escaping Nepihtes.” In addition, after 37 years of being alone, he is surprised that he is still alive (Moroni 1:1), and that he is in hiding knowing the Lamanites would kill him if they found him. Why? Because he would not deny the Christ (Moroni 1:3).
    In this same vein, Moroni is describing how vicious the Lamanites were, for their wars were exceedingly fierce among themselves” (Moroni 1:2), and because of their age-old hatred toward the Nephites, they had killed all that would not deny the Christ (Moroni 1:2) and join them. There were none left earlier when the last were tracked down.

The Lamanites killed all the Nephites who would not deny the Christ

How many denied the Christ earlier in those final days is not known nor even implied. Nor is there any indication that Nephites did this in large numbers as Sorenson implies rather than leave their towns and villages as Mormon tells us.
    Were there surviving Nephites? In fact, the scriptures above that Sorenson uses make it abundantly clear that there were no Nephites left after that final battle at Cumorah. Moroni tells us they all died and that he was the last alive, and as a result, he was alone (Mormon 8:3).
6. Mormon observed to his son that "many of our brethren have dissented over unto the Lamanites" (Mormon 9:24).”
This is an inaccurate reference. In one instance, Mormon wrote: "And a few who had dissented over unto the Lamanites, had fallen; and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth." (Mormon 6:15).
    Sorenson is referring to Moroni 9:24, which does state that many Nephites had and would dissent over to the Lamanites. But nowhere does it say "large numbers" and some, if not all of these were killed in that final battle (Mormon 6:15) or were hunted down and killed (Mormon 8:2). Moroni makes this perfectly clear: "I say no more concerning them, for there are none save it be the Lamanites and robbers that do exist upon the face of the land." (Mormon 8:9)

The Three Nephites

To further this, we find in Alma that Mormon knew exactly what the Lord had in mind for the Nephites. Mormon wrote: "But whosoever remaineth, and is not destroyed in that great and dreadful day, shall be numbered among the Lamanites, and shall become like unto them, all, save it be a few who shall be called the disciples of the Lord; and them shall the Lamanites pursue even until they shall become extinct. And now, because of iniquity, this prophecy shall be fulfilled" (Alma 45:14). Later, we find Moroni, finishing his father's record, adding: "The Lamanites have hunted my people, the Nephites, down from city to city and from place to place, even until they are no more; and great has been their fall; yea, great and marvelous is the destruction of my people, the Nephites" (Mormon 8:7).
7. On this subject, Sorenson also wrote: “The Doctrine and Covenants says that modern descendants of not only the Nephites but also the major lineages allied with them, the Jacobites, Josephites, and Zoramites, will yet be identified (D&C 3:17-20; 10:48).”
Were there Nephite survivors of this last great battle? No! Were there Nephite survivors of the Nephite nation? No. Then how will the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants be fulfilled? They will be fulfilled because there had been Nephite dissenters throughout the history of the land of promise and no doubt there was Nephite blood mingled among the Lamanites. Then, too, the final split (4 Nephi 1:35) between the Nephites and the Lamanites around 231 A.D. was not over descent from the original brothers, but between those who were followers of Christ (4 Nephi 1:36) and those who were followers of evil (4 Nephi 1:38). Thus, there would be descendant lineages of all the tribes among the descendants of the surviving "Lamanite" forces which successfully annihilated the Nephite nation.
    In addition, and most importantly, some 20,000 to 25,000 men, women and children, both Nephite and converted Lamanite, joined forces in about 46 B.C. and sailed “to a land which was northward” aboard the ships built by Hagoth (Alma 63:6-7). These individuals settled in the land now called Mesoamerica (Central America) in the last century B .C. and there built cities, palaces and temples rivaling those of the Land of Promise.
    From there they evidently migrated northward, through Mexico and into the United States. Joseph Smith found a “white Lamanite” named Zelph in the Illinois area, and described the prophet Onandagus known from the east coast to the Rocky Mountains.
    Obviously, through this source, Nephites and Lamanites survived for many centuries. But no Nephites survived in the Land of Promise described in the scriptural record as Sorenson and other Mesoamerican theorists continually want to claim, contrary to the record.