Test #2 One Half of Nephite Lands

Helaman chapters 4 and 5 describe a curious situation ca. 31 B.C. in which the greater land of Zarahemla was partitioned into 2 roughly equal halves Helaman 4:10, 4:16 with Nephites re-establishing sovereignty over the northern half and Lamanites maintaining control in the south.

The setting. As early as ca. 90 B.C. the Nephites claimed the narrow strip of wilderness Alma 22:27 shown in green on the map below as their southern border, although at that early date they did not effectively control very much of that vast territory Alma 22:28-29. 18 years later, ca. 72 B.C., Captain Moroni established Nephite control over the lands north of the narrow strip of wilderness, aka the line between the Nephites and the Lamanites Alma 50:11. This was the first time Nephite sovereignty in the greater land of Zarahemla extended from coast to coast. The narrow strip of wilderness boundary was breached between ca. 67 B.C. Alma 51:22 and ca. 61 B.C. Alma 62:38 during the disastrous seven years' war. The line was breached again 10 years later when Tubaloth sent Coriantumr north ca. 51 B.C. on an unsuccessful invasion into the heart of the Nephite culture core Helaman 1:19-33. The line then held for another 17 years until the massive Lamanite invasion/homesteading settlement of ca. 35 - 34 B.C. Helaman 4:5. At that time, the former Nephite/Lamanite boundary line became irrelevant and it is never again mentioned in the text. For more details about this strategic boundary, see the blog article "The Narrow Strip of Wilderness."

The greater land of Zarahemla in the land southward was bounded on the north by the land Bountiful Alma 22:29, Helaman 1:23. Ca. 90 B.C. the Nephites occupied territory along the central Sidon corridor up to but not yet in the land Bountiful Alma 22:29. Ca. 90 B.C. the Nephites did maintain a defensive military presence in that strategic portion of the land Bountiful along the west coast Alma 22:32-33. 18 years later, ca. 72 B.C., the Nephites had begun to settle not only the greater land Bountiful but beyond Alma 50:11.

So, prior to the unprecedented and permanent Lamanite incursion ca. 35 - 34 B.C., the greater land of Zarahemla claimed by the Nephites extended from the narrow strip of wilderness on the south to the east sea to the land Bountiful on the north to the land Bountiful/west sea on the west. By ca. 34 B.C. all of the greater land of Zarahemla was in Lamanite hands Helaman 4:5 and the Nephites under General Moronoihah had fled into the land Bountiful Helaman 4:6. Here the Nephites established a second west to east fortified defensive line along the west coast Helaman 4:7 south of the one that was in place 55 years earlier Alma 22:32. How do we know the line mentioned in Helaman was south of the line described in Alma? Because the line in Alma 22:32 was the Bountiful/Desolation border. North of this line was the land northward Alma 22:30. The line in Helaman 4:7 on the other hand was entirely contained within that portion of the land Bountiful itself that ran along the west coast in the land southward.

After 2 years of regrouping in the land Bountiful, Captain Moronihah ca. 32 B.C. began his reconquest of the greater land of Zarahemla Helaman 4:9. A year later, the Nephites had regained control of one half their former territory Helaman 4:10. That was as far as they could go, though, militarily Helaman 4:18-19. An uneasy detente prevailed with the Nephites limited to their northern half of the greater land of Zarhahemla and the numerically superior Lamanites Helaman 4:20, 4:25 securely established in their southern half.

What Captain Moronihah was unable to accomplish through military force, Nephi₂ and Lehi₃ (sons of Helaman₂₎ set out to do ca. 30 B.C. through powerful missionary work. The companion brothers began their preaching in the city of Bountiful, followed by Gid and then Mulek Helaman 5:14-15. We know that Gid and Mulek at this time were Nephite cities because the missionaries went first to the Nephites Helaman 5:16, then to the Lamanites in the other half of the greater land of Zarahemla Helaman 5:16, and finally to the Lamanites in the greater land of Nephi Helaman 5:20.

This means the Nephite-controlled half of the greater land of Zarahemla ca. 30 B.C. included at minimum the city of Gid on the east coast and the west to east fortified defensive line in the land Bountiful on the west coast. That gives us 2 known points to work with.

Test #2a. Draw a line between Gid Helaman 5:15 on the east coast and the west to east fortified defensive line Helaman 4:7 on the west coast. Calculate the land area between this partition line and the land Bountiful to the north. Then calculate the land area between this partition line and the narrow strip of wilderness to the south. The surface areas of the two territories should be roughly equal.

Proposed Nephite/Lamanite partition line ca. 31 B.C. that divided
the formerly Nephite greater land of Zarahemla in half

In our correlation, the northern territory regained through Nephite military action, shown in white, has a surface area of 89,449 square kilometers. This is an area larger than the state of South Carolina (82,932 square kilometers) but smaller than the state of Maine (91,646 square kilometers).

Proposed Nephite lands regained by Moronihah ca. 31 B.C.

The southern territory still under Lamanite control, shown in white, has a surface area of 89,465 square kilometers.

Proposed Lamanite-controlled territory in the greater land of Zarahemla a. 31 B.C.

The river Sidon was the principal north south feature in the greater land of  Zarahemla. Furthermore, it was near the center Helaman 1:25 or heart Helaman 1:18 of the land. The midpoint of the section of river between the land Bountiful on the north and the narrow strip of wilderness on the south will be the approximate geographic center of the greater land of Zarahemla.

Test #2b. Draw a midpoint line on the river Sidon between the land Bountiful border on the north and the narrow strip of wilderness border on the south. The partition line dividing the greater land of Zarahemla in half should come close to intersecting this midpoint line at the river.

The intersection of our midpoint line with the river Sidon is the
approximate geographic center of the greater land of Zarahemla 

Since the river Sidon runs from south to north through the center Helaman 1:24-27 or heart Helaman 1:18 of Nephite lands, then the size of the land southward area occupied by the Nephites west of the river should roughly equal the area east of the river. At the time period referenced by Helaman chapter 1, ca. 51 B.C., the Nephites occupied both the greater land of Zarahemla and the land Bountiful.

Test #2c. Let Google Earth calculate the surface area of Nephite lands in the  land Bountiful and the greater land of Zarahemla west of river Sidon. Then do the same for the area east of the big river. The two areas should be similar in size. On this map, the white overlay represents our Nephite lands west of the river Sidon ca. 51 B.C. This surface area covers 113,914 square kilometers.

Western half of Nephite lands ca. 51 B.C.

This map shows proposed Nephite lands east of the river Sidon during the time described by Helaman chapter 1 as a white overlay. This surface area covers 114,211 square kilometers.

Eastern half of Nephite lands ca. 51 B.C.

The text mentions one other geographic midpoint. 3 Nephi 3:21 describes the extraordinary measures the Nephites employed to starve out and destroy the Gadianton robbers. They appointed a defensive corridor between the local land of  Zarahemla and the the east west Bountiful/Desolation line 3 Nephi 3:23 along the west coast. This means the corridor was west of river Sidon. The corridor was oriented generally east west because abandoned Nephite lands and Gadianton robbers were both north and south of it 3 Nephi 4:1, 6:2. Our correlation of this defensive land between Zarahemla and Bountiful is shown in light blue on the map below.

Proposed Nephite defensive corridor between the local land of
Zarahemla and the land Bountiful on the west coast

Test #2d. 3 Nephi 3:21 explicitly says the defensive corridor between the local land of Zarahemla and the Bountiful/Desolation line on the west coast was in the center of Nephite lands in the land southward ca. A.D. 17. Calculate the surface area of Nephite settled territory north and south of this corridor. The two area should be approximately equal in size.On this map, the white overlay represents lands with Nephite settlements in the land southward, north of the defensive corridor and west of Sidon. This area measures 52,251 square kilometers.

Nephite lands north of defensive corridor ca. A.D. 17

This map shows lands with Nephite settlements in the land southward, south of the defensive corridor and west of Sidon. This area measures 52,333 square kilometers.

Nephite lands south of defensive corridor ca. A.D. 17

Test #2 Conclusion. The Book of Mormon mentions one way Nephite lands were divided east/west and two different ways Nephite lands were divided north/south. In all three cases, textual words like "half," "center" and "heart" suggest the divided lands were approximately equal in size. When we measure all six divided areas in our correlation, we find strikingly similar surface areas between the three paired halves. We believe any viable text to map correlation will show similar results. We further believe this kind of data-driven, empirical rigor will have a salutary effect on Book of Mormon studies generally.