Abstract:
There exists many differences of opinion about the landing site of Lehi. There has been general agreement that Lehi probably began his exodus to the Promised Land near Khor Karfot, Oman before sailing to the New World. Those who believe in the Mesoamerican theory (M2C) think they sailed east towards India. Those of the Heartland Model (HM) feel Lehi sailed west toward the tip of Africa. You will see more about the discussion below. Those of M2C think Lehi landed somewhere on the west coast of South America and the HM think they landed near Florida. Those of M2C feel Lehi landed amongst a large population of Mayans. They also believe the Mayan civilization absorbed the Lehites and that is why today you find only Asian DNA amongst those people of South America. Those of us in the HM feel that Lehi landed amongst a few native hunter gathers in North America. We also believe there has been found Hebrew DNA in the Natives near the Great Lakes.
As the scripture says, “this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance.” 2 Nephi 1:8. This is why the Vikings and others were not allowed to remain upon the land. We would expect a smaller group that Lehi would greet. I can’t imagine how Nephi could be a King amongst just a few of Lehi’s people, if there was a large contingency of natives on the land previously.
“The Book of Mormon explains that Lehi’s sailing party left a coastline they named “Bountiful” in the Old World. Nephi’s descriptions lead us to believe they left the Arabian peninsula, probably in modern-day Oman or Yemen.
They crossed the “many waters” and landed at the promised land: “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did guide the ship, that we sailed again towards the promised land. And it came to pass that after we had sailed for the space of many days we did arrive at the promised land; and we went forth upon the land, and did pitch our tents; and we did call it the promised land.” (1 Nephi 18: 22-23)
This description is so vague that it leaves readers with many possibilities for the landing site. We know from Moroni’s statements to Joseph Smith that the Book of Mormon is a record of the ancient inhabitants of “this country” meaning the United States, and of “this continent,” meaning the American continent, but that says nothing about where Lehi’s group originally landed.
Nephi does tell us the approximate season of the year when they left the Old World, and knowing when they left tells us something about which direction they would have sailed. He states: “After we had prepared all things, much fruits and meat from the wilderness, and honey in abundance, and provisions according to that which the Lord had commanded us, we did go down into the ship, with all our loading and our seeds, an whatsoever thing we had brought with us, every one according to his age; wherefore, we did all go down into the ship, with our wives and our
children.” (1 Nephi 18:6). In the Oman area (see map on p. 30 above), there are two honey harvests each year, (spring and fall) but most fruit is harvested in the fall. That they gathered much fruit just prior to leaving suggests a fall departure. Nephi’s account continues, “…we did put forth into the sea and were driven before the wind…” (1 Nephi 18:8), which suggests that the ship was not traveling contrary to, but in concert with the Northeast monsoon winds that prevail at this season of the year and would have driven the ship southwest, along the eastern coast of Africa (see map on p. 35 above). This route would have rounded the cape into the Atlantic Ocean and followed the currents and winds across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. Once there, the route picks up the currents that Columbus utilized when he left Spain and sailed to the Canary Islands off the western coast of Africa having the ship proceeding westward.” Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and rod Meldrum page 30, 35, 535
14 FACTORS- APALACHICOLA, FLORIDA AS THE SITE OF LEHI’S LANDING!
- Navigational Proof: Phoenicia 2009 Expedition
- Length of voyage: 4-6 months vs. 14-18 months
- Time of Year: Leave in Sept or Oct. Land in March or April?
- Archaeology: 500-700 BC Mounds and Relics
- Bees and Honey: Only place in the world for Tupelo Honey
- Similar Latitude: Seeds would grow.
30° 26′ 17″ N (Tallahassee, FL)
30° 04’42” N (Cairo, Egypt)
31° 46′ 48″ N (Jerusalem)
19° 43’ 26” N (Mexico City)
15° 30′ 0″ N (Guatemala) - Mostly Unoccupied Area: 2 Nephi 1:8/Not overrun. Nephi=King
- Wind Currents: Leaving Oman in Sept (honey & fruit ripe), wind currents flow toward horn of Africa.
- Promised Land: Book of Mormon speaks of a Land of Liberty. (36 others) USA, not Mesoamerica
- Abundance of Food: Oman and Florida both called “A” Land Bountiful
- Same Land as Jaredites: [Cumorah and Ramah]
- Food prehistoric people needed: Deer, small mammals, Turtles. Bison, Mammoths, Bear, Elk further north.
- Signs of Hebrew writing or relics: Bat Creek Stone, Holy Stones, Hebrew Earthworks, etc.
- Access to Rivers: Chattahoochee only river source brings ice into the gulf.
See blog here for more details about Apalachicola
“The Nephites could not possibly have lived among the Mayans” by Jonathan Neville
covered in trees (left), and with the trees digitally removed. Credit: Ithaca College
Moroni’s America position- If you believe in the New York Cumorah, you will likely view this LiDAR discovery as additional evidence that the Nephites could not possibly have lived among the Mayans.
I think the text shows Lehi’s colony landing in the promised land, planting their own seeds, finding animals and ore in the wilderness, all while completely unimpeded by any existing civilization. (1 Ne. 18:23-5). I think Lehi’s observation that “this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations” was accurate; i.e., that there were no “other nations” in the promised land where they landed, “for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance” (2 Nephi 1:8). I do think think there were some indigenous people who went with Nephi when he fled (2 Nephi 5:6), but I infer they were unorganized hunter/gatherers that did not qualify as any sort of “nation” and were impressed by the Jewish immigrants’ technology, language, etc.
In my view, it is difficult enough to believe that Lehi’s family, a relative handful of immigrants from a distant culture speaking a different language, could have arrived and started planting crops on unclaimed land in Mesoamerica, encountering no resistance, but it is even more difficult to believe Lehi’s descendants could have managed to rule as kings and chief judges over even a part of a Mayan civilization, and that in the midst of this Mayan civilization, King Mosiah could have escaped with the Nephites into the wilderness and found a much larger group of illiterate people (the people of Zarahemla) who possessed exactly one engraven stone.
Now that we are learning from LiDAR that the Mayan civilization was even larger, more densely populated, and more sophisticated than we previously realized, the Book of Mormon seems even less plausible in that setting. IOW, the grander the Mayan civilization, the less likely it is that Lehi landed anywhere near that civilization.
This view is based on the text and has nothing directly to do with the New York Cumorah, but it does confirm my bias in favor of the New York Cumorah.
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M2C position. If you believe the M2C position that Cumorah is not in New York and that the entire Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica, you will likely view this LiDAR discovery as additional evidence that the Nephites must have lived among the Mayans.
The basic M2C concept is described in the Meridian Magazine article. It is the idea that the Nephites were absorbed into Mayan culture. That’s why there is no Israelite DNA in Central America, no traces of Nephite languages or the law of Moses or Christian beliefs and practices, etc. M2C proponents believe there were bottlenecks (both DNA-related and cultural) that screened out Nephite cultural influence.” Jonathan Neville blog here
Annotated Book of Mormon
“Within recent years there has arisen among certain students of the Book of Mormon a theory to the effect that within the period covered by the Book of Mormon, the Nephites and Lamanites were confined almost entirely within the borders of the territory comprising Central America and the southern portion of Mexico—the isthmus of Tehuantepec probably being the “narrow neck” of land spoken of in the Book of Mormon rather than the Isthmus of Panama (See Alma 50:34; 52:9; 63:5; Mormon 2:29; 3:5). This theory is founded upon the assumption that it was impossible for the colony of Lehi’s to multiply and fill the hemisphere within the limits of 1,000 years, or from the coming of Lehi from Jerusalem to the time of the destruction of the Nephites at the Hill Cumorah. Moreover, they claim that the story in the Book of Mormon of the migrations, building of cities, and the wars and contentions, preclude the possibility of the people spreading over great distances such as we find within the borders of North and South America.
“If we are willing to accept the Bible record, which is confirmed by the Doctrine and Covenants, the entire civilization of the earth was destroyed in the flood except Noah and his family (See Gen 6; 7; 8; Moses 7:36–43). Moreover, this destruction took place less than 5,000 years ago, and today the population of the earth, notwithstanding wars and destructions, is estimated [in 1954] at over 2,000,000,000 souls [2018 population estimated at 7,600,000,000, has nearly quadrupled in just 64 years]. The population of Europe, based upon the best records available, is vastly increased over that at the time of the discovery of America; yet upon this hemisphere are to be found hundreds of millions of people, descendants of European and Asiatic ancestors who knew nothing of this land before the discovery by Columbus. The rapid increase of posterity is known to every genealogist who has traced the record of the early settlers in this western country.
“This modernistic theory of necessity, in order to be consistent, must place the waters of Ripliancum and the Hill Cumorah some place within the restricted territory of Central America, notwithstanding the teachings of the Church to the contrary for upwards of 100 years. Because of this theory some members of the Church have become confused and greatly disturbed in their faith in the Book of Mormon. It is for this reason that evidence is here presented to show that it is not only possible that these places could be located as the Church has held during the past century, but that in very deed such is the case. It is known that the Hill Cumorah where the Nephites were destroyed is the hill where the Jaredites were also destroyed. This hill was known to the Jaredites as Ramah. It was approximately near to the waters of Ripliancum, which the Book of Ether says, ‘by interpretation, is large, or to exceed all’ – Ether 15:8. Mormon adds: ‘And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents round about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites,’ (Mormon 6:4)” –
Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Edited by Bruce R. McConkie, Vol. 3 [1999] 232–243. As stated on page 441 SPECULATION ABOUT BOOK OF MORMON GEOGRAPHY
Moroni’s America
“In an effort to explain the discrepancy between the enumerated (small) population and the large population implied by having wars and building a temple, proponents of a Mesoamerican setting suggest that–
“When the Book of Mormon peoples entered the not-empty New World, they entered a land that was not only populated, but which already boasted highly developed civilizations. The Book of Mormon does not explain Mesoamerican peoples—but Mesoamerican peoples help explain the Book of Mormon… With such a small Lehite population entering an established region with a significantly larger population, the most logical direction of cultural borrowing would have been from the established indigenous population to the small population that had originated in Jerusalem.[i]
This suggestion contradicts the text, in my opinion. I agree with the likelihood that the Nephites encountered indigenous people, but far from “cultural borrowing” from any “established indigenous population,” Nephi keeps the law of Moses and is soon teaching his people how to build a temple, make weapons, etc., as we’ll see in the next section.
Father Lehi’s statement about “other nations” directly contradicts the idea that the Nephites landed among “highly developed civilizations” that existed in Mesoamerica. On the other hand, Lehi’s statement is compatible with the various hunter/gatherer groups identified in the archaeological evidence in the southeastern United States at the time. Such groups would naturally be attracted to new arrivals who brought with them productive seeds for food, advanced technology for weapons and buildings, a written language and other benefits.
Another possibility for the relatively large population during Nephi’s lifetime is that Lehi brought servants along with him. I consider this likely.
Erastus Snow noted that, “The Prophet Joseph informed us that… Ishmael was of the lineage of Ephraim, and that his sons married into Lehi’s family, and Lehi’s sons married Ishmael’s daughters…these descendants of Manasseh and Ephraim grew together upon this American continent.”[ii]
In his analysis of Lehi’s group, John Sorenson noted that “Nothing is said about Zoram’s ancestry, but it seems statistically likely, given his bureaucratic/military role in Jerusalem, that he was a Jew, while both Lehi and Ishmael counted descent from Joseph.”[iii] This would make all of Lehi’s group “Israelites, principally the descendants of Joseph,” which is how Orson Pratt described them in his 1840 pamphlet.[iv] However, Joseph Smith made a correction to this language when he wrote the Wentworth Letter. Joseph wrote, “They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph.”[v] 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 (presumably Phoenicians). But it is also possible that he was referring to others who accompanied Lehi.
Here are John Sorenson’s comments on that topic.
Were there servants? No mention is made of male or female servants, yet it is possible that there were some. At first glance, 1 Nephi 2:4 would seem to rule that out, since reference is made only to Lehi’s taking “his family.” Yet Near Eastern usage would not rule out including servants under that heading without specifically distinguishing them. Lehi’s “great wealth” would seem to have called for at least female servants in the household. Nephi’s hesitancy about even adding Zoram to their party would not apply in the case of family retainers, who would have known no other life than service to Lehi and Sariah and had no alternative place in society in the land of Jerusalem even if they dreamed of defecting. I do not consider it likely that there were such people along, but the door should not be shut on the possibility, for they might account for some genetic variety in the colony as well as providing additional hands for the construction of the ship when they reached Bountiful.
Finally, I note that Lynn M. Hilton has proposed in an unpublished paper that Laman and Lemuel took dark-skinned South Arabian women as second wives during the sojourn in Bountiful, thus accounting for the skin color attributed to the Lamanites in the promised land in America. That the party had social interaction with local inhabitants in Bountiful on the south Arabian coast does seem likely, even inevitable. Among other things, Nephi claims “neither did I build the ship after the manner of men” (1 Nephi 18:2), implying that he had knowledge of other ships which almost certainly would have existed on that coast. However, Jacob 3:5, which credits the Lamanites with a tradition of strict monogamy, goes against the Hilton suggestion, but Lehi could have picked up families, or single people who married Lehi’s servants. We simply don’t know.
I think it is likely Lehi brought servants. The journey from Jerusalem through the wilderness would have been arduous for any small group, but also dangerous. Lehi was a wealthy man, and likely accustomed to desert travel; in the context of the times, he would have had servants to assist him in his work, as well as to assist the household. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that Lehi would have sent all of his sons back to Jerusalem, leaving Lehi and Sariah and their daughters alone in the wilderness, if he did not have servants. Perhaps he also sent servants to accompany his sons on their trips to Jerusalem.
Joseph Smith said the group was “principally Israelites,” so some of them were not. Apart from Zoram, the record gives no specifics on the identity of these non-Israelites. Had Zoram been the only exception, would Joseph have used the term “principally?” The term refers to rank or importance, not merely numbers, so even a significant number of non-Israelite servants would leave the group “principally Israelites.”
Mesoamerican advocates have considered but rejected the notion that Lehi’s party included servants or people from Arabia,[vi] but I think that approach reflects a desire to show that Lehi landed among a sophisticated Mesoamerican population. In my view, that idea contradicts the text.
To summarize: I think Lehi brought servants and landed in a mostly uninhabited area in Florida, among a small population of hunter/gatherers who lacked a well-organized society.” Moroni’s America pages 84-85
[i] Brant Gardner, Traditions of the Fathers, pp. 153-4.
[ii] Erastus Snow, “God’s Peculiar People,” Journal of Discourses, 23:184, available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni38.
[iii] John Sorenson, “The Composition of Lehi’s Family,” in By Study and Also by Faith, (Neal A. Maxwell Institute), available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni39.
[iv] Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, p. 15, available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni40.
[v] The Wentworth letter was published in the 1 March 1842 Times and Seasons. The Historical Introduction in the Joseph Smith Papers explains that the letter echoes some wording from Pratt’s pamphlet. The letter is available online at http://bit.ly/Moroni41.
[vi] E.g., Brant Gardner, Traditions of the Fathers, p. 156.
