The Travels of Lehis Colony in the Wilderness

Daniel H. Ludlow

The exact route followed by Lehi and his colony as they fled from Jerusalem is not given in the Book of Mormon. However, the general direction of their travel is given in the references listed above. Evidently Lehi’s colony first traveled south from Jerusalem until they met the Red Sea (1 Nephi 2:4-6), then south-southeast until after they had stayed at Shazer and Nahom (1 Nephi 16:9-14, 33-34) and then “nearly eastward from that time forth” until they arrived at the sea (1 Nephi 17:1-6). The following statement, if true, would throw additional light on the possible route of Lehi’s colony, but the authenticity of this statement has not been completely substantiated:

Lehi Travels.—Revelation to Joseph the Seer. The course that Lehi and his company traveled from Jerusalem to the place of their destination:

They traveled nearly a south-southeast direction until they came to the nineteenth degree of north latitude; then, nearly east to the Sea of Arabia… . (Franklin D. Richards and James A. Little, A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel, 1925, p. 272.)

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