According to Potter and Wellington, Lehi would have had some sense from Nephi’s vision and from his own knowledge of the huge task which lay ahead in getting across the “many waters” to the promised land (1 Nephi 13:12). There were only a few places where ships large enough to even attempt to take them such a distance were built and sailed. When the Liahona pointed “the way whither [they] should go into the wilderness” (1 Nephi 16:10) and that direction turned out to be “south-southeast” (1 Nephi 16:13), Lehi and Nephi must have realized that the Lord was leading them toward the ports which sat at the end of the Frankincense trail.
One might ask, How can anyone claim that Lehi really knew these ports existed? The valley of Lemuel in which Lehi camped was less than twenty miles from the Gaza branch of the Frankincense trail. The Frankincense trail got its name from the product which was primarily transported along it--frankincense, a sweet smelling gum, the sap of the Frankincense tree (Boswelia sacra). The Frankincense trees were native to southern Arabia, specifically the Dhofar region and the Hadramawt region. Thus the southern Arabians became wealthy on the sale of this aromatic, highly prized substance. Evidence suggests it was used in Egypt as early as 5,000 B.C., and eventually became an integral part of temple ceremonies in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome and Israel.
There were three main ports in southern Arabia: Aden, Cana and Moscha (see illustration). The merchant ships of these three ports virtually monopolized trade with India and the Far East until the first centuries B.C.-A.D. Aden (Eden) and Qana (Canneh) were known to the people of Palestine in Lehi’s time (see Ezekiel 27:23). Moscha (“Mesha”--Genesis 10:30) was the major port in Dhofar. The Frankincense trail ended only when it reached one of these ports. Moscha was a place where ships and captains could be found that were capable of sailing in the open waters of the Indian Ocean.
Nephi’s assignment was basically to build a ship and sail it across “many waters” to the promised land. In our times it might be somewhat comparable to the Lord asking you to go to the moon. Even if you had inspiration from the Lord you would probably want to visit a large aerospace manufacturer, find out where suppliers are located so you could acquire the necessary components, and finally consult with an experienced astronaut for lessons. Nephi had to acquire the knowledge and develop the skills necessary to make this ocean voyage, and he had limited time. What more could he seek than a place where he could draw on accumulated experience and tradition. That place existed at the end of the Frankincense trail.
But what evidence is there that Nephi and Lehi really knew such a place existed? Lehi was of the “free class” and a land owner (1 Nephi 4:33; 2:4). He was wealthy (1 Nephi 2:4), multi-lingual (1 Nephi 1:2), and therefore probably of the noble or merchant class. Most likely, Lehi had as good, if not better, knowledge of the overland and seafaring routes of his day than did his contemporary prophets. And if Ezekiel and Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:9) knew about these large ocean-going ships of the Indian Ocean and the overland trail route leading to the Indian Ocean ports (Jeremiah 49:7-8), then certainly Lehi knew about them. Moreover, the brass plates told of these ships (see 2 Nephi 12:16). These plates mentioned Ophir (2 Nephi 24:12) which, according to the LDS Bible dictionary was “probably a port of southern Arabia.” According to Oman historian S.B. Miles, Ophir appears to have been the port of Moscha (Mesha) in Dhofar (Sephar) (Genesis 10:29-30; 1 Nephi 5:11). The scriptures told of Solomon sending his navy to Ophir to acquire gold (1 Kings 9:28), a “great plenty of almug trees,” and precious stones (1 Kings 10:11). “By the time of Job 22:24, Ophir had become a synonym for a gold producing land.” Over hundreds, even thousands of years, gold and precious things had come to that area through the sale of the precious Frankincense, native to only that area. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, pp. 71-73]
1 Nephi 16:10 The one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness ([Illustration] The Three Ancient Ports of Southern Arabia: Aden, Cana, and Moscha. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, p. 88]
1 Nephi 16:10 The one pointged tehway whither w should go into thewildlrness ([Illustration]): The three aNcient Ports of Southern Arabia: Adan, Cana, and Moscha. (George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Tehi-Nehi Trial. P 88+
“The One Pointed the Way Whither We Should Go into the Wilderness”
According to Potter and Wellington, phrases in Nephi’s record appear to describe a journey to and then along the Frankincense trail. There are multiple corroborative references like coming “down by the borders of the Red Sea” (1 Nephi 2:5), traveling “three days” in “borders near … nearer the Red Sea” (1 Nephi 2:5-6), then traveling “nearly a south-southeast direction” (1 Nephi 16:13) “keeping in the most fertile parts of the wilderness, which were in the borders near the Red Sea” (1 Nephi 16:14). But one might ask, Why was it necessary for the Liahona to point “the way whither we should go” (1 Nephi 16:10) if Lehi and Nephi were traveling on such a well established trail such as the Frankincense trail? There are a number of reasons:
1. Water: The course of the Frankincense trail can be explained in one word, “water.” Lynn Hilton notes: “Where there is water--that is the inescapable fact of Arabian life--and the great oases of the Arabian peninsula do not move from place to place” The great oases of western Arabia, Tabuk, Hijra, Dedan (Ula), Medina, Mecca, and Najran are all found on the Frankincense trail or a branch of it. The eastern side of the coastal mountains forms an underground sea, trapping large pools of water in aquifers. The inland underground reservoirs, called the Basalt Aquifers, run almost the entire length of the northern and central parts of the Frankincense trail, providing dependable wells and springs along its course. The Frankincense trail was used because it had a reliable water supply. Yet water was not a free resource for all but rather a jealously guarded commodity. Water holes were guarded and regulated public property of the ruling tribe. Without permission from the local tribe one cannot drink from them. And those wells which were not part of a settlement were often covered with a large rock and a bush so that one could even stand on the well and never know it was there unless informed of such by one of the local tribesman.
Some might argue that the Liahona could have directed Lehi through the desert without a trail. Even if that were possible, the party needed to rejoin the trail at the wells. They had no other choice. The need to find water in the desert made it relatively easy for the emirs to control passage through their lands. Taylor writes:
Like the soldiers and traders who had made their way through Arabia before them, they (pilgrims) knew there were supplies of water, scanty and brackish through they might be, on the road ahead. Fortified kellas or water stations, protected by iron-plated doors and garrisons of soldiers, dotted the route at long and irregular intervals. Although it might have been two or three days’ march form one to another, at least the water supplies were known and plans made accordingly.
2. Supplies: The Frankincense trail also provided the other important elements needed to survive the trip through the desert: food and, when needed, fresh camels. At the camps or “caravansaries” along the trail, the traveler could also share news and companionship with other travelers as well as inquire about the trail ahead. Every Bedu herdsman was responsible to the local emir to be an informer. To this day, they still receive rewards for notifying authorities of strangers traveling in their lands. Andrew Taylor writes of the earlier Europeans that journeyed into the Arabian wilderness: “Like other explorers before and after them, the Blunts (Wilfrid and Ann Blunt) were amazed at how news of their presence had spread among the tribes.” Lehi would have understood that in order to travel through Arabia he would need the continued information and supplies offered by an authorized trail.
3. A Good Road: Mohammed Al-Mansour and his family were wealthy caravan-traders from Qassim, due east from Medina. His great grandson, Waleed Al Mansour, keeps a long genealogy that includes personal histories. He notes that to this day, his uncles can describe the footing of each of the main camel trails in Arabia, that is, gravel, hard sand, dry river bed, etc. The routes were not straight courses, but often deviated far distances to avoid lava beds, mountains or soft sand, none of which were good terrain for camels. Such considerations were far from incidental. If one’s camels became lame in the desert, the traveler’s fate was in serious jeopardy. The courses of the Frankincense routes were derived from thousands of years of experience, and were faithfully followed in an effort to minimize the risk of losing camels or of getting lost.
4. Places to Acquire Income: Besides money for tributes, Lehi would have needed funds for acquiring provisions, and probably for replacing camels that became lame or died on the trail. Lehi apparently did not take his gold and silver into the wilderness. However Randolph Linehan, an international attorney specializing in international commerce, and one who practiced law in Arabia, speculates that in the commercial centers that were located along the Frankincense trail, Lehi and his older sons could have exchanged their highly valued personal services for tribute and provisions. Lehi was wealthy. He had taught not just his oldest sons, but his younger ones as well, reading, writing, and the trade languages: Egyptian, Canaanite script, Judahite Hebrew. They made written records and had scriptures in their possession. This might, to some degree, explain why it took Lehi eight years to cross Arabia.
5. Protection from Plunder: Remaining on the Frankincense trail would have provided Lehi with a couple of good security measures: (1) they would have been traveling with many other people; and (2) they would have the opportunity to pay proper tribute to local authorities who guarded the trail. The Bedouins of Arabia watched the passages and wells and knew who traveled in their lands. To wander off this trail invited death from those officials who derived their income from the caravan trade. Those entering tribal lands without permission were considered by those in authority to be trespassers, tribute dodgers or what we might call illegal immigrants. The family would thus have been fair game for plunder, enslavement and perhaps even death.
Staying on the trail also meant traveling with large groups. Waleed Al-Monsour relates that his grandfather‘s caravan’s numbered two to three hundred camels, each few camels being accompanied by an armed man. When a smaller group wished to make a long journey they would wait at a village (or caravanserai) until enough people could band together to make a sizable traveling party. The caravan was thus a small army traveling across the desert. The same strategy applied to the pioneers of the American West.
Arabist Alan Keohane explains why it was in the interest of the tribes to encourage travel:
Traders and cultivators paid them protection money, called khawah to keep themselves safe from raids. The desert sheikhs--a title of respect derived from the Arabic word for “to be old”--became so powerful that many were given the grander title of emir or prince. They were also fabulously wealthy.
For this reason, the tribes that ruled trade routes went to great efforts to protect their trails and to organize small parties into larger groups for travel between villages. These tribute-paying travelers needed a degree of safety or they would find other routes. The travelers were their customers, and the tribute from the trail was their main source of income. Andrew Taylor writes of one nineteenth century Emir in northern Arabia:
Emir Mohammed ibn Rashid at Hail, who would briskly lop off the heads of strangers found loafing around near the rods in his domain as an example to anyone thinking of mounting an armed attack on passing travelers. It was … an effective policy--there had been no robberies on the Emir’s highways for years …
Nigel Groom notes of the Minaeans, one of the incense kingdoms of southern Arabia that controlled the trade in Lehi’s time:
Over the long period of the overland incense trade, power and influence will have shifted among the different tribes of central Arabia and it seems likely that the Minaeans organizing the trade will always have been much concerned in dealings to ensure the safe passage of their caravans through the territories of tribal chiefs with varying and fluctuating degrees of authority. A general measure of law and order must have been maintained, however, ford the trade to have continued over the centuries without, so far as we know, any major interruption.
[George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, pp. 74-83; see also George Potter & Richard Wellington, Discovering Nephi’s Trail, Chapter 4, p. 4, 8, Unpublished]