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| Semuc Champey, Guatemala, which is Mayan for "sacred waters" is a possible candidate for the Waters of Mormon. |
One example is the temptation to think that Kaminaljuyu (Guatemala City) is the city of Nephi and Lake Atitlan is the Waters of Mormon. I mean, they ARE the first thing to jump out at you when you look at a map of the land south of the "narrow strip of wilderness," right?
That's not much better than the same mistake we made growing up, when we thought that the Land Southward was South America, the narrow neck was Panama, and the Land Northward was North America. Way too big. Even then, that subconsciously didn't feel right.
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| Las Conchas, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala |
A careful reading about Limhi's expedition should have made it clear right away that the setting had to be a very limited geographical area.
Focusing on Kaminaljuyu and Atitlan isn't much better though. Yes, it's much smaller than the entire hemisphere but still too big. Read about my simple reasons why Kaminaljuyu can't be the city of Nephi: In the Footsteps of Limhi's Expedition.
Guatemala and southern Mexico are filled with possible candidates for the Waters of Mormon without having to zero in on the largest lake on the map.
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| One of the many pools at Semuc Champey, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala |
Mosiah 18:4-5,30. . . as many as did believe him did go forth to a place which was called Mormon . . . being in the borders of the land having been infested, by times or at seasons, by wild beasts.
Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, and Alma resorted thither, there being near the water a thicket of small trees, where he did hide himself in the daytime from the searches of the king.
Balneario Pasabien, Zacapa, Guatemala
And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest that was near the waters of Mormon. . .
Water features like Semuc Champey have the added benefit that they are in secluded areas, thus a natural place to hide. The narrative in the the above passages doesn't lend itself to a huge lake in the Guatemalan altiplano, like Atitlan, with wide open spaces and sparse vegetation around the beaches. Besides, since when was a lake ever considered a "fountain of pure water?"
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| Cascada del Río Sachichaj, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala |
Mosiah 18:31-34 And these things were done in the borders of the land, that they might not come to the knowledge of the king.
But behold, it came to pass that the king, having discovered a movement among the people, sent his servants to watch them. Therefore on the day that they were assembling themselves together to hear the word of the Lord they were discovered unto the king.
And now the king said that Alma was stirring up the people to rebellion against him; therefore he sent his army to destroy them.
And it came to pass that Alma and the people of the Lord were apprised of the coming of the king’s army; therefore they took their tents and their families and departed into the wilderness.
The Waters of Mormon were close enough to the city of Nephi to enable repeated and constant contact, but far enough away that they needed to take tents.
NOTE: Any of these could also be candidates for the Land of Helam, which the Book of Mormon describes in Mosiah 24:3-4 in this way: "And they fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness.
4 And they came to a land, yea, even a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water."
Semuc Champey just happens to be found in the South Wilderness and is roughly 8 days journey from the most likely candidate of the land of Nephi, both of which match the text. So, I feel that Semuc Champey is more likely to be in the land of Helam, rather than the waters of Mormon.
Mosiah 24: 3-4 And they fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness. And they came to a land, yea, even a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water.
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| Semuc Champey, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala |
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| Agua Azul, Chiapas, Mexico |
These photos are for illustrative purposes so you can envision what was most likely meant by the Waters of Mormon. There are many water features like this throughout the country of Guatemala or the state of Chiapas, Mexico.
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| Cascadas Las Nubes, Chiapas, Mexico |
Sources:
SWIMMING IN SACRED WATER: SEMUC CHAMPEY OF GUATEMALA
Awesome work, but I would remind, that the lake Atitlan should not be counted out just yet, why? Because The text says that the baptisms did not take place in the water of Mormon, they were baptising in the forest by the waters. So the waters of Mormon was only a close landmark that was a reference to a smaller place, in a close by forest, and it was in the borders, or mountains. Lake Atitlan is surrounded by mountains. Also we know that Jerusalem was built in Mormon and it was covered by waters during the great destruction. Lake Atitlan does have a city in the bottom close to one of the shores and the studies have shown it to be a religious center, as the name Jerusalem would have suggested. Hence Atitlan qualifies, if you ask me, since it needs to be large enough body of water to be able to have the waters risen to engulf a city. so most likely around Atitlan some forests did have smaller streams of pure water. But since the water level is higher now than it was 2000 years ago, the possible forest and whatever pure water there was, may have been covered by the destruction and risen water level. Makes sense to me as long as you don't take the lake to have been the place of baptisms.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. You make some really valid points. I'm not ruling out anything just yet. Just for kicks, take a look at my latest post where I'm trying to pin-point general locations of all the cities based on relative directions mentioned in the Book of Mormon text.
Deletehttps://bookofmormonplaces.blogspot.com/2020/07/master-lands-cities.html
Notice I put Jerusalem in the bottom of Lago de Izabal. There are ruins at the bottom of that lake, too. It seems to me that the lands of Mormon, Helam and Jerusalem are in the eastern part of the South Wilderness - which is an area between the heartlands of Nephi and Zarahemla. Check out the map and tell me what you think, please.