What Did Nephi Mean “We did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents” – Part I

Four posts ago we began this series with “What did Nephi Mean “They did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance.” In that Wednesday post (November 11), it was pointed out that there are only five Mediterranean Climates found in the world, four outside the Mediterranean Basin, of which the climate of Jerusalem is a part. The seeds “brought from Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 18:24), meaning as was pointed out, Mediterranean seeds, i.e., seeds grown in a Mediterranean Climate, which of course, means they would not grow elsewhere in 600 B.C. than the same or another Mediterranean Climate as Nephi describes of these seeds: “they did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance” (1 Nephi 18:24). 
    We concluded that post by showing a map of World Climates and a Map of Mediterranean Climate Regions, provided by Gardening in Mediterranean Climates Worldwide © and the Mediterranean Garden Society, and the comment:  “Showing the extent of the world’s five Mediterranean climates including the Mediterranean Basin and showing that there are only two in the entire Western Hemisphere: California and central Chile.”
    Because the Mediterranean Climate is relatively rare, and there are only two in the entire Western Hemisphere, we can narrow down the location of Lehi’s landing to one of these two locations and their land of first inheritance as described by Mormon “on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore” (Alma 24:28).
    Now California, in the central basin known as the San Joaquin Valley, and along a coastal strip from about San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara south to the San Diego border.

Green Area (white arrows) shows the coverage and area of the California Mediterranean Climate
    While it would not be impossible to reach this area from a northern approach along the Kuroshio Current (a strong north flowing current past Japan), which is deflected from Japanese waters eastward into the North Pacific by the Oyashiuo Current coming down from the Bering Sea past the Kamchatka Peninsula and over the Kuril Trench.

At this point the vessel would ride eastward on the West Wind Drift just south of the Subarctic Current (the danger is getting caught in this current and being turned north in the Alaska Current off the Canadian coast, which originates along the U.S. Canada border where the North Pacific Drift collides with the continent, turning the vessel northward, around the Alaska Gyre and back to the west on the Alaskan Stream). Here the vessel would need to pick up by the southern flowing California Current (the eastern arm of the North Pacific Gyre), where it would have to battle the north flowing Davidson Current in order to reach the coastal shore in the winter, however, would have fairly good access to the coast during the spring currents, especially along the Wind Flow curvature toward the coast south of Point Conception, bringing a ship back toward land from Long Beach to Ventura.
    This would not have been an easy approach along the California coast for Nephi’s ship “which was driven forth before the wind,” i.e., meaning it was being driven by the wind and currents and nothing else, so it was a slave to those currents and winds and had to go where they took it. The difficulty here lies in the California Current being very large marine ecosystem (LME) characterized by its temperate climate. It is a transition between subtropical and subarctic water masses with a coastal upwelling along the west coast of North America.

The California Current Large Marine Ecosystem is separated from the Gulf of Alaska LME by the Subarctic Current, which flows eastward from the western Rim of the Pacific Ocean. The California Current system is extremely complex. Natural environmental change is the primary force driving the LME and this upwelling of current along the coast all the way from British Columbia to the U.S. border with Baja California.
    In order to appreciate the size of the Pacific Ocean over which this route would require Lehi to have taken, we are dealing with an area of 111,225,443 square miles, where all of the continental land masses on the planet could be placed, and there would still be room left over. In fact, along this route, from Malay Peninsula to Columbia coast, where some would take Lehi, is its widest point, with the upwelling in the east a result of Strong and predictable winds, like the trade winds, which are one of the major forces that drive the Pacific currents.

Red Arrow points to the upwelling area along the (green area and blue arrow) cold coastal waters from British Columbia to Baja, making these turbulent and difficult to cross when coming out of the California current toward land for an inexperienced crew in a ship “driven before the wind” in 600 B.C.
    Winds are particularly important in driving surface currents, while deep-water currents are driven by convection, which results from temperature differences between water layers. Convection occurs when ocean water heats up and becomes less dense, and rises. This water moves above the cooler water, and gives off its heat to the surrounding environment. As it cools, it begins to sink, and the process is repeated. Convection results in a continual circulation of ocean water, and occurring along the coast reaches creates turbulence and conflicting currents, which are difficult to cross in trying to reach land.
    In addition, there are many factors that determine the speed of a current, as well as its route. Winds have the most important influence on the flow of currents, but tides, precipitation, evaporation rates, shape of the ocean floor, and inflow from rivers and adjacent seas are also important. The waters off the north Pacific Ocean move in a general east to west direction, in response to the predominant trade winds. The general westerly movement of the Pacific waters around the equator forms the North and South Equatorial Currents, belts of water moving approximately parallel to the equator, which lie about 15° latitude on either side of it. Between these two currents, the Equatorial Countercurrent flows to the east.

While modern ships can easily make this voyage, even ships of the Age of Discovery once they learned to tack and sale closer to the wind, but a ship “driven forth before the wind” could not have moved against wind and currents to the east of Arabia, let alone negotiated the narrow Malacca Straits and through to the South China Sea
    The problem with all this again is, that while it would be possible to reach California from across the Pacific as shown, and that it would take an experienced and well skilled crew to make landfall along the California coast, the starting point would be around the South China Sea which lies along the Pacific side of Indonesia. Stated differently, Lehi’s ship would have had to travel to the east from the Arabian Peninsula, which we have pointed out in numerous writings and books would not have been possible for a ship in 600 B.C. “driven forth before the wind.” Even today, with GPS, radar, and the most modern communications systems available to sea captains, a route through the Malacca Straits is the most dangerous seaway in the world and more accidents and ship sinkings occur there than almost anywhere else.

While different wind groups are represented by color the arrows show that all winds and currents moving through Indonesia come off the Pacific Ocean and into the Indian Ocean, moving from the east to the west--no ship "driven forth before the wind" could move eastward through Indonesia in 600 B.C.
   Plus the factor that the winds and current blow and flow from east to west, against the shipping lanes required to travel to get from the coast of the Arabian Peninsula to the South China Sea and then the Pacific to pick up the Kurishio Current.
    It would be like the kid putting a stick in a gutter current on one side of the street and expecting it to migrate across the street to the other side gutter. It simply cannot be done without other help, of which Nephi makes no mention and no other occurrence short of the Lord picking up their ship and placing it in the Pacific Ocean could have accomplished that fact.
    All of this rules out California and its Mediterranean Climate as the landing site for Lehi. The simple fact is, that leaves only coastal, central Chile as the landing site.
(See the next post, “What Did Nephi Mean “We did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents” – Part II for a look at the Chilean Mediterranean Climate landing site)

What Did Nephi Mean” Before the Wind”?

Sooner or later the John L. Sorenson’s of the theorists Land of Promise world need to come to grips with the wordage of the Book of Mormon and its meaning. In this case, what exactly did Nephi mean when he said his vessel was “driven forth before the wind”? 
    While we have written about this several times before, even in this series, there seems to be a lack of understanding of two points here:
1. Why did Nephi write that they were “driven forth before the wind”?
2. Why was it inserted twice in the scriptural record?

In fact, we might ask why any particular wordage was inserted into the scriptural record, since language is often a factor that can be manipulated in several ways. That is, why did Nephi insert a parenthetical note into his explanation about his father when he wrote: “For it came to pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days); and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem must be destroyed” (1 Nephi 1:4).
    Obviously, in the very beginning, Nephi is telling us a little about his father as well as the area of Jerusalem. Not only is he saying that there were many prophets who were prophesying to the people about repentance, but that his father, also, had been called to go into Jerusalem to prophesy. This tells us four things:
1. Lehi was a prophet;
2. He had been called of God;
3. The people of Jesusalem were in need of repenting;
4. Jerusalem was to be destroyed.

In addition, we learn from this that Lehi was called, in part, because he lived in the area of Jerusalem and that the people would have known him.
    And if we read carefully, and not just glance over it, we learn an important fact as well—that Lehi did not live in Jeruslam, but at Jerusalem.
    In this little understanding, we also can verify why, later, when he was called to flee into the wilderness, he had such things available to him as tents, donkeys and seeds—none of which he would have had were he a resident of the city. This also shows us the consistency of the storyline and the accuracy of the facts involved.
    And we see this not just once, but twice in the narrative. For a few lines later, Nephi writes: “And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 1:7,emphasis mine).
    Thus in little words and simple statements we can find deeper meaning and clearer understanding, which leads us into a more precise insight of what has been written for our benefit and our comprehension.
    So later Nephi tells us his ship was “driven forth before the wind.” Now we need to understand why that was inserted into the narrative by Nephi (twice) and for what value—that is, what should we learn from that insertion.

Driven. This word means to be urged forward by force; impelled to move. That is, in stating his ship was driven, we are told that his vessel was impelled (driven forward, urged on, moved by any force or power, physical or moral).
    By the Wind. That is, the wind was the compelling force that drove his ship forward.
    Forth. Means “forward.”
    Thus, without question, we can see that Nephi’s ship was propelled by the wind, i.e., it had a sail that caught the wind that pushed the ship forward.
    In sailing, two things push a ship forward. The first and most important is a sail catching the wind. By definition, “driven forth” means the wind was behind them; “Before the Wind,” means the wind was behind them. That is, the wind was pushing the vessel forward, not dragging or pulling it forward as it would be when “tacking.”
    And the second thing is that for wind to push a ship forward, the ship has to be moving within the confines of an sea current, since the wind moves the ocean currents.

Basic wind and sea currents in the Sea of Arabia and Indian Ocean showing that a ship leaving the southern coast of Arabia “driven forth before the wind” would be driven south into the Indian Ocean and then east into the Prevailing Westerlies and the West Wind Drift of the Southern Ocean
    Thus to know where Nephi’s ship went, one need only know 1) where the winds blew in the area where he sailed, and 2) where the sea currents flowed in that area.
    A ship can drift in a sea current without wind, however, the larger and heavier the ship, the slower that movement. Because of this, there are times when ships have been known to be “dead in the water,” which is because there is no wind moving a current at that time, and/or the current itself is not sufficient to move the ship. 

In certain areas around the world there are sea areas called “doldrums,” which is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage, in which it refers to those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm.  This is also somewhat true in the maritime areas referred to as the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer. The former, in the southern tropic is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point on the southern solstice, currently at about 23º south latitude (its northern equivalent is the tropic of Cancer).

 At the tropics (Cancer in the north and Capricorn in the south), the winds die down on the surface and air pressure drops as air and wind flows upward in circular fashion and head back toward the equator, leaving "dead calms" along the ocean surface
 In this area is the “calms of Capricorn,” or the “horse latitudes,” 30º to 38º south latitude, is a ridge of high pressure called the subtropical high, and receives little precipitation and has variable winds mixed with calm. The horse latitudes are associated with the subtropical anticyclone and the large-scale descent of air from high-altitude currents moving toward the poles. After reaching the earth's surface, this air spreads toward the equator as part of the prevailing trade winds or toward the poles as part of the westerlies. The belt in the Northern Hemisphere is sometimes called the "calms of Cancer" and that in the Southern Hemisphere the "calms of Capricorn." This often resulted in ships being becalmed in mid-ocean in this latitude, slowing their progress or voyage.
    This also results in a strange slowing of currents and winds when moving northward on the Humboldt Current along the central Chilean coast, which would allow a vessel “driven forth before the wind,” to change a course and steer out of the northerly currents and make landfall—around 30º south latitude in Chile, an area called the Bay of Coquimbo and La Serena.

Everyone has sent a piece of wood, small sailboat, or leaf down such a ditch and watched the current take it some distance. Such a “voyage” would be called a “drift voyage,” meaning the object is drifting with the current
    The point is, that when a vessel is “driven forth before the wind,” it is subject to the direction in which the winds blow and the current moves. Much like a child playing in the irrigation ditch in front of his house and putting a wood chip (his boat) in the water as it drifts down the ditch. The wood chip goes exactly where the current takes it until something blocks its path. A ship, “driven forth before the wind,” does exactly the same thing. Therefore, one cannot decide arbitrarily to take Lehi across the Pacific, Indian Ocean or anywhere else unless the currents and winds went in those exact (not general) directions.
    So in answering the earlier questions, Nephi included this statement for its simple instruction:
1. Why did Nephi write that they were “driven forth before the wind”? Because his vessel was drifting with the winds and currents and went where those winds and currents took it. Thus, one can follow Lehi’s course from where he set sail and where he landed, and in this way know where the Land of Promise was located.
2. Why was it inserted twice in the scriptural record? To make sure the future reader understood that at all times, before and after the storm, the ship was drifting with the winds and currents and went where they took it.
    Thus, we can know where Lehi sailed and the course of Nephi’s ship, and in so doing, know from where the winds die down and enable moving out of the current, where he landed and the location of the Land of Promise. Therefore, it is not a guessing game where one looks at a map and says, “Oh, this is a good course for Lehi to take,” but to look at the winds and currents and know where Lehi went, or pick a place where one thinks the Land of Promise to be then tries to lay a course for that area contrary to winds and currents, as nearly all theorists have done.

What Did Nephi Mean “It was Good and Exceedingly Fine-Part II

Continuing with how theorists often overlook the clear and meaningful understanding of the scriptural record, skipping right over important passages of explanation, we covered in the last post, as Nephi tells us, after all the doubt and rebellious attitudes toward his ability to build a ship, “And it came to pass that after I had finished the ship, according to the word of the Lord, my brethren beheld that it was good, and that the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine” (1 Nephi 18:4), what does that tell us? 
• Third: Little expertise would be needed, except for holding to a single course, at least initially—the main thing would be to hold on, keep the rudder level (“amidships”) and enjoy the ride out into deep water, something Nephi, Sam and Zoram could have handled during those initial “many days”;
    What must have bothered the mutinous and rebellious brothers, other than not wanting to work, they felt caught in a family circumstance where their younger brother was lording the right of decision making over them, announcing he was going to build a ship that he would take them across the ocean before them. They knew Nephi had never built a ship before, and probably nothing at all as significant as that, so here they were being forced to trust their lives to a large ship Nephi was going to build that might sink the minute they get it into the water, or somewhere out to sea, taking them and their families with them down to a watery grave. As they said, “Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters” (1 Nephi 17:17). How frightening it must have been to think they would set sail on a ship built by Nephi, who knew nothing of building a ship, and attempt to cross a vast distance across the great deep. Nor did they believe Nephi was instructed of the Lord (1 Nephi 17:18).
    Without sea trials, the words "good ship" would have been as meaningless as saying a "good airplane" before seeing if it could fly.
    Yet, after the ship was built, the brothers called it “good” and “exceedingly fine,” obviously suggesting they had been on it and seen that it floated, steered, moved about and performed as it should.
    This, then, brings us to:
2. Getting the Ship out of a Bay or Lagoon and into the Open Sea: There would be no impact of the ocean currents or waves on the ship as it entered the sea at Khor Rori because of the twin promontories at the entrance to the inlet.

Top: NASA satellite view of Khor Rori inlet, which flows toward the sea, and the twin promontories on either side of the entrance—the sandbar shown did not exist in Lehi's time or for many centuries after that; Bottom: Khor Rori looking out to sea—the two promontories are shown on either side of the inlet
    Normally, the major difficulty in handling the ship would have been moving from the minimal current from the inlet (khor) into the ocean current. Part of the problem is the timing of the current and the tides, which are not always associated with one another. The current flow of a coastline is usually the result of a complex set of forces. Contributing factors include tidal current, wind-driven current, prevailing offshore ocean circulation, river runoff, water depth, and local currents running parallel and perpendicular to the shoreline caused by the surf. This coastal flow is also strongly affected by the shape of the coastline, as well as the region that lies between the surf zone and the shelf.
    It is easy to say that you simply sail a vessel out of the river, inlet, stream or khor, and into the sea; however, the variable forces involved can be quite dynamic, beginning with needing the tide in your favor as it recedes past or through these forces enabling a ship to breach them to gain deep or blue water. As an example, in some cases, it could be next to impossible to get out of a harbor against an incoming tide, consequently, most mariners set sail with the tide, especially in ports with significant tidal currents. So departures would be planned with the outgoing tide in order to get to the open sea without fighting adverse currents and using the currents to get out if there was little wind or headwinds.
    And here Khor Rori has a unique feature that creates a breakwater arrangement to offset the inflowing breakers and make a smooth transition, which is especially true when the wind is blowing together with the Tide, causing a calm condition and enabling just about anyone to manage by simply letting the current of the river flowing into the sea carry them through.

Flanked on either side by a sweet-water creek, Khor Rori, that ripples like turquoise silk, it enters the sea between craggy cliffs; at low tide a bar of yellow sand closes off the mouth. About three centuries after Lehi left here, Omani sailing dhows fashioned from Malabar hardwood brought ivory from the African coast, cotton from Egypt and spices from India. They still make such boats north along the coast at Sur, where Indian workmen chisel the spars by hand and the air is rich with the scent of freshly planed timber. Omani navigators became as proficient at plotting a course on the water as they already were in the desert, with one of the greatest of them, Ahmad Ibn Majid, reputedly provided Vasco da Gama with an Arab navigational aid in the 15^th century, the astrolabe, and then piloted the Portuguese explorer during his first voyage to Kolkota
    This unique feature, the two promontory cliff faces on either side of the inlet mouth, block out or screens the winds and currents at this one critical junction where the Khor enters the Sea.
    Called the Iqita’at Mirbat and the Inqita’at Taqah, these 60-feet to 90-feet high cliffs provide a breakwater at the mouth of the current or inlet and, like any modern breakwater, void the effect of incoming waves, tide, and currents, making for a smooth movement of a sailing vessel from the khor or inlet out into the sea.
     It should be noted that before Nephi's family entered his ship for the voyage to the New World, they knew that the finished ship was "good," and the "workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine" (1 Nephi 18:4). The wordage here implies that they must have already been on the ship, like in conducting successful sea trials. Otherwise, how could they have judged the ship's workmanship unless they saw that the hull was sound and watertight, that the ship rested properly and equally balanced in the water, and that the ship handled well in various seas. How extensive this might have been is unknown, and likely it would not have taken much to conduct since the Lord was the teacher and Nephi the “captain” who gave the orders.
Anyone who has ever steered or handled the tiller of a sailing ship where maneuvering and tacking was not involved can tell you it is rather boring after a short time. All you do is keep the “wheel” (rudder) in a particular position and the wind and sea currents do all the work.

In fact, probably the first real test of their sailing ability was not seen for “many days” until the brothers rebelled, mutinied and tied the “captain” up (left) and took over the ship. At this point, because the Liahona stopped working (suggesting it had been working right along and telling Nephi what to do and what direction to steer the ship, i.e., where to hold the tiller) and the mutineers panicked (1 Nephi 18:13).

At this point the ship was driven back, the storm increased, the waters engulfed the vessel and they “were about to be swallowed up in the depths of the sea” (1 Nephi 18:13).
     Between these two points in time, boarding the ship and the mutiny, there was plenty of time in which everyone could have become fully acquainted with the ship, cooking, eating, furling sails, handling rigging, and steering according to the Liahona’s directions and the words as they appeared from time to time telling them what to do (1 Nephi 16:29).
     Going by way of the Southern Ocean, and following the currents we have discussed numerous times in previous articles, the activity of the crew would have been minimal. The ship was “driven forth before the wind,” the occupants had the Liahona to tell them what to do, and the rest was pretty much a quick trip at the narrowest point of the globe, covering the least distance possible. Another reason why island-hopping across the Pacific simply would have been out of the question for the Lehi party to have managed, especially manipulating the many problems the Malacca Strait and heading through Indonesia would have caused.

What Did Nephi Mean “It was Good and Exceedingly Fine-Part I

It is interesting how often theorists, with answers right before their eyes, skip over what they consider of little import in their search for answers. When Nephi tells us, after all the doubt and rebellious attitudes toward his ability to build a ship, “And it came to pass that after I had finished the ship, according to the word of the Lord, my brethren beheld that it was good, and that the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine” (1 Nephi 18:4). 
    What was it that changed the mind of his rebellious brothers from mocking his ability and calling him a fool to think he could build a ship (1 Nephi 17:17),) and then saying it was good and exceedingly fine? And what led them to consider the vessel “good” and “exceedingly fine”?

First, we receive numerous inquiries as to why we favor Khor Rori over Khor Kharfot, since both inlets are along the southern Arabian coast, the former to the east of Salalah in Oman, and the latter to the west of Salalah in Yemen, and promoted by George Potter and Richard Wellington. Certainly both sites offer many of the pre-requisites Nephi mentions in his account of the ship building location; however, there are a couple of unique items that exist at Khor Rori and do not exist at Khor Kharfot that would make a world of difference to the circumstances of Nephi’s ship and its inexperienced crew.
    To begin with, there are only a few places anywhere along the southern Arabian coast where a ship the size of Nephi’s could have been built. Whether or not Nephi had help in building his ship other than his own party has and probably will be a point of discussion and disagreement among researchers and scholars for some time to come; however, since we do not know how many people were actually in Lehi’s party, including the households of  both Lehi and Ishmael, including servants, slaves etc., one could go down that path for quite a while as well—especially when we factor in that Lehi was leaving in secret and Zoram’s agreement to join them solved the problem of leaving someone behind and their “fears did case concerning him” (1 Nephi 4:35), so that anyone in the households of either Lehi or Ishmasel would not have been left behind.
    Some claim that it would have taken a well-trained crew of shipwrights to build such a vessel and also to crew such a ship across the ocean. However, the scriptural record seems to suggest that others were not included in this endeavor outside the original party, which was likely, as we have pointed out in earlier articles, much larger than most might think.

Consider just one point: any shipwrights building boats along the coast would have their own way of building that dated back hundreds, even thousands of years. They worked by experience and eye, not by drawings or plans, as they sat in the shade of a canvas awning chipping razor-sharp adzes against the 6-inch thick baulks of timber, which had been marked out for the frames by eye.
    The vast majority of their work was done with hammer and chisel; only very reluctantly did they pick up a saw or a plane. The soft iron chisel was their tool, and with it they could work wonders. They could carve a plank into delicate curves, or they could shape the 60-foot spar into a taper as if it had been turned on a giant lathe. They were craftsmen whose original caste in India had been carpenters. Their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and untold generations before that, had been carpenters.
    It would be hard to imagine that a young Hebrew, knowing nothing of ships, could have convinced any of them to depart from “the ways of man” as they had done for generations, and build “after the manner” Nephi showed them.
    There is simply no way Nephi, if he had employed experienced ship builders as many theorists claim, could have built his ship and not “work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men,” and neither could he have built “it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men” (1 Nephi 18:2)—no shipwright worth his salt, having generations of experience in the art of ship building along the southern Arabian coast, would have allowed some young man to tell them how to work the timbers other than what they had done throughout their lifetime.
    Any Arab ship builders would have been in their trade for centuries, originally learning the art from boat builders of India who first designed and built the dhow, considered to be an Arab vessel. In fact the dhow, or the boat of the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, which was considered an art passed down from one generation to another, unchanged for more than two thousand years until Europeans introduced the square stern to the previously double-ended vessel (pointed at both ends and called a boom). Thus, dhows with square sterns existed from the 16^th century became known as gaghalah, ganja, sanbuuq, jihaazi. 

Left: The dhow with both ends pointed was the ship design for 2,000 years until (right) the Europeans introduced the square stern, which the dhow quickly adopted, and absolutely essential for deep sea sailing to prevent following seas from swamping the boat
    Nephi had inexperienced construction people in his brothers, the sons of Ishmael, and whoever else was in their party from the two households, such as Zoram, and any servants or slaves they could not leave behind to tell where they had gone.
    As for location, Khor Kharfot seems to lack a couple of important factors. On the other hand, Khor Rori not only meets all of the requirements listed in the scriptural record, but includes a couple that would be necessary given the conditions Nephi mentions.
    The first of these factors would be so-called “sea trials,” and the second would be getting the ship out of a bay or lagoon and into the open sea.
1. Sea Trials: As is the case with any new ship, sea trials are taken to make sure the ship is sea worthy, that leaks can be found and fixed, that the rigging is working, sails can be unfurled and taken in with ease and care, the right amount of ballast is involved, and the vessel handles well in sea conditions. As important as this is as a precautionary measure, sea trials allow the captain (Nephi) and the crew to work together in understanding how to handle the ship itself.
    Contrary to popular belief, since Nephi describes his ship as being “driven forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 18:8), we know several things that scholars seem to overlook:
• First: With sails unfurled, the wind moved the ship—thus, a vessel with fixed sail “runs” before the wind when the wind is behind the ship. With a rudder, you can make very minor corrections until the wind dies down and a small current allows a minimal change of course.

The top arrow shows the direction of the wind (from top to bottom), with the (red arrow) sailing ships “running” before the wind—or as Nephi called it, “driven forth before the wind.” The other ship directions would be related to “tacking”and not available options until 2000 years after Nephi sailed in a ship that was “driven forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 18:8,9) 
• Second: With currents and winds blowing and moving in only one direction, away from shore (monsoons), and no obstacles (islands, land masses, etc.) in the way, the ship required a “light hand” on the helm—a lack of sailing experience at this point would not be a problem as long as the steerage was handled by someone with a cool head, which would have been Nephi who had the Liahona and an undying trust in the Lord.

(See the next post, “Meaning of Words and Statements-Part XIV: That it was Good and Exceedingly Fine,” for a further explanation of what Nephi meant when he wrote the above)

What Did Nephi Mean “They did grow exceedingly; wherefore, we were blessed in abundance”

In the last post the #1 item on the list was that “ Crops that grew in abundance (1 Nephi 18:24; 2 Nephi 5:11).” Everyone who reads the Book of Mormon passes over these statements with little pause and seldom even a second thought, but as we have pointed out time and again on these pages, that was not a common occurrence anciently. 
    Seeds from one clime did not grow in another clime, or if they did, they did very poorly for a few seasons until the seeds became accustomed to the new conditions of soil, precipitation, weather, temperature, etc. 
    We know, for example, that the seeds Nephi planted were those brought from Jerusalem. He tells us upon landing that they “did begin to till the earth, and we began to plant seeds; yea, we did put all our seeds into the earth, which we had brought form the land of Jerusalem” (1 Nephi 18:24).

Koepper’s Climate  Classifications showing the various climates of the World
As an example, the temperature of seeds that grow in Jerusalem fit a unique pattern or climate referred to agriculturally and climatologists as a Mediterranean Climate in the science of climate, which is a branch of the atmospheric sciences and a subfield of physical geography, which is one of the Earth Sciences. This field dates back to Shen Kuo in 1031-1095 near the Yan’an Shaanxi province, but more modern men such as Edmund Halley (1686) and even Benjamin Franklin, who first mapped the ourse of the Gulf Stream, with Francis Galton (1822-1911) invented the term anticyclone, and Helmut Landsberg (1906-1985) fostered the use of statistical analysis in climatology, which led to its evolution into a physical science.
    The study of contemporary climates incorporates meteorological data accumulated over many years, such as records of rainfall, temperature, and atmospheric composition. Knowledge of the atmosphere and its dynamics is also embodied in models, either statistical or mathematical, which help by integrating different observations and testing how they fit together. Modeling is used for understanding past, present and potential future climates.

Historical climatology is the study of climate as related to human history and thus focuses only on the last few thousand years. 

World’s climate categories: Tropical, Dry, Moderate, Continental and Polar. A Mediterranean Climate falls in the Moderate category 
    Present climate is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth's surface at a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of that area. This includes the region's general pattern of weather conditions, seasons and weather extremes like hurricanes, droughts, or rainy periods. Two of the most important factors determining an area's climate are air temperature and precipitation.
    World biomes are controlled by climate. The climate of a region will determine what plants will grow there, and what animals will inhabit it. All three components, climate, plants and animals are interwoven to create the fabric of a biome.

Showing the extent of the world’s  five Mediterranean climates including the Mediterranean Basin and showing that there are only two in the entire Western Hemisphere: California and central Chile
    One of the unique world climates is the Mediterranean Climate. It is a climate typical of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate. It is “a climate distinguished by warm, wet winters under prevailing westerly winds and calm, hot, dry summers, as is characteristic of the Mediterranean region and parts of California, Chile, South Africa, and southwestern Australia.” In fact, it is generally accepted that the Mediterranean climate occurs in southern and southwestern Australia, central Chile, coastal California, the Western Cape of South Africa and around the Mediterranean Basin. The largest area with a Mediterranean climate is the Mediterranean Basin, which has given the climate its name, although stretches of the Mediterranean coast (in Egypt, Libya and part of Tunisia) are too dry to be thus classified. More than half of the total Mediterranean-climate regions on earth occur on the Mediterranean Sea. This means that the rest of the world’s Mediterranean climate is found only in a few locations, as indicated above, making those climates outside the Mediterranean Basin indeed unusual or unique.
    As an example, the Mediterranean areas of California and Chile are constricted to the east by mountains closes to the Pacific coast, though in Australia and South Africa, where monsoon troughs may bring summer rainstorms, the Mediterranean climate extends further inland.
    The seasonality of the Mediterranean climate differs profoundly from that of latitudes to the north or south. Writers, especially those from the north, tend to rave about the attractive features of the climate as "one continuous summer," "an ever-blue sky," or "everlasting sun."

Showing the Mediterranean Climate Bands along the latitudinal lines 
    As an example, in Mediterranean climate winter, periods of rain alternate with warm, sunny days. Later the splendid spring display is brought to an abrupt end by hot, dry winds and rising temperatures, which cause seeds to ripen and disperse. When the glorified “continuous summer” arrives it is painfully long, so that plants retire into dormancy, making us believe they are about to die. Indeed, a long, hot summer is required by most Mediterranean bulbs if they are to go dormant and ripen in the dry ground. But that summer must be preceded by cool seasons (winter and spring) with soft rains that let the bulbs grow and sprout, so that their juicy stems and shiny foliage can develop in a humid soil before their jubilant spring display. These contrasts are characteristic of the Mediterranean climate.
    This climate of mild, rainy winters and dry, warm summers is found only in California, Central Chile, the Cape Region of South Africa, the southwestern part of Australia and the Mediterranean Basin, an area that covers less than two percent of the world’s land mass. If you eliminate the Mediterranean Basin (since that is where Lehi’s seeds came from in Jerusalem), then you have perhaps ½ of 1 % of the world’s land mass or less—an area that restricts the location of where Lehi’s Land of Promise could possibly have been located,i.e., either in the California coastal and inland basin, or coastal central Chile, since seeds from one climate, especially in 600 B.C. would not have grown in another climate, certainly not exceedingly to the extent of providing an abundant crop.
    It is information like this, ignored by most people who read the scriptural record, that can tell us where Lehi landed and where the Land of Promise was located.

What It’s All About? Part II

Continuing the list of Andean Peru matches to the scriptural record that no other claimed Land of Promise can claim. The first 40 actual references appear in the last post, below, are other factors or criteria found in the scriptural record and in the area of Andean Peru, such as:
1. Crops that grew in abundance (1 Nephi 18:24; 2 Nephi 5:11);

The Nephites had a civilized society with building and accomplishments; the Lamanites were a nomadic family, living off the land and living in tents or abandoned Nephite buildings
2. Two distinct societies whose living conditions differed considerably from one another (Enos 1:20);
3. Signs of a combining or mixing of two cultures not at war with each other (Omni 1:19);
4. An explosion of cultural development, building, and rapid growth around 600 B.C. (Nephites entered the Land of Promise, 2 Nephi 5:15)
5. The geographical settings showing why cities and lands were so divided in the Land of Promise even though the Nephites filled up the land from sea to sea (Helaman 3:8)
6. A single language spoken by the surviving Lamanites after the destruction of the Nephite nation (Moroni the last Nephite; Mormon 8:5, 7)
7. A series of devastating wars around 400 A.D. in which one group was either totally or almost totally annihilated (Mormon 6:11-15; 8:2, 7)
8. A land where earliest beginnings are along the southern coast, then the next major development of culture in the southern highlands, and the second development in the north
(First Landing: Alma 22:28; City of Nephi, land of Nephi: Alma 22:27; Zarahemla and Bountiful: Alma 22:29)
9. A land to the north of the Land of Promise where Nephite building, constructions, culture, skills, and evidences are to be found (Alma 63:4, 6-7);
10. A reason why the Lamanites attacked the coastal Nephite cities rather than using other lines of attack (Helaman 1:26).
    In addition, a very involved, lengthy, and exact legend found in Peru and reported by several Spanish conquistador recorders, having heard the legends from many sources, talk about four brothers coming into the land of promise (1 & 2 Nephi). These legends talk of:

1. A central figure leading the group
2. An honored father (parents)
3. One was the ruler of the first settlers, and
4. Brothers coming to the Land of Promise as the first settlers
5. One group in the south who settled the land suddenly and were more skilled, but a
6. Second group, further south, eventually annihilated them
7. The appearance of a kindly, divine being after a period of darkness and devastation,
8. Who teaches light and truth of his ways and then disappears and is never seen again  (3 Nephi 8:20-23; 10:9; 11:1,8)
9. Two groups joining each other for a time, then fracturing once again (4 Nephi 1:2-3; 38-39)
10. A series of devastating wars around 400 A.D. in which one group was either totally or almost totally annihilated (Mormon 6:11-15; 8:2, 7)
11. A people of the Middle East, typically white skinned, bearded, and wearing flowing robes (as Jews typically looked in 600 B.C.) arrive or appear suddenly on the scene
12. Considered religious and spreaders of culture
13. Who are eventually wiped out or disappeared
    Of course, the record found in First and Second Nephi tells the story of a family arriving in the Land of Promise, where the father, a prophet, was considered wise and valiant, and one son, a highly respected and beloved leader, became the ruler of the people.  In Nephi's case, the people wanted him to be their ruler:  "...they would that I should be their king." (1 Nephi 5:18)  And after his death, he was so highly respected and beloved, that:  "...the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name. And whoso should reign in his stead were called by the people 2nd Nephi and 3rd Nephi..." (Jacob 1:11). And throughout his life, Nephi honored and respected his father (1 Nephi 11:5) and never tried to usurp his authority (1 Nephi 16:23).
    Obviously, one can only assume such a beloved figure would show up in the legends of later inhabitants of the Land of Promise. In this, a rich tradition can be found in Peru. Sinchi Roca was the son of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, the legendary hero and his wife who were the founders of the Andean people.
    Manco Capac, the father, was a wise and most valiant man who had a golden staff and led ten clans of men and women into the land. His son, Sinchi Roca, which means "war chief" became the ruler and he had three brothers who came with him, then disappeared. Sinchi Roca built Cuzco and later conquered by persuasion and kindness where possible, but by force when necessary.
    While these legends are reported as Inca regarding a first people, long before the Inca themselves (though adopted by the Inca into their pantheon), older Peruvian legends of the first six centuries A.D. name a Naymlap god-leader from an earlier time.

And what better description of Nephi can one find?  He was the son of honored parents, he was the founder of the Nephite people, he built the City of Nephi, he had brothers who disappeared (or rebelled and disassociated themselves from the main Nephite group), he was a "war chief", leading the Nephites against the Lamanites in many wars (2 Nephi 5:34), yet he was a man of persuasion, always trying to talk his wayward brothers out of a problem, and a man of kindness, he always forgave his brothers (2 Nephi 33:3), but he was also a man of force when necessary (2 Nephi 5:14; Jacob 1:10).  His father, Lehi, was a wise and valiant man, who preached in Jerusalem though many were out to kill him (1 Nephi 1:20; 2:1), and who brought his family across half the world to a Land of Promise. This legend also speaks of a Sapa Inca, a Sole Lord!  Or, in Nephite language, the Lord, the one and only God, the true God!  And the descendants of these people, later called the Inca, considered themselves the "children of the Sun,” which might have originally meant the Children of the Son of God from earlier legends.

Indian legends of Peru, which claim their ancestors came from the sea, refer to a Naymlap, their great leader, who, after establishing the people of the Andes, ascended into heaven.  After his death, or ascent, his people, who had become great and numerous, were conquered by a people from the south. In reality, the Nephites, who occupied the lands to the north of the Lamanites, were eventually destroyed by those Lamanites "from the south."
    It is interesting that, despite these numerous and documented matches to the scriptural record, John L. Sorenson and other Mesoamerican theorists claim that there is “no other possibility for the Land of Promise other than Mesoamerica.” In fact, Sorenson claims that:
“Ingenious and impassioned arguments have been mustered in support of other theorized areas (from the Great Lakes to Peru or encompassing the entire hemisphere) as the scene for Nephite history. But every proposed geographical setting other than Mesoamerica fails to meet the criteria established by the text of Mormon's account.
    It is hard to believe anything could be found to match the scriptural record more than what has been listed in these two posts.

---

What It’s All About? Part I

There is one critically important question regarding all the various ideas about the location of the Book of Mormon Land of Promise: 
"Does anyone (especially theorists) really consider the scriptures first before picking or choosing a location for their Book of Mormon Land of Promise model?"

The Mayan ruins of Tulum—Mayan territory extended 125,000 square miles across what today is Southern Mexico (including the Yucatan), Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador 
    It is obvious there are certain appealing aspects to some areas—such as the magnificent ruins found in Mesoamerica that are claimed to have dated, more or less, to the Jaredite and Nephite period (of course, that is in serious doubt once carbon dating is understood). There is the hill Cumorah in upstate western New York. There are the myriad of animals in the Malay Peninsula. There is the peninsula shape “nearly surrounded by water” of Baja California. There is the parochial status of the Church today in the “Land of the Free,” that befits the parameters of a land of promise in the heartland of the United States. There is the singular impressive Mississippi River reminiscent of the River Sidon;. There is evidence of a writing system in Central America.
    Each of these and a handful of other points can be made about different locations to try and prove a geographical setting for the scriptural record.
    However, the Land of Promise that Mormon describes is a lot more complete than a handful of criteria typically listed to support this or that model and location. We have often seen upwards of six or eight criteria listed by different theorists, even as much as ten, however, most of these are often “soft” or changeable points, like two societies are constantly at war with one another. While that is a match to the scriptural record, it is possible to apply such to most any area since early neighboring societies were typically at war with one another.
    Another point is a written language. Though that is a match to a scriptural point, for it to matter and be compared, the language would have to be traced to either Hebrew or Egyptian, which no ancient language in the Western Hemisphere as yet been linked. Still another criteria would be a narrow neck of land, however, though the word “narrow” has caused a great deal of differing opinions, from a few feet across to 144 miles wide, and though it is linked with a travel distance of a day-and-a-half, that, too, has caused differing opinions, as well as topographical issues like a narrow neck or a river can be altered over time from changes in earth movement.

Left: Gold, silver and copper in a single ore; Middle: The llama (alpaca not shown), two animals extremely valuable to ancient man; Right: Quinoa (kaniwa not shown), two super grains superior in ways to wheat and barley
   The point of an actual criteria that is both scriptural-based and location-specific, would be things like finding metallurgy (the correct or matching ore), two unknown animals of great worth to man, or two unknown grains on a par with wheat and barley. Those types of things can be pin-pointed to a specific area and to a specific time and not easily found just anywhere. The same is true with a plant that is used to treat killing fevers, or a climate that matches that of Jerusalem.
    Nor does a single, or a couple, or even a handful of matches mean much when there are so many descriptive scriptural references given in the record. As an example, here are listed forty (40) scriptural references to such criteria that should be found in the Land of Promise—not just some of them, but all of them!
1. The cureloms and cumoms unknown animals (Ether 9:19);
2. Neas and Sheum unknown grains (Mosiah 9:9).
3. The unknown ore Ziff (Mosiah 11:3);
4. All manner of ore (1 Nephi 18:25);
5. Gold, silver and copper as a single ore (1 Nephi 18:25);
6. Growing of wheat and barley (Mosiah 9:9);
7. Working in metal ore and precious metals (2 Nephi 5:15);
8. Coins (Alma 11:3-20);

The fortress of Ollantaytambo--one of many fortresses and small outpost resorts found all through the Andean areas of Ecuador, Peru, western Bolivia and northern Chile—almost all built for defense and an early warning outpost system, what are called "outposts"
9. Forts and resorts (Alma 48:5, 8);
10. Plants and herbs to cure fever (Alma 46:40);
11. The Land of Promise was an island (2 Nephi 10:20);
12. Climate to grow seeds from Jerusalem (1 Nephi 18:24);
13. The great defensive wall built by the Nephites (Helaman 4:7);
14. Circumcision or the Law of Moses (Helaman 9:21);
15. Mountains whose height is great (Helaman 14:23);
16. Four seas (Helaman 3:8);
17. Winds and currents leading to the Land of Promise (1 Nephi 18:8-9);
18. A narrow neck that is really narrow—day-and-a-half journey to cross (Alma 22:32);
19. A defensible narrow passage within the narrow neck of land (Alma 50:34);
20. High quality textiles, including fine-twined linen and silk (Alma 1:29);
21. All types of buildings (Mosiah 8:8);
22. Noah’s tower next to the temple (Mosiah 11:12);
23. A land that is north-south oriented (Alma 22:27);
24. Sidon River flows northward past Land of Zarahemla (Alma 22:27);
25. Walls of Stone around various lands (Alma 48:8);
26. Advanced civilization to north where Hagoth’s ships sailed (Alma n63:4);
27. Roads and highways from land to land and city to city and place to place (3 Nephi 6:8);
28. Land of volcanoes and earthquakes (3 Nephi 8:12);
29. Land of many waters, rivers and fountains (Mormon 6:4);
30. Sea that divides the land (Ether 10:20);
31. Landing site for Nephi’s ship with adjacent matching climate, forest, and ores (1 Nephi 18:24-25).
32. Nephi’s landing site on West Sea, southward in the Land of Nephi (Alma 22:28);
33. Nephi’s landing site on the sea over which they traveled (2 Nephi 10:20);
34. Plants and roots for medincinal cures (Alma 46:40);
35. A hill in the north lands where records or treasures were believed buried (Mormon 1:3; 4:23; 6:6);
36. A land where seams and cracks in the rocks and mountains can be found significant enough to be mentioned in religious and secular history (Helaman 14:22; 3 Nephi 8:18);

Top: The Inca warrior armed with a sling that did so much damage against the Spaniards and their horses, felling a horse with a single stone; Bottom: Modern Ch'iaroje, an annual ritual battle among Checa y Quehue communities, who fight in a war game using the ancient weapons of slignshots
37. Use of sling and stones for weapons (Alma 2:12; 3:5; 17:7; 43:20; 49:20);
38. Skeletal remains of great battles (Mosiah 8:8);
39. Culture and society dominated by religion (Mosiah 25:18-19, 24);
40. The long, narrow plain or valley between Zarahemla and Bountiful up which Coriantumr raced in his attempt at conquest (Helaman 1:27).
(See the next post, “What It’s All About-PtII,” for this continuing list of Andean Peru matches to the scriptural record that no other claimed Land of Promise can claim)