Timothy Sedor's Newsletter "Photographs of the Month"
Timothy Sedor - 2009 - Washington
Book of Mormon Explorer
June 2010
The June "Photograph of the Month" is taken from Part Six, Discovering Nephi's Harbor, of the six-part series DVD, Discovering Lehi's Trail,
Continuing our research on our theory that Khor Rori in Oman is the harbor where Nephi constructed his ship, we studied the descriptions on what type of ship Nephi would have needed to reach the New World. They were all large wooden sailing ships.
In our film, Part Six, Discovering Nephi's Harbor, we listed the resources Nephi would have needed to construct his ship. One of the essential things he needed was good moorings. Why moorings? Because of its tremendous weight, a wooden ship is not completed before launching. When the hull is finished, the hull is lowered into the water using gravity on what are called slipways. Once moored in the harbor, the masts, spars, rigging, ballast, anchors, and sails are added.
Tim Severin, the Irish explorer noted for his work in building replica ships and retracing their legendary journeys, built a replica of an ancient Omani ship. The hull of Tim Severin's ship, "Sohar," was constructed in the tradition of the ancient Omani shipwrights and weighed over 100 tons before its hull was lowered into the water. Once in the water, 15 tons of ballast had to be added to the hull to keep the "Sohar" upright in the water.
To finish a ship, shipwrights would moor the ship to an embankment or pier.
Frank Linehan, our maritime ship consultant, shares his thoughts of what it would have been like to simply load an ancient anchor aboard a ship without moorings.
"Just think of an anchor needed for a 80 to 100 foot vessel. You would like it to be at least 500 pounds to hold the ship in any kind of weather to make it secure. It would require an awful lot of effort to load that aboard the vessel. It would have been impossible to load the anchor aboard the ship in open water or from a beach with surf breaking on it. How would you load something like that after rowing out to the vessel? You would need quiet waters not to mention the manpower that would be needed as they did not have the sophistication of winches to lift it aboard. Practically all hands or crew would have to turn to, to pull it up out of the water and secure it aboard ship prior to going to sea."
If a stone anchor would be difficult to bring aboard, think of the difficulty of installing a mast that weighs several tons. For this reason, we are not surprised that Nephi gives us clues that his ship was moored before they embarked into the sea. Nephi wrote four times that they went DOWN into the ship before they set out to sea (1 Nephi 18:5-8). The most logical explanation is that the ship was already in the water and moored at a harbor where they could go down to the ship before setting sail.
As this month's photograph shows, the natural harbor at Khor Rori has several places where ships could be moored. In ancient times the Arabs called Khor Rori "Merbat" the Arabic word meaning "The Moorings."
May 2010
The May "Photograph of the Month" is taken from Part Six, Discovering Nephi's Harbor, of the six-part series DVD, Discovering Lehi's Trail,
To support our theory that Nephi built his ship at Khor Rori in Oman, we contacted several maritime archaeologists who described to us the kinds of ocean-going ships that were built in antiquity at Oman.
From our research we discovered that the ancient ships of Oman were large and amazing for their day.
In our film, Part Six, Discovering Nephi's Harbor, Frank Linehand, our maritime ship consultant, describes what would have been needed for Nephi to accomplish this difficult assignment from the Lord.
Brother Linehan, a hull expert for the US Navy and officer in the US Merchant Marines, calculates that Nephi's ship would have been 80 to 100 feet in length.
With a beam or width of the vessel of at least 35 feet and taking the width out a little wider than normal due to launching in a shallow bay, she would have drawn 8 to 10 feet to maybe as deep as 12 feet.
Frank writes, "She would have had to been constructed on slipways so she could be launched prior to outfitting. That would have been stepping the mast, rigging, ground tackle, etc. Nephi would have had access to deep water, still water, preferably pier side, in order to fit out the vessel he was constructing. This rules out a launch from a beach. The vessel would have been too large and to wide to launch in a surf, a definite disaster. The rigging would have been a split rig as high as 50 to 60 feet-this means a couple of tremendous sails made of a fabric of that age, probably canvas or a cotton of some type. When the rig would get wet, with its lines and canvas, that sail would weigh more than 1,500 pounds in fabrics of this day and age. That would require quite a bit of manpower to even raise that sail with a lot of physical dexterity, and of course, Nephi would not have had winches such as we have today. The vessel would have had a deck over it to where the bulwarks or sides would have to have been quite high. And the higher it could be would mean the ship would be dryer and handle better at sea in bad weather. The decking would require a sophisticated knowledge from the area or importing the talent. The deck would have to fit very tight requiring caulking, mortising the deck to provide protection for stores and sleeping quarters below. That would mean tools, lines, extra canvas for sails, the food, water, ballast to keep the ship upright which would have been rock laid on the bottom.
Brother Linehand describes the quiet waters of Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington where his ship the Cape Intrepid is moored, to what Nephi would have needed for his ship."
This is where Khor Rori in Oman fits the description to satisfy those needs.
April 2010
The April "Photograph of the Month" is taken from Part Six, Discovering Nephi's Harbor, of the six-part series DVD, Discovering Lehi's Trail,
We take you to the frankincense harbor of Khor Rori in Oman.
We believe Khor Rori is the most compelling candidate for the Book of Mormon's Bountiful and the harbor where Nephi built his ship.
Khor Rori is quiet today, but in Nephi's time it was such an important harbor that he and his father Lehi would have known about it.
To understand how old the harbor is at Khor Rori, we traveled to Luxor in Egypt some 2000 miles from Oman.
We visited the temple of Queen Hutshepsut who reigned over Egypt almost a millennium before Nephi built his ship.
Murals in her mortuary temple tell of how she sent large ships into the Arabia Sea to trade for the frankincense.
Archeologists are uncertain to where her ships actually traded for the incense.
However, according to the Ministry of information, Sultanate of Oman, there is an inscription in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt that shows an Egyptian ship harbored at Khor Rori.
The Ministry further claims that it was from Khor Rori that Queen Sheba sent a ship of frankincense to King Solomon.
March 2010
YES! These are the films and book that have made the Book of Mormon critics speechless. For over 10 years our research has yet to be challenged by ANY critic of the Book of Mormon. They dare not mention, The Nephi Project, in their blogs for they know our evidence is compelling and open to anyone willing in spending time in a scholarly library or travel down Arabia.
So let us take you down Lehi's journey in our set of six films on two discs. Drive through Arabia and see the amazing evidences that witness that the Book of Mormon is a true history. Tell your friends!
"Firm, and Steadfast and Immovable"! The photograph on the cover of our Discovering Lehi's Trail DVD is of the opening of the Valley of Lemuel where this breathtaking canyon opens onto the Gulf of Aqaba.
The photograph on the cover of the DVD was taken in January 1998, as we see the last rays of the sun as it was setting over the Gulf of Aqaba and the Sinai Peninsula. The sunset rays reflected upon the cliff faces of the valley wall, while our friend, John, raises his arm to salute this wonderful scene. To give you an idea of how tall these canyon walls are (over 2,500 feet), locate the yellow circle and try to find John standing on the valley floor.
February 2010
"And it came to pass that he departed into the wilderness. And he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents, and departed into the wilderness." 1 Nephi 2:4
Book of Mormon scholars have long believed that the Valley of Lemuel was located in the northwest corner of what is today Saudi Arabia.
Among these scholars was Hugh Nibley who stated of this barren region, "The desert that Lehi retreated to and where he made his first long camp has been known since Old Testament times as the 'wilderness par excellence.' The particular waste in which Lehi made his first camp is among the most uninviting deserts on earth. Detestable certainly describes the place in the eyes of Lehi's people who murmured bitterly at being led into such a hell."
However, Nephi described a fertile valley with many fruits, grains, and a river of flowing water. After completing an exhaustive 44-year study of Saudi Arabia's water resources, the United States Geological Survey and the Saudi Arabian Department of Water Resources concluded, "Saudi Arabia may be the world's largest country without any perennial rivers or streams." Water Atlas of Saudi Arabia, p.xv
Where is the fertile Valley of Lemuel in a land described as "Hell," and where is its river of flowing water in riverless Arabia? In this film we not only show you the land Nephi described, we reveal to you our candidates for the Valley of Lemuel and the continually flowing River of Laman.
January 2010
In Part 6, Discovering Nephi’s Harbor, of the six-part series of the DVD, Discovering Lehi’s Trail, Frank Linehan, a ship captain and an authority on shipbuilding, explains how he believes Nephi built and launched the ship that the Lord commanded Nephi to build. Prior to our work with Frank Linehan and Stephen Done, it was generally assumed by students of the Book of Mormon that the construction of Nephi’s ship was performed on a sandy shoreline beach and that when finished the ship was pulled into breaking surf.
Those who believe in fairy tales can believe anything they want. However, Frank and Stephen point out that a beach launch of a large sailing ship is impossible in the first place, and even if the ship reached the water, it would have been destroyed in the breaking surf. That’s called a “shipwreck.”
"Ships are still built and launched in the same way they were in Nephi’s time. We believe Lehi came to Bountiful where he could find experienced shipbuilders who had the knowledge necessary to help him construct a ship capable of reaching the New World.” Bountiful was a place where Nephi could not only build his ship, but where he could learn seamanship expertise from experienced open-ocean sailors and where he could train the family to crew the ship. Most important, Nephi needed a calm harbor where he could launch his ship. For this reason we believe he built the vessel at the famous Frankincense harbor of Khor Rori.
During our documentary film, Brother Linehan shared with us his knowledge of sailing and shipbuilding from the bridge of the USS Cape Intrepid while she was docked at Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Washington.
At the time of the filming, I was unable to get a good photo of the Cape Intrepid while she was docked.
Fortunately, I just received a great shot of the Cape Intrepid and her sister ship the Cape Island as they were recently cruising the waters of Puget Sound. It appears as my “Photograph of the Month” for January 2010.
When Brother Linehan goes sailing, he pilots one of these magnificent military ships.