The jaredite narrative took place entirely in the land northward. Mormon, the compiler and abridger of the book of mormon, was himself a. How many nephites the book of mormon at the bar of demography. It is not enough to find a narrow neck of land, and a northward flowing river somewhere in the americas. But no entity outside of the mormon church refers to reformed egyptian as a real, written language. According to latter day saint scripture, the narrative in the book of mormon came to an end in the ancient land cumorah, where moroni, in 421 ad deposited the golden plates prior to his death. Using both the 1st and the current edition of the book of mormon to compare against known discoveries.
One area where cement was used extensively was the city of teotihuacan in central mexico, which some book of mormon scholars consider to be in the land northward. Annotated book of mormon by david hocking and rod meldrum page 341. Scholar details striking parallels between book of. We believe this pink dot area is the small neck of land spoken of in alma 22. The ancient land of their inheritance is, according to lds scripture. The book of mormon text refers to the language it is written in as reformed egyptian.
A popular argument among great lake theorists, is the promised land theory. New evidences for the book of mormon from ancient mexico. Since the publication of their work, an approach to the study of book of mormon geography, analysts of the scripture have found still more data in the book of mormons own statements suggesting that the immediate land covered by the books events was probably. Proposed book of mormon geographical setting wikipedia. As shown, the borders of the land bountiful are next to seas. Land northward true book of mormon geography lands. This was contrary to new england where the book of mormon was first published. Allen, exploring the lands of the book of mormon, revised edition american fork, ut. The book of mormon and mesoamerican travels northward. Some people believe that references to horses are out of place since it is widely believed that they were extinct long before book of mormon times. In the 19th century, some people were aware of pre. An ancient covenant land of liberty in the united states of america alma 46. Central to ancient governance in both the book of mormon and mesoamerican sources was the idea that kings or at lesser levels, lords or nobles were divinely designated or were themselves considered divine rulers with powers conferred on them by right. Like ancient olympia greece was hidden for 1100 years 600 ad 1776 ad, buried under alluvial deposits up to 8 meters deep, so too is a significant part of book of mormon lands, the location of which we will reveal when the book of mormon is no longer associated with the mormon church.
It is clear from the bible that the ancient israelites used the rising sun as the. Despite the translation of egyptian and numerous american indian languages, reformed egyptian remains unknown. In an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, dr. Chiasmus, mesoamerican evidences, cement, olives, ancient names like alma, and other evidences for the authenticity of the book of mormona divine ancient record from the new world that testifies of jesus christ. The majority of mesoamerican book of mormon geography models seek to correlate the isthmus of tehuantepec or the isthmus of guatemala. In ancient america, the grand kankakee marsh and the great black swamp almost merged. In simplest terms, the book of mormon describes a land northward and a land. Since the text describes a land northward connected by a narrow neck of.
It was carried out in a complex mixture of religious ritual and ideology. The scientific search for nephite remains mormons in. Both may and olive agree that other ancient peoples in the book of mormon land northward the jaredites and the mulekites, arrived by way of the atlantic and st. Significant populations moved from south of the isthmus to the north around that time as documented by archaeology in the states of oaxaca and veracruz. These principal book of mormon lands are southward from the land northward mentioned in helaman 3. Book of mormon statements dating to the middle of the first century bc tell of the migration of colonists from the land southward to the land northward.
Not one nonmormon scholar has ever identified the remains andor locations of any book of mormon land, city, river, battleground, or people group. The book of mormon and mesoamerican travels northward the contents of all bmaf publications are the sole responsibility of the individual authors and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of bmaf or the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. Sorenson, chairman of the department of anthropology at brigham young university, presents a credible model for an ancient american background for the book of mormon. Book of mormon geography the encyclopedia of mormonism. The book of mormon is a record prepared and written by ancient. This model takes notice of extensive details given in the book of mormon descriptions of the land southward and. From book of mormon population estimates, it is evident that the civilizations described are comparable in size to the civilizations of ancient egypt, ancient greece, ancient rome, and the maya. The following is a good description of the land northward not to be confused with the nephite land northward alma 22. Garth norman posted by permission of ancient america foundation and the author. It is also probable that the portion of the land northward occupied by the jaredites was smaller than the nephitelamanite land southward. The book of mormon states that war among the nephites was seasonal omni 1. Great lakes theorists ripliancum, land northward and the. Wayne may places the narrow pass and land northward in canada which is ruled under a monarchy, but the book of mormon states. These chronological and geographic correlations offer secondary evidence supporting the ancient origin of the book of mormon.
Comparing book of mormon geography models mormon lds. Book of mormon, history of warfare in the encyclopedia. As francis kirkham, an lds missionary to the maori in the 1890s remembered, we would go to them, hold up a copy of the book of mormon and tell them that we had a. This episode helps establish that the scattering of israel was taking place even among the nephites. Smith is vice president of a national research corporation near washington, d. According to the book of mormon, the final war that destroyed the jaredites resulted in the deaths of at least two million people. The book of mormon refers to two lands, a land northward and a land.
An ancient american setting for the book of mormon kindle edition by sorenson, john l download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Discovering the lost lands of the book of mormon book of. Mormon scholars often point to aztec and mayan ruins for evidence, but they disagree among themselves as to the identity of these ancient ruins. Why did mormon give so many details about geography. Wayne may places the narrow pass and land northward in canada which is ruled under a monarchy, but the book. A closer approximation to the book of mormon picture of nephite culture is seen in the earth and palisade structures of the hopewell and adena culture areas than in the later stately piles of stone in mesoamerica hugh nibley, the prophetic book of mormon, ancient. While the book of mormon mentions a narrow neck of land separating a land northward from a land southward, it is americans, with their global sense of geography, who have seen in this description a reference to north and south america, separated by the isthmus of panama. So the book of mormon description is just impossible.
They far exceed the heartland models in their ability to synthesize the text with known archaeology. In the first century bc, some nephites went up into the land northward and began building cities of cement. Joseph smith and the beginning of book of mormon archaeology did the prophet joseph smith in 1842 locate book of mormon lands in middle america. The scientific search for nephite remains mormons in transition. Having a land northward for the jaredites and later nephites that is different from.
Ancient hunting camp found beneath lake huron book of. In the midfirst century bc, mormon reports that some nephite dissenters did travel to an exceedingly great distance into the land northward, where they found large bodies of water and many rivers helaman 3. The lord descried the land they were led to as a land choice above all others, which all the evidence suggests was america. It shows that the book of mormons land northward and land. The book of mormon is a religious record, and for the people of the book of mormon, as in nearly all ancient cultures, warfare was fundamentally sacral. The land northward is covered with large bodies of water and many rivers. Thereafter, the books teachings on israelites became a focus for proselyting work among the maori. Wayne may true book of mormon geography lands western. The book of mormon actually contains threedimensional facts about its sacred lands. Is there evidence for great destruction in the land northward at the death of christ. The book of mormon itself does not sustain this view which supports the claim that joseph was not the author of the book of mormon. Purpose of the book of mormon tour helps these single page descriptions of a specific book of mormon site are designed to provide pertinent information to the traveler about the site.
The book of mormon mentions that horses were known and used by the jaredites and the people of lehi. Various book of mormon geography theories are depicted in maps containing twodimensional information only. Joseph smith and lds scripture establish the location of the promised land of. It shows that the book of mormons land northward and land southward are actually oriented along a northwestsoutheast line. Imagined map of the book of mormon lands by tyler griffin, taylor. Not one non mormon scholar has ever identified the remains andor locations of any book of mormon land, city, river, battleground, or people group. Book of mormon lands were longer from north to south than from east to west. The book of mormon describes the world of its inhabitants as an hourglassshaped land mass made up of a land southward surrounded by water, except for a small neck of land connecting it to a land northward alma 22. Directions in the book of mormon book of mormon research. Where were famous book of mormon cities, like zarahemla and. The book of mormon reports that an exceedingly curious man named hagoth went forth and built him an exceedingly large ship alma 63. An ancient american setting for the book of mormon. This places the east sea and west sea almost directly north and south of these proposed book of mormon lands.
Hagoth and the polynesians religious studies center. It is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations. Sorenson demonstrated that warfare in the book of mormon generally took place in months 11 3, occasionally in months 4, 5, and 10, and seldom in months 6 9. On page 36 of their book ancient america and the book of mormon, a map shows the jaredites arriving at the land northward above the narrow neck of land described by hunter and ferguson as the isthmus of tehuantepec in central america 3334. The book of mormon west sea and east sea, on the other hand, are proper nouns that is, they are the actual names of bodies of water that situate on the west and on the east respectively, of the lands of zarahemla and nephi. Book of mormon lands encompassed mountainous wildernesses, coastal plains, valleys, a large river, a highland lake, and lowland wetlands. Official mormon promotional literature describes the book of mormon as the ancient history of this people, telling of their wars, movements, kings, and their religion which was the religion of israel, for these people were israelites and practiced the law of moses what is the book of mormon. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading an ancient american setting for the book of mormon.
Book of mormon geography new england theory mormonism. That implies thousands of houses, many of them made from cement. Great lakes theorists ripliancum, land northward and the east sea part i according to great lakes theorists, the area between the ancient lake tonawanda and lake onatrio was the book of mormon land northward, a very small area about 25 miles by 65 miles. This page is about the book of mormon geography by wayne may, the founder of ancient american magazine and author of this land book series. The fascinating story of the jaredites arrival in the promised land from babylon during the confusion of tongues is told in the book of ether, the last book in the book of mormon. Book of mormongeographynew worldgreat lakes geography. Joseph smith and other early latterday saints, for example, most likely believed that north america was the land northward and that south america was the land southward in the book of mormon. An earlier passage informs us that the land on the northward was called desolation, and the land on the southward was called bountiful and that it was only the distance of a day and a halfs journey for a nephite, on the line bountiful and the land desolation, from the east to the west sea. This concrete evidence illustrates that sometimes even welleducated critics are simply wrong. There are times when there is not the opportunity to get a clear understanding of what the traveler saw and these bulletins will help with that understanding. A limited geography model for the book of mormon is one of several theories by latter day.
The book of mormon, however, leads us to ask how a colony of ancient. In february 1833 the newspaper published discovery of ancient ruins in. The land between the two wetlands produced a narrow neck which provided an entrance into the land northward. The book of mormon states several times that the land which they were led to, was the promised land, or a choice land. What the book of mormon claims about cement including the cosumption of trees. The geographical setting of the book of mormon is the set of locations of the events described. However, all of these models however suffer many of the same substantial problems. How many nephites the book of mormon at the bar of. The book of mormon does not say that the entire land northward resides in.