After finding compelling evidence that a site in Oman is the Book of Mormon’s land of Bountiful, a team of archaeologists, scholars, and divers lead by Dr. F. Richard Hauck will begin searching for remnants of Lehi and his family’s time before they crossed the ocean in 600 B.C., according to Meridian Magazine.
Oman is a predominantly Muslim country located at the southeastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. The site matches Nephi’s description of Bountiful by being “a place on the seashore accessible from the high desert, directly east of Nahom, which is in present day Yemen. A place of much fruit and honey and a place with significant timber.
“It must have a supply of fresh water, iron ore to make tools, flint to make fire, a mountain close enough that he can go there to pray often, and cliffs by the seashore since his brothers threaten to throw him in,” Meridian writers Scot and Maurine Proctor reported.
Scot Proctor at Meridian wrote, “Frankly, Nephi’s Bountiful just doesn’t fit the dry, barren, treeless expanse of Arabia. His Bountiful would be as distinctive as a diamond in the sand in that landscape. What is tree-covered and verdant in Arabia? Only a few possible candidates, and all of them miss in several ways. Only one place meets every criterion, an isolated beach near the border of Yemen called Khor Kharfot.”
According to the Meridian, the land was discovered by a man named Warren Aston 25 years ago, where he thoughtfully studied the layout and made careful notes and drawings of what few fragments remained of the ancient ruins he found there.
Aston showed his drawings to Richard Hauck, who in his archaeology career had extensively studied the layout of Solomon’s Temple and many similar structures from Biblical and Book of Mormon times.
When Hauck saw the drawing of one of the structures on the western side of Khor, he immediately noticed “a footprint and layout that correlated directly with Solomon’s Temple,” Meridian continued.
During their several following visits to Khor, Hauck carefully studied the site where the drawing had been made where Meridian wrote he “found 14 correlations that lined up with not only Solomon’s Temple, but two temple sites where he had worked on site in Central America.”
At this discovery, Hauck had shifted his views from thinking the site could be where Nephi and company lived, to believing it probably was in fact their temporary home before sailing to the Americas.
Lucy Gorniak, a freshman from Tasmania studying international cultural studies, said if they discover this to be where Lehi and his family really lived, it would be exciting, but if not “it doesn't have anything to do with my faith in Jesus Christ. I do like to find out new findings, but I know that just because something isn't proven now doesn’t mean it’s [not true].”
After forming his opinion, Hauck and his fellow archaeologist, Kimball Banks went to meet with several Omani political leaders, including one of the Sultan’s advisors on Nov. 8 2015, to seek permission to dig for artifacts, reported the Meridian. In their meeting, the Omani representatives asked what the archaeologists’ interests were with the site.
Hauck replied by relating to them a shortened version of the story of Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem, comparing it to when God commanded Moses to leave Egypt. He then went on to explain what he had found during his surface-level surveys of the area and how strongly he felt about Khor being the exact spot described by Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
The officials listened intently as he described the great significance it would be to the LDS Church and potentially the country of Oman if they could find artifacts proving Lehi’s former inhabitance there.
In his journal about the experience, Hauck wrote, “The Sultan’s advisor then stressed to us that his office was completely unbiased and open to all peoples and religions and beliefs and that he and his staff would respect our interests.”
In what Meridian describes as “an absolute miracle,” the Omanis granted Hauck and his team full permission to go ahead with their archaeological research and will even serve as partners to facilitate the work.
Kelsey Simpson, a senior from Washington studying accounting, said, “I wish there was more cooperation like this in the world. Religion aside, the leaders of Oman seem to just want to help for the greater good, which is especially admirable in today’s day in age.”
Meridian reported the dig will last throughout the month of February and will hopefully yield fruits well worth the team’s labor.