Proposed book of mormon geographical setting wikipedia. The main passage mentions the land of nephi bordering on the seas, a narrow strip of wilderness, the land of zarahemla, and the headwaters of the river sidon see alma 22. The tehuantepec model is what sides calls a wholly hypothetical geography for the book of mormon. The land of zarahemla is at a lower elevation relative to the land of nephi. However, this is not what mormon tells us about the location of the river sidon in relation to the city of zarahemla. Book of mormon tours 275 n e, orem, utah 84097 rated 4. Zarahemla when an abstract internal map based on the book of mormon text is overlaid on north america. And it came to pass that the amlicites came upon the hill amnihu, which was east of the river sidon, which ran by the land of zarahemla, and there they began to make war with the nephites. The book of mormon describes mountains, hills, and valleys with significant elevation differences between them. Horses in the book of mormon page 3 general discussions. Archaeology and the book of mormon wikimili, the best. Arnold friberg, who painted that image of samuel the lamanite and eleven other paintings in the famous series on book of mormon events, specifically set his paintings in. If that is what you pictured, you are experiencing the influence of this man the smoking gun of book of mormon geography.
A summary of several theories of book of mormon lands in mesoamerica the contents of all bmaf publications are the sole responsibility of the individual authors and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of bmaf or the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. An archaeologists insights into book of mormon geography. Examines some apparent clashes between modern biblical scholarship and the book of mormon, such as the notion that the exodus theme woven into nephis account is anachronistic because modern scholars think the exodus story was a late. A comparison of book of mormon geographies showing new york to be the most viable setting for book of mormon events. For the record, regarding book of mormon geography i am a mesoamericanist, and i am persuaded fully to mormons map as exhaustively studied internally in the book of mormon and charted versebyverse onto paper by byu professor john l. Garth normans map book of mormon archaeological forum. Looking at the maya problem from a different perspective. Where did the idea that the bom occurred in central america. This map plausibly positions these and other book of mormon locations in the general mesoamerican arena. Hemispheric models take specific, named cities in the book of mormon and disperse them far and wide across the whole of north and south america. The history of the americas, particularly mesoamerica, is broken up into several periods based on archaeological and cultural discoveries.
Unfortunately, exploring and testing his geographic. Muleks party first arrived in the land north see helaman 6. Cecil mcgavin makes note in his book an apology for the book of mormon, p. I still think there is a serious problem of imprinting a particular geographyeven an abstract onebut if the people involved accept the scripture on faith alone, they may never care about the realworld geography, so a mental abstract map is no problem. However, when serious book of mormon students first begin with a detailed consideration of the internal map implicit to the book of mormon and then search for a plausible location that fits the book of mormons map, there has consistently been one general result. Our galleries, publishing and art services, have provided access to the finest inspirational christian artists, experiences and fine art products since 1978. Members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints and other denominations of the latter day saint movement generally believe that the book of mormon describes ancient historical events in the americas, but mainstream.
The name mesoamerica is a term used to identify the heartland of a number of significant precolumbian cultures. Includes every geographical place mentioned in the book of mormon. For that reason, our design team has chosen to develop an internal map that shows relational directions and approximate distances that match the. Book of mormon geography your site for lds theology. See more ideas about book of mormon, lds books and scripture study. Free detailed satellite map of mesoamerica maphill. Inclusion within the bmc archive does not imply endorsement. Lighthaven delivers the light of inspiration through christian art. The article 75 bc documents the impressive chronological correlation between widespread fortifications in the maya lowlands and the book of mormon text. The book of mormon and mesoamerican archeology the book of mormon is a highly controversial book in the light of mesoamerican archeology.
However, as i pointed out in my previous post, there are no specific cities found, only ideas of general regions and landscapes. Its pages contain accounts of real people who lived somewhere. Such maps can be a useful introduction for those who are new to the book of mormon. The lord could have removed all questions regarding the exact locations of these events but he did not. On this map, we can see that mesoamerica is refering to a region up to the north of mexico. Oct 11, 2019 if that is what you pictured, you are experiencing the influence of this man the smoking gun of book of mormon geography. From street and road map to highresolution satellite imagery of mesoamerica. Lunds love for history and the book of mormon has taken him to mexico, honduras, belize and guatemala more than twenty times. City of zarahemla, land of zarahemla and the river sidon part i. British adventurer and expedition leader, philip beale frgs, captains the phoenicia, sailing with a multinational crew with representatives from the united states, lebanon, tunisia, united kingdom, norway, holland, brazil and indonesia. Please remember, that it is a cultural region, defined by the. I am very much a proponent of a more limited geography, and i believe the best available evidence places the core narrative of the book of. However, when serious book of mormon students first begin with a detailed consideration of the internal map implicit to the book of mormon and then search for a plausible location that fits the book of mormon s map, there has consistently been one general result. The only possible location where events of the book of mormon occurred was within central america, specifically the region of eastern ancient mesoamerica, which comprises guatemala, southeastern mexico, and belize.
In 1978, the company was known as middle america tours and it became the largest company to conduct tours to the lands of the book of mormon, an area today known as mesoamerica. Made popular by his 1985 publication an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, sorensons geographic model for the book of mormon has withstood the test of time and remains the preeminent geographic model for book of mormon events. Clark, book of mormon geography, in encyclopedia of mormonism, 1. Items do not represent the official views of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints or of book of mormon central. Even the hill cumorah, where joseph smith obtained the gold plates, is not really the same hill cumorah mentioned in the text. Aug 03, 2018 and yeah, perhaps the book of mormon is more confusing than most because it effectively went through many stages of translation, involving a hebrew dialect that evolved in america, reformed egyptian glyphs that were always an ad hoc writing system for hebrew speakers, multiple editors human and angelic, and final transmission through a seer. Arguably, this popular mormon model draws more inspiration from john lloyd stephens 1841 bestseller incidents of travel in central america, chiapas, and yucatan, than from the book of mormon. A summary of several theories of book of mormon lands in. Since the publication of the book of mormon in 1830, both mormon and non mormon archaeologists have studied its claims in reference to known archaeological evidence. Sorenson, an ancient american setting for the book of mormon, s. Exploring the lands of the book of mormon, by joseph allen, sa publishers, orem, utah, 1989, pp.
The book of mormon and mesoamerican archeology book of. How does the book of mormon help date the first christmas. Mesoamerica is the only viable setting for the book of mormon the only possible location where events of the book of mormon occurred was within central america, specifically the region of eastern ancient mesoamerica, which comprises guatemala, southeastern mexico, and belize. Despite all these links to north america, arnold friberg, who established for latterday saints what book of mormon people, landscapes, and events might have looked like,3 picked central americaas have most. The book of first nephi, the first book in the volume, describes the actions of lehi and his family in leaving jerusalem before its destruction, following the counsel of the lord, and wandering through the wilderness for several years before embarking on a transoceanic voyage to somewhere in or near central america. The church and byu stay neutral in questions of exactly where the book of mormon took place. This map successfully passed 11 stringent tests designed to evaluate degree of fit to the text. This site can be used as a study guide to help understand the book of mormon. This page is a supplement to my book of mormon evidences page. See my answers to questions about the book of mormon here.
Anthropologist mark wrights 2008 fair conference address on similarities between mesoamerica and the book of mormon. There are strong reasons for suspecting ancient mesoamerica as the physical location of book of mormon events in the new world. As mormon edited the book of mormon, he must have had a map in his mind of the places and physical features that were setting the events described in that book. Coes book should correspond with at least some of the statements asserted as fact in the book of mormon, taking into account that the objective of the book of mormon is to testify of jesus christ. Sorenson attempts to reconstruct that mental map mormons map using information in the text. The history of the church proclaims the ruins were likely nephite or belonging to the ancient inhabitants of america treated of in the book of mormon. Virtual book of mormon book of mormon maps and learning.
This book locates everything from the narrow neck, to zarahemla, from cumorah, to the land of promise, bountiful. Ever since it was first published in 1830, claiming to contain the word of god as recorded by precolombian americans in a golden bible, it has had its passionate defenders and equally adamant critics. I would recommend that the reader keep a book of mormon map close by such as the one shown above the next time you read through the book of mormon. Feb 11, 2019 this article introduces basic book of mormon geography based on the february, 2019 version of the maglebytovar book of mormon map. The smoking gun of book of mormon geography book of. A complete description of the book of mormon geography bomgeography, including an internal map model, external map model i. The book of mormon and defensive fortifications in mesoamerica. The book of mormon is not primarily about the history, wars, geography, culture, etc. Book of mormon geography jeff lindsays site and the. Many accounts of significant lands and cities are given in the book of mormon. Plausible locations in mesoamerica for book of mormon places. The geographical setting of the book of mormon is the set of locations of the events described in the book of mormon. This category and its subcategories contain maps of mesoamerica particularly relating to aspects of its precolumbian history and its subregions.
This book contains number of evidences in support of the authenticity of various details in the book of mormon. I agree that the book of mormon describes mountains, hills and valleys, but the text also refers to plains e. Members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church and other denominations of the latter day saint movement generally believe that the book of mormon describes ancient historical events in the americas, but historians and archaeologists. See more ideas about book of mormon, mayan ruins and lds art. Mesoamerica and the book of mormon linkedin slideshare. The bulk of the book of mormon takes place during the preclassic or formative period 2000 b. Oct 07, 2019 despite all these links to north america, arnold friberg, who established for latterday saints what book of mormon people, landscapes, and events might have looked like, 3 picked central americaas have most artists who depict book of mormon events. Mesoamerica, the region of southern mexico, guatemala, and adjacent nations. The geography of mesoamerica describes the geographic features of mesoamerica, a culture area in the americas inhabited by complex indigenous precolumbian cultures exhibiting a suite of shared and common cultural characteristics. In addition, the entire story of the book of mormon occurred within a small 500mile radius within mesoamerica. Claims the narrow neck of land is the isthmus of tehuantepec, and the basic area is that of mesoamerica. The smoking gun of book of mormon geography book of mormon.
Based on the reasons i listed above as well as others, i currently favor a mesoamerica setting for book of mormon geography, similar to the map presented below. Lastditch warfare in ancient mesoamerica recalls the book of mormon. The book of mormon geography lands and map with dna evidence. Arnold friberg, who painted that image of samuel the lamanite and eleven other paintings in the famous series on book of mormon events, specifically set his paintings in central america. Middle america tours was the wholesale operators for such companies as byu travel study, murdock travel and the foundation of ancient research in mormon studies. Why does the book of mormon include the rise and fall of two nations. Mar 27, 2016 despite all these links to north america, arnold friberg, who established for latterday saints what book of mormon people, landscapes, and events might have looked like, 3 picked central americaas have most artists who depict book of mormon events. A good portion of the examples are unique to lunds book, for example, the mayans obsessions with perfectly level roads, which are broken up in the storms at christs death. For old maps showing mesoamerica and its subregions that is, maps made over 70 years ago, please see category old maps of mesoamerica. Although historians and archaeologists consider the book to be an anachronistic invention of joseph smith, many members of the church of jesus christ of latterday saints lds church and other denominations of the latter day saint movement believe that it. This page shows the location of mesoamerica, fresnillo, zac. While church leaders in salt lake city have made no official pronouncements on the subject, the prevailing view within mormon intellectual circles is that the primary action in the book of mormon did not, in fact, happen in upstate new york, but in mesoamerica. Byu library, an account of our book of mormon lands tour, 27 january to 16 february 1961. Ainsworth discusses the differences between the people who claim the book of mormon history took place in mesoamerica and a new group of folks who claim it happened in upstate michigan.
While nothing can take the place of a spiritual witness of the truthfulness of the book of mormon, an understanding of the correlating evidence of the book of mormon, especially as it relates to geography, can provide greater appreciation for this inspired book of scripture. Finally there is a way to really explore john sorensons book of mormon geography. Why did moroni include mormons condemnation of infant baptism. Plausible locations in mesoamerica for book of mormon. After several months of intense careful study of the text i have put together the following proposed map, showing the relative positions of book of mormon lands, cities, rivers, etc. The phoenicia is a traditionallybuilt replica of a phoenician merchant vessel, based on a 600 bc design. Items in the bmc archive are made publicly available for noncommercial, private use. Apr 09, 2007 most lds scholars agree that the book of mormon lands are located somewhere around mesoamerica. The book of mormon has excited very little enthusiasm outside of mormonism, but it is a uniquely american piece of writing that merits wider attention.
Unfortunately, exploring and testing his geographic model in. Sorenson and others have discussed the history and development of latterday saint ideas about book of mormon geography, which have been literally all over the map, but no authoritative model exists. Mesoamerica has highly varied landforms with elevations ranging from sea level to 5,600 meters. The book of mormon begins in a wellknown location, jerusalem, in 600 b. Cheesmans, the world of the book of mormon, deseret book, 1978. History at the time of the book of mormon the millennial star. Since the publication of the book of mormon in 1830, mormon archaeologists have attempted to find archaeological evidence to support it.
If you arent familiar with the book of mormon, please see my book of mormon introduction page and get your own free copy at. Popular mesoamerica books meet your next favorite book. My research, my travels in mesoamerica, and my evaluations of joes thinking all convince me that mesoamerica is the best candidate for the lands of the book of mormon. Mesoamerica is the only viable setting for the book of mormon. The 10th annual book of mormon lands symposium was held in salt lake city to discuss the research and discoveries most recently made supporting. It comes with an optional explanatory booklet entitled book of mormon mesoamerican historic geography, and is available online. New revelations of the americas before columbus by charles c. In this page, i discuss the recent discoveries in mesoamerica which have caused a complete paradigm shift in the thinking of scholars. May 17, 2018 explore alwaysprepares board book of mormon. Mesoamerica vs heartlanders 3 unique characteristics. Sorenson, an ancient american setting for the book of mormon salt lake city. Created by the authors of an lds guide to mesoamerica and the yucatan to share experiences about the book of mormon and ancient america.
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