A Geographical Perspective for the Book of Mormon ~ The Hourglass Shape

In the years of their travels across the Arabian Peninsula, two more sons had been born to Lehi: Jacob and Joseph, named for the great patriarch, Israel, and his birthright son, Joseph, Lehi's ancestors.  Lehi and Sariah were getting older and by the time the family left Bountiful, Nephi had assumed, for all practical purposes, the leadership of the group. 

They set sail, trusting that God would lead them, and most likely followed existing ocean currents.  From Oman, they could have picked up the Monsoon Current that circles from Arabia, past India, and down the eastern coast of Africa.  At one point just south of India, the Monsoon Current intersects with the Equatorial Counter Current that travels straight across the Pacific Ocean to Central America and Southern Mexico.  Most LDS scholars place the Book of Mormon geographically in this area, although the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has never officially pinpointed Book of Mormon locations beyond the fact that they were in the Americas.

The Book of Mormon itself gives many clues as to it's location.  The first and most obvious is that there is a narrow neck of land separating the land southward from the land northward.  This would give the Book of Mormon lands and hourglass shape.

When I was younger, I used to think that the Book of Mormon took place in all of North and South America, with the Isthmus of Panama as the narrow neck of land. I think a lot of Latter-day Saints thought that - and some may still!  (See the picture to the right.) 

But in-depth scientific research studies, primarily conducted by LDS anthropologist, archaeologists, and other scholars, have concluded that the Book of Mormon took place in an area ranging from Central Mexico south to Guatemala and Belize[1]. While the blessings of the “land choice above all other lands” include both continents, the land occupied during Book of Mormon times by Book of Mormon people was much more limited.

On this map, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec would be the narrow neck of land.

Scholars have been able to judge relative distances based on descriptions within the book itself of travel between cities by armies, travelers, and explorers.  They also find clues in descriptions of the topography (mountains, valleys, rivers, etc.). 

Book of Mormon scholars believe they can quite accurately pinpoint about 80% of the sites mentioned in the book based on this location.  There are other Latter-day Saints who have placed the Book of Mormon lands as far north as Baja California and as far northeast as the Mound Builders along the Mississippi River, or even farther north around Maine.  However, in all of my studies of the topic, I am inclined to go with the opinions of mainstream LDS scholarship on the geography of the area. 

I don't intend to argue with anyone who has an opposing point of view, but just as a point of reference, as I write more about the peoples of the Book of Mormon, I will do so with this perspective.

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[1] J.L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon

 

Text copyright Gebara Education July 2013

 

Pictures from:

Ocean currents, www.forbes.com

Hourglass map, Garth Norman

Mesoamerica, www.davidson.edu

Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Garth Norman