Laman and Lemuel complained that Nephi wanted to be their leader and teacher and that he wanted to "lead us away into some strange wilderness" (1 Nephi 16:38). If they were already in the wilderness, what would be a "strange" wilderness? They had essentially traveled the main frankincense trail the length of Arabia. they had described this as being in the wilderness. What could be different about this "strange wilderness"?
Alma would seem to give us some insight into the answer to this question and what happened to the family at this time. In Alma we read:
concerning the Liahona . . . it did work for them according to their faith in god; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold it was done. Nevertheless . . . they were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey; Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions. (Alma 37:38, 40-42)
There are a number of reasons why Alma's words might apply to the events at Nahom:
(1) Alma uses the word "tarry" to describe this time in the wilderness, the exact same word Nephi uses at Nahom (see 1 Nephi 16:33) The only other time this word was used was at the valley of Lemuel, where the family was clearly not lost, nor did they suffer hunger and thirst. It would therefore seem likely that alma is here referring tot he time they "tarried" to bury Ishmael.
(2) Alma informs us that when the Liahona was not functioning they "did not travel a direct course." Compare this with the statement of Ishmael's daughters describing the time prior to tarrying at Nahom: "and we have wandered much in the wilderness, and we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue" (1 Nephi 16:35). Previous to Nahom is the only occasion we read that Lehi's family suffered from hunger and thirst, exactly the afflictions Alma describes.
(3) Alma notes that "they did not progress in their journey." In a similar comment on the family's journey, King Benjamin notes that "they did not prosper nor progress on their journey, but were driven back" (Mosiah 1:17) Thus it would appear that the family lost their way and were forced to backtrack. If this was the case, we realize that Lehi's tarrying at Nahom was not to relax and replenish their supplies in a fertile location, but it was when they "were afflicted with hunger and thirst because of their transgression."
Using this reasoning, Potter and Wellington now propose an explanation of the "strange wilderness" that Laman and Lemuel spoke of. They write that after leaving Najran the family would encounter the first huge dune desert on their journey. Southeast of Najran is Ramlat Dahm, an arm of the rub'al Khali (the Empty Quarter). The trail skirts to the west of the dunes hugging the side of the mountains. If the Liahona had pointed for them to head east through the terrible desert of the Rub'al Khali, the family would have undergone extreme hardship. The sand dunes are huge and the soft sand quickly drains the strength of the traveler. It should not go unnoticed that Nephi uses the word "wade" (1 Nephi 17:1) in describing the journey eastward from Nahom.
A final correlation deals with Laman and Lemuel's complaints at Nahom: "he worketh many things by his cunning arts, that he may deceive our eyes . . . he has thought to make himself a king and a ruler over us" (1 Nephi 16:38) In a future record of Zeniff, we find that one of the major traditions of the Lamanites that caused them to hate the Nephites, and which was passed down through generations, was that Nephi "took the lead of their journey in the wilderness" (Mosiah 10:13). In Laman's complaint, he used the past tense ("he has thought") showing that this event had already taken place by the time they tarried at Nahom.
If the family left the oasis city of Okhdood (Najran) and continued on the trail, they would have initially headed east along the wadi Najran and then after some 25 miles turned to the south-southeast. To the west of the trail were mountains and to the east the sand dune desert of Ramlat dahm. The route had little choice but to run along the edge of the mountains to avoid the soft sand. After 25 miles they would have come across the first well, Al Mayayn. The trail now turned to the southeast and 25 miles later the family would have encountered the second well at Sayh. Proceeding another 25 miles in a southeast direction, the trail suddenly took a number of twists and turns. (see illustration) In the space of a little over 40 miles it turned first to the north, then south, then west then south, skirting around the edge of the sand dunes. At this point the route split into two. Ten miles before the fork was the well of Qurra and at the split was the well of Bi'r al Mahashimah. The trail to wadi Jawf continued south while to route to Dhofar took many twists around Jabal al Burm, northeast, southwest, south, west, then southeast. Is it possible that here the Lord chose to test the group and chasten them? If here the Liahona led them into the edge of the Rub'al Khali they would have waded through the dunes until eventually the Lord brought them to a well and they made camp there. Presumably, the family had become hopelessly lost in the desert only to rest in the spot where they rejoined the trail? Somewhere in that wandering, hunger, thirst, and afflictions, Ishmael had died. Whether Nephi had been told the name of Nahom as the place they were going to beforehand, or whether they found this fact out later after rejoining the trail is unknown. Potter and Wellington propose the location for Nahom to be somewhere in the 50 miles north of jabal al-Lawdh (N16o10', E45o 05') and south of wadi Khabb. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering the Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, pp. 145-152]