Lehi and Sariah in Arabia

Warren P. Aston

Description

A 21st Century re-examination of the most-read book to emerge from the Western Hemisphere, the Book of Mormon. As Mormonism grows into a world faith, the veracity of its founding scripture has never been more important. The three decades of Arabian exploration reported in Lehi and Sariah in Arabia identifies specific locations for the 8 year journey described in the text, allowing Nephi's account to emerge with new clarity and enhanced plausibility.

Sujets

• Middle Est
• Histoire
• Egypt
• History

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris AU
• Date de parution: 10 décembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781503508088
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 14 Mo

Extrait

LEHI and SARIAH in ARABIA
The Old World Setting of the Book of Mormon
Warren P. Aston


Copyright © 2015 by Warren P. Aston. 713602
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 
Xlibris
AU TFN: 1 800 844 927 (Toll Free inside Australia)
AU Local: 02 8310 8187 ([phone] from outside Australia)
www.xlibris.com.au
 
ISBN:
Softcover
978-1-5035-0809-5

Hardcover
978-1-5035-0810-1

EBook
978-1-5035-0808-8
 
 
 
Rev. date: 03/13/2023

Contents
Introduction
Part 1 Lehi and Saria h ’s World
Introduction
Near Eastern Civilization: Its Rise and Significance
The Role of the Incense Trade
The Kingdom of Saba (Sheba)
Religion in Arabia
Pre-Islamic Prophets in Arabia
Lehi and Sariah’s Jerusalem Home
Lehi’s Prophetic Call
The Composition of Lehi’s Group
“Reformed Egyptian,” the Book of Mormon’s Language
The Anthon Transcript
The Lost Book of Lehi
“It is better that one man should perish…”
The Human Dimensions of Nephi’s Account
Other Subtexts in First Nephi
The Physical Setting of the Arabian Peninsula
Part 2 “Into the Wilderness”
Introduction
Mapping the Journey from the Text
“Up to” and “down from” Jerusalem
Places of Refuge
Departing Jerusalem
Desert Travel Logistics
Sacrifice in the Wilderness
Base Camp in the Valley of Lemuel
The River of Laman
Travel Through the Wilderness
The Place Shazer
Crossing the Fertile Mountains
Nephi’s Bow
The Lehyanites
The Relevance of the Ancient Trade Routes
The Liahona
A Review of Lehi’s Arabian Crossing
Part 3 “The Place Which Was Called Nahom”
Introduction
A Geographical Name in Nephi’s Account
The Kingdoms of Southern Arabia
Ishmael’s Death
The Rarity of the Name NHM
The Meaning of the Name Nahom
Tribal Structure in Yemen
Nahom Today
Climate, Agriculture and Ruins in Nahom
Were Jews Once Part of the Tribe?
Burial Tombs in Nahom
Tracing the Antiquity of the Name
The NiHM Altar Discoveries
The History of the Altar Site
The Bar’an Temple
The Bar’an Altars
The Altar Inscriptions
Dating the Altars
The Historical Significance of the Altar Discoveries
The Pre-Islamic Origins of NHM
Part 4 “Travel Nearly Eastward From That Time Forth”
Introduction
The Irrelevance of the Trade Routes after Nahom
Nephi’s Directional Accuracy
“Nearly eastward” Toward the Coast
Lessons from History
Bondage in the Desert?
Mixed Blessings in the Wilderness
Part 5 “We Called the Place Bountiful”
Introduction
“Almost equal to Paradise”
Nephi’s Criteria for Bountiful
Classical Writings as Possible Sources
Later and Contemporary Writings as Possible Sources
Was Bountiful where Frankincense Grew?
The 1988-1992 Exploration of the Arabian Coast
Climate and Coastline Change since Lehi’s Day
Nephi’s Paradigm Applied to the Candidates for Bountiful
Wadi Hajr, Yemen
Wadi Masilah, Yemen
Dhalqut, Oman
Khor Rakhyut, Oman
The Salalah Inlets, Oman
Khor Rori, Oman
Khor Kharfot, Oman
A Totally Plausible “Bountiful” Candidate Emerges
Comparing Khor Rori and Khor Kharfot
Part 6 “Out of Obscurity”
Introduction
Book of Mormon Research Organizations
The Role of Archaeology
LDS Fieldwork in Arabia Begins, 1976 Onwards
The First LDS Expeditions to Oman, 1993-1999
LDS Fieldwork in Oman, 2000 - 2012
The Khor Kharfot Foundation
Relevant non-LDS Research in Arabia
Book of Mormon Movies and Documentaries
Lehi’s Trail Tourism
Conclusion
Part 7 New World Memories of “Bountiful”
Introduction
Ancient Ocean Voyaging
A Memory of the Liahona?
Tulan, Place of Abundance and Reeds
Locating Tulan
Other Traces of Lehite Origins in the New World
Part 8 “Towards the Promised Land”
Introduction
Nephi’s Ship
The Resources Required
Did Nephi Require any Outside Assistance?
The Construction Period
Historical Seafaring in Oman
Ship Possibilities
A Ship not Built After “the manner of men” - a Raft?
Modern Parallels to Lehi’s Voyage
Ancient Long-distance Ocean Voyaging
Departing “every one according to his age”
El Niño and the Ocean Voyage to the New World
Towards a Conclusion
Appendix 1 Yemen, the Land of the Queen of Sheba
Appendix 2 Some Notes on the Tribal Origins of NHM
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
About the Author


To my beloved children
Claire, Chad, Varian, Mya, Leah and Alana,
their spouses and to their children after them.


And righteousness will I send down out of heaven;
and truth will I send forth out of the earth ,
to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten.
Moses 7:62
 
Truth shall spring out of the earth ;
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Psalms 85:11
 
Surely in the heavens and in the earth are
signs for believers.
Qur’an, Sura 45:3, al-Jathiya, “Kneeling.”
 

Introduction
T his is the story about the world in which the primary migration account of the Book of Mormon unfolds. At its heart are the ancient lands of Arabia, with their rich tapestry of cultures, faiths, and landforms; old Jerusalem around 600 BC marks its beginning and the desert kingdoms of the Arabian Peninsula the setting for most of the account that follows. The scene transitions to the New World only about a decade later.
In the early twenty-first century, the Old World is significantly better known than in 1830, when the Book of Mormon appeared. Still, in many regards it remains misunderstood and underappreciated. Lehi and Sariah in Arabia explores what the Book of Mormon says about that world. It comes at a time when the Book of Mormon is considered sacred scripture by an ever-increasing readership, but also in a period when it is under the double threat of skepticism and secular apathy. To understand this dynamic, we must first step back in time to when the Book of Mormon first appeared.
By the early nineteenth century, cracks in the Christian fabric of Western culture were beginning to appear, undermining long-held assumptions about the Bible and its origins. These rumblings foreshadowed a widening rift between orthodoxy, itself divided into many camps, and the “enlightened” secularism that would intensify throughout the century. Foundational events such as the Creation, the Flood, the reliability of biblical texts generally and, eventually, even the literal existence of Jesus of Nazareth began to be questioned.
That Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon should suddenly emerge in the early decades of that period, and on one of its fault - lines, the American frontier, can be viewed quite differently. Depending on one’s perspectives, the appearance of a new brand of faith in the 1830s either accelerated the fracturing of Christianity, or offered a supremely satisfying solution to its problems. Nearly two centuries later, that dichotomy remains true.
What is new, however, is our ability to re-examine the claims of the keystone anchoring this new religion’s belief system and driving its growth: the Book of Mormon. The book purports to be the translation of a much older record, dealing with an ancient, pre-Christian, world that no - one in the nineteenth century knew much about. Nearly two centuries later, the labors of explorers and scholars and the tools of modern science make that world much more accessible to us.
Uniquely among the world’s religious texts, the closing pages of the Book of Mormon contain an invitation for each reader to obtain the ultimate arbiter of truth - spiritual confirmation of its truth. 1 It is also true, however, that Joseph Smith had the Book of Mormon in mind when he stated in 1842 that “facts are stubborn things,” and that the world would eventually prove his prophetic mission true through accumulating “circumstantial evidence, in experiments.” 2
In this view, rational facts and scholarship have a significant role in any evaluation of spiritual claims. This book reports the efforts of those who have attempted to do just that with regard to the Book of Mormon’s Old World setting. It examines whether plausibility exists by comparing its text with what is now known about the book’s real-world setting. Whether the reader ultimately chooses, therefore, to see the Book of Mormon as a book of faith, or merely as a cultural artifact, the plausibility established for it should encourage a more careful reading of the text and a deeper appreciation of its message.
NOTES
1 .Moroni 10: 3-5.
2 . Times & Seasons , Vol. 3 (Nauvoo, IL: September 15, 1842): 921-922.

PART 1
Lehi and Saria h ’s World
NOTE: Unless otherwise stated, all scriptural references throughout this book are to the First Book of Nephi as published in the standard Latter-day Saint version of