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Dr. Bowen,
I’m a big fan of your work, and this article just might be the best one so far.
I’m curious if the notion of “coming down” and “bringing down” is integral to Mormon’s usage of the land northward in his discussion of the Jaredites. Gardner discusses this on pages 107-110(ish) of his terrific Laboring Diligently book. He notes, as I’m sure you have read, that bad things happen when the Nephites interact with the north.
And maybe it is a stretch, but I note that some biblical verses, such as Isaiah 14:13 use the word yerekah יְרֵכָה to describe remote parts of the north.
Just my two cents.
Signed,
An anonymous fan-boy.
Aloha Mark,
Thank you! You are too kind. 🙂 The usual Hebrew word for north is ṣāpôn, which also had reference in the Levant to a sacred mountain six miles north of Ugarit, which was considered the seat of the storm-god Baal (Hadad). It is an open question to what degree traditional Israelite designations (Mt. Zaphon = north; yam = sea/west) carried over, but it is probably worth looking into. (In fact, you have given me an idea.) 🙂
Mahalo nui loa,
Matt