According to Hugh Nibley, there is a tradition that refers to two brothers who led a group of people from a great tower, eastward, and were never heard of again. These two brothers were known as Ram and Rud. This tradition is from the Mandaean Christians living in Mesopotamia and Iran. It is not difficult to see, as Dr. Nibley points out, that “Rud” is a shortened form of “Jared” and that this Mandaean tradition could very well be referring to the Jaredite migration. [Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon, 1964, p. 296]
“Inquire of the Lord Whether He Will Drive Us out of the Land”
According to Thomas Valletta, Jared’s phrase “drive us out of the land” (Ether 1:38), is like the language used to describe Adam and Eve’s being driven from the Garden of Eden (Ether 1:38; Genesis 3:24; Moses 4:31)… . The same words are used when the Israelites are expelled from Egypt (Exodus 11:1; 12:31) … In the same pattern, the brother of Jared is told that God would go before them “into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth” (Ether 1:42); a land that Jared hoped his people, if faithful, might receive “for [their] inheritance” (Ether 1:38). Further, the Lord promised that he would bless them and their seed that they would become “a great nation,” and “that there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of thy seed” (Ether 1:43), a promise similar to that made to Abraham and Israel.
These promises (along with the promise to not confound their language-see the commentary on Ether 1:35) contain the essential elements of the everlasting covenant detailed later to Father Abraham and to every covenant people. These elements include priesthood, posterity, and a land of inheritance (see Abraham 2:11; B. McConkie, A New Witness 505). Modern revelation makes it clear that these covenants, often referred to as the Abrahamic covenant, were previously and subsequently made with Adam and the other patriarchs (see Moses 6:65-68; 7:51; 8:2; also see Old Testament Student Manual 70-72). This covenant is the new and everlasting covenant that God established in this dispensation (see D&C 49:9; 66:2; 132:2-7). According to Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “the covenant made with the fathers was that their seed after them should receive the same gospel, the same priesthood, the same promise of salvation, that blessed the lives of those with whom the covenant was first made” (A New Witness 524). [Thomas R. Valletta, “Jared and His Brother,” in The Book of Mormon: Fourth Nephi through Moroni, From Zion to Destruction, pp. 309-310]
“He Will Drive Us out of the Land”
Hugh Nibley reports that Eusebius in his Chronicon, which has surprisingly proved one of the most reliable sources of early oriental history, cites the Sibyl to the effect that “when all men were of one tongue, some of them built a high tower so as to mount up to heaven, but God destroyed the tower by mighty winds.”… The Book of Jubilees (second century B.C.) tells how “the Lord sent a mighty wind against the tower and overthrew it upon the earth, and behold it was between Asshur and Babylon in the land of Shinar, and they called its name ’Overthrow.’”… These are interesting statements in view of the fact that in Ether 6:8, in referring to the Jaredite journey, it says that “the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters” (Ether 6:8) and “also there were terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind” (Ether 6:5-6)… .
In so many words, the book of Ether tells us that at the time of the dispersion (from the tower) the world was swept by winds of colossal violence… . The weather of Asia is the great central driving mechanism of world history. The blowing sands of Asia have brought mighty empires to ruin, and buried great cities almost overnight, and have scattered the tribes in all directions. [Hugh Nibley, The World of the Jaredites, pp. 175-180] [See the commentary on Ether 6:8]
According to the chronological theory of Warren and Palmer, written documents from the ancient Near East tell us that there were high winds and great drought at the time of the great tower episode. These forced the people to leave the great tower and settle in other parts of the ancient Near East… . After the Flood, in 2811 B.C., a king by the name of Lugal-Banda (Nimrod) ruled in 2805 B.C. Lugal-Banda was succeeded at Uruk by Dumuzi. Dumuzi reigned from 2797 to 2697 B.C. At that time Gilgamesh, the son of Lugal-Banda succeeded Dumuzi. It is postulated that the Dispersion took place at the time of the turnover in power to Gilgamesh, in 2697 B.C.
A recent book called “The Discovery of Genesis” by C.H. Kang and E.R. Nelson (1979:Chapter 10) talks about the tower after the Flood and the migration of people from the tower into north China:
"It is likely, since their historical date of origin corresponds closely with this point in time (the tower of Babel), that the ancestors of the Chinese people left the valley of Shinar (Mesopotamia) in the great migration and journeyed eastward, and soon settled in the fertile land of China (1979:109) The date of this apparent migration into China was placed at 2697 B.C. (Chanag, The Archaeology of Ancient China, 3rd edition, 1977:215; Fagan, 1986:429; Recent Book of Mormon Developments, 1984:34-40, 49-50; Simmons, 1986:29, Map #2).
From the writings of the ancient Mexican historian Ixtlilxochitl, he states that his distant ancestors traveled a great distance, living in caves, suffering many hardships, and going through the “Great Tartary.” That is a name for the steppes of central Asia. (Ixtlilxochitl I:16) The writings of Ixtlilxochitl also speak of the date of the Flood being about 3113 B.C. (Julian) and that 416 years later was the confusion of languages. This date from Ixtlilxochitl would be 2697 B.C., a remarkable coincidence and correspondence. [Bruce W. Warren and David A. Palmer, The Jaredite Saga, ch. 6, 2, unpublished]
According to Joseph Allen, the Aztec calendar, depicts four major destructive periods of the world--periods that are also mentioned by Ixtlilxochitl. The four largest squares surrounding the Sun God refer to the four destructive periods, as follows:
Period I: Sun of Water, (The earth was destroyed by the flood)
Period II: Sun of Air (The earth was destroyed by a hurricane)
Period III: Sun of Earth (The earth was destroyed by an earthquake)
Period IV: Sun of Fire (The earth will be destroyed by fire)
[Joseph L. Allen, Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon, pp. 63-64] [See the commentary on Ether 6:8]
Ether 1:38 He will drive us out of the land ([Illustration] Four destructive periods as illustrated in the Aztec Calendar Stone [Joseph L. Allen, Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon, p. 65]