Yucatan Island and the Land Bountiful

The Yucatan was not a peninsula during the Book of Mormon.

The Land Bountiful covered the north parts of the Land Southward.

I'm a map nut. So much so, that years ago, I would read the Bible more than the Book of Mormon because I could enhance my studies by looking at a map and soak in the geography and history surrounding the events in the Bible. 

Since there are no church-sanctioned maps of the Book of Mormon, teachers would draw their own. The hourglass shape on the chalkboard just seemed wrong - rivers too straight, mountains too pointy, landmasses too uniform. 

I think I yearned for a real map with real mountains and real rivers, instead of a cartoon. These Sunday School maps didn't relate to any real place, they were like the maps in the back of a Tolkien book and other fantasy novels.

Then I discovered Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon by Joseph L. Allen and the Book of Mormon came alive. Learning things like "up" means up in elevation and never up on a map (north) helped my inner compass from getting confused.

Even though we have yet to know enough to absolutely pinpoint any given city, just knowing that the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica let's me be a map nut again - but this time with the Book of Mormon. I can soak in the rivers, mountains, jungles, beaches, passes and other terrain of the Book of Mormon's settings. I can better imagine what the people were like - their buildings, dress, customs and travels.

One scholar's Land Bountiful in green showing an unnatural layout
when using a current map  - a narrow swath through the jungle

However, as I studied the map most widely accepted by Book of Mormon/Mesoamerican scholar's, one thing would nag at me. And that was the location of the Land Bountiful. None of the explanations made sense. No one seemed to get it right.

The Book of Mormon is clear that the city of Bountiful is in the north parts of the land Southward near the narrow neck, but it also puts the land Bountiful way over on the east, with a string of cities running from the city Bountiful to the city of Moroni - and all those cities are "by the seashore." (See Alma 51:26)

During Moroni and Teancum's war with Amalickiah and Ammoron they travel from city to city by the seashore. Imagining those cities all up and around the Yucatan seems too long of a route and doesn't match the directions given in the Book of Mormon (nor do the dates of the ruined cities match). Ignoring that they are "by the seashore" and placing them through the center of the Yucatan jungle doesn't fit the narrative, either. Placing the majority of those cities along the coast of Belize doesn't work either, because the city of Bountiful is now too far from the nearest city (Gid?) and the time frame of travel doesn't jive. Some scholars even invent a second city of Bountiful to make this scenario work. Bah!

North of Highway 186 was under
water during the Book of Mormon

Drawing the land Bountiful as in the above image looks like gerrymandering - forcing the issue. These are not natural boundaries at all. Populations, culture and political boundaries tend to follow natural features.

But then Jerry Ainsworth pointed out that the ruined settlements in the Yucatan, roughly north of Highway 186 (see red arrow), are recent (dated AD 300–AD 1200) and not old enough to be contemporary with the Book of Mormon (except a few on the northern-most tip).

The ruins in the upper peninsula (squares) are post 900 AD

Notice the trend in this image from Wiki Commons? The sites of the upper peninsula are all labeled post-Classic (900 - 1500 AD). What could have kept the people from universally not living and building there until so late in the game? The most effective way is for it not to exist.

The area has been seismically volatile for millennia. It wouldn't take much of an earthquake to raise a shallow portion of the limestone Yucatan landmass above sea level. If this event was recorded by Mayan historians, it would be long lost to us because of the destruction of the Mayan codices by the Spanish conquistadors.

Mr. Ainsworth also produced a map (and claims there are ten more) based on ancient sources that show the tip of the Yucatan as an island (see below). It is clear that most of the Yucatan was under water during the Book of Mormon times. The few tiny settlements at the tip of the peninsula were on what was an island at the time, and are not part of the Book of Mormon narrative.

Even now, the lower parts of the Yucatan are barely above sea level in elevation. Some parts at the base of the peninsula are so low that they flood after a heavy rain, making travel difficult. The central hills are only around 300 feet high. And the majority of the peninsula is limestone bedrock covered in a very thin layer of topsoil. That indicates a very youthful age.

And now the Land Bountiful makes perfect sense. It was centered on the northern shore of that ancient Land Southward, it would be a locale with a natural geography and borders.

The armies of Captain Moroni and Teancum would, indeed, be traveling "by the seashore" from city to city.

Also, with the Land Bountiful sitting directly true north of the Land of Zarahemla, the passages in the Book of Mormon that use the word "north" instead of "northward" make sense. And just like the Book of Mormon is consistent with "up" meaning "up in elevation," it is also consistent that "north" means "cardinal north" and never meaning "northward" which is "northwest" or "northeast."

Here is a passage to illustrate this point. This is were Coriantumr overextends himself after taking Zarahemla, leaving Moronihah the opportunity to defeat him.

Ancient map showing the Yucatan peninsula missing.

Helaman 1:23 And now he did not tarry in the land of Zarahemla, but he did march forth with a large army, even towards the city of Bountiful; for it was his determination to go forth and cut his way through with the sword, that he might obtain the north parts of the land. (emphasis added)

Many confuse "the north parts of the land" to mean the "land northward" but it doesn't say the land northward (which is on the other side of the narrow neck), it is talking about the northern parts of the land southward - in other words, the LAND OF BOUNTIFUL.

Sources:

Mario Perez Campo and Laura Sotelo Santos: trans. David Castledine, The Mayas: The Splendor of a Great Culture (Mexico D.F.: Monclem Ediciones, 2015)

List of Maya Sites
Book of Mormon Resources: Blog
Are Ruin Sites on the Yucatan Peninsula Related to the Book of Mormon?
Book of Mormon Resources: Test #3 Cultural Boundaries
Ancient civilizations shaken by quakes, say Stanford scientists
WERE THERE EARTHQUAKES IN THE MAYA EMPIRE?
Guatemala paleoseismicity: from Late Classic Maya collapse to recent fault creep
Maya buildings that resisted earthquakes