Continuing
from the last post, where the first eight points that have to be the basis of
locating the current location of the Book of Mormon Land of Promise were
listed, we continue here with the ninth and further topics:
9) Abundance of precious metals (2 Nephi 5:15;
Jacob 2:12; Helaman 6:9) with copper, gold and silver found in single ore (1
Nephi 18:25). Any Land of Promise site would have to have large deposits of
precious metals—specifically gold, silver and copper, and even more
specifically, all three found in single ore. While such combination of all
three is not rare, it is uncommon. Today
copper is mainly extracted form ores, such as cuprite (CuO2),
tenorite (CuO), malachite (CuO3·Cu(OH)2), chalcocite (Cu2S),
covelite (CuS) and bornite (Cu6FeS4). Combined with silver, such copper ore is more
common,
at least in primary “red-bed type” copper depositing environments, which is by
far and away the largest concentration of native copper; however, gold is
rarely present in red-bed type copper systems because its ransport (conveying)
chemistry is different. In fact, such combination is not found in the United
States, though copper and molybdenum (such as in the Bingham Copper Mine in
Salt Lake), or copper, nickel and platinum, or copper and manganese, but
copper, silver and gold are rarely found in North or Central America according
to the List of Copper Mines and Mine Production Reports.
Yet, in the Andean mountains of Chile and Peru, Copper (Cu)
is found as cavities in basaltic lava rocks, and almost always with some
amounts of Gold (Au) and Silver (Ag) combined. In fact, silver is normally
found unintentionally as a “plus” while mining for copper in the Andean
mountains. Often the ore runs 23% copper, with silver and gold as byproducts.
Peru and Chile are the world’s leading producers of copper, with Michigan, New
York and Connecticut early producers in the U.S., with most of North America’s
copper, gold, and or silver found in Montana, Utah, Nevada and Arizona;
however, globally, the dominant areas are Peru, Chile and Mexico in the Western
Hemisphere.
10) Zarahemla was north of the Land of Nephi and
at a much lower elevation (Omni 1:12-13; Alma 17:7-9; 56:24-25). This
inarguable fact is found in Peru, with Cuzco (City of Nephi), situated in a
high mountain valley in the Peruvian Andes at over 10,000 feet, it is high
above the valley to the north and west, which includes Pachacamac (City of
Zarahemla) situated at less than 300 feet, and Lima as high as 5,000 feet.
11) A north flowing river that reached the sea
(Alma 2:15; 16:6; 22;27,29; 43:22; 44:22; 50:8,11). The Mississippi River
in the U.S. flows from north to south, as basically do all the rivers in the
Great Lakes watershed, which should discount the Eastern U.S. as a Land of
Promise site. In the Andean area of South America, on the other hand, the
Urubamba River (Rio Urubamba), a
partially navigable headwater of the Amazon River, rises in the Andes to the
southeast of Cuzco near the Puno Region border, where it is called the
Vilcanota River (Rio Vilcanota). In the Sacred Valley, between Pisac and
Ollantaytambo, it is also called the Wilcamayu (Sacred River). It flows
north-west for 450 miles before coalescing with the lower Apurimac River to
form the Ucayali River. In Book of Mormon times, it would have flowed into the sea.
12) Cities buried in the Sea (3 Nephi 9:4,7).
Another inarguable fact. It should be kept in mind that no cities buried in any
seas, lakes or waterways have ever been found in North America, specifically in
the Great Lakes, Eastern U.S. or the heartland. Nor have there been any cities
discovered in the few waterways of Mesoamerica. However, in Peru, at least one
city has been found submerged in Lake Titicaca, which would have been at sea
level and along the coast of the East Sea in Book of Mormon times.
13) A land to the north where Hagoth’s ships
would have taken thousands of Nephie emigrants around 55 B.C. that shows
similar Nephite construction techniques and existence (Alma 63:4-8). Alma
tells us that five thousand and four hundred men, with their wives and their
children, departed out of the land of
Zarahemla into the “land which was northward.” First of all, 5400 men, plus
wives, would be about 10,800 people. Then add two children to each couple, and
there would be a total of about 21,200 souls. If there were some families with
three children, etc., the numbers could reach close to 25,000 people. That
makes a very large emigrant population, and since Mormon, some 350 years later,
said: “they were never heard of more,” they obviously did not travel into the
Land Northward. In addition, the term “Land which was northward,” is a term
used nowhere else in the record, suggesting a land different than the Land
Northward, or the Land of Promise itself. The only location in the Western
Hemisphere that has a very similar ancient civilization recorded to the north
of a parent civilization, would be in the Mesoamerican area of Central America.
Like the Andean area of South America, the ruins of both sites are extensive,
with highways, temples, large cities, and a high level of culture as evidenced
by the Spanish conquerors. In addition, the archaeological record shows that
the ruins in Peru and the Andes are much older than those in Mesoamerica, and
that the ruins in Central America date from about the first century B.C.
(See the next post, “What is the Basis
for the Land of Promise? Part III,” for more of the basis to determine the
present location of the Book of Mormon Land of Promise based first, on the
scriptural record)
Where are the images?
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