Bodies of water called “seas” are mentioned numerous times throughout the Book of Mormon. These seas formed the boundaries of the Nephite and Lamanite lands and limited the extent of their migration and settlement. Identifying and correlating the relationship between these land areas and the surrounding seas helps in determining the shapes and locations of the Book of Mormon lands. After Lehi’s group arrived in their new home, a sea is recorded as bordering on the west and east of every major land as the people migrated northward throughout their thousand-year history. The following analysis examines the context, shape, and location of the seas mentioned in the record and their correlation to the peninsula of Baja California. We demonstrate that the narrow, elongated and ladder-like configuration of the north-south trending Book of Mormon lands aligns perfectly with the shape and features of the peninsula of Baja California.

But what is meant by the term “sea” when describing a body of water? The New Oxford American Dictionary defines a sea as “the expanse of salt water that covers most of the earth's surface and surrounds its land masses.” The term “sea” is sometimes incorrectly used to describe a fresh water lake, for example, the Sea of Galillee, which today is more accurately called Lake Kinneret. For our analysis, the term “sea” refers to bodies of salt water that are at least large enough so that one can not readily see a land mass on the opposite side. This definition would apply to not only oceans but also large inland bodies of salt water like the Salton Sea in southern California and the Great Salt Lake (or Sea) in northern Utah.

The numerous references to seas in the Book of Mormon start with Lehi’s journey from the land of Jerusalem to Bountiful on the east coast of Arabia. When Lehi’s family and others left Jerusalem they “came down by the borders near the shore of the Red Sea,” and they then “traveled in the wilderness in the borders which are nearer the Red Sea” (1 Ne. 2:5). This sea is one of the geographical locations in the Book of Mormon that can be readily identified today. When the families journeyed towards the eastern coast of Arabia, Nephi states their route followed the coastline of the sea: “And we did go forth again in the wilderness, following the same direction, keeping in the most fertile parts of the wilderness, which were in the borders near the Red Sea” (1 Ne. 16:14). This segment of the route is described as “nearly a south-southeast direction” (1 Ne. 16:13).

The specific direction of the route helps to orient their journey within the Arabian peninsula. It is important to note Nephi’s preciseness when describing the route along the Red Sea as “nearly a south-southeast” direction. This clearly indicates the Book of Mormon people correctly understood the concept and calculation of the four cardinal directions of north, east, south and west and incorporated these cardinal directions in their spatial organization of the earth’s surface. Nephi’s explicit directions are related to use of the Liahona, suggesting one of the two spindles of the Liahona may have been a type of compass for navigation (1 Ne. 16:10). An understanding of cardinal directions in the old world would understandably have been transfered and perpetuated among the people when they arrived in their new location. The Liahona is noted as still being in the Nephite’s possession some 500 years later (Alma 37:38).

After traveling eastward through the barren desert of Arabia, the families of Lehi and Ishmael came upon a coastal area they “called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey” (1 Ne. 17:5). From this isolated oasis they “beheld the sea,” which they “called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters” (1 Ne. 17:5). In this verse Nephi equates the definition of “sea” with the word “Irreantum” and the phrase “many waters.” All three appear to have the same meaning. Using this interpretation and definition and correlating it to the Indian Ocean (or sea) to the east of Bountiful, we gain a better understanding of what was meant by the phrase “many waters.” Obviously, the Book of Mormon people would have readily understood that the expansive sea they “beheld” from their camp along the Arabian sea coast, and called “Irreantum” or “many waters,” was salt water and not fresh water. Thus Nephi’s record appears to define “many waters” as a large body of sea water.

From this fertile area of Bountiful, Lehi and his group “put forth into the sea and were driven forth before the wind towards the promised land” (1 Ne. 18:8-23). An extended sea voyage brought the Book of Mormon people to their new land and isolated them from their former homeland in the land of Jerusalem. (See also From Jerusalem to Baja California in our main article, An Approach to the Book of Mormon Geography)