Timothy Sedor's Newsletter "Photographs of the Month"
Timothy Sedor
Book of Mormon Explorer
July 2008
The "Photograph for the Month" for July is taken from the first film of our 6-part DVD Discovering Lehi's Trail.
In Part One, "Discovering the Valley of Lemuel," you are once again taken to the north side of the upper portion of the Valley of Lemuel to what we believe is a possible altar site.
On the north side of the oasis, just above the canyon floor and the campsite that dates back to Lehi's time (see the May and June "Photographs of the Month" archive) is evidence of a stone altar.
In our documentary film, Michael Bellersen of Germany explains how this could have been the very spot where Lehi built his altar to thank the Lord for their exodus from Jerusalem and there arrival in the beautiful oasis of the Valley of Lemuel.
June 2008
Part One, Discovering the Valley of Lemuel, you can see a graphic illustration from the Journal of Saudi Arabian Archaeology that describes the upper portion of the Valley of Lemuel (Wadi Tayyib al-Ism).
The illustration identifies the ruins of an ancient campsite.
If you remember from the "Photograph of the Month" for May, George Potter visited the King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia.
In the archaeological collection of the main library, George found the objective of his visit.
In Volume 5 of the Journal of Saudi Arabian Archaeology he found that the ruins of the Valley of Lemuel had been classified by an international team of archaeologist as "an encampment" and cataloged the ancient campsite as archaeological site 200-81.
The archaeologists noted that the surface artifacts, i.e., pottery chards, were classified as "Early Iron Age (late 2nd to mid-1st millennia, B.C. ").
We now know that the campsite in the Valley of Lemuel dates to at least the time of Lehi.
May 2008
|
The "Photograph for the Month" for May is taken from the first film
of our 6-part DVD
Discovering Lehi's Trail.
Part One, Discovering the Valley of Lemuel, you are taken to the north side of the upper portion of the Valley of Lemuel (Wadi Tayyib al-Ism, the Valley of the Good Name). The question begs to be answered, "Is there any evidence that Lehi and his family stayed in this valley?" On the north side of the oasis we found the ruins of an ancient campsite. Lehi and his family stayed in the valley for months, perhaps even years. Surely they would have built stone windbreaks, tables, storage areas, and utility walls. Finding an antiquity site in the valley raised questions. Had archaeologists visited this area? What were these ruins? How old were these remains? In search for these answers, George Potter visited King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia. June's "Photograph of the Month" article will tell you what he found. |
April 2008
Part One, Discovering the Valley of Lemuel, you are taken to the upper portion of the Valley of Lemuel (Wadi Tayyib al-Ism, the Valley of the Good Name).
This remarkable site is an oasis of date palms amidst a vast barren desert. After traveling three days through a hellish desert, Lehi's family was welcomed by this refreshing garden, which provided them a source of food and rest.
When we retraced Lehi's journey, by following only the words of Nephi, we were also treated to this magnificent site.
March 2008
Part One, Discovering the Valley of Lemuel, takes you to the lower portion of the Valley of Lemuel.
This photograph shows George Potter standing on the beach outside the lower portion of the Valley of Lemuel as it exits to the "Fountain of the Red Sea."
The footnote in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi 2:9) suggests the Fountain of the Red Sea is the Gulf of Aqabah.
February 2008
In Part One, Discovering the Valley of Lemuel, you are taken to the shoreline of the Gulf of Aqaba.
In retracing Lehi's journey and only following the words of Nephi we too came down by the shore of the Red Sea.
In this photograph we see exactly as Nephi described it.
To our right, the waters of the Red Sea (Gulf of Aqabah).
Directly in front of us, the shoreline that would have been excellent footing for their camels.
And to our left were the Borders or mountains.
January
2008
In Part One, Discovering the Valley of Lemuel, we take you to the desert of northwestern Arabia.
Nephi wrote, "And it came to pass that when he had traveled three days in the wilderness, he pitched his tent in a valley by the side of a river of water." (1 Nephi 2:6)
After completing a 44-year study of Saudi Arabia's water resources, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Saudi Arabian Department of Water Resources concluded:
"Saudi Arabia may be the world's largest country without any perennial rivers or streams." Water Atlas of Saudi Arabia, p.xvh.
However, Nephi saw and wrote about a river of water.
In this documentary film we present our candidates for the River of Laman and the Valley of Lemuel.
As you will see in the film, we discovered in the vast and barren Arabian wilderness a small stream that runs continuously and is situated exactly where Nephi indicated it would be located.