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John Sorenson's comment that the promised land of the Nephites should be placed in the
tropics because of one lone statement about heat in the scriptures (see Alma
51:33) seems to have stuck in the minds of many, for it is the most often
asked question by those investigating the Cumorah Lands of New York as the
proposed setting for the Book of Mormon saga. He said:
“The promised land was quite surely located in the tropics since no
indication of cold or snow is given in the text while heat is.”
[1]
A comment by Sier de Roberval, the first Governor General of
America’s “New France,” should put such a notion to rest, for in describing
the Iroquois along the St. Lawrence River (a New York based tribe), he said:
“They are a people of goodly stature and well made; they are very white, but
they are all naked, and if they were appareled as the French are, they would
be as white and as fair, but they paint themselves for fear of heat and sunburning.” [Malory, p. 170.]
Contrary to the popular notion, heat was not the only weather condition
mentioned in the scriptures; hail, which we can associate with cold weather,
was also mentioned, once when the prophet Abinadi prophesied hail would be
sent down to smite them (see Mosiah 12:6), and a second time when Helaman
mentions hail in a discourse to his sons. (See Helaman 5:12). Snow is also
mentioned in the Book of Mormon, but only allegorically. “And it came to
pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and
it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof
was far beyond, yea, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did
exceed the whiteness of the driven snow.” (1 Nephi 11:8.) However, we must
remember that Nephi recorded the vision of the tree of life, a vision
formerly shown his father, after he had landed in the promised land and had
secured the ore he needed to record the history of their flight from
Jerusalem and their arrival in the promised land. Snow is not common in
Jerusalem, snowing only every seven or eight years, and then only lightly,
completely disappearing from the ground within a day or two. Driven snow
would be something they would have experienced only after arriving in the
regions around the Great Lakes where the wind and cold would have driven the
snow across the land and into great drifts, notwithstanding the weather was
somewhat warmer in the distant past than it is today. Rain, or the lack of
it, is also mentioned, usually in reference to the Lord’s sending it or
withholding it according to the righteousness of the people. Thus, we have a
variety of weather patterns mentioned in the Book of Mormon, heat, rain,
hail, and snow, the same weather patterns found in New York State today as
the year changes from one season to the next.
Of significance, is the fact that the observance of the Law of Moses is also
dependant upon the changing seasons, with the feast of Passover coming in
the spring. We know that the first month of the Nephite calendar was the
same as the first month in Jerusalem because of Samuel the Lamanite’s
prophesy of events at the Savior’s death and the recorded timing of the
great destruction. The Hebrew scholar, Vincent Coon explains that this meant
it had to be springtime in Book of Mormon lands when it was springtime in
Jerusalem. He explains further:
Keeping the Feast of Unleavened Bread (in the first month) required newly
harvested barley to be brought to the Temple for a wave offering. Fifty days
later the grain offering of new wheat had to be made (late spring early
summer) – Pentecost! At the end of the summer there had to be a Festival of
Ingathering and lodge making – Sukkoth. These celebrations with their
ordinances were seasonal. There had to be a spring, summer and fall in the
Promised Land. The 10th and 11th months fell in winter – just when we find
tortured Alma and Amulek stripped of clothing in prison and later, a
surprise attack by the Lamanites in which they wore thick skins. Now days
the Jewish people all over the earth celebrate the holidays more or less in
sync with the seasonal holidays held at Jerusalem. They can do this (even in
South America and Australia) because no ancient temple ordinances or
sacrifices are performed anymore. Most believe that temple sacrifices can
only be performed at Jerusalem. But Nephi was obligated to keep the whole
law with all of its ordinances. To do this he had to have priesthood and
everything the Torah requires. This means it had to be springtime in the
land of Nephi when it was spring in Jerusalem. The Law commanded that all
Israel keep the feast of the Passover in the same season as Israel’s
deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The timing of these celebrations was
coordinated by the seasons and by the moon. Lo and behold we find that when
the Savior died, it was in the first month! Both the Book of Mormon and the
Bible agree. The dry and rainy seasons of Central America don’t fit very
well with the seasons at Jerusalem and there is a six month difference
between the temperate seasons of South America and Jerusalem. The seasonal
observances of the Law of Moses were clearly based in the seasons of the
temperate northern hemisphere.
For a more in depth look at the Nephite’s observance of
the Law of Moses, go to
Vincent Coon’s website.
As important as the weather patterns and seasons seems to be, the plates of
the Nephites had to be kept for more important issues, such as the spiritual
progress, their wars, the reigns of their kings, dealings with apostates,
their ship building and migrations, their various episodes of righteousness
and wickedness, their temple building, and most important of all, the visit
of the Risen Lord among them. Moreover, anyone given the arduous task of
engraving on metal plates would not have wasted their energy and time on
such trivial matters, and not just as a matter of convenience, but by way of
commandment.
And now I, Nephi, do not give the genealogy of my fathers in this part of my
record; neither at any time shall I give it after upon these plates which I
am writing; for it is given in the record which has been kept by my father;
wherefore, I do not write it in this work.
For it sufficeth me to say that we are descendants of Joseph.
And it mattereth not to me that I am particular to give a full account of
all the things of my father, for they cannot be written upon these plates,
for I desire the room that I may write of the things of God.
For the fulness of mine intent is that I may persuade men to come unto the
God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and be saved.
Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but
the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the
world.
Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy
these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men. (1
Nephi 6:1-6.
Nevertheless, since it is
a subject of much interest, a discussion of the weather patterns of the
northeast during the Book of Mormon era, both Nephite and Jaredite, seems
appropriate here.
The Archaic Period
The close of the last Ice Age saw the weather
patterns in the northeast change from bleak and cold to warmer than it is
today which precipitated the melting of the great glaciers covering so much
of Canada and the northeastern United States. Another drop in temperature
took place around the time of Christ and has persisted relatively unchanged
until our present day—notwithstanding various fluctuations over the years,
such as the little ice age which is thought to have begun somewhere between
1250-1600 and ended around 1900.
New York Archaeologist, William A. Ritchie explains that the archaic period,
(that being the era of the Jaredites), experienced the latter portion of the
hypsithermal episode, which is believed to have considerably surpassed the
present in average warmth.[2]
Moreover, for a thousand years between 2000-1000
B.C., little rainfall came, with the result that the northeast experienced a
number of devastating droughts, just as was noted in the account of the
Jaredites who lost a great many of their people to the famines which
followed.
And it came to pass that when they had humbled themselves sufficiently
before the Lord he did send rain upon the face of the earth; and the people
began to revive again, and there began to be fruit in the north countries,
and in all the countries round about. And the Lord did show forth his power
unto them in preserving them from famine. (Ether 9:35.)
Ritchie instructs us that when the last remnants of the ice sheets
disappeared from the northeast, forests of mixed evergreens and hardwoods
covered much of the land. Many of the existing mucklands were shallow lakes
in those days, and “the streams flowed clearer, deeper, and certainly more
constantly than now due to the thick spongy covering of the forest floor.”[3]
Fossil samples indicate that the relatively warm, humid conditions made it
especially favorable for hunting and fishing and gathering wild plant foods,
especially fruits and nuts. Ritchie points out that while the expansion of
people also took them into lower Ontario, the archaic population was more
numerous in New York, with its milder winters and probably more abundant
wildlife than in lower Ontario, with the possibility that the weather was
becoming increasingly warmer and drier during this era.[4]
The Nephite Era
The warm condition which persisted during the
Jaredite era lasted until around 1000 B.C., when it became somewhat moister
and cooler, although still warmer than currently. Weather patterns changed
again after the birth of Christ when pollen samples indicate a cool, moist
climate phase began to prevail over most of the area which persisted with
various oscillations until our time.[5]
While New York enjoys a temperate climate, the regions to the east of the
lakes can sometimes be hit rather hard during the colder winter months.
Thus, since Book of Mormon territory appears to extend along much of the
region to the east of Lake Erie, there can be little doubt that the Nephites
experienced harsh winters at times during the last 384 years of their
existence in the land. Yet their summers would have been as moist and hot as
they are today as well, a condition hard to travel in, let alone fight in.
The time period given the episode which speaks of Teancum’s army
successfully overpowering the Lamanites because they were fatigued due to
their labors and the heat of the day came in 67 B.C., according to Book of
Mormon footnotes, which was before the climate change which took place at
the time of Christ. But, whether before or after, the region would have
endured hot, humid summers in either case. Thus, it seems foolish to
discount New York as a plausible setting for the Book of Mormon saga simply
because of one lone reference to the heat of the day, which some speculate
can only be referring to the Tropics. People still die in New York in the
summer months, due to the heat and high humidity.
And it came to pass that when the night had come, Teancum and his servant
stole forth and went out by night, and went into the camp of Amalickiah; and
behold, sleep had overpowered them because of their much fatigue, which was
caused by the labors and heat of the day. (Alma 51:33.)
Such hot moist conditions also promote the spread of various fevers in the
land, another fact mentioned in the scriptures (see Alma 46:40). Malaria is
a bad fever, and has plagued the people of the northeast for centuries.
Literally hundreds died of the dread disease while building New York’s Erie
Canal.
Regardless of the hot moist summers and the heavy snowfall which falls in
New York at times, the state is still said to enjoy a temperate climate.
But, even in the harshest conditions, Native Americans have been inhabiting
this region for millennium and have survived nicely without central heating
or electricity. Moreover, Joseph Smith, as well as numerous early Saints
lived in New York without such conveniences and without complaint until
forced from their homes by angry mobs. Thus, the Nephites no doubt also
lived comfortably in the region after the weather turned cooler. The lush
timberlands surrounding them would have provided them with plenty of
firewood to keep them just as warm as the pilgrims and early gentile
settlers of the past few centuries.
As for Alma 3:5 referring to the
Lamanites wearing nothing more than loin clothes, the Native American
Indians in New York continued that practice until modernized by the
Gentiles who made every effort to civilize them. Many of the early
colonizers were amazed by the Indians ability to go so scantily clad
even during some of the harshest winters without the cold seeming to
bother them. Yet, we must not overlook the fact that the scriptures also
refer to the Lamanites wearing heavy clothing made from animal skins,
which was the more common dress among them during colder weather.
Now
the leaders of the Lamanites had supposed, because of the greatness of
their numbers, yea, they supposed that they should be privileged to come
upon them as they had hitherto done; yea, and they had also prepared
themselves with shields, and with breastplates; and they had also
prepared themselves with garments of skins, yea, very thick garments to
cover their nakedness. (Alma 49:6.)
A more complete treatment of the great destruction which took place at the
time of the Savior’s death can be found in the new book,
The Lost Empires of the Book of Mormon
Notes:
1-John Sorenson, The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A
Source Book, p. 351. F.A.R.M.S.
2-William A. Ritchie, The Archaeology of New York State, p. 32.
3-William A. Ritchie, Indian History of New York State, Ed Leaflet, No. 6,
p. 6.
4-William A. Ritchie, Indian History of New York State, Ed Leaflet, No.6, p.
10.
5-William A. Ritchie, Prehistoric Archaeology and the New York State Museum
Ed Leaflet, No. 22, p. 5.
Copyright © 1998 by Phyllis Carol Olive
Copyright
© 2007 by Phyllis Carol Olive,
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