The Narrow Neck of Land in the Mesoamerica Setting

During the early days of the Church, some members believed that all of Central America was the narrow neck described in the scriptures, for they mistakenly thought Book of Mormon territory spread throughout both North and South America. However, as time passed, and more thoughtful study was given the scriptures, scholars began to realize that Book of Mormon territory did not take in a very large area. Therefore a smaller region had to be adopted. Thus, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec was chosen as the narrow neck, with just a few hundred miles to either side of it making up the lands northward and southward, the land southward consisting of Bountiful, Zarahemla, the east borders, and the land of Nephi. The noted Mesoamerican theorist, John Sorenson, explains his reasons for choosing the Isthmus by quoting II Nephi 10:20, which explains that the land southward was nearly surrounded by water.

And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half's journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward.

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec seemed the likeliest candidate at the time, regardless of the fact that the body of water they equate with the west sea is due south, and the east sea, or the Gulf Mexico, is due north. (The segment entitled, The Skewed Cardinal Points in the Mesoamerican Setting on this site explains how they reconcile such a major discrepancy.)

Now, it seems extreme at best to suggest that only the great oceans meet the requirements for the east and west seas, for inland seas can be found throughout the entire hemisphere which was undoubtedly covered with even more water anciently. The land southward could easily have been sandwiched between two such bodies of water on either continent. This scenario is further strengthened by the fact that only the land southward was described as being situated between two seas. There is no mention anywhere that the land northward was similarly bordered by water. Yet, water clearly exists to either side of Mesoamerica’s land northward as well as their land southward. Thus they concluded that water must surely have bordered the land northward as well, but was simply left unrecorded by various scribes.

The scriptures describe Bountiful as being the northernmost land in the land southward and Desolation as the southernmost territory in the land northward. Thus, Mesoamerican theorists simply have the two straddle the narrow neck at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

John Sorenson said:

The land of Bountiful as a whole seems to have been quite narrow, since Alma 22:31-33 describes it mostly as a zone that ran across the narrow neck of land. Little more is said about it.¹

Now, Alma 22: 32-33 explains that the distance across Bountiful from the narrow neck to the west sea was only the distance a Nephite could walk in a day and a half. In his The Geography of Book of Mormon Events, A Source Book, John Sorenson made every effort to equate the time it would take an individual to journey from one place to another, and concludes:

1- One day’s travel for a Lamanite under hot conditions would be about 20
     miles.^{p. 272}

2- A single day’s march would not exceed 25 miles. ^{p. 285.}

3- King Benjamin’s subjects gathered together in one day, therefore, the
     local land probably did not exceed twenty miles. ^{p. 221.}

4- A normal journey of more than one day but not to exceed three, would
     be between twenty and forty miles. ^{p.
224.}

While I agree with his reasoning in these various instances, he completely ignores these formulas when attempting to determine the distance across Bountiful, a distance he also equates with the distance across the narrow neck, suggesting Bountiful was simply a zone which straddled the narrow neck. After suggesting that a single day’s journey would reasonably be about 20 miles, he goes on to say the distance across Bountiful, which takes in a normal journey of one and a half days, could be upwards of 120 miles, which is completely inconsistent with his earlier calculations. Instead he uses the standards set down by ultra marathon runners, including Lamas (Tibet’s holy men) who could run in a trance-like state for 24 straight hours at one end of the scale, those traveling through difficult circumstances at the other end, and those traveling at a more normal rate of speed somewhere in between. After taking into consideration every possible scenario, he initially claimed "the rate for a Nephite, a single individual, could potentially be up to six miles an hour for as long as 24 hours within the day and a half. That would amount to 144 miles." After re-evaluating things he then went on to say:

It was a day and a half’s travel for a "presumably lone Nephite" across the narrow neck of land which they fortified: up to five miles per hour, that is, up to 180 miles, on the basis of rate alone. {But on the additional basis of use of the word "narrow" a figure approaching 180 miles is absurd; 100 miles seems not absurd.}²

After much discussion on the matter, Sorenson finally compromised at between 75 and 125, the latter being nearly the exact distance across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Yet, most people would readily recognize that a normal day’s journey for anyone, including a strapping Nephite, would be about between 20 or 30 miles under normal conditions, making a day and a half’s journey somewhere around 30-45 miles, but not likely a stretch of land 120 miles wide.

We must also be reminded that the distance across Bountiful was prefaced by the word only. "It was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation from the east to the west sea. . ." The word only helps to clarify the fact that the area Bountiful covered was not an extensive stretch of land. Thus, by calculating a more reasonable time/distance equation to the journey across Bountiful, we can see that their inference that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the narrow neck described in the scriptures is seriously flawed, for it stretches across the land nearly four times that distance.

The Narrow "Pass" is simply another term for the Narrow Neck

After a careful consideration of all the geographical descriptions given in the Book of Mormon, it appears the only way to gain access to the land northward from the land southward was to breech the northern borders Bountiful and gain access to the narrow neck, for the sea that divided the lands (Ether 10:20) apparently separated the two lands from one another. Moroni’s encounter with Morianton provides some additional insights into this strategic location.

Therefore Moroni sent an army, with their camp, to head the people of Morianton, to stop their flight into the land northward.

And it came to pass that they did not head them until they had come to the borders of the land Desolation; and there they did head them, by the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, - yea, by the sea, on the west and on the east. (Alma 50:34 emphasis added.)

We must note here that the term narrow pass was used rather than the term narrow neck this time. But we must also note that all the landmarks associated with the narrow neck are also present. Moroni sent an army from Bountiful, to the borders of Desolation where he chased Morianton to a pass which had waters to either side of it, just as the neck had, with both described as narrow. Thus, we would have to assume the terms narrow neck and narrow pass were used interchangeably to describe the same passageway which led into the land northward.

Once again such a scenario presents problems for the Tehuantepec theorists, for how could Moroni’s troops chase them across Bountiful to a narrow neck of land when the very land they were fighting in, or Bountiful, was a zone which supposedly straddled the narrow neck itself? Thus, they simply resolved the problem by implying that the narrow neck and the narrow pass were two separate landmarks, with the narrow pass in their setting located to the far east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec along a gravely ridge which extends 30 miles from the Coatzacoalcos River near Minatilan, west to Acaycan. The pass in this case rises from 150 feet to 200 feet above the surrounding country and passes through the isthmus for a distance of about 30 miles. It has depressions on either side which fill with water when it rains. Thus, the ridge becomes an important route to the north during the rainy season.

A great deal of land on either side of this ridge is flooded periodically, as much as 12 feet deep in the rainy season. At times during that season the ridge pass would indeed lead "by the sea on the west and on the east", for the water in the flooded basin would be on both sides of the ridge and would have barred travel as effectively as the sea.³

Yet we must wonder how an isthmus, which takes in a stretch of land 120 miles wide, could possibly be considered completely impassable except along a 30 mile ridge which provides easy access to the territory northward during the raining season. One could reasonably ask, what about the rest of the year? Moreover, if the entire isthmus constitutes the narrow neck, as suggested by Mesoamerican theorists, what would stop people from simply pouring through the borders and into the land northward in a variety of places along the isthmus since the sea that divides that land described in Ether 10:20 does not traverse the isthmus in this setting?

Placing the narrow pass along the eastern borders nearer the east sea is not scripturally sound either, for the scriptures clearly place the narrow neck closer to the west sea.

. . . on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward. (Alma 22:32.)

. . . on the borders of the land Bountiful by the land Desolation, and launched it forth into the west sea by the narrow neck which led into the land northward. (Alma 63:5.)

And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land. (Ether 10:20.)

And he also sent orders unto him that he should fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward . . . (Alma 52:9.)

. . . the borders of the land Desolation and there they did head them, by the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, yea, by the sea on the west and on the east. (Alma 50:34.)

Still another scripture refers to the neck/pass as simply a point of entry into the land northward, not an extended stretch of land.

And he also sent orders unto him that he should fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward, lest the Lamanites should obtain that point and should have power to harass them on every side. (Alma 52:9.)

Still another scripture describes this point of entry as a narrow passage, but like all the other descriptive names relevant to the narrow neck, it specifies that it led from one land to the other.

And the Lamanites did give us the land northward, yea, even to the narrow passage which led into the land southward. And we did give unto the Lamanites all the land southward. (Mormon 2:29.)

Once the Lamanites drove the Nephites into the land northward they permitted them to keep all the lands to the north of the sea while they kept the land southward for themselves.

. . . at the land Desolation, to a city which was in the borders, by the narrow pass which led into the land southward. (Mormon 3:5.)

The word "narrow" prefaces "every" single scriptural reference to the neck/pass with the exception of one which calls it a "small" neck. The seven scriptures relevant to the narrow neck/pass strongly support the premise that the narrow neck and the narrow pass were terms that were used interchangeably when describing the same area. All seven define an area where the narrow neck intersects Bountiful, Desolation, and the sea that divides the land, and each refer to the narrow neck/pass leading from one land to the other. If the narrow pass and the narrow neck were two separate strips of land, with each being flanked by seas, their separate locations would have been described differently.

The sea that divides the land and the narrow neck are two of the most important landmarks in all of Book of Mormon territory and are key to the overall understanding of the geographical layout of the ancient setting. They define the lands northward and southward and lay just to the north of Bountiful.

In the New York setting an ancient sea, which once filled the plains just to the south of Lake Ontario, fits the description of this sea surprisingly well and helps to clarify the mysteries surrounding the junction where Bountiful, Desolation and the narrow neck intersect. See the segment on this site entitled, "The Narrow Neck in the New York Setting," for a more complete study of this scenario.

End Notes:

1- John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, p. 12.

2- John L. Sorenson, The Geography of the Book of Mormon: A Source Book, p. 397.

3- John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, p. 43.

See "New York's Narrow Neck of Land". Or click here: New York's Narrow Neck of Land

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