Book of hagoth Continue Polynesians are descendants of Lehi and the blood relatives of American Indians. Peterson, Mark E., General Conference, April 1962. Moroni America-Alma 63 In the 37th year, there was a large group of men, even in the number of five thousand and four hundred men, with their wives and children, flew from the land of zaragemla into the land that was to the north. This will make the group 10-20000, depending on the size of the family. The text does not explain whether these people sailed north or traveled by land. He doesn't even tell us where they left in the land of zarahemla. All we know is that the land was north of zarahemla. Regardless of whether they have swam or travelled on foot, it seems unlikely that such a large group will sail far from the river. At the very least, they will need a constant supply of water. The text does not mention herds or grains; presumably, people would prefer fresh food from fishing. Moroni America Is Just $9.95 Two Rivers They Could Follow to the Northern Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries. Because the text doesn't say they left the town of zarahemla (on the west coast of the Mississippi), it seems more likely they will follow the Illinois River out of the ground. This would bring them in close proximity to the southern part of Lake Michigan and the Michigan Peninsula. In ancient times, much of northwestern Indiana was covered by the Kankaki Swamp, through which the winding Kankaki River flowed. This area has been named the Everglades of the North. Since then it has been drained and converted into farmland, but in ancient times it was an area of abundant wildlife and resources such as freshwater pearls. This would be a logical place for people to look for. Although I do not refer to archaeology in this book, archaeologists have suggested that the date of activity can logically be set in the range from 100 BC to 200 AD in this area. The text suggests that this migration to the north aroused the curiosity of a man named Hagot. Alma 63:5-6 And it happened that Hagoth, he was an extremely curious man, so he went ahead and built him an extremely large ship, on the borders of the land abundant, on the land of desolation, and began it forward into the west sea, along a narrow neck that led into the ground to the north. And so, there were many Non-Fisians who entered them and made a swim forward with a lot of provisions, as well as many women and children; and they headed north. And thus ended the thirty-seventh year. Hagoth Brooke Malia Mann Hagoth's Story shows nephites were proficient in shipbuilding, as Mormon implied in Helaman 3:14. Mormon does not mention Hahot because he built the ship; he mentioned Hahot because he had built an extremely large ship. Since the whole civilization was founded by sailors, there would be more if the Nefis didn't use the ships than if they did, and Hagot shows that they knew how to build ships. I wonder why he built such a large ship and that Nefites became a passenger. Given the sequence of events, it is possible that a big company of people sailed north on the Illinois River, reaching the source. They would continue overland to the land that was to the north where they reached the West Sea and sent the word back to Hagoth. Then Hagot came north and built an extremely large ship to accommodate many of the Nefian who went north. Why did all these people go north? One reason may be natural expansion; i.e. the population of the Nefis is growing, and the Lamanites occupy all the land south of the city. The East (Abundant) was already inhabited. The West may have been less attractive. Another reason may be the economic opportunities in the north, possibly related to abundant copper on the Kevino Peninsula, where hundreds of ancient mines have been found. The text states that Hagot built his ship on the edge of the land of the Abundant Desolation of the Earth. This means that he built it inland, presumably in a protected area that would be quite deep, either on the river or the entrance. From the construction site he launched it into the west sea with a narrow neck, which led to the ground to the north. This passage has more than one meaning. Of course, the narrow neck can be either water or land, and the text does not explain which one in this case (unlike the 10:20 ether, which indicates the narrow neck of the earth). I discussed various narrow features in geography in Chapter 6. The Oxford English Dictionary includes these definitions of neck: a. The pass between hills or mountains; narrow part of the mountain pass. b. Narrow channel or water entrance; Narrow part of sound, etc. c. Narrow piece of land with water on each side; Isthmus or narrow cape d. Narrow stretch of tree, pasture, ice, etc. Click to increase no mountains or forests mentioned in Alma 63, so presumably we are dealing with 1) narrow canal or water entrance; 2) A narrow part of the sound; 3) Isthmus; 4) or narrow cape. The general interpretation is seen as synonymous with the neighbour; i.e. Hagot launched his ship into the west sea near the narrow neck, and a narrow neck leads into the ground to the north. This interpretation suggests that the neck was the neck of the earth, but it is not clear how the neck of the earth will lead to a greater mass of land. The neck of the earth will lead to a greater mass of land, but not to one. This interpretation also raises the question of why the narrow neck is associated with the launch, but not the construction of the ship. That is, Hagot built a ship to desolate the earth, but launched it around the narrow neck that led into the ground to the north. A The interpretation suggests that since Hagot built the ship inland, the narrow neck may be the neck of the river that brought in the meaning of the infiltrated-land to the north. The third possibility is that the narrow neck was a waterway - a narrow canal or entrance, with which he launched his ship into the sea. In this case, a relative pronoun that refers to the Western Sea; i.e. the western sea leads to the ground to the north. Another interpretation would have to launch itself represent what led to the ground to the north. The comma behind the neck will clarify this value; i.e. launched it into the west sea with a narrow neck that led to the ground to the north. This interpretation is somewhat confirmed by the sequence of events. Hagot built the ship by land Desolation, launched it into the West Sea, then took its passengers and took their course north. It is obvious that the West Sea has led to the ground to the north; it's just a matter of how, and how, the narrow neck did as well. The text distinguishes the land to the north and the desolation of the land. Again, this reflects the relative nature of these terms. Often in the text, the desolation of the land to the north. Here the benchmark is next to the desolation of the land where Hagot built his ship. Hence, the land is north in these passages north of the Desolation. Verse 7 indicates that the first ship returned and set sail back to the north. This seems incompatible with the idea that Hahot's departure point was close to the ground to the north, which would have been the case if it had been next to the narrow neck that led into this land. Its passengers boarded the ship in the west sea because this sea led to land to the north, not because the narrow neck did. There are several locations along Lake Michigan that will qualify as a narrow neck according to the definitions. The lake today is located at an altitude of about 577 feet above sea level. There are areas like Benton Harbor where the land is only a few feet taller than the lake. In ancient times, when the lake was higher, the harbor would have been much larger than today, surrounded by peninsulas - narrow necks. This would be a good place to build an extremely large ship and then launch it into the west sea. All this becomes clearer, referring to the map on the left. Hagot was not satisfied with only one ship. 7 And in the thirty-eighth year this man built other ships. And the first ship also returned, and many more people entered it; and they also took a lot of provisions, and set off again to land north. 8 And it happened that they were never heard of again. And we assume they drowned in the depths of the sea. And it happened that another ship also did sail forward; and whither it go we don't know. The text does not say in what month of the thirty-seventh year launched his first ship, or in what month he returned in thirty- eighth year. The first ship could have disappeared for a year, just a few months, or almost two years. I assume he came back about a year later, just because Hagot built other ships before he came back.