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Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Warren P. Aston

Keywords

Ancient Near East, Arabia, Lehi's Journey, Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi, Geography, Lehi

Abstract

Aston draws on his own research in Yemen and Oman as well as on the work of other scholars and researchers to explore two locations in the Book of Mormon account of Lehi’s journey through Arabia: Nahom and Bountiful. Preliminarily, Aston highlights Nephi’s own directional indications for each leg of the journey, considers the relevance of existing trade routes, and suggests relative durations of stops along the way. He reviews the research on the tribal area associated with Nahom, including the discovery of an altar dating to roughly 600 bc that bears the tribal name NHM—possibly the first archaeological evidence of the Book of Mormon’s authenticity. Aston uses twelve criteria taken from Nephi’s descriptions of the area to identify the fertile Khor Kharfot area at the mouth of Wadi Sayq as the most likely candidate for Bountiful. The discussion also speculates on the kind of ship that Nephi may have built and the plausibility of a transPacific voyage. Taken together, the archaeological and geographical evidence of Nahom and Bountiful strongly argue for the historicity of the Book of Mormon account.

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