Critics of the Book of Mormon have often attacked 1 Nephi 17 because of the land Nephi describes that is due east of the burial place of Ishmael. This is what he wrote:
And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish. And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many water. And it came to pass that we did pitch our tents by the seashore; and notwithstanding we had suffered many afflictions and much difficulty, yea, even so much that we cannot write them all, we were exceedingly rejoiced when we came to the seashore; and we called the place Bountiful, because of its much fruit. (1 Nephi 17: 5-6)
Much fruit? Honeybees (which implies flowers and flowering crops?) A large sea? On the Arabian Peninsula. What was Joseph thinking?
But there is just such a place. It is in the tiny nation of Oman. If you travel due east from Nihm in the northwestern corner of Yemen, you would arrive at the southeastern corner of Oman and a beautiful place on the Indian Ocean called Salalah. Could this be Bountiful? Monsoon rainfalls in the mountains water a land of frankincense and coconut. According to Wikipedia, the land abounds with leopard, hyena, fox, wolf, hare, oryx, and ibex. Birds include the vulture, eagle, stork, bustard, Arabian partridge, bee eater, falcon, and sunbird. (www.wikipedia.com/Oman) In the not-too-distant Al Hajar Mountains, there are wild olive and fig trees between 3,630 and 8,250 feet and then higher still there are junipers. Fruit trees such as pomegranate and apricot are grown in the cooler valleys.(www.wikipedia.com/AlHajarMountians)
When the Hiltons visit Salalah in 1979, they reported seeing alfalfa, citrons, limes, oranges, dates, bananas, grapes, apricots, coconuts, figs, and melons as well as wild flowers, such as white jasmine.
No other spot on the Arabian Peninsula is as lush as Salalah, Oman. It could easily be called Bountiful.
Text copyright June 2013 Gebara Education
Critics of the Book of Mormon have often attacked 1 Nephi 17 because of the land Nephi describes that is due east of the burial place of Ishmael. This is what he wrote:
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