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Possible locations for Nahom
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Contents
The name "Nahom" in the Book of Mormon
Questions
- How does the Book of Mormon name "Nahom" correlate with the Old World?
- Is archaelogical evidence of Nahom simply, as one critical website claims, representative of "the willingness of LDS scholars to look anywhere in their despair to find a shred of validation for their erroneous beliefs?" Cite error: Closing
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- It [the root for naham] appears twenty-five times in the narrative books of the Bible, and in every case it is associated with death. In family settings, it is applied in instances involving the death of an immediate family member (parent, sibling, or child); in national settings, it has to do with the survival or impending extermination of an entire people. At heart, naham means "to mourn," to come to terms with a death; these usages are usually translated...by the verb "to comfort," as when Jacob's children try to comfort their father after the reported death of Joseph. [1]
It is intriguing that Nephi tells us that the deceased Ishmael was buried at a spot with a name associated with mourning and death of loved ones.
Strikingly, altars dating from the time of Lehi have been found with the inscription "NHM." [2] Semitic languages of the time did not use vowels in their written texts, so this corresponds to a name of "nahom." S. Kent Brown has addressed the linguistic issues in the NHM placename. [3]
The Semitic name Nahom can refer to mourning and consolation, and may also refer to groaning and complaining, giving it special significance in Nephi's account (see [1 Nephi 16:35.)
The NHM location has an ancient tradition of being a place for burial and mourning. Ancient tombs are still abundant in that area. The name Nehem/Nahom ("nhm"--which can also be rendered "Nihm") is a rare place name–with the only known site in the Arabian peninsula being at a place consistent with the Book of Mormon account. Thus, NHM provides archaeological evidence of a place name mentioned in the Book of Mormon at the exact place and historical period which the text requires. [4]
As one travels south-southeast of Jerusalem along the major trunk of the ancient Arabian trade route, the route branches east toward the southeastern coast at only point: in the Jawf valley (Wadi Jawf) just a few miles from Nehem. From thence the eastern branch of the trade route goes toward the ancient port of Qana--modern Bir Ali—on the Hadhramaut coast, where most of the incense was shipped. This eastern branch was the major route—the pathways to the south were less used.
Video
Summary: A variety of criticisms are offered in an attempt to dismiss "Nahom" as supporting evidence for the Book of Mormon. We examine and respond to these claims in this article.
Notes
- ↑ David Damrosch, The Narrative Covenant (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1987), 128–129.
- ↑ S. Kent Brown, "New Light: 'The Place That Was Called Nahom': New Light from Ancient Yemen," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8/1 (1999). [66–67] link; Warren P. Aston, "Newly Found Altars from Nahom," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/2 (2001). [56–61] link
- ↑ S. Kent Brown, "On Nahom/NHM," 23 February 2001.off-site
- ↑ John W. Welch, "Lehi's Trail and Nahom Revisited," in Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1992), 47–49.GL direct link; Alan Goff, "Mourning, Consolation, and Repentance at Nahom," in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon, edited by John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 92–94. GL direct link