As begun in the previous post, the comments by the Heartland theorist continues with his next remark:
• Comment: “Mormon continually states that the Lamanites went down to Zarahemla and the Nephites went up to Nephi. Obviously, the City of Nephi was at a higher altitude than Zarahemla, which matches the height difference between Montrose Iowa or Zarahemlah and Chattanooga, Tennessee.”
Response. To best understand this we need to look at the areas discussed:
City of Nephi: Chattanooga (considered the city of Nephi by Heartland theorists) is 676 feet in elevation, the Tennessee state average of elevation is 900 feet high, and at Moccasin Bend Archaeological District Elevation is 679 feet. The highest city in Tennessee is 256 miles away at Mountain City, which is in the northeast corner at 2,418 feet and the lowest point is the Mississippi River at 178 feet.
Montrose, Iowa, today, across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo, was the area of the new settlement the early Saints called Zarahemla
City of Zarahemla: (Montrose) is 531feet high; Nauvoo across the river is 670 feet, with the state average in elevation at 1,670 feet high at Hawkeye Point, which is 3 ½ miles south of the Minnesota, bordering on South Dakota, far from their Nephite lands. In the far northeast along the Eastern Divide and the Virginia-North Carolina border, 614 miles south of the Sea South, and 1,045 miles northeast of their city of Nephi (Chattanooga Tennessee). The highest city in Iowa is Concord at 1,250 feet, and the lowest city elevation is Keokuk at 480 feet, which is also the lowest point in the state, and five miles south of their Zarahemla (Montrose).
The point is, the land around their City of Nephi and their city of Zarahemla are not sufficiently different in elevation to warrant the statement that Nephites went up to the Land and City of Nephi, and Lamanites went down to the land and city of Zarahemla. In addition, Lookout Mountain, described in the Comment above as the elevation of Chattanooga (City of Nephi), is really cherry picking an elevation—it is only 1.3 miles long, though connected to the northeast with
• Comment: “The Land in Tennessee is higher in elevation than Zarahemla (Montrose, Iowa) and that is why in the scriptures you will always hear of Nephites traveling “up to” the Land of Nephi and “down to” Zarahemla, as it is a reference to elevation not direction.”
Response: Lookout Mountain is 6 miles from Chattanooga running along the eastern line of Lookout Valley on a narrow southwestern ridge of the Cumberland Plateau and a segment of the Appalachian Mountains. These mountains extend south-southwestward for 75 miles, from Moccasin Bend, Tennessee, on the Tennessee River across northwestern Georgia to Gadsden, Alabama—again, not within their Land of Nephi as described by Mormon.
Lookout Mountain—note how it shows a low mountain looking directly down on the city below situated on flat ground that spreads out for miles—the elevation of the area should be the flat ground, but theorists use the height of the Lookout to verify their location and model
As to the elevation of Lookout Mountain, it is already in Georgia and a half mile from Chattanooga, and from the "Rock City" point, a marker claims that southwest from the vantage point at the edge of Lookout Mountaiviewpon that already overhangs the State of Georgia, people claim that when the sky is clear and with a good set of binoculars you can see up to 7 different states: Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama.
When all is said and done, the two cities 145 feet different in elevation (Chattanooga 676 feet and Montrose 531 feet). Hardly a match of Mormon’s many up and down descriptions.
• Comment: “The Moccasin Bend Archaeological District (Elevation 679 feet) is rich in head plates, breastplates of copper, and other artifacts dating from 3000 BC to 1500 AD. Today from the top of Lookout Mountain (l1850 feet)
Response: First of all, the elevation of Lookout Mountain is 2,388 feet, not 11,850 feet! Secondly, as we have indicated many times, the metallurgy described by Ether and later Moroni, involves more than copper, which the area between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan, since we are told they had iron, steel, and other metals. The minimal, tough impressive work, of copper simply falls considerably short of the other metals mentioned.
Looking down at the flat ground below—(top) Medicine Bow: (below left) Lookout Mountain; (below right): Rail car lift almost straight up the face of the cliff
• Comment: “Chattanooga at 676 feet elevatione, provides a claimed viewpoint of 7 states: ‘Mosiah 11:12 relates that King Noah, Zeniff’s son, built ‘a very high tower, even so high that he could stand upon the top thereof and overlook the land of Shilom, and also the land of Shemlon, which was possessed by the Lamanites, and he could round about.’ If Noah wanted to look over all the land round about, there could hardly be a better place to do so than Lookout Mountain”
Response: Lookout Mountain which rises out of the river valley above Chattanooga to a height of almost 2,400 feet, is claimed that on clear days, mountains 100 miles away are visible from the summit. The tower was near the temple, but there is no description of where the temple was. It may have been enclosed in walls within the city, or it may have been built on a high place, which would explain why Noah built his tower near the temple.”
• Comment: “Speaking about Lehi’s people, “Joseph wrote, “They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph.” It is possible that Joseph Smith was referring to Zoram after all, clarifying he was not a Jew. He may have been referring to those who accompanied the Mulekites. But it is also possible that he was referring to others who accompanied Lehi who brought servants and landed in a mostly uninhabited area claimed by Heartland theorists to be in Florida or along th south Georgia coast, or Florida, among a small population of hunter/gatherers who lacked a well-organized society” (Jonathan Neville Moroni’s America page 84-86).
Response: Joseph Smith was referring to Lehi’s entire Company—there were some mingling of tribal heritage—such as those bringing Mulek out of the palace and spiriting him away and across the sea. There was Zoram and servants that rich families would have had with them, but mostly they were of Ephraim and Manasseh (sons of Joseph in Egypt) as the Golden Plates that Laban had possessed showed him.
• Comment: “I think Lehi landed in Florida for all the reasons explained in Moroni’s America. He may have sailed south of Cuba to get there because of ocean currents and wind, but it’s interesting that Mulek, Lehi and Columbus converge on the same areas.”
Response: First of all, where Lehi sailed in 600 BC is critical to understanding where he landed. After all, sailing ships in that era, were totally subject to the wind, and to the ocean currents. If a ship could not be blown in the direction chosen or claimed, then it did not go there! Period! End of discussion! Secondly, Columbus did not reach North America, did not know it existed and never saw the continent—he visited Central America and South America. However, the Lord did lead all three of these people and groups to the Land of Promise indicated within the Book of Mormon.
(See the next post on how space and elevation are erroneously stated to confuse or alter the point of view to what is agreeable to the Heartland theory and model and the so-called Florida landings)
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