Empty Quarters of the Jaredites

Below are the four most important questions you can answer that assist you in discovering the path of the Jaredites travel to the Promised Land of North America.

1-Where did the Lord command the Jaredites to travel to, after the tower of Babel fell? “That they should go forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been?” Ether 2:5 Where is this quarter of land?
2- How many sets of barges did the Jaredites build as the Lord said, “go to work and build, after the manner of barges which ye have hitherto built” and where did the Jaredites build each seperate set of barges? Ether 2:16
3. How many days were the Jaredites on the water before reaching the Promised Land, and where in the world would barges be able to be continuously on the water in this long of a journey?  “And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water.” Ether 6:11
4. Is there archaeology found today that can verify the Jaredites timeline [apx. 2200 BC] in these areas of travel? Yes!

I will discuss briefly these four questions. For my complete blog read here.

Answer these 4 questions and you will follow my logic in understanding where the Jaredites may have traveled from and to.

My Summation:
I believe the Jaredites traveled on foot from the Tower of Babel area, to near Kuwait, built their first set of barges and crossed “many waters” [gulfs, inlets, seas, bays etc] beginning at the Persian Gulf. After sailing through this gulf, they continued through the Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, Gulf of Thailand, South China Sea and perhaps the Philippine Sea. They plausibly arrived in either Japan, Taiwan, or near Shanghai, China and stayed for 4 years building their 2nd set of barges to sail on the Great Waters or ocean to the Promised Land. They were on the water 344 days, landing near Seattle WA. 

Great Sea

Ether 2:13 that great sea which divideth the lands. [this=Atlantic, that=Pacific] Jared did not know about Atlantic which is only 150 years after Noah. “That” great sea always existed.
Ether 2:22 wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this (speaking from China) great water in darkness?
Ether 2:25 for ye cannot cross this (speaking from China) great deep

Into the Wilderness

After the destruction of the Tower of Babel, the Jaredites were commanded to “go forth into the wilderness”. Ether 2:5. Which direction did they travel? Southeast! Why? Ether 2:7 tells us their direction as we explain below.

Where There Never Had Man Been

We read in the Book of Momron in Ether 2:7, “Yea, into that quarter where there never had man been.” This scripture speaks about where the Brother of Jared traveled after leaving the area near the Tower of Babel after it was destroyed. Where is this quarter where man had never been? Can this area give us an indication of the path the Jaredites traveled on their way to the Promised Land? Yes!

As you see in the map above, the most likely quarter of land near the tower that was a place that man had never been was the southeast quarter of land. Why? Once Noah’s ark landed just north of the Tower of Babel, look above at which lands were mostly populated. South west was the land of Ham and his descendants. Traveling northwest into Europe were mostly the people of Shem and traveling into the northesat into Asia were the people of Japeth. 

The Lord was directing the righteous Jaredites to travel to a place where “man had never been” so as to not be followed by the people who were less righteous than the Jaredites. Now realize there were most likely all three lineages of Ham, Shem, and Japeth that were part of these righteous Jaredites.

Today’s Empty Quarter

“That quarter where there never had man been” (Ether 2:5), is likely to the southeast or Babel which today is called the “Empty Quarter” as you read below.

“Saudi Arabia’s Rub’ al-Khali desert, also known as the Empty Quarter, is the world’s largest sand desert. It is the world’s largest area of continuous sand, covering about a quarter of the Kingdom’s land surface. 

The basin lying mainly in southeastern Saudi Arabia is where the wind plays a major role in forming and shaping its sand. Its sandy elevations could match the mountains in their high altitude, some of which may reach more than 450 meters.

‘One who can exit it, must be born again, while those inside, remain missing,’ the ancients used to say of this mythical desert, in line with tales of the “Lost City”.
It is believed that entering the desert without a guide is a step leading to imminent death, because of scarce water resources, extreme heat and inescapable mazes of sand, a type of which the human body can get immersed in up until the knees.

The sand dunes vary in the Empty Quarter and the entire desert can be divided into five sections based on their types.

It extends over four nations. About 80 percent of it lies in Saudi Arabia, while its eastern edges extend to the United Arab Emirates, and its southern border is in Oman. Parts of its southern and southwestern limits lie in Yemen.

Life in the Empty Quarter

Though its name suggests that no one lives there, many tribes have lived and still inhabit the region. One of the famous travelers to Arabia, St. John Philby, said that bedouins called it the Empty Quarter to refer to the vast and mysterious wilderness, adding that the bedouins would still like to call it “empty” though they inhabit the region.” Source:

It is very likely the Jaredites entered this emply quarter in Saudi Arabia as the Lord sent them to “that quarter where there never had man been”. Ether 2:5

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Jaredite Voyages- 1^st Set of Barges (“Many Waters”)

I believe the Jaredite information is so ancient (Apx 1800 to 2200 BC) which makes it difficult to be very accurate in determining the correct route of the Jaredites, but it is very interesting to speculate on the possibility of each voyage. With many hours of research, study and prayer I have come up with a very plausible route of the Jaredites to America.

Ether 2: 5 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go forth into the wilderness, yea, into that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel. (See map below. I have divided the map in quarters using the location of the Tower of Babel (Baghdad, Iraq) as the center point, where we believe the Jaredites lived close by. The quarter that is most likely to be where the Lord said, “that quarter where there never had man been“, is most likely the south east quarter. We know after the flood, Noah had three sons, Ham, Shem, and Japeth who began civilization near Mount Ararat in Turkey. After Noah landed at just north of Baghdad, Ham Shem and Japeth with family’s spread all over. They went northwest into Turkey, Greece, Poland and Europe. They spread northeast into Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. They also spread far into Egypt, Libya, Sudan and Ethiopia. It seems likely to me that they least traveled to the area of Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore as ship travel probably made it not as feasible to travel there. The people getting on a ship to go anywhere far away for just travel, seems unrealistic with all the land and water close by. Sea travel of course was great for trade around the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf, as the Phoenicians have proven. It says in Ether 2:6, they traveled in the wilderness, built barges, and crossed many waters. In my opinion it is most likely they traveled on foot towards the best water source to complete their long few voyages ahead. I don’t think they traveled towards the Mediterranean, as that is an area that many people were already located and not as the Lord said, “that quarter where there never had man been” Also travel to the north or east would require traveling over high mountainous terrain. See Map Below

With the Jaredites in the area of Babylon, any movement to the Steppes or more mountainous areas would require a considerable distance through and over a series of very tall mountains, that have restricted traffic and migration for millennia now. See the solid mass of mountains to the northwest, north, and northeast of Mesopotamia and the home of the Jaredites. In brown text above see the many mountain ranges surrounding Babylon to the North and the East. As you can see above the majority of migration was to the North, and West of Babylon. Some travel went northeast and southwest.  I am proposing “that quarter where there never had man been” is most likely towards the south east and the Persian Gulf.

Most likely the Jaredites built barges near today’s city of Kuwait just before taking their voyage. “And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, (Baghdad to Persia Gulf 655 Miles) and did build barges, (We aren’t told how many) in which they did cross many waters, (Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Laccadive Sea, Bay of Bengal, Andaman Sea, Malacca Strait, South China Sea, and Yellow Sea), directed continually by the hand of the Lord.” Ether 2:6. Italics added.

Once we begin understanding the initial travels of the Jardites from the tower, we can then add pieces to the picture, to understnad the rest of their travels. It makes sense that the Jardites entering the “Empy Quarter” of today’s saudi Arabia lines up nicely with the scripture in ether 2:7 that says, “into that quarter where there never had man been.”

For my detailed blog visit here: https://bookofmormonevidence.org/jaredites-2-sets-of-barges/