This week’s Come Follow Me lesson focuses on 1 Nephi 1–7 in
the Book of Mormon, which tells the story of Lehi’s call as a prophet in
Jerusalem, the people’s rejection of his message, his flight with his family
into the wilderness, establishing camp in a river-valley along the coast of the
Red Sea, and his sons two return trips back to Jerusalem—first to get the plates
of brass from Laban, and then to recruit Ishmael and his family to join them.
To go along with your reading this week, I thought it would
be fun to highlight seven archaeological discoveries related to these chapters in
the Book of Mormon. I do not present them as evidence for the Book of Mormon, per
se, but rather as a few simple and straightforward examples of how archaeological
discoveries can enrich our study of ancient scripture, including the Book of
Mormon. While these do not yield major insights into the early setting
of the Book of Mormon, they do help us see how some details in the Book of
Mormon connect to the ancient world.
1. The Jerusalem Chronicle (1 Nephi 1:4)
The story of Lehi and his family begins in the “first year
of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah” (1 Nephi 1:4). According to the Bible,
Zedekiah’s reign began when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came along, laid siege
to Jerusalem, and replaced King Jehoiachin with Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:9–17; 2
Chronicles 36:9–10). Babylonian chronicles discovered in the late-19th century
confirmed this detail of the Biblical narrative, recording that in the seventh
year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to “the city of Judah,” and on the
date of Adar 2nd, “took the city and captured the king” and replaced him with “a
king of his choice.” The tablet that discusses this is commonly called “the
Jerusalem Chronicle.”
Scholars are able to correlate Adar 2nd in the seventh year
of Nebuchadnezzar to March 16, 597 BC. Since Lehi’s story begins in the first
year of the reign of Zedekiah, this archaeological evidence (combined with some
additional
factors) allows us to generally date the events of 1 Nephi 1–2 to ca. 597–595
BC.
2. Wadi Tayyib al-Ism (1 Nephi 2:6–10)
When Lehi flees into the wilderness, he leads his family
down to the Red Sea, and the journeys for another three days before setting up
camp in a valley with a running river near the Red Sea coast (1 Nephi 2:6–10).
He names the valley after his son Lemuel and the river after his son Laman.
Several different routes have been proposed for Lehi’s journey from Jerusalem
to the Red Sea, but all them lead to the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba.
Warren Aston’s latest article in BYU Studies, “Into
Arabia: Lehi and Sariah’s Escape from Jerusalem” provides a useful summary (and
critique) of the various proposals before adding a new suggestion to the mix.
If you download the PDF, p. 104 has a map that helpfully shows all the various
proposals.
From the northern tip of Aqaba, only one valley has ever
been found that generally fits with Nephi’s description of the Valley of Lemuel:
Wadi
Tayyib al-Ism. First discovered and
reported by George Potter in the mid-1990s, Aston’s new
paper also reports new fieldwork done at Wadi Tayyib al-Ism and the
surrounding area. Aston’s explorations confirm that Wadi Tayyib al-Ism is the
only valley along the coast of the Red Sea with a perennially flowing river or
steam, and addresses the main objections some have raised to the correlation with
the Valley of Lemuel.
Of particular interest is Aston’s documentation of the present-day
stream reaching much closer to the sea than previously believed—on p.
121 of the PDF he shows a picture of the stream extending to within 42 m. (ca.
46 yards) of the sea, whereas previous reports stated the stream ended hundreds
of meters from the sea, leading some to doubt whether the mouth of the
river/stream could have ever reached the Red Sea in antiquity. Documentation of
the steams flow reaching so close to the sea in modern times (when it’s been significantly
diminished by modern water pumps drawing water away to more populated areas)
suggests that it is very likely it actually reached the sea in the past, when it
was larger and more like a river.
Placing Lehi’s encampment in Wadi Tayyib al-Ism brings to
life Lehi’s poetic imagery in 1 Nephi 2:9–10, and the uniqueness
of this valley from the surrounding region helps us appreciate how the Lord
guided Lehi to an important haven for refuge as his family prepared for the
much longer, grueling journey through the rest of Arabia.
3. “Land of Jerusalem” in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Amarna
Letters (1 Nephi 3:9–10)
When Nephi and his brothers are sent back to get the plates
of brass from Laban, he says they went up to the “land of Jerusalem” (1 Nephi
3:9–10), a phrase that occurs several other times in Nephi’s writings, and also
when later Book of Mormon writers talk about their ancestral homeland.
Jerusalem was only known as a city in the Bible, but several archaeological discoveries
provide confirming evidence that it was a “land” as well during biblical times.
First, in the late 19th century, the Amarna Letters were discovered
in Egypt. Several
of these letters from the 14th century BC use the phrase “land of Jerusalem.”
Later, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, a
1st century BC fragment used the phrase “land of Jerusalem.” What’s
interesting about this Dead Sea Scroll fragment is it occurs in a story about
Jeremiah, Lehi’s contemporary, and a pair of scholars analyzing it thought that
this phrase enhanced the story’s “sense of historicity” because of how
accurately that phrase captures the political and administrative situation in early
6th century BC.
Lastly, archaeology has uncovered many
sites that were flourishing in Jerusalem’s “hinterland” ca. 7th–6th century
BC, along with evidence of an
administrative apparatus demonstrating that Jerusalem was the center of a “district”
or “land.” This evidence gives us a pretty a good idea of what the geographical
range and extent of the “land of Jerusalem” would have been in Lehi’s day (ca.
5–7 miles from the city).
4. Steel Swords (1 Nephi 4:9)
When Nephi finds Laban passed out in the streets of
Jerusalem late at night, he draws his sword and admires it’s craftsmanship. He
notes that the “hilt thereof was of pure gold” and “the blade thereof was of
the most precious steel” (1 Nephi 4:9). Nephi’s description of Laban’s sword is
strikingly similar to how Howard Carter described King
Tutankhamun’s dagger, which he found among the treasures of Tutankhamun’s
tomb in 1922. Carter said: “The haft of the dagger is of granulated gold … but the astonishing and
unique feature of this weapon is that the blade is of iron, still bright and
resembling steel!”
Another sword was discovered closer to Laban’s time and
place in the 1980s. Known as the Vered
Jericho Sword, it was found in a fort a short distance from Jericho and
dated to the late-7th century BC. Metallurgical analysis of the blade found that
the iron had been hardened into “mild steel” by an expert metalsmith. From
these discoveries, we gain gain an idea of what Laban’s sword might have been
like. They also allow us to join with Nephi in appreciating the fine
craftsmanship that went into making a weapon of that nature.
5. The Name Sariah (1 Nephi 5:1–9)
Nephi’s mother Sariah worried about her sons when they were
gone longer than expected trying to get the plates of brass from Laban. When
they returned, however, she rejoiced and praised the Lord, gaining a sure
testimony that the Lord was in command and would protect those who
followed his commandments (1 Nephi 5:1–9). The Hebrew name Sariah (ŚRYH),
more often spelled Sereiah, was very popular as a male name in Judah around
the 7th century BC.
Two
archaeological discoveries from the Jewish community in Elephantine—a papyrus
listing the names of financial donors to the temple of YHW (Jehovah), and a pottery
shard with a names list inscribed on it, both dated to the 5th century BC—provide
evidence that the Hebrew name SRYH was also a female name in antiquity.
Interestingly, the community at Elephantine originated in the 7th century BC
and had ties back to the northern kingdom of Israel, just like Lehi and his
family.
Since, as I mentioned, Sariah gains a testimony that the Lord was in command in this story, it is interesting that the Hebrew name Sariah most likely means “the Lord is my commander/prince.” (An insight I gained from Taylor Halverson’s Scriptural Insights and Commentary: the Book of Mormon.)
6. The Silver Scrolls of Ketef Himnon (1 Nephi 6:3)
Nephi completes his story about gaining the brass plates by
describing his father, Lehi, dutifully studying the contents of those plates
and finding much of the Hebrew Bible and other (now lost) prophetic writings on
them (1 Nephi 5:10–16). Nephi then provides a brief note about the record he
was writing, explaining that upon “these plates” of precious metal, he intends to
“write the things of God” (1 Nephi 6:3).
Many examples of writing on metal in the ancient world have
been discovered. Among the most interesting for understanding Lehi’s world is a
pair of small
silver amulets, discovered just outside of Jerusalem and dated to ca. 7th–6th
century BC. On these amulets are written biblical passages, such as the high
priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24–26. The form and purpose (and magnitude) of
such writing was different from that of Nephi’s, but evidently others in Lehi’s
time also wrote “the things of God” on precious metals.
7. The Name Ishmael (1 Nephi 7:2)
After Lehi prophesied about his future seed (1 Nephi 5:19),
he must have started pondering how such prophecies would be fulfilled
given that none of his sons were married. As a result, he soon received another
revelation for his sons to go back and “bring down Ishmael and his family” (1
Nephi 7:2). Ishmael had enough daughters for all his sons to marry.
The name Ishmael is, of course, well known from the Bible (see
Genesis 16–17, 25; 2 Kings 25). Still, it is interesting to note that 60
different archaeological sources from around the 7th–6th century BC attest to
the name Ishmael, leading scholars to believe that this name was pretty
popular in Lehi’s day. Most of these sources are Hebrew seals that would have
been used to seal documents.
Could one of the Ishmaels attested in these seals be
the Book of Mormon man named Ishmael? Perhaps, but we don’t have enough information
to really know. Given how common the name shows up, though, it comes as no
surprise that the Book of Mormon talks about an Ishmael living in Jerusalem at
this time. And since we know from this archaeological evidence that Ishmael was
a popular name, this confirms what many Book of Mormon scholars have long
supposed: that Lehi must have already known who Ishmael was, since he apparently
knew exactly who the Lord meant by “Ishmael” without further clarification.
As a fun side note—and I stress that this really is nothing
more than a fun detail which proves nothing—the example seal pictured here
reads “Ishmael son of Nahum.” Five other seals also document an “Ishmael son of
Nahum,” making Nahum one of the more common names to appear alongside “Ishmael”
in the Hebrew seals. Although I doubt there is any connection to the Book of
Mormon Ishmael, who died and was buried at Nahom (see 1 Nephi 16:34), it
is kind of fun to see the name Ishmael frequently alongside an NHM name in the
archaeological record.
Closing Remarks
Wonderful list! Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to make one tentative point about the River Laman and its mouth. 1 Nephi 2:8 states that the river “emptied into the Red Sea; and the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof.” As I discussed in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Map: Part 1 of 2" in the Interpreter, the stream does not need to directly contact the Red Sea above ground to meet Nephi's description in 1 Nephi 2:8. If Nephi understood that the River Laman, as it sank into the ground (whether 50 meters or 200+ meters from the Red Sea), was nevertheless flowing into the subterranean waters that feed the Red Sea (possibly what he meant by the term “the fountain of the Red Sea” in 1 Nephi 2:9), then the place where that stream disappeared to enter the larger subterranean water would appropriately be called a mouth, and the geography at Wadi Tayyib al-Ism would seem to relate well to the text without the need to assume differences in elevation of the canyon in Lehi’s day or significant differences in the behavior of the stream.
One more point: If the river Laman disappeared near the coast in Nephi’s day as it does now, arguably flowing into the “fountain of the Red Sea,” then perhaps this would also explain Nephi’s repeated use of the verb “empty” rather than “flow.” The river “emptied into the Red Sea” (1 Nephi 2:8), and again Lehi “saw that the waters of the river emptied into the fountain of the Red Sea” (1 Nephi 2:9). Waters disappearing, descending into the earth, could well be described this way.
ReplyDeleteI worked for eight years at the 890 square mile Idaho National Laboratory of the US Department of Energy, where nuclear reactor research has been conducted for decades. The Big Lost River comes down out of the mountains north of the town of Arco and feeds a reservoir. Most of the water is appropriated by local farms, so in 9 years out of 10 the terminal last several miles of the Big Lost are a dry channel that ends in the center of the western edge of the Lab lands. When there is more rain and snow, the river ends in a temporary wetland, from which the water sinks into the large pore spaces of the cracked basalt that underlies the 50 mile wide "smile" across southern Idaho, within which the Snake River wanders. The solidified lava layer is the legacy of the North American tectonic plate traveling over the Yellowstone Hot Spot that now sits under the national park in northwest Wyoming. The cracked basalt hosts the Snake River Plain Aquifer, some 400 feet below the surface, which flows about a mile per year until it empties into the Snake River at Thousand Springs 200 miles west of the INL. When Europeans first saw the disappearance if the Big Lost River, they assumed it dropped into an underground cavern. Indeed, that is partly true. As can be seen at the nearby Craters of the Moon national Monument, where the lava formations are only 2000 years old, cooling lava can contain large gas bubbles and even miles long tubes. The collapse of one of these bubbles can create sudden sinkholes. One large sinkhole was discovered in the center of the INL during a helicopter overflight. Within it were remnants of a Native American settlement dating back thousands of years.
ReplyDeleteSome of the mountains in northwest Arabia are volcanoes that may have been active in the era of the Exodus. The movement of water above and under the ground is intimately connected.