Limited geography model (Book of Mormon)

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A limited geography model for the Book of Mormon is one of several theories by Latter Day Saint movement scholars that the book's narrative was a historical record of people in a limited geographical region, rather than of the entire Western Hemisphere as believed by early Latter Day Saints. These models have situated the book's events in the Great Lakes area, South America, and Mesoamerica, the most popular theory being the region in Mesoamerica surrounding the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. [1]

The Book of Mormon describes a journey by a group of people led by a prophet named Lehi from the Old World to the New World in approximately 600 B.C. The proposal of a limited geography is coupled with the proposal that the American continents were already populated at the time of the arrival of Lehi's group. The presence of inhabitants on the American continents long before the arrival of Lehi's party is well supported by existing archaeological data. The exact date of arrival of these early inhabitants is still debated among archaeologists, with a common theory being an arrival via a land bridge in the Bering Strait approximately 14,000 years ago.[2]

The limited geography models are the result of a growing school of thought among Latter Day Saint scholars that for the text of the Book of Mormon to realistically be interpreted as a historical document, the events described therein must be limited to an area of several hundred square miles.[3] Proponents of these theories find support in the text of the Book of Mormon, as well as the interpretation and correlation of archeological findings. However, as with all archaeological interpretations of the Book of Mormon, nothing has yet been found to conclusively link the events of the book with any particular geographical location.

Contents

[edit] Limited geography and Book of Mormon population

LDS scholars have long taken a critical view regarding the assumption that no other people were present in the New World at the time of Lehi's arrival.

  • In 1927, Janne Sjodahl stated that "students of the Book of Mormon should be cautioned against the error of supposing that all the American Indians are the descendants of Lehi, Mulek and their companions."[4]
  • In 1938 a church study guide for the Book of Mormon stated that "the Book of Mormon deals only with the history and expansion of three small colonies which came to America, and it does not deny or disprove the possibility of other immigrations, which probably would be unknown to its writers."[5]
  • From 1952 onward, LDS scholar Hugh Nibley repeatedly argued that the assumption that there were no other people present in the New World at the time of Lehi's arrival might be incorrect.
  • In 1980 Nibley, referring to archaeological evidence, stated that the assumption of an empty New World represented a "simplistic reading" of the Book of Mormon.[6]
  • By the middle of the twentieth century, most LDS authors held the belief that the Book of Mormon events took place within a limited region in Mesoamerica, and that others were present on the continent at the time of Lehi's arrival.[7] This geographical and population model was formally published in the official church magazine, The Ensign, in a two-part series published in September and October 1984.[8] This was followed by a book on the subject by LDS anthropologist John L. Sorenson in 1985.[9]

In the 1920s, LDS General Authority and historian B.H. Roberts, questioned the assumption of a hemispheric geography and population model for the Book of Mormon. In his critical examination of the Book of Mormon, eventually published in 1985 under the title Studies of the Book of Mormon, Roberts states:

[C]ould the people of Mulek and of Lehi...part of the time numbering and occupying the land at least from Yucatan to Cumorah...live and move and have their being in the land of America and not come in contact with other races and tribes of men, if such existed in the New World within Book of Mormon times? To make this seem possible the area occupied by the Nephites and Lamanites would have to be extremely limited, much more limited, I fear, than the Book of Mormon would admit our assuming.[10]

[edit] Matching the Book of Mormon model to existing geography

The development of the limited geography model was not an attempt to match existing physical evidence to the Book of Mormon. Instead, a geographical, chronological and cultural model was created from the text of the Book of Mormon itself. Once the model was created, it was applied to many potential locations in order to determine if there was a plausible match. The acceptance of the limited geography model by LDS scholars is now supported by a growing body of work that attempts to apply a "flesh-and-blood" reality to the cultures in the Book of Mormon.[11]

There are only two regions in the New World showing the high degree of ancient civilization required by the text of the Book of Mormon.[citation needed] One of these locations is centered in South America in the region once occupied by the Inca civilization. The other is centered in Mesoamerica in the region once occupied by the Maya and the Olmec civilizations.[citation needed] Of the two regions, only the civilizations in Mesoamerica developed a sophisticated form of writing.[12]

The Limited Geography Model has been critiqued by a number of non-LDS scholars, who suggest that it is not an adequate explanation for Book of Mormon geography and that the locations, events, and flora and fauna described in it do not precisely match.[13] [14] In response to one of these critiques in 1994, Sorenson reaffirmed his proposal for a limited Mesoamerican geographical setting.[15]

[edit] Mesoamerican setting

According to LDS scholars, the application of the Book of Mormon limited geography model to a Mesoamerican setting produces a highly plausible match.[16] LDS scholars use "contextual knowledge" in order to establish a plausible setting for the cultural events of the Book of Mormon within the context of known Mesoamerican historical settings. The goal is to determine places and times at which Book of Mormon events occurred that correlate with similar events in the Mesoamerican historical record.[17] Based on extensive textual analysis and comparison of the Book of Mormon limited geography model to existing geographical regions, time-lines and cultures, the majority of LDS scholars now agree that the Book of Mormon geography is centered in Mesoamerica around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the area of current day Guatemala and the southern Mexico States of Tabasco, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, and the surrounding area.[18]

[edit] Existence of ancient system of writing

Support for the hypothesis of Mesoamerica as a plausible location for a limited Book of Mormon geography requires that the ancient inhabitants have a highly developed system of writing. Mesoamerica is one of the few areas in the Americas where evidence survives of an ancient system of writing.[19] There have been identified at least six pre-Christian era Mesoamerican systems of writing.[20] Although much of this writing has been deciphered, there are still instances of ancient writing from these cultures that scholars have not yet been able to translate.[21]

[edit] Directions

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is bounded by a northern and a southern coast, whereas the "narrow neck" described in the Book of Mormon is said to be surrounded by a west sea and an east sea (Alma 22:32). Sorenson suggests that this is explained by understanding the manner in which ancient cultures label directions. He points out that the Israelites in Palestine defined their directions as though they were standing with their backs to the sea. The direction "sea" (seaward) denoted west while the direction "fore" (inland) denoted east. The direction south was denoted by "right hand" and the direction north by "left hand." In the case of Palestine, these directions correlated with the actual geography of the north-south coast.[22] In the language used by the Maya, the word south meant "on the right hand" and north meant "on the left."[23] One researcher suggested that ancient Maya directions were set 45 degrees different from our own.[24]

[edit] The "narrow neck" of land

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec, at 120 miles wide, is considered by LDS scholars to be "just within the range of plausibility" for the "day and a half’s journey for a Nephite" indicated by the text of the Book of Mormon[25] although critics question this association. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec goes from east to west, bordering the Gulf of Mexico on the north (which LDS scholars associate with the "east sea") and the Pacific Ocean on the south (the "west sea"). Alma 22:32 says that "it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite... from the east to the west sea" (traveling south). Helaman 4:7 says that "they did fortify... from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day's journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified..." (traveling north). LDS scholars note that, on a fortified line, quick communication is essential and the speed "for a Nephite" might reasonably be faster than that of some other group.[26] Also, this length of time likely referred to the speed of couriers, which John L. Sorenson has speculated might be as fast as 100 miles a day.[27] Matthew Roper believes that part of the journey would be taken on the Coatzacoalcos River, which flows North into the Gulf of Mexico and covers nearly half the distance across the isthmus. This would account for the difference in time of travel; only one day to travel with the current north but one and a half days traveling south, against the current.[28] The route directly across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec from one coast to the other is part of the known system of Mesoamerican trade routes.[29]

[edit] Effect on existing population with arrival of external groups

The Limited Geography Model suggests that the introduction of a small, external population into the existing Mesoamerican population would initially show little evidence in the archaeological record.[30] It is suggested by LDS scholars that certain cultural features spread out from the Mesoamerican area to surrounding regions over time after the arrival of external groups.[31]

Archaeologist Michael D. Coe, one of the foremost experts on the Maya, notes that there are a number of contradictory theories that attempt to account for the sudden rise of Maya civilization during the Late Preclassic period. He states that "One of the most persistent holds that the previously undistinguished Maya came under the influence of travelers from shores as distant as the China coast."[32] Coe suggests that "[t]he possibility of some trans-Pacific influence on Mesoamerican cultures cannot, however, be so easily dismissed," and that it is possible "that Asian intellectuals may have established some sort of contact with their Mesoamerican counterparts by the end of the Preclassic."[33] It must be noted that Coe does not endorse or support the proposition that there was any Old World Semitic influence in Mesoamerica, nor that the Book of Mormon has any support through archaeology or anthropology.[34]

[edit] Determining plausible locations for cities and events

LDS scholars believe that the Tehuantapec model provides a significant enough match with existing geography, ancient cultures and ruins to propose plausible locations for certain Book of Mormon locations and events.

[edit] "Waters of Mormon" and city "Jerusalem"

The body of water referred to as "The Waters of Mormon” is stated to have been in “the land which was in the borders of Nephi." (Alma 5:3). Lake Atitlan is considered to be the only plausible candidate for this body of water if the land of Nephi is assumed to centered in the area of Kaminaljuyu (near Guatemala City). LDS scholars state that the relative locations and geographical characteristics of the "Land of Nephi" and the “Waters of Mormon” are consistent with the relative geographical locations of Kaminaljuyu and Lake Atitlan.[35] The lake is nine miles long and four miles wide. According to the Book of Mormon, the city called Jerusalem was covered by waters at the time of destruction associated with Jesus Christ’s death. (3 Nephi 9:7). Lake Atitlan is surrounded by volcanoes. As a result of volcanic activity, the level of the lake is known to have shifted very abruptly (up to 60 feet) during historical times. In 1985, Sorenson speculated that the city of Jerusalem was located adjacent to this lake and was submerged by such activity, although no evidence of a submerged city was evident at the time the statement was made.[36] In recent years, submerged pre-Columbian ruins have been found in the depths of Lake Atitlan.[37][38][39]

[edit] Location of the final battles of the Jaredites and the Nephites

Several proponents of the Tehuantapec model have proposed that the final battles of the Jaredites and the Nephite civilizations occurred at the Cerro El Vigia ("Lookout Hill"), a 3000 foot (800 meter) tall extinct volcano located in the northwestern section of the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountain range in Mexico. Significantly larger than the 110-foot tall "Hill Cumorah" located in New York, the Cerro El Vigia is said to be a plausible location for the "Hill Ramah" and "Hill Cumorah" described in the Book of Mormon.[40] The hill fits certain requirements that would need to be met in order to qualify as the Hill Cumorah:

  • The presence of plains at the base of the hill able to accommodate large armies.
  • The hill must be of sufficient size that a million people could be "arrayed in battle" around its base.
  • The hill must be high enough that survivors who were wounded in battle would be able to hide safely at the top without being seen by the Lamanites below, but not so high that wounded men could not climb it at night.[41]

[edit] Moroni and the final resting place of the plates

The Limited Geography Model raises the question about the location in which Joseph Smith reported finding the golden plates in upstate New York. This is often referred to by LDS scholars as the “Two Cumorahs” question.[42] The Book of Mormon states that the final battles of both the Jaredite and the Nephite people took place near the narrow neck of land, which rules out the hill “Cumorah” in New York as being the location of these battles.[43]

In the Book of Mormon narrative, the Nephite historian Mormon states that he “hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni.” (Mormon 6:6). The “hill Cumorah” referred to by Mormon is the hill located near the scene of the final battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites. Moroni continues to record information on these plates as late as 35 years after they were given to him (Moroni 10:1). LDS scholars suggest that the most obvious method by which the plates reached New York was that Moroni carried them there during this long interim.[44]

One author criticizes this theory as being “problematic” because “Moroni makes it clear that he buried the plates in the vicinity of the Nephites’ destruction, not 2000 miles away in some remote region.” To support this assumption, it is postulated that Moroni buried the plates near the scene of the final battle and then returned 20 years later to retrieve them and add information to them before his final farewell, in which he states that his intention to “seal up these records.” [45] The assumption that Moroni hid the plates at the time of the final battle is based upon Mormon 8:3-4, in which Moroni states “Therefore I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither I go it mattereth not.” Continued reading of the text reveals that Moroni abridged the Book of Ether and added it to the record after making this statement. Moroni later writes “wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life. Wherefore, I write a few more things, contrary to that which I had supposed; for I had supposed not to have written any more.” (Moroni 1:3-4) There is no explicit mention in the Book of Mormon of Moroni either having hidden the plates at the time of the final battle or having returned to this location to add more to them years later.

[edit] Great Lakes setting

Some LDS researchers have proposed a limited Great Lakes setting for the Book of Mormon.[46] One of these proposals has the histories of the Jaredite, Nephite and Lamanite civilizations taking place in a small area of southern Ontario and western New York. The seas surrounding the land are said to be Lakes Huron, Ontario, and Erie.[47]

These theories have been discounted by most LDS scholars, who point out the lack of appropriate geographical features, such as highlands and lowlands, the absence of earthquakes and volcanic activity in the area, and the fact that snow and cold are never mentioned in the Book of Mormon at all. In addition, the cultures of the ancient inhabitants of the region do not match the Book of Mormon narrative. It is suggested that a feature as significant as Niagra Falls could not escape mention in the Book of Mormon had this been the area in which the civilizations described in it existed.[48]

[edit] South American setting

A commonly held belief among the LDS for many years was that Lehi's group landed on the coast of Chile. This is supported by a record written in 1836 by Frederick G. Williams which suggests that Joseph Smith once stated that Lehi "landed on the continent of South America, in Chile, thirty degrees, south latitude."[49] In the mid-1970's, several books were published by LDS researchers that proposed this geographical model.[50]

A booklet published in 1882 by Franklin D. Richards made the claim that this information had been received by revelation through Joseph Smith.

LEHI'S TRAVELS.—Revelation to Joseph the Seer. The course that Lehi and his company traveled from Jerusalem to the place of their destination: They traveled nearly a south, southeast direction until they came to the nineteenth degree of north latitude; then, nearly east to the Sea of Arabia, then sailed in a southeast direction, and landed on the continent of South America, in Chili [sic], thirty degrees south latitude.[51]

Challengers of the limited geography model use this statement, along with the teachings of early Mormon missionaries supporting the idea of a landing in Chile, as evidence that the widespread belief in the hemispheric geography model was based upon a revelation through Joseph Smith, and that any information to the contrary constitutes “apologetic denial.”[52] In addition, the story of Zelph is used to support the idea the Joseph Smith promoted a hemispheric geography for the Book of Mormon. LDS scholars point out that in the earlier document authored by Frederick G. Williams, that the words "Lehi's Travels" and "Revelation to Joseph the Seer" do not appear in this text as they do in the subsequent 1882 publication.[53]

A paper authored by LDS affiliated research group FARMS notes that the document authored by Frederick G. Williams “does not attribute the statement to Joseph Smith and, although Richards follows closely the Williams account, he gives no source for the statement or the title. There is no known earlier historical evidence associating this specific statement with Joseph Smith."[54]

The claim of a landfall in Chile may have actually originated with Orson Pratt, who often included the Chile landing hypothesis in his writings and said that “this view was actually based upon his own inference from the Book of Mormon text.”[55] In a talk given in 1872, Pratt described Lehi’s group as “landing on the western coast of what is now called South America. As near as we can judge from the description of the country contained in this record the first landing place was in Chili (sic), not far from where the city of Valparaiso now stands.”[56] Pratt's opinions were incorporated into the geographical footnotes that he added into the 1879 edition of the Book of Mormon.[57]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Southerton 2004, p. 157 "There is only one serious contender accepted by most Mormon academics, which proposes that most Book of Mormon events took place in a restricted part of Mesoamerica. Only in Mesoamerica are there ruins of civilizations of the magnitude evident in the Book of Mormon."
  2. ^ Coe 2002, p. 41
  3. ^ Sorenson 1985, pp. 1-48
  4. ^ Smith & Reynolds 1997, p. 263;Sjodahl, James M. "An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon", Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1927.Sjodahl also suggested that the Jaredite population may not have been completely destroyed.
  5. ^ Smith & Reynolds 1997, p. 263;Berrett, William E; Hunter, Milton R., et al (1938). A Guide to the Study of the Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City: Department of Education of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 48. 
  6. ^ Smith & Reynolds 1997, p. 263; Nibley, Hugh W (1980). The Book of Mormon and the Ruins: The Main Issues. Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies. 
  7. ^ Smith & Reynolds 1997, p. 264
  8. ^ Sorenson, John L (Sept. 1984). "Digging into the Book of Mormon:Our Changing Understanding of Ancient America and Its Scripture (Part 1)". Ensign: 27. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.  Sorenson, John L (Oct. 1984). "Digging into the Book of Mormon:Our Changing Understanding of Ancient America and Its Scripture (Part 2)". Ensign. Retrieved on 2007-01-21. 
  9. ^ Sorenson 1985
  10. ^ Roberts 1985, p. 93
  11. ^ Smith & Reynolds 1997, pp. 259-260
  12. ^ Coe 2002, p. 13
  13. ^ Wunderli, Earl M (Fall 2002). "Critique of a Limited Geography for Book of Mormon Events". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 35 (3): 161-197. Retrieved on 2007-01-23. 
  14. ^ Matheny & Metcalfe 1994
  15. ^ Sorenson, John L (1994). "Viva Zapato! Hurray for the Shoe!". FARMS Review of Books 6 (1): 297-361. Retrieved on 2007-01-23. 
  16. ^ Sorenson 1985, pp. 46-47
  17. ^ Smith & Reynolds 1997, pp. 259-260
  18. ^ Sorenson 1985, pp. 35-36
  19. ^ Coe 2002, p. 13 "All the Mesoamerican Indians shared a number of traits which were more or less peculiar to them and absent or rare elsewhere in the New World: Hieroglyphic writing, books of fig-bark paper or deerskin which were folded like screens, a complex permutation calendar..."
  20. ^ Clark, John E (2005). "Archaeology, Relics, and Book of Mormon Belief". Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14 (2): 38-49. Retrieved on 2007-01-16. 
  21. ^ Mesoamerican Relic provides new clues to mysterious ancient writing system. BYU News. Brigham Young University. Retrieved on 2007-01-16.
  22. ^ Sorenson 1985, pp. 38-9
  23. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 39
  24. ^ Vogt, Evan Z (1969). Zinacantan: A Maya Community in the Highlands of Chiapas. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 602. 
  25. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 36
  26. ^ See FARMS' article, Travel across the "Narrow Neck of Land" by Matthew Roper
  27. ^ Native Mexican runners have been documented running up to 100 miles per day, see John L. Sorenson, The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book, 1992, 393-94
  28. ^ Travel across the "Narrow Neck of Land" by Matthew Roper
  29. ^ Phillips & Jones 2005, p. 65
  30. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 85
  31. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 93
  32. ^ Coe 2002, p. 57 It should be noted that Coe points out that "no objects manufactured in any part of the Old World have been identified in any Maya site" and that "few theories involving trans-Pacific or trans-Atlantic contact have survived scientific scrutiny."
  33. ^ Coe 2002, p. 57
  34. ^ "Mormons and Archaeology: An Outside View," in Dialogue, A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol 8, No 2, (Summer 1973), p. 42.
  35. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 176
  36. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 224
  37. ^ Ordoñez, Antonio. "En el fondo del lago hay esquinas (At the bottom of the lake there are corners)", El Periodico, Aug. 22, 2005. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. (in Spanish)
  38. ^ "Pre-Columbian City Found in Guatemala", Prensa Latina, May 18, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. (in English)
  39. ^ (2002) "The Submergence of the City of Jerusalem in the Land of Nephi". Insights 22. 
  40. ^ Palmer 1990
  41. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 350 Sorenson suggests that, if this is the correct hill, then Mormon had once hidden the Nephite archive of records somewhere within it.
  42. ^ {{Harvnb|Sorenson|1985|p=44 Sorenson states: “[H]ow did Joseph Smith obtain the gold plates in upstate New York if the final battleground of the Nephites was in Mesoamerica?”
  43. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 44
  44. ^ Sorenson 1985, p. 44-45 Sorenson illustrates as an example a similar trip made in the mid-sixteenth century by a shipwrecked sailor named David Ingram, who walked from Tampico, Mexico to the St. John River in Canada over a period of 11 months.
  45. ^ Vogel 2004, p. 648 Vogel concludes “Thus, Moroni is old and ready to die when he hides the plates in the same hill around which the Nephites were destroyed.”
  46. ^ Aston 1998
  47. ^ Curtis 1988
  48. ^ Palmer 1990
  49. ^ Richards, Franklin; Little, James A. (eds) (1886). Compendium. Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 289. 
  50. ^ Priddis 1975
  51. ^ Franklin D. Richards and James A. Little, A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1882), 289.
  52. ^ Vogel 2004, p. 629 note 18
  53. ^ Roper 2004
  54. ^ Williams, Frederick G. III (1988). "Did Lehi Land in Chile?: An Assessment of the Frederick G. Williams Statement". FARMS paper: 3–4. 
  55. ^ Roper 2004
  56. ^ Pratt, Orson (February 11, 1872). "Nephite America- The Day of God’s Power – The Shepherd of Israel". Journal of Discourses 14. 
  57. ^ Sorenson & Roper 2002

[edit] References

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