Posted on 07/11/2009 2:21:52 PM PDT by greyfoxx39
Book of Mormon Explorers Claim Discoveries in the Desert, Part Two
by Bruce Santucci
After battling two thousand miles of desert trails, sand dunes that tower seven hundred feet into the air, occasional sand storms that remove the paint from your truck, scorpions and six years of Arabian temperatures that fluctuate from freezing to 130 degrees Fahrenheit, George Potter and Richard Wellington are now ready to tell their story.
Potter originally set out with Craig Thorsted and Tom Culler to find the mountain some people believe is the real mount Sinai. Not only did they locate the mountain they were looking for, but they discovered something that quickly took on greater importance. While chasing a lead to a remote place the locals called the waters of Moses, Potter and Thorsted came upon a spectacular canyon that opened upon the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aqaba (see picture).
More than fifty years ago, Dr. Hugh Nibley had theorized that the valley of Lemuel would be found in these very mountains, and here was a mighty canyon. Dr. Nibley had theorized that the river of Laman would be only a “small local stream.” Even so, Potter and Thorsted were unprepared for what they saw as they entered the canyon.
The US Geological Survey had studied the water resources of the entire land known as Saudi Arabia, and had concluded, after 44 years of surveying, that the nation had “no perennial rivers or streams”. Yet as the two LDS explorers walked into the canyon a spring fed stream appeared from the sands near the Red Sea. The small stream wound up a 3 mile-long solid granite canyon.
As he walked through the narrow canyon, with its granite walls jetting straight up some 2,000 feet, Potter recalls that it was impossible not to recall the words “firm, and steadfast and immovable” Lehi’s terminology certainly fit this valley. Indeed, the valley and the stream they found met every descriptive quality attributed to Nephi’s valley of Lemuel. In November, 1999, their discovery was published in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (FARMS, BYU).
Knowing the likely starting place for Lehi’s crossing of Arabia helped Potter find its likely ending place, southern Oman. Potter then set out to find the other locations mentioned by Nephi. His knowledge of travel in ancient Arabia and the unwritten laws that control tribal lands led Potter to believe that Lehi would have, by necessity, taken the Gaza branch of the ancient Frankincense trail down western Arabia. This branch ran somewhat inland from the Red Sea. Potter’s theory contradicted the position held by many current Book of Mormon scholars who believe the prophet followed the shoreline of the Red Sea. As it turned out, this theory has served Potter well.
The problem with exploring the Gaza branch of the frankincense trail (that passes within 12 miles of Potter’s Valley of Lemuel) was that no one alive seemed to know its exact course, and no one had tried to retrace it.
The task required the help of someone well versed in desert exploring and the Book of Mormon. In 1997 Richard Wellington from the United Kingdom joined Potter as a full research and exploring partner. Plotting the course of the frankincense trail required four steps. First, Potter and Wellington studied the writings of the early Arab geographers (900 to 1100 A.D.), who provided crude descriptions of the pilgrim’s trail from Cairo to Medina. It is known that the pilgrim’s followed the ancient trade route. The second step was to use Tactical Pilotage Charts (detailed maps used by airplane pilots to navigate), maps of wells, topographical maps and satellite images to identify the probable route of the ancient trail. This was not as easy as it might sound, because the names of most of the caravanserais (halts) have changed over the ages. Third, with the help of German Michael Bellersen, Potter and Wellington loaded their proposed trail into their Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Finally, the American, Brit, and German trio and their colleagues headed into the Arabian outback traveling hundreds of miles of Bedouin trails verifying their proposed route. Fortunately, their preparation paid off. Where they had predicted the old trail halts would be found, they discovered the remains of the ancient caravanserais.
Based on an exhaustive review of the literature and their own field studies in Arabia, Potter and Wellington believe that they have located every important site mentioned by Nephi in the Book of Mormon. These include, the “borders near and nearer” the Red Sea, Shazer (where they stopped to hunt), the most fertile parts, the more fertile parts, the trees from which Nephi made his bow, Nahom (where Ishmael was buried the particular part of the area that Warren Aston believes is Nahom), Nephi’s eastwardly trail to Bountiful, the land Bountiful (correctly identified earlier by Nibley as Salalah), and the place Bountiful where Lehi camped and where Nephi built his ship.
Potter and Wellington have written a book on their explorations. It is due to hit the shelves of LDS bookstores in 2002. The book includes over 2000 scholarly footnotes from non-LDS sources. Their citations include personal correspondences with scholars from universities, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Their theories on Nephi’s ship include insights from correspondence with the well known explorer Tim Serverin, Tom Vosmer (Director of the Ancient Omani Ships Project of the Western Australian Museum of Maritime History), and Frank Linehan (of the United States Maritime Administration).
Since finishing their research on the western branch of the frankincense trail, Potter and Wellington spent their 2000-2001 field work season exploring the eastern branch of the trail which crossed the infamous Empty Quarter, the largest sand desert in the world. They believe that the eastern branch, might provide clues as to the route of the Book of Mormon Jaredites. Their research efforts can be followed by visiting their web site http://www.nephiproject.com.
Potter notes that one of the real joys in researching Lehi’s trail is the wonderful support he has received from members, who like him, live and work in the Middle East. LDS members who have accompanied him into the desert have come from the USA, UK, Germany, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Philippines. An early member to lend a hand was Timothy Sedor a professional artist and photographer. Tim brought with him a digital video camera and recorded much of their field work.
With Sedor’s footage, The Nephi Project, Potter and Sedor’s research group, is now producing six videos on Lehi’s trail. Sedor is clear about his goal in making these videos, “We want to visually take every reader of the Book of Mormon into the Arabian desert, show them what is there, and then let them judge for themselves if Nephi walked in these places”.
Even so, Potter states with confidence, “if anyone doubts that the Book of Mormon is a literal history, they won’t after reading our book and seeing our videos. The evidence that is found in Arabia is straight-forward and quite remarkable”.
About the Author
Bruce A. Santucci has helped George Potter by serving as his editor, narrator and supportive companion.
On all threads, but particularly “open” threads, posters must never “make it personal.” Reading minds and attributing motives are forms of “making it personal.” Making a thread “about” another Freeper is “making it personal.”
When in doubt, review your use of the pronoun “you” before hitting “enter.”
Like the Smoky Backroom, the conversation may be offensive to some.
Thin-skinned posters will be booted from “open” threads because in the town square, they are the disrupters.
http://www.freerepublic.com/~religionmoderator/
Thin-skinned (emotional, whiney or mercurial temper) posters are the disruptors on open threads.
Ping
1. “Posters may argue for or against beliefs of any kind. They may tear down other’s beliefs. They may ridicule.”
2. “On all threads, but particularly “open” threads, posters must never “make it personal.” “
That seems like a contradiction to me. Hw can one tear down and ridicule, but not make it personal?
Ridicule the beliefs, respect the person. There’s a difference.
if anyone doubts that the Book of Mormon is a literal history, they won’t after reading our book and seeing our videos.
____________________________________
Never doubted that “the bom is a literal history...”
It is a literal history of plagarism and some added ravings of an imaginative conman’s mind and some input from his gang..
From Amazon: "Lehi in the Wilderness" is written from a Mormon perspective and with the understanding that it is a fact that Lehi was a real prophet, and that the Book of Mormon is a true history. Those outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints do not make that same assumption."
There are many problems in the text concerning the interpretation of the Book of Mormon and applying the text to the physical locations in the Arabian Peninsula. Overall, the book contains entirely too much supposition to warrant serious consideration as "evidence" for the Book of Mormon. The dialogue is bogged down with consistent terminology such as "could have been," "might have," "should be," "if this were," and various other sundry phrases which are merely prerequisites to injecting presumptions concerning the possibility that Lehi actually existed on the Arabian Peninsula. The photographs ARE remarkable, good choices in the effort to provide supports for the Book of Mormon account, and I appreciated the amount of references provided in each chapter, making it easier to research the material. It's a "must read" for apologetics.
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #661771 in Books
I'm just wondering why, since this book was published in 2003, there hasn't been major media attention to this "proof" of the BOM? Has the Smithsonian weighed in?
“Ridicule the beliefs, respect the person. There’s a difference.”
Some beliefs are very closely held by people. If a belief is ridiculed, the holder will feel ridiculed, too. The difference is easy to convey but impossible to enforce.
The Book of Morman is based on the Masonic Bible, hence the reason Mormans are barred from becoming Masons.... Nuff said.
Lehi never existed see the following
http://www.josephsmithauthorbyproxy.com/
Others at the Maxwell institute dispute this book. If the TBM at Maxwell dispute the book, then its evidence is hardly irrefutable or ironclad.
Methinks the lead admonishment was more a warning to the hearer than the speaker - as in there WILL be ridicule of the beliefs, take it gracefully.
hence the reason Mormans are barred from becoming Masons....
_____________________________________
WOW I didnt know that...
I did know that Joey Smith had joined the Masons and had gone up the ladder to 33rd degree in one day or jusst a couple...
One of the oaths that Masons take is to never devolge the secret info etc...
Joey Smith did...
He not only told unworthy cronies of his...
But he also incorportated the practices of the Masons into his home made religion which he was using for prifit...
Another of the oaths (as far as I know) is that the Masons swear a blood oath to agree that it is OK to kill them if they do tell..
Joey Smith knew there were Masons at the Carthage Jail...
He thought they would save him...
He thought he could bend anyone away from doing the right thing...
But they did what they had sworn to do...
Joey betrayed their trust...
so the Masons spilled his blood ...
What is a Masonic bible? And is it different than a KJV?
Let me guess: they found lots of sand.
I work with a Mormon who is also a Mason.
Nuff said.
Why...
...it's as accurate, if not MORE, than the stuff Nostradomass has written!
--MormonDupe(I believe HE was a prophet, too - just not one from GOD)
Someone once said:
"If you can't stand the heat..."
LOL
to find the mountain some people believe is the real mount Sinai.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.