Nephi tells of very little of what must have been a very long journey over the water. Just as with the eight years of wandering in the wilderness, Nephi's narrative emphasis is on the spiritually important events, and the skeleton of the historical framework. His is not a narrative of the voyage, but of the spiritual journey.
In verse 22 Nephi notes that they set sail toward the promised land. They new that they had been promised a land, and they headed toward it. In verse 23, after arriving on some coast, they "did call it the promised land." Just as Lehi did during the journey from Jerusalem, they named lands and features for themselves. They had set sail for the promised land, and they had landed. Therefore they called it the promised land. Historical Information: Beginnings of Book of Mormon Geography
With their point of departure and the general winds and ocean currents, it is certainly most likely that the Lehites landed on the West Coast of some location on the Western hemisphere. Where might they have landed? How might the Book of Mormon correlate to a modern map? There have been remarkable developments in correlating the Old World portion of the Book of Mormon to a real geography, might that be possible for the New World portion?
Geography and AuthorityThe first issue to be defined should be whether or not there is an authoritative prophetic declaration which can help our search for a geography. In John L. Sorenson's An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon (Deseret Book Company 1985, pp. 1-2) he notes:
"The historical sources give no indication that Moroni's instructions to young Joseph Smith included geography, nor did Joseph Smith claim inspiration on the matter. Ideas he later expressed about the location of events reported in the book apparently reflected his own best thinking. What looks like the first consensual interpretation of Book of Mormon geography among him and his associates was sweeping: The land southward was the whole of south America; the land northward, the North American continent. One indicator of that is an 1836 record in Frederick G. Williams's handwriting attributing the statement to Joseph Smith that "Lehi and his company . . . landed on the continent of South America, in Chile, thirty degrees, south lattitude.: Church leaders B.H. Roberts and John A. Widtsoe, both careful critics, were hesitant to accept the statement's origin with the Prophet, yet it certainly wouldn't be surprising if the Prophet had once held this view, since other early Church members seem to have believed it.
(Williams later claimed that the statement about Chile was made to him by an angel rather than by Joseph.)" (Sorenson 1985, p. 2).
Sorenson also notes that in 1842 the _Times and Seasons_ asserted that "Lehi . . . landed a little south of the Isthmus of Darien (Panama)." (Sorenson 1985, p. 2). This new assertion would place the landing about three thousand miles north of the Chilean landing spot. Speculation continued without specific revelatory conclusion, and was excited by the publication of John Lloyd Stephens' Incidents of Travel in Central American, Chiapas and Yucatan (first published in 1841).
Franklin S. Harris, Jr. remarked on this subject:
"Where did the Book of Mormon peoples live? The Nephites always referred to their homeland as "the land of Jerusalem," but in America, of course they did not use any of the modern geographical terms. The geography in the book is perfectly self-consistent, but it makes no correlation with modern map names. Geography is incidental in the book. George Q. Cannon in 1890 said "without further information" a map with a correlation of the Book of Mormon geography with modern geography could not be relied on. And the late President Anthony W. Ivins in 1929 said: "There has never been anything yet set forth that definitely settles the question. So the Church says we are just waiting until we discover the truth. All kinds of theories have been advanced." (Franklin S. Harris, Jr., The Book of Mormon: Messages and Evidences, p.55-56).
By the 1950's Book of Mormon geographies had grown into widespread lecture phenomenon, with competing theories. Reynolds and Sjodahl note: "We have been led to these thoughts from the fact that the brethren who lecture on the lands of the Nephites or the geography of the Book of Mormon are not united in their conclusions. No two of them, so far as we have learned, are agreed on all points, and in many cases the variations amount tothousands of miles. These differences of views lead to discussion, contention, and perplexity; and we believe more confusion is caused by these divergences than good is done by the truths elicited. (Reynolds and Sjodahl, Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 1., p.x).
Even the modern Mormon academic icon Hugh Nibley views Book of Mormon geography with what might be generously called a "wary eye": "Book of Mormon geography is a waste of time. I wouldn't touch it with a forty-foot pole. Never have; it's not necessary." (Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 1, p.284).
In spite of the cautions, however, the potential for an increase in the understanding of the Book of Mormon is sufficient to warrant a careful consideration. Fletcher Hammond notes that an understanding of strategies and movements is greatly enhanced by at least a relative understanding of Book of Mormon geography (Hammond, Fletcher. Geography of the Book of Mormon. Utah Printing Company. 1959, p. vi).
An Operating Assumption for a Book of Mormon Geography: For the purposes of this commentary, the general geography worked out by John L. Sorenson will be used for the general context. This correlation is known as the "Limited Tehuantepec" geography. Central to Sorenson's correlation is a careful working out of distances based on probably travel times, and then a construction which also takes into account elevations based on the Book of Mormon descriptions of up and down. The benefit of this particular correlation is that it is able to place the events of the Book of Mormon in a plausible location, with time depth correlations which match between Book of Mormon and archaeological research in the area. In addition, the correlation is able to suggest specific sites that correlate to not only the correct relative position, but the correct time dating archaeologically. All of these possibilities provide a tremendous opportunity to study the Book of Mormon with a real map in mind.
Sorenson thus summarizes the Book of Mormon geography based on his analysis:
"It is now possible to present a summary correlation between Book of Mormon places and features on the map of Mesoamerica. Enough has already been said to make clear that the equations are not all made with equal assurance, and none with absolute certainty - yet. . .
The narrow neck of land is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.
The east sea is the Gulf of Mexico or its component, the Gulf of Campeche.
The west sea is the Pacific Ocean to the west of Mexico and Guatemala.
The land southward comprises that portion of Mexico east and south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, comprising mainly the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, together with highland and coastal Guatemala and possibly part of El Salvador.
The land northward consists of part of Mexico west and north of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, involving all or parts of the states of Veracruz, Oaxaca, Puebla, and Guerrero (and possibly more).
The river Sidon was the Grijalva River. The city of Zarahemla lay on the west bank of this river and could well have been the archaeological site of Santa Rosa....
The Jaredite land of Moron likely was the Valley of Oaxaca.
The final battleground where both Jaredite and Nephite peoples met their end was around the Tuxtla Mountains of south-central Veracruz.
The city of Nephi was probably the archaeological site of Kaminaljuyu, ... the land of Nephi in the broader sense constituted the highlands of southern Guatemala." Sorenson 1985 pp. 46-47)
This correlation also poses some specific problems (such as a skewing of the uses for the terms for the cardinal directions) that are better left to discussions about the specifics of the geography. For the purposes of this commentary, however, the general geographic correlation with the Book of Mormon and the area known as Mesoamerica will be used as a basis for analysis.
Locating the Landing Place: Of course the landing place must be on a coast. The Lehite voyage was no Ark of Noah to perch high in the mountains. They landed on a beach. According to the Limited Tehuantepec geography, the likely landing place would be on the coast of Guatemala.
The Arrival of the Lehites and the Occupation of the Promised Land: It is certain from the Book of Mormon that Lehi and his family arrived in the Promised Land. It is also certain from the text of the Book of Mormon that at least two other Old World groups also arrived, one before the Lehites (the Jaredites) and one later (the Mulekites). What is not clear from the Book of Mormon record is whether or not these were the only peoples in the land. On that point the Book of Mormon is silent. Archaeology, however, is not silent at all on this point, and it is clear that wherever the Lehites would have landed in any of the Americas they would not have been alone. This is even more certain in the proposed Limited Tehuantepec correlation.
One of the important issues for understanding the Book of Mormon is that the Book of Mormon peoples had to have shared the Promised Land with others who were already here when they arrived. Indeed the vast majority of the New World peoples are demonstrably descended from an Asian rather than a Middle Eastern stock. This does not preclude the Lehites arriving from the Jerusalem, but must necessarily temper our understanding of the relative size and importance of this immigrant population.