Source:Potter:A New Candidate in Arabia for the "Valley of Lemuel":JBMS 8:1

Wadi Tayyib al-Ism as a viable candidate for the "Valley of Lemuel"

Wadi Tayyib al-Ism as a candidate for the Valley of Lemuel

The valley of Lemuel requires several characteristics. In 1995, George Potter and colleagues found a hitherto unrecognized wadi which has parallels to the requirements of the Book of Mormon text, including a river of water which is "continually running," which they interpret as requiring a year-round water flow. Although Saudi and US geological surveys have concluded that Saudi Arabia "may...be without any perennial rivers or streams," visits to the area in April, May, July, August, November, December, and January have all found flowing water in the candidate valley which Potter's team identified.

The grandeur of the valley is difficult to describe in words or even portray in photographs. It is a narrow gorge cut through a massive granite mountain. It consists of three sections: the upper valley (or the Waters of Moses), the canyon of granite, and the lower canyon. The upper valley constitutes an oasis that lies at the south end of a twelve-mile long wadi—known locally as Wadi Tayyib al-Ism— that leads down from the north (see map). The upper valley sits like a pleasant jewel, spread out over approximately one square mile with several hundred palm trees and 12 wells that local residents call the Waters of Moses.