While verifying the river Sidon in Baja California, we were struck by the likeness of our single candidate river, the Rio San Ignacio, to the physical features of a river of the same name—the Sidon River on the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon. At the mouth of the river in Lebanon is the historic port city of Sidon (Saïda in Arabic). In light of our visits to the Holy Land and our work as geographers, we could quickly see the two rivers had more in common than just a name. The Sidon River in Lebanon—called Al Awali today—flows west from springs at its head, with no headwaters as surface tributaries. The main source of the spring water is the mountains of Lebanon which include Mount Hermon on the east in northern Israel. The river Sidon, as described in the Book of Mormon account, and our proposed river Sidon in Baja California have these same basic features, and the scale of the rivers is nearly identical. Both have a “head,” not headwaters, with springs as their sources, and flow towards the west. The spring-fed head of the Rio San Ignacio resembles the spring-fed head at the source of the Sidon River in Lebanon and is similar to the Jordan River in Israel which is fed by multiple springs, one near Caesarea Philippi. What also impressed us was the apparent similarity of the name “Mount Hermon” to “Hermounts”—the name of the wilderness north and west of the river Sidon in the Book of Mormon record (Alma 2:37). The writer of the book of Psalms calls the three summits of Mount Hermon in northern Israel, “Hermons,” which is rendered as “Hermonites” in the King James version (Ps. 42:6). The name “Hermon” comes from the Hebrew word chermown, pronounced ker-mone, meaning abrupt.

The source of the springs at the head of the Sidon River (Al Awali) in Lebanon is a series of lofty mountain ranges, including Mount Hermon, that rise to heights of over 9,000 feet and extend into the surrounding areas of Syria, Israel and Lebanon. We identify the Sierra de San Francisco, an extensive mountain range in Baja California rising to a height of over 5,000 feet, as the wilderness “called Hermounts” by the people of Zarahemla. The Rio San Ignacio begins its course at springs near the base of this mountain range. The wilderness of the Sierra de San Francisco and Mount Hermon in the Biblical lands have similar characteristics: both are imposing mountain ranges that can be seen from some distance, and their profiles are striking when covered with snow. Cooling breezes blow down from their heights, mitigating the summer heat, and extensive reservoirs of water within the depths of their mountains, fed by rain and melting snows, surface in life-giving springs. Dew from fog clouds often surrounds both mountain ranges, providing sustaining moisture for animal life and vegetation. Both mountainous regions are positioned in such a manner that their respective rivers, the Rio San Ignacio and Al Awali (the Sidon River), flow toward a sea on the west. Because their names and settings are similar, one could surmise Hermounts was named by the people of Zarahemla after its nearly identical counterpart, Mount Hermon, in their homeland.

The name Sidon means a fishing or hunting area. At the time Lehi’s family and the people of Zarahemla (the Mulekites) left the Jerusalem area, Sidon was near the peak of its power and the most significant port for Israelite trade with the western world. Mulek’s father, king Zedekiah, had dealings with the king of Sidon (Jer. 27:3). The port city of Sidon on the Mediterranean was the mother city of Tyre, 25 miles to the south, and the home of the Phoenicians and their extensive fishing, manufacturing and commercial shipping interests. According to the command of the Lord, Sidon was to have been part of the land of Israel (Josh. 13:6). The tribes of Asher and Zebulun possessed lands on its borders (Gen. 49:13; Josh. 19:28; 2 Sam. 24:6). The “cedars of Lebanon” from the area of Sidon provided wood for the temple of Solomon (1 Kgs. 5:6; 1 Chr. 22:4; Ezra 3:7). There are numerous references to Sidon (or Zidon) in the Old Testament (Isa. 23:2, 4, 12; Jer. 25:22; 27:3; 47:4; Ezek. 27:8; 28:21–22; 32:30; Joel 3:4). Jesus visited the “coasts” of Tyre and Sidon during his ministry, and at other times many came from that area to hear his message (Matt. 15:21; Mark 7:24, 31 and Mark 3:8; Luke 6:17). And on his way to Rome, the apostle Paul visited with friends at Sidon (Acts 27:3–4).

Could it simply be that the Book of Mormon people, in this case the people of Zarahemla (the Mulekites), saw the physical similarities between the river basin in their new land and the historic Sidon area and memorialized the names of Sidon and Hermounts? It would appear the people of Zarahemla named other distinctive landscape features in their new home after Biblical locations: the hill Ephraim, the valley and city of Gilgal, the cities of Boaz and Judea and the lands of David, Jershon, Jordan and Joshua (see, "The Hill Ephraim", in our topic article, Jared, his Brother and their Friends: A Geographical Analysis of the Book of Ether). Moreover, there is a River Jordan in Utah and a Mount Nebo, and numerous places with names replicated from other locations: Elsinore, Fayette, Goshen, Leeds, Mendon, Moab and Salem. Our own studies on toponymy (place names) have shown this type of parallel naming occurring repeatedly in newly settled areas of this continent and elsewhere.

We are aware that being an analog to a river in Lebanon, on its own, is not confirmation the Rio San Ignacio in Baja California is indeed the Book of Mormon river Sidon. But we are impressed, nonetheless, by the similarity in physical features and the apparent matching of names. We suggest these parallels are significant when attempting to identify Book of Mormon lands and can’t be ignored.