Book of Mormon Geography

[Shulem]

Given the fact that after nearly 200 years noone has been able to identify the real world location of the Book of Mormon geography in the Americas, it seems to me that the Joseph himself didn't even have a real world location in mind. I know you're arguing that he did, but I don't yet see enough in Delmarva that matches. When you zoom in on the details in Delmarva things get as messy as Meso's Nephite North and Heartland's narrow neck in Niagara.

Lest you forget what we determined together prior to zooming in:

Narrow Neck, check
Surrounded by water on three sides, check

There are not very many candidates that could properly apply for the narrow neck position in the Book of Mormon as noted by Doctor CamNC4Me. You are aware how I advocate for a new interpretation for the distances explained for the width and length of the neck. I’ve written a lot of material on that subject and back it up with a lot of thought. The author of the Book of Mormon wanted us to know how LONG and how WIDE the neck was so we could understand the location and distance of Desolation from the southern land, the gravity of tactical battlefield defenses, and how the neck related to isolation of the peninsula from the continent. Everyone has been misinterpreting the text because of ill reading from apologists who look through rose colored glasses. The author of the Book of Mormon provided important *key* information about the neck’s dimensions so that readers can appreciate how it restricted the free flow of transportation between the north and the south.

The neck really is the *golden key* to identify the location! The land being surrounded by three sides of water is a dead ringer in showing how Smith looked at Delmarva with Cumorah and great bodies of water to the far north. It’s all there, right there in front of your very eyes, Zosimus. Open your eyes and open your mind to the obvious conclusion.

Let the light shine in!

[Shulem]

Even though there were witnesses to the translation process, there is no way to know if what Joseph was reading out loud from the hat was what actually ended up on the printing press. He could have been reciting Isaiah the whole time, or random stories of native Americans mixed with quotes from Cicero's Orations (hat tip to Luman Walters) for all we know.

I think it’s safe to say that Smith and his scribe pretty much copied the Isaiah chapters straight from the King James Bible with the exception of a few minor changes. I doubt very much that Smith memorized the Isaiah chapters. I don’t think he read an Isaiah cheat sheet with his face in a hat. The Bible was obviously at the table and nobody can say what other books might have accompanied it.

Interesting enough, we have actual remnants of the original dictation MANUSCRIPT and I’ve made quite a bit of commentary about it. What we read therein is what Cowdery claimed to write while Smith translated. We also have additional testimony of how Smith translated the papyrus into the Book of Abraham. The Kirtland Egyptian Papers serve to show the mechanics and Smith’s own workmanship in attempting to create a Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language. Dan Vogel and I have offered similar perspectives into how Smith dictated while his scribes wrote what he said. Examples of that dictation prove how two scribes writing simultaneously recorded different versions of what they heard. The Book of Abraham story was put together via the oral dictations provided by Joseph Smith:

To the Editor of the Painesville Republican:

I have been Smith’s private Secretary, called to fill this high and responsible station by revelation which I wrote myself as it dropped from the lips of the Prophet, and although contrary to my natural inclinations, I submitted to it, fearing to disobey or treat lightly the commands of the Almighty. I have kept his journal, and like Aaron the ancient scribe, have had the honor of writing the History of the Prophets . . . . I have sat by his side and penned down the translation of the Egyptian hieroglyphics as he claimed to receive it by direct inspiration from heaven.

[notarized below]

This is to certify that we are personally acquainted with said Parrish, Smith and Rigdon, and that the above is a statement of facts according to our best recollections.

Luke Johnson, John Boynton, two of the twelve apostles

Sylvester Smith, Leonard Rich, former seventies

[Shulem]

Your proposal that Oliver may have copied from an existing text is preposterous and completely out of order. You’ll need to take that back.

I'm not the first (or last) to propose that Oliver Cowdery played a role in the authorship of the Book of Mormon. You'd need evidence to support that Joseph was the sole author and his scribe who sat by his side the entire time had no role in it before that one goes away.

Well then, we have written testimony from Reuben Miller who quoted what was reported to him by Oliver Cowdery.

That *is* evidence:

I wrote with my own pen the intire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the Lips of the prophet. As he translated it by the gift and power of god, By means of the urum and thumum, or as it is called by that book holy Interperters. I beheld with my eyes, And handled with my hands the gold plates from which it was translated, I also beheld the Interperters. That book is true, Sidney Rigdon did not write it, Mr Spaulding did not write it, I wrote it myself as it fell from the Lips of the prophet.

[Shulem]

The translation process was slow when Emma and Martin were scribes and things proceeded unusually fast when Oliver acted as scribe. Why would that be? Makes me think the scribe was a factor.

Different strokes for different folks. Joseph had plenty of practice dictating with his face in a hat by the time Cowdery came on the scene. It makes sense that the translation process and speed would vary depending on the personality of the scribe and how easy or hard it was for him to fool the scribe into thinking he’s getting revelation by miraculously reading words on a glowing stone. The whole thing is complete nonsense no matter how you dice or slice.

[Shulem]

We don't know. I'm not ready to limit the possibilities to your two options.

And what about Martin Harris? What chance to you think he helped Joseph write a fictitious story using other materials at hand? Did not Harris claim to simply write what fell from the lips of the prophet while he told the story with his face in a hat? Let’s not forget that Harris had five thousand dollars to invest -- not based on a pretense or a translation anything short of miraculous! Harris expected Joseph to produce the goods.

[Moksha]

If we went with the hypothesis that the Malay Peninsula was the setting of the Book of Mormon, it might bolster Louis Midgley's claim that the Lamanites were among the principal ancestors of the New Zealand Maori and the additional claim of them being the ancestors of the Tongans and Samoans. That might even tie in to Captain Kidd burying gold doubloons and plates on Comoros Island.

Of course, the Delmarva hypothesis is a bit more down-to-earth, if you appreciate that sort of thing. Having a mental map of Middle Earth probably helped J.R.R. Tolkien.

[Zosimus]

If we went with the hypothesis that the Malay Peninsula was the setting of the Book of Mormon, it might bolster Louis Midgley's claim that the Lamanites were among the principal ancestors of the New Zealand Maori and the additional claim of them being the ancestors of the Tongans and Samoans. That might even tie in to Captain Kidd burying gold doubloons and plates on Comoros Island.

I’ve been calling this variation of the Malay hypothesis the Comoro model because the Malay Peninsula was also known as Comoro in Arabic geographies. In fact, the Comoros Islands and Madagascar (also known as Comoro) were named after the Kumr people, the name Arabs gave to the Polynesians. So yeah, it fits the Church teachings that Polynesians (Kumr) are a Lehite remnant.

My opinion is that Luman Walters learned all this when he was studying in Paris. He could have picked it up in De Sacy’s 1810 translation of the Arabic text “Relation de L’Egypt”. Why Egypt? Because Arabs believed the Kumr (ancient Polynesians) had also settled in Yemen, Oman and Egypt at the foot of a mountain named after them, Komorriyya, the mythological source of the Nile River. What better name then Cumorah for the mountain holding the Golden Plates.

So in short, my opinion is that Joseph Smith was not borrowing the name Cumorah from the Comoros Islands, he was borrowing it from the peninsula known to Arabs as Comoro, the native land of the treasure guardian of Captain Kidd’s Kedah Merchant, Maroni.

Remember Joseph was also a fan of Arabian Nights along with Captain Kidd stories. Arabian Nights describes the adventures of Sinbad to the Indies including the island of Komar or Comari, the Malay Peninsula.

[Moksha]

This premise would be based on Joseph having a truly phenomenal memory and the forethought to extend this story in remarkable ways. How were the golden plates of the Malay Penisula conveyed to Upper New York State?

[Shulem]

<snip>

Therefore, we are to understand that east and west are expressly used in the strategy given in the text and cardinal directions are always associated with the rising and setting of the sun. If Moroni is standing on the west wall and looks straight ahead during morning, what will he see? He will see dawn, daybreak on the horizon of the east sea. Conversely, while standing on the same wall he would have to turn around 180 degrees in order to watch sunset. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west even when you’re standing on the wall of Nephihah!

This is a powerful example to show that cardinal directions are explicitly expressed in the Book of Mormon. In particular, the narrow neck and the flanking of its two seas. The so-called narrow neck of Tehuantepec with its southern and northern seas are not a match for the Book of Mormon.

Let’s further examine how the Book of Mormon adopts the biblical eastern gate whereas the east entry to the city is the main entry. I present another example to show that the Nephites built walled cities with a main east entry gate and honored the cardinal directions to a tee. Brant Gardner and Mesoamerican apologists should take notice because this is bad news for those who imagine the city Bountiful at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

The entrance gate to a walled city is located on the eastern side of the city:

• Alma 49:4 But behold, how great was their disappointment; for behold, the Nephites had dug up a ridge of earth round about them, which was so high that the Lamanites could not cast their stones and their arrows at them that they might take effect, neither could they come upon them save it was by their place of  entrance.

• Alma 49:18 Now behold, the Lamanites could not get into their forts of security by any other way save by the entrance, because of the highness of the bank which had been thrown up, and the depth of the ditch which had been dug round about, save it were by the entrance.

• Alma 62:21 And it came to pass that they were on the east, by the entrance; and they were all asleep. And now Moroni returned to his army, and caused that they should prepare in haste strong cords and ladders, to be let down from the top of the a wall into the inner part of the wall.

• Helaman 1:20 Therefore Coriantumr did cut down the watch by the entrance of the city, and did march forth with his whole army into the city, and they did slay every one who did oppose them, insomuch that they did take possession of the whole city.

Let’s now look at how king Limhi and his people fled Shilom to escape bondage from the Lamanites prior to fleeing to Zarahemla. Again, we see how an eastern gate plays a direct role in guarding a walled city. But in the case of Limhi the main gate was not available so they had to use stratagem devised by Gideon in order to escape and flee out of the land.

6 Behold the back pass, through the back wall, on the back side of the city. The Lamanites, or the guards of the Lamanites, by night are drunken; therefore let us send a proclamation among all this people that they gather together their flocks and herds, that they may drive them into the wilderness by night.

7 And I will go according to thy command and pay the last a tribute of wine to the Lamanites, and they will be drunken; and we will pass through the secret pass on the left of their camp when they are drunken and asleep.

8 Thus we will depart with our women and our children, our flocks, and our herds into the wilderness; and we will travel around the land of Shilom.

9 And it came to pass that the king hearkened unto the words of Gideon.

10 And king Limhi caused that his people should gather their flocks together; and he sent the tribute of wine to the Lamanites; and he also sent more wine, as a present unto them; and they did drink freely of the wine which king Limhi did send unto them.

11 And it came to pass that the people of king Limhi did a depart by night into the wilderness with their flocks and their herds, and they went round about the land of Shilom in the wilderness, and bent their course towards the land of Zarahemla, being led by Ammon and his brethren.

12 And they had taken all their gold, and silver, and their precious things, which they could carry, and also their provisions with them, into the wilderness; and they pursued their journey.

Everything has an opposite so if the main city entrance faces east (rising of the sun) then the back of the city will face west (setting of the sun) and the sides will face north and south respectively. Pay particular attention to the secret pass on the “left” of the camp which is an indication that a cardinal direction is at play. It’s interesting that in this case a direction is not specifically named! However, a bodily reference to one who is facing a direction and the turning to the right or left is what determines the cardinal direction in which they proceed. This is proof that the Nephites were keenly aware of the cardinal directions and the movement of their own bodies were in sync with that direction. Thus, the Nephites were always aligned with keeping the four cardinal directions in perfect order. Every single time and in every single place!

1. “Back pass” = west passageway
2. “Back wall” = western wall
3. “Back side” = western area of the city
4. “Secret pass on the left of their camp” = south passageway

Exiting the south passage on the southern wall allowed the people of Limhi to travel around the city on the south side and proceed westward and then turn north to escape the land. This example shows how cardinal directions and bodily orientation were masterfully employed and that cardinal directions were exact and precise.

So, what does this mean for an apologetic city of Bountiful and its temple located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec? How might this cause a problem for Bountiful’s eastern gate that faces the rising sun as it relates to the name of the nearby sea? Think about that!

Therefore, the sea that is physically located north of Bountiful cannot be “sea east” and the sea that is located on the other side of the isthmus cannot be “sea west”. The apologists have no choice but to label their seas as “north” and “south” which proves that their model is fatally flawed.

[Shulem]

<snip>

We are given to understand that the very river in which the dead Lamanites and Amlicites were cast into was not far distant from the mouth of the river which leads into the sea. How so? The bodies would float downstream, southward into the sea! The bodies could not have floated upstream because the “head of the river Sidon” is northward near Manti, thus contrary to popular misconception by many Book of Mormon scholars, the river Sidon flows south, downstream until it reaches the sea that lies south of Zarahemla. All of this suggests that the river Sidon was NOT a long river but was local to that quadrant of the land with the city of Zarahemla being the most important city “by” the river. The river was less than 50 miles long! All crossing of the river Sidon was between its head near the land of Manti and the mouth that is south of Zarahemla! Nobody was forced to cross the river Sidon when travelling directly from the land of Nephi to Bountiful and to the land northward. Contrary to popular belief the river does NOT flow north with a mouth on the east sea! Those scholars are mistaken in interpreting the text and their models depicting the river Sidon are erroneous.

Several years later another battle took place a near Manti at the river Sidon and bodies of the dead were thrown into the river to float downstream into the sea. It’s important to note that where ever bodies are thrown into the river they manage to find their way to the sea because it’s such a short river!

<snip>

Recall earlier how the river Sidon “ran by the land of Zarahemla” and how the river was oriented in a north and south direction with Zarahemla to the west and Gideon to the east. But what of the flow? In which direction does the text say the water flows? Let’s examine an account in Alma that tells us exactly which direction the water flows and we can do that without having to plot all the various features and describe how cities and lands encircle the head waters of Sidon. We will do that later.

For now, let’s examine the key given twice that reveals the direction in which the water was flowing. I’m afraid this is very bad news for the apologists who have misinterpreted the text because they are trying to make the text fit their false models rather than use Joseph Smith’s map to fit his text. Thus, it is left for a nonbelieving critic (such as myself) to unlock the mystery of Book of Mormon geography. One can never do that so long as they have faith that the book is a genuine historical record! Thus, get rid of faith and realize that Joseph Smith was making it all up based on fiction using Delmarva as a template or backdrop in which to create his amazing epic.

So, in which direction did the water flow?

27 And it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west—and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided.

28 Now, the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers’ first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore.

29 And also there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them. And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites; nevertheless the Nephites had taken possession of all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness, at the head of the river Sidon, from the east to the west, round about on the wilderness side; on the north, even until they came to the land which they called Bountiful.

Now, I realize and it’s readily obvious that the river in Delmarva flows more of a north to south direction so why does the text specify an east to west direction? Well, the river head does originate a little to the east and flows in a Southwest direction towards the west sea. Also, tributary water is very close to the eastern coast. But the account also expresses how the river itself divides the land and acts as a separation or barrier between Zarahemla and the lands to the east including the land of Nephi to the south. Therefore, the flow of direction is given from east to west.

IF, the flow of water ran northward as apologists have mistakenly interpreted then the text would read in the opposite fashion and if that were the case the apologists could have their cake and eat it too:

1. running from the west towards the east
2. from the west to the east

The key words are “running” and “from” because they imply flow.