“I Did Smite Two Stones Together That I Might Make Fire”

Alan C. Miner

Nephi tells us "I did smite two stones together that I might make fire" (1 Nephi 17:11). Potter and Wellington note that they stopped to photograph in two sites on the frankincense trail between Ubar and Ain Humran. In each case they found flint lying in abundance on the surface, the identification being confirmed by a geologist of an Arabian oil company. Flint deposits have also been identified at Andhur, the site built in the mountains east of Khor Rori about A.D. 60 by the Hadramautis. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering the Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, pp. 191-192]

1 Nephi 17:11 And I did smite two stones together that I might make fire ([Illustration]): Abundant deposits of jasper (a flint-like rock) are strewn along the upper reaches of the canyon of Wadi Sayq. If two of these rocks are struck repeatedly and sharply together, they will make sparks that can be used to ignite tinder and light a fire. [Scot and Maurine Proctor, Light from the Dust, p. 52]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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