When the single boat load of Nephite immigrants launched their ship, from the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, into the Indian Ocean, in 592 BC, they all but vanished from the face of the earth. No indication is given as to the direction they traveled , how long they were upon the water, or if they made stops in other lands to re-supply themselves. The Book of Mormon simply says that they were driven before the winds to a Promised Land, as were the Jaredites twenty one hundred years before. The critical question then , is where are these Promised Lands?
From subsequent events, we learn that the Americas are the Promised Lands. But North and South America are large land masses. Where, on the eastern or western seacoasts of these lands might this little colony of settlers have landed. Does the archaeological record give any indication of a literate people having established themselves in the New World about 600 BC, flourishing for a 1,000 years, and then destroying themselves through civil war? To answer these questions, we look first to the Book of Mormon, to see what the writers had to say about the geography and climate of their new homeland. Note: From an archaeological standpoint, the following civilizations are known to have existed in North, Middle, and South American:
The Book of Mormon is not a history book in the sense that it records chronological events of a people and their culture. It is rather a collections of letters, writings of a religions nature, and sermons, interwoven and bound together by the historical events that gave rise to their creation. Occasionally, when describing events such as battles, the movements of armies, visits of people from one place to another, how the land was divided between Nephites and Lamanites, the place where the Jaredites lived and died, migration of groups of people, etc., the writers gave significant clues as to the shape of the land in which they lived. By carefully reading these accounts and extracting the descriptive clues, it is possible to construct a theoretical map of the lands in which the events took place. With such a map in hand, the next logical step would be to try and correlate it with some location in the New World, to see if it fits with known archaeological sites and their respective time periods
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The land south had two major divisions: Nephi far to the south with a capital city by the same name, and Zarahemla in the north with a capital city by the same name. We get a feel for the distance between these two cities from an event that occurred when a large body of men, women and children were forced to flee from the land of Nephi, (actually from a place call the Waters of Mormon) to Zarahemla. Travel time was 21 days, and assuming a travel speed of 11 miles per day through relatively rugged terrain, we have a distance of between 230-250 miles. (Mosiah 18:17, 23:1-3; 24:20-25)
Other geographical features of Book of Mormon lands:
To summarize: The land northward had two major land divisions, a lowland east and highland west, and a hill (Cumorah/Ramah) that served as a prominent landmark. This hill was probably part of small range of mountains in the east coast lowlands. The land southward has six major geographical features:
It was a common practice among 19th century pioneer immigrants to keep journals of their journeys as they traveled by wagon train, or handcart to new lands in the west. One item that is prominent in these journals are their comments about the weather, especially if they encountered early winter snows, while still on the trail, such as the Willie and Martin handcart companies in Wyoming or the Donner Party in the Sierra Mountains. The Book of Mormon never mentions cold weather or snow, but does speak of heat and fevers at certain times of the year, diseases caused by the nature of the climate, and roots and plants that had been prepared for the treatment of these illnesses, which would be indicative of a tropical or semi-tropical setting. (Alma 46:40) Any archaeological location in the western hemisphere that might be identified with the Book of Mormon story must also meet the following requirements:
The "narrow neck of land" is our best clue. Proposed locations have included Panama, the Yucatan peninsula, locations in Nicaragua, and New York. The most probable and suitable location for the "narrow neck" however is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Southern Mexico. This isthmus and the surrounding environs, with their vast treasures of archaeological sites best reflects a narrow neck with a land southward nearly surrounded by water. This is the area called Mesoamerica or Middle America. This is the one area in all of North and South America that had a population base totally in the millions, whose people communicated with each other by writing, and who constructed numerous cities throughout the length and breath of the land, all basic requirements for the setting of the Book of Mormon story.
A Note of Caution: The following is a best fit comparison. It can not be said with 100% certainty that the comparison is an exact fit or the final word on the subject. It is a model, and for the present time, this model works. New linguistic studies or archaeological discoveries may alter the model.
North of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, on the Atlantic, or Gulf side, lies the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is a rich agricultural lowland area, noted for numerous archaeological sites of great antiquity. This land slopes gently towards the north and drains a vast forested area into the Atlantic. The coastal areas, especially around the Coatzacoalcos River are soggy wetlands, filled with rivers, lagoons, and swamps that greatly restrict travel through this region . The Coatzacoalcos River runs through the isthmus and is a natural dividing line between the Mexican lands to the north - Veracruz, and Oaxaca, from lands to the south - Tabasco, and Chiapas. Going from the lowlands of Veracruz, to the highland valley of Oaxaca, the direction is up.
Southeast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec lies the relatively dry and airid valley, called the Central Depression of Chiapas. This is a long valley that is rimmed on the west by the Sierra Madre Mountains, through which flows the Grijalva River. These mountains produce a rainshadow effect on the valley, meaning that the moist air coming off the Pacific drops its moisture on the western slopes before crossing the mountains, thus leaving the interior dry. Starting on the Pacific side of the isthmus, and stretching far into Guatemala, an approximate distance of 100 miles, is a coastal strip of land, 5-10 miles wide. The Sierra Madre Mountains which form the western edge of the coastal strip can only be crossed at its southern end near the Guatemala/Mexican border and in the north via a pass adjacent to the isthmus.
On the Pacific side of Guatemala, the coastal strip broadens out considerably, allowing for abundant agricultural land. As one heads inland, from this Pacific coastal region, the land elevation changes abruptly, the terrain becomes mountainous as one enters the famed highlands of Guatemala. Guatemala City is the capital of the country with a pleasant, year round, average temperature of 72 degrees. The city sits in a broad valley ringed by volcanoes. Traveling north from Guatemala City, one drops out of the highlands and into the lowland jungles of the Peten, where lies the famed ruins of Tikal. Traveling west from the city, across the rugged mountains tops, one eventually comes to the edge of the mountains and drops into the Central Depression of Chiapas, a distance of about 180 miles The edge of these mountains form the border between present day Guatemala and Mexico. The headwaters of the Grijalva River begin in the highland mountains of Guatemala, just before entering the Central Depression of Chiapas.