Continuing
from the last post on the 22nd Chapter of Alma:
Thus
it seems clear that the average man could cover about 25-30 miles in an 18 hour
period, which should tell us, based on Mormon’s comments, that the narrow neck
of land was no wider than about 35 miles, and no less than about 20 miles in
width. Obviously, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mesoamerica, at 144 miles
across, would not come close to matching Mormon’s description.
Simple drawing (not to scale and used
strictly for relationship locations) of the Land Southward based on Mormon’s
description, that was completely surrounded by water except for a narrow neck
of land that led into the Land Northward
At
this point, then, Mormon goes on to tells us how the Land Southward was
surrounded by water except for the small or narrow neck of land, which
connected the Land Southward with the Land Northward. After describing the
narrow width of this narrow neck of land, Mormon wrote: “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).
We need to understand that this
“narrow neck” was a strip of land that ran between the seas and connected the
two main lands of the Land of Promise as Mormon so clearly tells us. Thus we
find from Mormon’s description that the Land Southward, which held (from south
to north) the Land of Nephi, the narrow strip of wilderness, the Land of
Zarahemla, and the Land of Bountiful, were surrounded by water on the east,
south, and west, except for in the north where this narrow neck of land ran
from the Land Southward to the Land Northward—this narrow neck of land with the
sea on either side is “where the sea divides the land” (Ether 10:20).
We also learn from other
descriptions that there was a sea to the east of the Land Northward (Ether 9:3;
14:26), and north, which the Jaredites called Ripliancum, which meant “large”
or “to exceed all” (Ether 15:8), which should suggest a large sea, or the Sea
North described by Mormon In Helaman.
In fact, there was a sea to the
north and a sea to the south as well as a sea to the east and a sea to the west
of the Land of Promise (Helaman 3:8), and this description was in connection to
the Nephite traveling from the Land Southward into the Land Northward, “and did
spread insomuch that they began to cover the face of the whole earth.” Helaman
also wrote that “And thus it did come to pass that
the people of Nephi began to prosper again in the land, and began to build up
their waste places, and began to multiply and spread, even until they did cover
the whole face of the land, both on the northward and on the southward, from
the sea west to the sea east” (Helaman 11:20)
Such descriptions can only
describe an island and, in fact, this is exactly how Jacob described the entire
Land of Promise when he told the Nephites after explaining to them that they had been led
away from the land of Jerusalem: “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” (2 Nephi 10:20). Which obviously means that the Land
of Promise was an island in the sea--that sea over which they traveled in Nephi’s ship
from the time of first landing through the descriptions until 3 Nephi chapter
8, or the time of destruction during the crucifixion.
Left: A map of the narrow neck
showing its relationship to both seas, and the Land Northward and Land
Southward; Right: Within the narrow neck is a narrow passage that leads between
the two lands (placement of the two cities shown is merely for reference within
a general area)
In addition, we learn that this
narrow neck of land ran between the east sea and the west sea (where the sea
divides the land), with a narrow pass through the narrow neck (Alma 51:34) that
provided access between the Land Southward and the Land Northward (Alma 52:9).
This narrow pass, separated the Land Northward and the Land Southward (Mormon
2:29), and was the dividing line between the lands of Bountiful and Desolation
(Alma 22:32), which marked the demarcation of the treaty between the Nephites
and the Lamanites-Robbers in 350 A.D. (Mormon 2:29).
There are other points still—such
as an unnamed land between the Land of Zarahemla and the Land of Bountiful.
Helaman introduces this unnamed land when he tells us that when the Lamanites “succeeded in obtaining
possession of the land of Zarahemla; yea, and also all the lands, even unto the
land which was near the land Bountiful” (Helaman
4:5), and when the disciple Nephi writes about the war between the Nephites and
the Robbers, he describes it taking place in “the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land
which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, yea, to the line
which was between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation” (3 Nephi
3:23).
Now the Land of
Bountiful evidently ran from nearly the east sea to the west sea (Alma 22:33),
and the Land of Jershon was along the east coast, south of the land of
Bountiful, but bordering along the southern border of the Land of Bountiful:
“Behold, we will give up the land of Jershon, which is on the east by the sea,
which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of the land Bountiful”
(Alma 27:22).
However, when we try
to get too exact with Mormon’s descriptions, we find it more difficult to make
placements, specifically of cities. As an example, the Land of Melek was
evidently adjacent to the Land of Jershon (Alma 35:13), and not far from the
Land of Zarahemla (Alma 45:18), and on the west of the River Sidon (Alma 8:3),
a three-day journey to the south of the city of Ammonihah (Alma 8:6) in the
land of Ammonihah (Alma 8:18). The difficulty arises when we try to pinpoint
the city of Melek since we don’t know the distances involved. From one point of
view, Melek being near Jershon, would place it over toward the east, not far
from the seashore. Yet, being west of the Sidon River would place it more
toward the west. Nor can we say that some ruins is in that general area of our model, therefore, it has to be that city.
Map posted on Mormon Mesoamerica showing
numerous cities and sites of the Book of Mormon placed on their model map of
Mesoamerica. Other than the map running west to east, rather than north to
south (Alma 22:27-33), there is no real value in these city locations since
they do not agree with the scriptural record (see Bountiful located in Yucatan
far away from the narrow neck as an example) and done so without really any
accurate information in the record to base it upon
The point of this is
to show that when someone tries to tell us where all these cities were located,
we need to keep in mind how difficult it is to try and pinpoint most, if not
all of them. A few are described in greater detail, but most are quite
ambiguous in location. This is why when people start diagramming this city and
that city, we need to keep in mind that there is not sufficient information in
Mormon’s descriptions to do that.
We are much safer
sticking to the overall shape and alignment of the Land of Promise and its
seas, which Mormon is far more specific in his descriptions, than trying to
locate all the cities mentioned in the record. Even claiming a location for the
Waters of Mormon is superfluous since we only know they are near the city of
Nephi, but not in which direction or how far away, etc.
We are far better off
following Mormon’s abridged descriptions of the geography of the Land of
Promise than in trying to expand on it using guesswork and hyperbole as so many
Theorists do. And especially reading Mormon’s writing as it was written without
trying to alter statements and meaning to fit a preconceived model and
location, such as they do stating Alma 22:30 and ignoring Omni 1:16 (the latter
being an eye-witness account).
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