Part 3: What Nephi Forgot to Tell Us About Bountiful

The original article is on ldsmag.com by Scot and Maurine Proctor and is Part 3 of a special series by Meridian Magazine.

*In the next articles we’ll talk specifically about the geography and archaeology of the area.

When Nephi spoke in such glowing terms about Bountiful, this place of “much fruit” where they “exceedingly rejoiced” by the “seashore”, it sounds refreshing, and no doubt it was after years of bitter desert travel. Yet, having pitched a tent ourselves—with an international team of researchers– in this best candidate for Nephi’s Bountiful at Khor Kharfot, we have to admit there are a few things Nephi forgot to mention.

Come with us to Bountiful and be on site as we share with you what archaeological exploration looks like when you are “boots on the ground” through photos, videos and stories.

To begin, you can’t travel lightly if you are camping out on a remote, uninhabited Arabian seashore. Into your suitcases from home are jammed a tent, air mattresses, sleeping bags, a solar generator, extra food, cameras, film equipment and a tripod. All of this has to be hefted through multiple airports and then into the back of a rental car. But that wasn’t the end.

We flew into Muscat, Oman and then on to Salalah. For a mental picture of the area, this is where in the movie, Captain Phillips, the ship is docked before they take off to sea and is attacked by Somali pirates.

From Salalah, we drove west for two hours on a road that snaked through canyons and passed camel herds to an army checkpoint. Many other Omani’s breezed through this checkpoint but our vehicles, filled with our international team of archaeologists and researchers, included people with passports from England, Italy, Australia, Canada, Pakistan and America, so they pulled us over to wait while they peered at each one.

It was not surprising the soldiers, looking glum and responsible, checked as we were about 4 miles from the border of Yemen, where al Qaeda is nestled in.

Then, the road began its deep and winding descent from the higher desert to the seashore and the fishing village, Dhalqut where we had arranged for a fisherman and his boats to take us on into Khor Kharfot, the best candidate for Nephi’s Bountiful. We know, however, what happens to best-laid plans. When we arrived at the village our fisherman was missing and no one else would volunteer to take us along the seacoast by boat to the beach at Khor Kharfot where we were to stay. Some said, “It’s too dangerous.” Others complained they didn’t know how because there was no way to land a boat there. Our view was of a sea of fishermen all shaking their heads that they wouldn’t take us into the place, inspiring each other in their adamancy. “No,” they shook their heads. “No,” a dozen heads in unison agreed.

Watch the video below to see the most probable spot for Nephi’s Bountiful.

To read more about Meridian Magazine’s archaeological exploration and Nephi’s Bountiful, visit ldsmag.com.