Big River

Many Book of Mormon students have the mistaken notion that the Nephites and Lamanites waded across river Sidon. This may stem from the iconic representations most of us have seen of the Mormon Pioneers crossing the Sweetwater. The American Fork Utah East Stake trekked at Martin's Cove, Wyoming in 2014. This is a photo of youth from our stake pushing and pulling their handcart through the stream. Notice the safety rope manned by a senior missionary couple.

Sweetwater River, Wyoming July 18, 2014
Photo by Kirk Magleby

The US Geological Survey reports long-term mean stream flow in the Sweetwater at 3 - 4 cubic meters per second. That is a tiny volume of water. The Sweetwater wouldn't qualify to be called a river in many parts of the world. The Sweetwater is tributary to the North Platte which flows through Wyoming at 20 - 35 cubic meters per second. At Fort Caspar, you can see a replica of the Mormon Ferry that helped people and wagons get across the North Platte. When Brigham Young's 1847 advance party reached what is today Casper, Wyoming, they stopped and built a ferry to cross the treacherous river. My great-great grandfather, Appleton Milo Harmon, helped build the crude watercraft and then stayed behind to operate it for a few months. The North Platte was dangerous and several thousand saints then en route to the Salt lake Valley needed to cross over the river at that point. Harmon ferried fellow Mormons across the river free of charge. Gentiles were charged a small toll.

LaRae Savage at the Mormon Ferry replica, Fort Caspar, Wyoming
August 31, 2014 photo by Kirk Magleby

When the Mormon Pioneers came to a 3 - 4 cubic meters per second stream they splashed through it. When they came to a 20 - 35 cubic meters per second river they built a raft & rope system and crossed over it.

In 1524 - 1526 Hernan Cortes led a military expedition overland from central Mexico to Honduras. His army crossed many large rivers en route. By the time Cortes arrived at a particular place, his native retinue had built a temporary bridge over every stream in their path. These bridges were so sturdy Spanish horses and cannon crossed over with relative ease. The Spanish were impressed how quickly the natives constructed, dis-assembled, and transported their structures which consisted of canoes lashed together several abreast with planks on top.

What did the Nephites and Lamanites do when they came to river Sidon? They crossed on rafts or canoes or floating bridges of some sort. Any river with sufficient stream flow to carry thousands of dead bodies to the sea Alma 3:3, Alma 44:22 is much too large for pedestrian fording. See the articles "Streamflow" and "Test #9 River Sidon" for background on dead bodies in rivers.

Some students of the text such as my friend, Bob Roylance, correlate the Pasion with Sidon. I was on the Pasion in December, 2015. We put in at Sayache, Peten and motored upstream about 25 river kilometers to the preclassic site of Ceibal, candidate for the Book of Mormon city of Aaron. The article "Takeshi Inomata" discusses Ceibal from an archaeological perspective. This map shows the area.

Sayache and Ceibal on the Pasion

This photo shows the Pasion between Sayache and Ceibal.

Pasion River near Ceibal December 30, 2015
Photo by Kirk Magleby

The river at this point is approximately 100 meters wide. Our captain had a sonar unit on board which showed depths in the 2 - 10 meters range. INSIVUMEH, the Guatemalan equivalent of USGS, reports 330 cubic meters per second long-term mean stream flow in this area. You don't wade the Pasion.

The January 2016 Book of Mormon Lands Map correlates Sidon with the much larger Usumacinta. This photo was taken near Tenosique, Tabasco.

Usumacinta River near Tenosique September 2006
Photo by Kirk Magleby

The river at this point is approximately 300 meters wide. It ranges from 5 to 20 meters deep. Mean stream flow exceeds 1.500 cubic meters per second. The canoe in the lower right hand corner of the photo above is one of dozens moored nearby. In 2006 I visited with several families who live along this section of the river. I asked if anyone ever tries to swim across. Laughter erupted at the absurdity of my question. During the months of peak runoff when the river is running high they only cross in motorized craft. Other months of the year they paddle across in small canoes. This is the largest river in Mesoamerica. You don't wade the Usumacinta.

Textual clues indicate watercraft crossings. The Jaredites crossed many waters in barges Ether 2:6 and then the great waters in vessels Ether 2:22, Ether 6:3. The Nephites crossed great waters in a ship 1 Nephi 17:17. Parallel terminology describes Nephites Alma 2:34 and then Lamanites Alma 43:40 crossing the waters of Sidon. Using Royal Skousen's "systematic phraseology" principle, similar language implies similar modus operandi when one is crossing waters. Mention of the sea in both narratives Alma 3:3, Alma 44:22 strengthens this correlation.

The text describes people going over Sidon Alma 6:7, Alma 16:7 but not through it. One went through enveloping mists 1 Nephi 8:24. The Israelites went through the Red Sea when Moses parted the waters 1 Nephi 4:2.

People are never in the midst of Sidon as they are in the midst of darkness Alma 5:7, fire Helaman 5:23, 3 Nephi 17:24, or the waves of the sea Ether 2:24.

The text indicates it took some time for an army to cross over the river. They were not bounding hordes spread out laterally along the banks and splashing across together Alma 2:27, Alma 2:35, Alma 43:35.

A discrete place on the riverbank was used for the efficient movement of Nephite troops and when that place became cluttered with dead Lamanite bodies, the Nephites cleared away the bodies rather than change to a new place Alma 2:34.

All of these verses fit better with watercraft or floating bridges than with pedestrian fording.  

Men from the East Wearing Red

Mark Wright of the BYU Religion faculty is one of the brightest Book of Mormon scholars in the contemporary Church. He holds a PhD from UC Riverside where he studied under the eminent Karl Taube. I am indebted to Mark for this color/directionality insight. I am solely responsible for the associated geographic correlation.

Mark Wright at La Danta, El Mirador, Peten, January, 2016

When the Amlicites invaded the greater land of Zarahemla via the land of Gideon, they attacked from the east. We know this because Gideon was explicitly east of Sidon Alma 6:7. They also wore red marks on their foreheads Alma 3:4. Alma attached considerable symbolic significance to this mark as a fulfillment of ancient prophecy Alma 3:13-16. This is the only place in the text where body art color is mentioned. In the Maya worldview, the color red was associated with sunrise and the cardinal direction east. The Amlicites came from the east (Mayan "elk' in") wearing the color red (Mayan "chak") associated with the east.

See the article "Water Fight on the River - Round Ten" for a photo of a modern Maya floral altar from Chiapas showing the color red in the east quadrant.

This color association is one more indication that Ammonihah (home of the Amlicites) was east of Sidon as the January, 2016 Book of Mormon Lands Map proposes. See the article "Red Herrings" for a list of relevant articles examining Ammonihah's setting in the greater land of Zarahemla.

This map shows likely locations for the Alma/Amlici battle narrative per the January, 2016 correlation.

Blue Line Shows Plausible Amlicite Attack Route from the East

The Amlicites came from the east wearing red and engaged the Nephites on Hill Amnihu in the land of Gideon east of the land of Minon.

Detail of Proposed Hill Amnihu Area

If a Book of Mormon geographic correlation is accurate, future corroborative discoveries will surface.

My Testimony on #BoMDay and Easter

This is a photo of me, Kirk Magleby, holding the Yale 2009 text at the Shoshone Falls lookout point near Twin Falls, Idaho on March 26, 2016.

Reading the Book of Mormon on Book of Mormon Day
Photo by Doug Christensen March 26, 2016

I know that God lives and Jesus is the Christ. I cherish the Bible. I also love the Book of Mormon which clarifies and corroborates the Bible. If Jesus of Nazareth atoned for our sins and sorrows, was crucified, and rose again on the third day as we celebrate today on Easter Sunday, then perhaps he is the Savior of mankind. Good people in non-Christian traditions may beg to differ. If Jesus of Nazareth atoned for our sins and sorrows, was crucified, rose again on the third day, came to the Americas, descended in glory, and ministered to the Nephites as the Book of Mormon records, then he is indeed the very Eternal Father of Heaven and Earth as Amulek taught Zeezrom in the city of Ammonihah ca. 82 BC Alma 11:39-40.

I testify that Amulek and the other Boook of Mormon prophets taught the truth.

Ubiquitous Narrow Strip

In 2011 when I began this blog, satellite imagery was not as advanced or as widely available as it is today. When I went looking for a natural feature that matched the text's description of the narrow strip of wilderness, my first clue was a faint east - west line of lights that showed up on NASA's image of earth's lights at night. Since settlement follows rivers, that line of small population centers meant a line of streams flowed east - west across Chiapas and Guatemala. With examination, I discovered a line of east - west cliffs with rivers flowing at their bases. I then discovered this line of cliffs was caused by uplift along the boundary between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates. This tectonic plate boundary is generally called the Polochic Fault and after a few weeks of weighing alternatives that distinctive fault line became my candidate for the narrow strip of wilderness. For much more detail, see the article "The Narrow Strip of Wilderness."

In 2016, shaded relief based on precise elevation data derived from satellite remote sensing is getting so good my proposed narrow strip of wilderness practically jumps off the page on many maps. Here is one example - the current CIA map of Guatemala.

CIA Geo Political Map of Guatemala

As with all images on this blog, click to enlarge. Notice the east - west line running across the middle of the country where the Cuilco, Chixoy, and Polochic Rivers flow. This line also forms the northern shore of Lake Izabal. The towns of Huehuetenango, Sacapulas, Tactic, El Estor, and Livingston are all along this line. Had a widely published map this good been available to me five years ago, my search for the narrow strip of wilderness would not have taken long.

Here is another image of the proposed narrow strip of wilderness showing curvature round about on the Pacific side as per Alma 22:27.

Unmistakable Polochic Fault in Shaded Relief 

And here is a snapshot image from the current version of Google Earth.

Polochic Fault Highly Visible in Google Earth

This is a map of obsidian sources published by Mark Golitko and Gary Feinman of the Field Museum.

Obsidian Sources, all South of the Proposed Narrow Strip of Wilderness

And this is a current image from Google Maps:

Google Maps with Terrain Layer Turned On

When a text to map correlation is accurate, future discoveries and better technology will tend to make it even more obvious.

Article updated April 11, 2016

Easter 2016

Here are a few of the outstanding things Book of Mormon Central is doing to celebrate the International Day of the Book of Mormon on March 26th, General Conference on March 26th and April 2-3rd, and Easter on March 27th. #BoMDay & #hallelujah

1. Print counter.

Interactive Counter of Copies Printed since 1830

This counter increments every 5.922 seconds. It is based on official numbers prepared by the LDS Scriptures Publication Committee and LDS Printing Division. It reflects all languages including braille and ASL (delivered as a video). It does not reflect electronic copies accessed via the web or downloaded to mobile devices.

2. Easter infographic.

Christ in the Book of Mormon

I particularly like the name cloud. As with all images on this blog, click to enlarge.

3. Christ in America timeline.

Sequence of Events in 3 Nephi

It is not easy sometimes to keep this chronology straight.

4. Christ collage.

Images of Christ in Book of Mormon Central KnoWhys

Book of Mormon Central has been publishing KnoWhys since January 1, 2016. KnoWhy #62 about Jacob's use of the Psalms was published today. This collage brings together images of the Savior used in the KnoWhys published to date.

Lehi and Sariah in Arabia

We have all heard people say "I liked the movie, but the book is better." That is certainly the case with Warren Aston's latest publication. Information about his excellent 2015 DVD is in the article "Lehi in Arabia." I just received my copy of his superb 2015 book entitled Lehi and Sariah in Arabia: The Old World Setting of the Book of Mormon.

Sunrise over Khor Kharfot

Contemporary Book of Mormon research doesn't get any better than this. The lavishly illustrated volume is handsome with generally high production values. Aston is a good photographer and a fine writer. More importantly, he is an intrepid explorer with a careful researcher's eye for quality sources. This book belongs on every serious Book of Mormon student's shelf. Order your copy from Xlibris.

At great personal cost, Aston has put not one but two Book of Mormon place names on the map - Nahom in Yemen and Nephi's Bountiful in Oman. Quite the accomplishments for one lifetime. A November, 2015 audio with transcript Interview with Warren Aston is in the Book of Mormon Central Archive.

Book of Mormon Day 2016

Saturday, March 26th, 2016 is the 186th anniversary of the day the Book of Mormon first went on sale in Palmyra, New York. To commemorate the event, people worldwide are using hashtag #BOMDAY to:

• post photos of themselves reading the Book of Mormon in a familiar, comfortable, or culturally significant place.
• share their testimony of the Book of Mormon.
• share something they learned from the Book of Mormon.

People not comfortable with hashtags are welcome to submit material here:

There is also an art contest. Details here: While on that page, notice the counter showing how many copies of the Book of Mormon have been printed worldwide since 1830. At the current rate, a new copy rolls off the press on average every 5.922 seconds. This is a delightful piece of Book of Mormon art submitted by a lovely 12 year old girl.

An Interpretation of Jesus and the Children

As with all images on this blog, click to enlarge. Happy Book of Mormon Day.