Why Mesoamerica?
By V. Garth Norman, Alan C. Miner and editors of AAF

Individuals still consider different regions in North and South America as viable candidates for the land of the Book of Mormon. When we take all of the geographic and cultural criteria required by the book into account, however, only Mesoamerica rises to the top.

The scholars at the Ancient America Foundation believe the map with booklet by Garth Norman is the most up-to-date assessment of the evidences. It includes for the first time identification of many surviving Book of Mormon place names with correlated sites. This is a study aid with lexicon for use while reading the Book of Mormon history. It can be ordered at AAF’s website bookstore.

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There are many reasons why no other place in North or South America except Mesoamerica meets the geographical criteria as described in the Book of Mormon, when we understand it correctly. Consider the following overview.

Most of the Book of Mormon story takes place in the lands of Nephi and Zarahemla comprising the Land Southward, which was nearly surrounded by water due to the narrow neck of land on the north. Travel time between Nephi and Zarahemla took about 21 days. Some 10 to 20 miles per day would be between 200 to 400 miles. These dimensions fit the area of Central America in Southern Mesoamerica with the Isthmus of Tehuantepec as the “narrow neck of land.” It is interesting that Nephi perceived the land of Nephi as “an island of the sea,” which does not fit the continents of North or South America.

Waters

Waters in the Book of Mormon include the river Sidon that ran north through the center of the land, the waters of Mormon, the waters of Sebus, the land of many waters, the place where the sea divides the land, the waters of Ripliancum, the large bodies of water (lakes) in the land northward, and the greater seas in four directions (Sea South, the Sea North, the Sea West, the Sea East). These waters as described in the Book of Mormon only fit in Mesoamerica. The Great Lakes seas argued by some students do not encompass the lands.

The Small Neck/Narrow Neck of Land & the Narrow Pass

The narrow neck of land isthmus between the land northward and land southward fits the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, with the narrow pass described by the sea on the west as the Pacific coastal plain where Hagoth’s sea port, probably in the Mar Muerto lagoon, launched ships into the western sea to carry people and timber into the desolate land northward, which fits Oaxaca north of the isthmus.

Wilderness Areas

The strategic “narrow strip of wilderness” mountain border between the lands of Nephi and Zarahemla, which ”ran from the sea east even to the sea west” and ran in a straight line in an east-west direction, is found in northern highland Guatemala and nowhere else in the Americas. Many other wilderness areas mentioned in the Book of Mormon also fit into the Mesoamerica area.

Multiple Advanced Cultural Centers

The Jaredite (Olmec) culture in the land northward existed in the valley of Mexico to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec area from 2500 to 300 B. C. The Lamanite, Mulekite, Nephite cultures flourished in the land southward for 500 years before Christ and before mass migration began development of the great Teotihuacan Empire in the valley of Mexico land of lakes as the Book of Mormon describes. Classic cultures after the Nephite destruction fit the surviving Lamanite culture after 400 A.D.

A Written Language and Culture

At present, the only place known in the Americas where there was a phonetic written language at the time of the Book of Mormon was in Mesoamerica. Mesoamerica was the only place with the extensive civilization culture required by the Book of Mormon.

Conclusion

A close scrutiny of the words of the Book of Mormon coupled with the scientific studies of the geography, archaeology, language, ancient history and other cultural aspects during the time period of the Book of Mormon, identify Mesoamerica as the land of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith, as editor of the Times and Seasons, directed our attention to this fact in an editorial (Oct. 1, 1842). He stated that “the city of Zarahemla "stood upon this land where explorer John Lloyd Stephens brought the magnificent ancient Maya ruins to the world’s attention in his 1841 publications," “Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan.” Ongoing researches today are confirming Joseph’s inspired insight.

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