Investigating Book of Mormon Voyages

Book of Mormon Central released a video titled "Who Crossed Before Columbus? Investigating Book of Mormon Voyages | Episode 6, A Marvelous Work"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzkJ4o5VT-g&t=13s

It's an excellent video with good production values and thoughtful, balanced content. It gives viewers some good information that helps them make informed decisions.

It's not yet a full comparison of different ideas, but it's a step in that direction. 

Good job, Book of Mormon Central!

As more and more Latter-day Saints learn about the teachings of the prophets and the extrinsic evidence that corroborates those teachings, they can make informed decisions by applying the FAITH model (Facts, Assumptions, Inferences, Theories and Hypotheses).

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The video includes a conversation with Philip Beale, whose ship, the Phoencia, made two significant voyages in the Atlantic Ocean.

Philip Beale
(click to enlarge)

The Phoenicia
(click to enlarge)

Transcript:

16:03 Philip Beale: My ship, the Phoenicia, was based on a wreck from 600 BC. So there absolutely were ships in that period of time in 600 BC.

This ship was commissioned to recreate the voyage that Herodotus says the Phoenicians made circumnavigating Africa. 

Actual Phoencia first voyage
showing possible Atlantic crossing for Lehi
(click to enlarge)

And that was completely coincidental to the beliefs from the Book of Mormon.

So we did it independently from that. I had no idea when I started the project in 2005, that there was a parallel with the Book of Mormon. 

So then in 2019, we did a [second] voyage to see whether a Phoenician ship could have crossed the Atlantic and in a way, recreated the voyage that many people believe Mulek made from the Mediterranean across to the Caribbean.

When we look at the map of the Phoenicia's first voyage, it's easy to see how Lehi could have sailed from the Arabian peninsula to arrive in the New World. Before the crew managed to turn the Phoenicia back toward Africa to achieve their original objective, the ship's course was leading them toward modern-day Florida, similar to the way the winds and currents sent Columbus to the Caribbean. 

This is more evident in this map which includes North America:

(click to enlarge)

Many Latter-day Saints think this is essentially the same route Lehi sailed as the Liahona directed them to North America, where they landed along the panhandle of Florida. Others think Lehi could have taken a different route, of course, which we'll discuss below.

The second Phoencia voyage took the ship through the Mediterranean across the Atlantic to Florida. 

Map of the Phoenicia's second voyage
(click to enlarge)

Many Latter-day Saints think Mulek's voyage took his group along this route and up the Mississippi to the shallows near Nauvoo, where they could not sail any further. That's why they stopped there and why the site was named Zarahemla by revelation (D&C 125:3).

Others think Mulek took a different route or landed somewhere else. 

I encourage Latter-day Saints and other interested people to learn more about the Phoencia.

Anyone who would like to see the actual Phoenicia ship can see it now at the Museum across the Mississippi River from Nauvoo.

https://theheartlandresearchgroup.org/

The Phoenicia across from Nauvoo in Zarahemla

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The video also presented the possibility of a Pacific crossing.

theoretical Pacific crossing for Lehi
(click to enlarge)

Unlike the maps of the actual voyages of the Phoenicia across the Atlantic shown above, this is a theoretical map of a voyage that has never been replicated using ancient technology. 

Presumably it would have been possible for Lehi to cross the Indian and Pacific Oceans to land in Central America (or Chile). That, along with the Atlantic crossings demonstrated by the Phoenicia, are two of multiple working hypotheses for further research and analysis.

The video also discussed ancient voyages in the Pacific, including Thor Heyerdahl's voyage and a voyage from Hawaii to Tahiti on the Hōkūleʻa, a replica of an ancient Polynesian ship. 

I was a little confused by this juxtaposition because "The 1976 voyage of the Hōkūleʻa, a performance-accurate replica of a Polynesian double-hulled wa'a kaulua voyaging canoe, from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti was partly a demonstration to prove that Heyerdahl was wrong." But Heyerdahl did demonstrate that people can use large rafts to cross parts of the ocean.

The M2Cers require a Pacific crossing to make their geography work, and that's fine. We readily recognize multiple working hypotheses. People can believe whatever they want.

Someday it would be useful for Book of Mormon Central (and Scripture Central) to host a comprehensive comparison of the different hypotheses so everyone can be fully informed and make up their own minds.

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The topic of the video is fascinating. I've always enjoyed sailing, although I missed out on the Phoencia! (Lucky Boyd Tuttle.)

It's useful to see these places for ourselves. Years ago I visited the Heyerdahl museum in Norway. I've visited the Mediterranean many times, including sites and museums in Turkey, Lebanon, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Morocco and Egypt. 

I've also visited the coast of Oman from where we assume Lehi set sail. 

With a guide on the coast of Oman
(click to enlarge)

I've been to Comoros (including the capital Moroni where the Phoencia docked on its first voyage), Mayotte, Madagascar, and South Africa, all of which may have been along Lehi's route. 

Holding the Annotated Book of Mormon in Moroni, Comoros
(click to enlarge)

My wife and I took a cruise around the Indian Ocean from Singapore through Malaysia/Indonesia, the Maldives, India, Oman, Dubai, Mauritius, Reunion, and South Africa. We've been all around Australia and Southeast Asia. I've been to Hawaii many times, as well as Tahiti, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, etc. 

It's always interesting to see these places and learn about history, culture, geography, technology, etc. The more we learn, the more we can place the Book of Mormon in a real world context.