Foundation For Ancient American Studies - Many Cities On The North

Many Cities On The North

Alma 50:15 states that the Nephites built "many cities on the north" and at least one of those cities, Lehi was on the seashore. If Mesoamerica is the lands of the Book of Mormon, then the only way this scripture could be possible, is if the Yucatan was an island, as I have indicated in these maps. There may be one or two ancient cities on the northern tip of the Yucatan, but there certainly are not many. In fact, there are almost no cities on this peninsula that date to Book of Mormon times.

But, at the base of this peninsula, where it was anciently divided by the sea, there are many cities that date to Book of Mormon times. In fact, you can take a ruler and draw a straight line at the base of the Yucatan, almost on highway 186, and south of that line you will find the remains of many ancient cities, dating to Book of Mormon times. However, when you go north of that line, there are simply no cities that date back that far. For all practical purposes, the Yucatan peninsula was not inhabited during Book of Mormon times. Not only was it an island, but it was extremely hot, had no surface rivers, little top soil and simply was not an attractive place to live.

The cities that Alma 50:15 is talking about, were on the north coast of the land of Zarahemla, where the ocean separated the Yucatan, making it an island.