Distances, Borders and Directions in the Land of Promise

There can be no question that various theorists build their models on a minimum of information. Mesoamerican theorist John L. Sorenson writes that: “From Nephi to Zarahemla, on a direct line, was about 180 miles” (John L. Sorenson, An ancient American setting for the Book of Mormon, Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Deseret Book, Salt Lake City, 1985)

There is no way a figure regarding any distance can be determined from the scriptural record, let alone 180 miles. The only thing we can consider is that it took Alma and his group of some 450 men, women, and children, along with their provisions and animals, to walk from the Waters of Mormon to the Land of Zarahemla” (Mosiah 23:3;24:23-25)—a distance that took 21 days to cover. But the record does not state that this 21 days was from the city of Nephi to the city of Zarahemla—only from the Waters of Mormon (an unknown distance from the city of Nephi), to the Land of Zarahemla (Mosiah 23:3;24:25).

In addition, the description of Limhi traveling directly from the city of Nephi to the Land of Zarahemla is described as “many days” (Mosiah 22:13), however, once again, this was to the “Land of Zarahemla,” not the city. In addition, it took Ammon and his group 40 days wandering in the wilderness (Mosiah 7:4) from the Land of Zarahemla to the hills overlooking the valley north of the Land of Shilom. From there Ammon went “down into” the Land of Nephi (Mosiah 7:6) and to the “walls of the city” (Mosiah 7:10)

It might even be said that Ammon might well have been more than 40 days, for “they knew not the course they should travel in the wilderness, therefore they wandered many days in the wilderness, even forty days did they wander” (Mosiah 7:4). This does not necessarily mean they wandered from the moment they left the city of Zarahemla, for they would have known of the Land of Zarahemla until they reached the borders of the wilderness or the borders of Land of Zarahemla. Therefore, Ammon may have been even longer reaching the Land of Shilom. And, too, how long did it take him to reach the city of Nephi from the hills north of Shilom?

To arbitrarily use the 21-day travel time of Alma, one would have to know how far from the city of Nephi were the Waters of Mormon, and how far was it from the borders of the Land of Zarahemla to the city of Zarahemla. However, both of these figures are unknown.

The point is, all distances in the Book of Mormon are so ambiguous that it is simply not possible to arrive at even assumptive distance measurements, let alone set 180 miles as the distance between the city of Zarahemla and the city of Nephi—especially when there is not one single record of anyone traveling that specific route from city to city and how long it took.

The “line” or border between the  Land of Desolation and the Land of Bountiful

 

Along this same line, Sorenson adds: “Twice that distance would have taken them to the "line" (Alma 22:32, logically a river) separating Bountiful from Desolation, the beginning of the land northward.” So, according to Sorenson, from the Land of Nephi to the border between Desolation and Bountiful would be twice the 21 days, or 360 miles

First, there is no way of knowing that the distance between the city of Nephi and the city of Zarahemla was twice the distance between the city of Zarahemla and the narrow neck of land boundary between Bountiful and Desolation. Here again, Sorenson sets an arbitrary distance between two points, then using his own figure, uses it to determine the distance between two more points. That can hardly be called scholarship—and is certainly no more than a guess.

Second. The “line” mentioned by Mormon that separated the Land Northward from the Land Southward was the narrow neck of land (Alma 63:5), referred specifically as a “line” in which he states: “it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation” (Alma 22:32). How Sorenson arrives at this line being a river is beyond the scriptural record. There is never a river, marshland, swamp, or other waters mentioned in connection with the narrow neck except for the east and west seas (Alma 50:34).

However, there is a river in Sorenson‘s Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mesoamerica, so he places it into his reading of the scriptural record. Whatever the reason, it is both lacking in scholarship and accuracy since it is not supported by Mormon’s many descriptions regarding this point in any way.

Third, “logically a river” is no more logical than the line being referred to is the narrow pass or passage, which is mentioned by Mormon (Alma 50:34;52:9). It is just as logical to assume that the line is imaginary, like any line referred to between two points, as in the line between Los Angeles County and Orange County, or between Salt Lake City and Taylorsville or West Valley City.

Red Circle: Land of First Inheritance; Yellow Circle: City of Nephi; Green Circle: City of Zarahemla; Blue Circle: Note the direction of North, which is upward—but the (White Circle) East Sea is north and the (Maroon Circle) West Sea is south

 

Sorenson also ignores the description of Mormon’s Land of First Inheritance, which in the scriptural record is “On the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore (Alma 22:28),by placing his Land of First Inheritance bordering along by the south seashore.
It also might be of interest to note that on Map 8, p 170, using Soreonson’s own mileage chart, the Land of Shemlon (occupied by the Lamanites) is 15 miles away to the south of the City of Nephi (Lehi-Nephi), with low lying hills in between, yet Noah climbed upon the tower he built (Mosiah 11:12; 19:5) and saw the Lamanites approaching (Mosiah 19:6). That is some distance to see through low-lying hills, even “within the borders of the land.”
    The point is, anyone can draw a map. However, to be of any value, it has to be within the confines of the scriptural record and match that description. Sorenson’s maps are far from doing so.
    Yet despite these glaring discrepancies Sorenson goes on to say of his map: “Despite their contributions, all previous maps have been incomplete and inconsistent in dealing with the relevant information in the Book of Mormon.  None are fully reliable. (Pg 6) reliable. (pg.6) Building an internally consistent map is but the first step...Our first task is to analyze from the text the key characteristics of the lands described."

Evidently, Sorenson never his own advice. However, in a moment of reality,
Sorenson states on a different occasion, “We all should be willing to ‘be instructed more perfectly in theory’ (D&C 88:78). I am willing to change my theories and hypotheses, when the need is demonstrated.” It would seem that without question, the need has been demonstrated.

The point is, that it is very difficult to very improbable one could determine distances of place to place in the Land of Promise based solely on the scriptural record; especially to support or prove a particular location.