Shazer

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Shazer is a place on the Arabian peninsula referenced in the Book of Mormon as one of the stops on the Old World segment of Lehi's journey (1 Nephi 16:13).[1] (See Archaeology and the Book of Mormon.)

It was at this location that Lehi's group stopped to hunt "in the wilderness" (1 Nephi 16:14). According to the narrative, this location was named by Lehi. The practice of naming locations after family members is a known Semitic practice.[2]

Several LDS researchers believe that they have determined a plausible location for Shazer.[3] One of these locations is the oasis of al-Muwaylih near the shore of the Red Sea. [4]

Lehi Trail
Lehi Trail

LDS scholar Hugh Nibley compared the name Shazer to other known names and their meanings. Nibley states that the term shajer is common in Palestinian place-names and that it means "trees." Variants of the term are presented as Sajur, Shaghur, and Segor, all said to represent a collection of trees. Nibley also mentions "a famous water hole in South Arabia, called Shisur by [Bertram] Thomas and Shisar by Philby."[5] A ruined city called "Shisur" and a permanent spring exist 90 miles northwest of Salalah in Oman on the route of the frankincence trail.[6]

Some LDS scholars claim that they found Shazer. The name of this location is today wadi Sharma.[7]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "And it came to pass that we traveled for the space of four days, nearly a south-southeast direction, and we did pitch our tents again; and we did call the name of the place Shazer."
  2. ^ Givens 2002, p. 120
  3. ^ Potter & Wellington 2004
  4. ^ Hilton & Hilton 1996, p. 33
  5. ^ Nibley 1988, p. 78—79
  6. ^ Zarins, Juris (June 1997). "Atlantis of the Sands". Archaeology 50 (3). Archaeological Institute of America. 
  7. ^ Nephi Project Research Discoveries

[edit] References

  • Givens, Terryl L (2002), By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture That Launched a New World Religion, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-513818-X.
  • Hilton, Lynn M & Hope A Hilton (1996), Discovering Lehi: New Evidence of Lehi and Nephi in Arabia, Cedar Fort, Inc., ISBN 1-55517-257-1.
  • Nibley, Hugh (1988), Lehi in the Desert, the World of the Jaredites, There Were Jaredites (Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol 5), Deseret Book Company, ISBN 0875791328.
  • Potter, George & Richard Wellington (2004), Lehi in the Wilderness: 81 New Documented Evidences That the Book of Mormon Is a True History, Cedar Fort, Inc., ISBN 1555176410.
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