"The history of Arabia is written with water, not ink. Where there is water, there is life - that is the inescapable fact of Arabian life - and the great oases of the Arabian peninsula do not move from place to place . . . There is a limit on how far [civilization] can extend from the great central wells and springs." [1] Some years ago, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Natural Resources made a survey of all of the wells that would have existed for hundreds and thousands of years. They found 118 such water holes on the average, 18 miles apart - which is about a day's journey by caravan along an ancient trail. Lehi must have followed this trail. I seriously doubt that he would have found any "secret" waterholes unknown to the Arabs of his day and he would have needed water for his family and his animals. [2]
What ancient trail am I talking about? The Frankincense Trail. Frankincense trees grew in what is now the nation of Oman. The incense produced from the sap of the tree was used in temple ceremonies in Israel, in prayers, and in preparation for burial. You'll remember that the Magi brought frankincense as one of the gifts for the infant Jesus. It was very costly, but also vital. I am not an expert on the nations surrounding Israel, but I would expect that many of them, too, provided a market for the incense merchants. The trail extended from Judah through what is now Jordon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman. Even today, cities in these nations tend to cluster around this route because that is still where the water is to be found.
As they followed the clues in the text of the Book of Mormon, the Hiltons found that it is highly probable that the trail taken by Lehi and his family was the old Frankincense Trail. Once they were away from the danger of Judah and Babylon, they would not have been afraid to camp near inhabited areas. In fact, it is almost certain that they would have had to do so. Not only would they have needed the same water, they may have needed to trade with others in the area. It took them eight years to make the 2000 mile journey. It seems unlikely that they would have traveled for that long and that far without ever running into another human being.
As to the animals they rode and packed with their supplies, if they lived near Jerusalem, they would have had to begin the trip with donkeys as it is almost impossible to get a camel near Jerusalem (remember Jesus' story of the camel and the "Eye of the Needle" gate?) There were men in the area who made their living taking strings of donkeys into the desert to await the camel caravaneers. They would then take the goods for sale from the caravans into Jerusalem by donkey. Remember, Joseph's brothers sold him to a group of Ismaelite caravaneers who took him to Egypt and sold him as a slave.
Perhaps Lehi was one who made his living meeting caravans. It would explain how he would have tents and travel supplies for desert traveling so readily at hand when he had to flee in such a hurry. It would also mean that he was acquainted with the desert traders and their customs. He must have had to negotiate for camels at some point early in the journey since camels could go days without water and donkeys could not. Of course, this is all speculation on my part, but it does make for an interesting supposition.
[2] Ibid.
Text copyright June 2013 Gebara Education
Picture of camel from www.wikipaintings.com
Map of Frankincense Trail from www.quitealone.com
Map of Lehi's trail from www.alexbarclay.talktalk.net
Picture of desert tent from www.yahweh.org
No comments:
Post a Comment