The phrase "we did call the name of the place Shazer" (1 Nephi 16:13) is apparently an Hebraism. According to John A. Tvedtnes, the Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon help persuade us that it is authentic. . . . When a child is born, we say in English that his father and mother "called him X" or "named him X." The same is true in naming places, for example, "He called his ranch Pleasant Valley." But Hebrew expresses it quite differently: "He called the name of his son X." In Hebrew, it is the name that is "called," not the child or the place. Perhaps the best-known example from the Bible is the one found in Isaiah 7:14: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." [John A. Tvedtnes, "The Hebrew Background of the Book of Mormon" in Rediscovering the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., p. 89]
“We Did Call the Name of the Place Shazer”
In 1976 the Hiltons wrote that a four-day journey in a south-southeast direction carried Lehi to a place they called Shazer. This part of the journey probably continued down the shores of the Red Sea, which is oriented in the same direction. If they averaged 24 miles per day, then a four day journey would cover about 96 miles. This distance would bring the colony approximately to Wadi Al Azlan, long an important and large oasis on the Red Sea coastal plain, which may have been the location of Shazer (see illustration below). [Lynn and Hope Hilton, In Search of Lehi's Trail, p. 77, see also p. 50]
In 1988, Paul Cheesman also notes that Shazer could be the modern oasis of Azlan in the Wadi Azlan. [Paul R. Cheesman, "Lehi's Journeys," in The Book of Mormon: First Nephi, The Doctrinal Foundation, p. 246]
In 1996 the Hiltons write that there is a surprising corroboration of Nephi's statement about finding a camping site four days journey south-southeast from the Valley of Lemuel (al-Bad). Seventy-six miles down the Tihama (or shores of the Red Sea) and within four miles of our forecast location, we burst out of the arid desert into a large green and fertile oasis in the mouth of Wadi Surr. This place now bears the name of al-Muwaylih, Saudi Arabia. We offer it as our candidate for the likely place of Nephi's Shazer (1 Nephi 16:13). Comprising about 80 acres of date palms, it rises immediately adjacent to the beach of the Red Sea. This lovely spot is the only oasis with more than a handful of palm trees between al-Bad and al-Wajh, a distance of 124 miles, and therefore is the most likely site for Shazer. (see illustration below)
We accepted as added evidence of the location of the ancient trail a string of 300-400 year old Turkish forts built to protect the water sources. Here at al-Muwaylih we found the ruins of one of the largest forts, which covers an area the size of a city block. Approaching Duba, we found another fort at al-Azlam, built around an ancient well. Another fort is located at al-Wajh, also built around an ancient water well. [Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton, Discovering Lehi, p. 111] [See also Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, p. 90]
“We did pitch our tents again”
When the time came, Lehi's party left the valley of Lemuel and traveled to their next halting place where Nephi notes, "we did pitch our tents again and we did call the name of the place Shazer" (1 Nephi 16:13). According to Potter and Wellington, while the number of helpful pieces of information Nephi gives about this stage of the journey are scant, they are nevertheless insightful:
A. They departed into the wilderness (1 Nephi 16:12).
From the valley of Lemuel (proposed wadi Tayyib-al-Ism) Nephi notes that they traveled south-southeast. Taking this heading would have led them back into the mountains and towards the huge wadi Ifal which runs north/south some 13 miles from where they were camping and towards the town of al Bada'a. Al Bada'a was a major stop on the Frankincense trail some 20 miles to the southeast. Lehi or Nephi may have even visited it during their long stay in the valley of Lemuel. The terrain between the valley and al Bada'a is essentially the same as they had encountered entering the valley; mountains interspersed with winding wadis, and the occasional stunted tree. Certainly this was still "wilderness," the very word Diodorus uses to describe this area around wadi Ifal.
B. They traveled in "nearly a south-southeast direction" (1 Nephi 16:13).
Nephi tells us that the trail they took ran in the direction nearly south-southeast. A bearing of south-southeast is 1571/2o from north. This bearing took Lehi's family down one of the branches of the frankincense trail. In fact, various Arab geographers have given us the names and order of the rest stops along this branch. (see chart below) However, some items of caution regarding direction should be noted:
a. "Nearly south-southeast" could mean a bearing anywhere between 147o and 170o.
b. We do not know by what method Nephi was measuring north. He may have been referring to the north celestial pole (pole star) or to magnetic north. Magnetic north varies from true north by a little over 3o at the Gulf of Aqaba.
c. Nephi gave only one direction to cover the entire trip from the valley of Lemuel to Nahom, a journey of approximately 1200 miles. There were obviously twists and turns in the journey which would allow the family to follow the logical course.
d. Nephi wrote his account on metal plates over 30 years after he made the trip to Shazer (2 Nephi 5:28, 34). The details he chose not to include are unknown to us.
C. A "commandment" to "take [their] journey" "on the morrow." They traveled "for the space of four days" (1 Nephi 16:13).
From the text of 1 Nephi 16:9, 11-13 it would appear that prior to Lehi receiving a "commandment from the Lord "by night" to depart from the valley of Lemuel (Tayyib al-Ism) "on the morrow," that the family did not know that they would be departing the following day. Dismantling their camp and packing for their journey would have taken some time, however, they would have probably reached al-Bada'a the following day. Since al-Bada'a was on the main trail, the family would then have been synchronized with the subsequent rest stops which travelers were accustomed to reaching after each day's journey. Day 3 would have taken them to as-Swer, and by the end of day 4 they would have reached al-Agharr and "pitched their tents."
1 Nephi 16:13 We traveled for the space of four days ([Illustration]-Potter Theory): The town of Midian (al-Bada'a), home of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, would have been the first town the family of Lehi would have encountered after leaving the Valley of Lemuel (Tayyib al-Ism). It was a major halt on the trail that led from Egypt to southern Arabia. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, p. 104]
D. They stopped at a place they called "Shazer" (1 Nephi 16:13).
Could Lehi have named the location "Shazer" because of some obvious feature which might have survived to this day? Dr. Hugh Nibley wrote of the meaning of the name Shazer:
The first important stop after Lehi's party had left their base camp was at a place called Shazer. The name is intriguing. The combination shajer is quite common in Palestinian place names; it is a collective meaning "trees," and many Arabs (especially in Egypt) pronounce it shazher. It appears in Thoghret-as-Sajur (the Pass of Trees), which in the ancient Shaghur, written Segor in the sixth century. (Nibley, (1) pp. 78-79)
The De L'isle's map of 1701 shows this interchangeable situation of Shajer and Segor by using both names for a given location (see map #1). Nigel Groom uses a number of variations of the place name: Shajir, Shajirah, Shajra, Ashjar, Mushjir and Mashjarah. These variations are explained by the fact that Arabic is a vocalized language where the vowels are interchangeable. While Groom uses "Shajir" and Nibley "Shajer," both words are identical. Groom's definition of Shajir is almost identical to Nibley's, being: "a valley or area abounding with trees and shrubs." The plural for "trees" is pronounce "Ash-jar" by Saudi Arabs and "Ash-gar" by Egyptian Arabs. This leads to Groom's variant spelling of "Ashjar."
A variant spelling of "shasar" means a "cleft." Dr. Nibley also indicates that the name Shazer might be "connected somehow or other and denoting either seepage--a weak but reliable water supply--or a clump of trees." (Nibley, (1) pp. 78-79) In Hebrew the word "Shazer" is associated with twisting or intertwining.
George Potter happened to stumble across an old map made by Ptolemy (see map #2). On this map there is a location of Segir (the old name for Shajir) past al-Bada'a and to the east of Macna (Maqna). Musil commented on Ptolemy's record: "That the names of these towns or settlements in many cases denote only the ore important wells or camping places is evident from the character of the country." Obviously Lehi's journey far predates this map, but to Potter and Wellington, it was encouraging to see that historically, the first halt after al-Bada'a was considered worthy of the name "tree, the same name which Lehi appears to have given to their first stopping place after joining the trail at al-Bada'a. At the very point that Ptolemy placed a location named "Segir," Potter and Wellington found an oasis with a few small farms and a handful of humble dwellings. This may be just as it was two and a half thousand years ago. It must surely be a great coincidence that not only do we find an ancient trail leading south-southeast from the valley of Lemuel (Tayyib al-Ism), but also a place called Segir (Shazer) on that trail about a four-day journey from the valley. The assumption is often made that this campsite had no name since Nephi records, "we did call the name of the place Shazer" (1 Nephi 16:13), however, this statement of Nephi's does not preclude that the place already had a variant on the local name.
1 Nephi 16:13 We did call the name of the place Shazer ([Illustration]-Potter Theory): Map #1 showing the double listing of the names Seger and Schajar. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, p. 102]
1 Nephi 16:13 We did call the name of the place Shazer ([Illustration]-Potter Theory): Map #2 The Halt Called Segir -- Shazer. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, p. 103]
1 Nephi 16:13 We did call the name of the place Shazer (Hilton Theory) [[Illustration]]: Figure 9-1 shows a dotted line for the ancient caravan trail (now a modern highway) between al-Muwaylah, the Book of Mormon "Shazer" and al-Wadjh. Note there are at least 23 ancient ruins, mostly villages, marked along this section of the old trail. {Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton. Discovereing Lehi, p.106]
1 Nephi 16:13 We did call the name ofl the place Shazer (Hilton Theory) [[Illustration]}: Figure 9-4, One of the ancient trtae routeas in Arabia. this trail runs along thebeach of theRed Sea, all theway from aynima inthe lnorth to the tip of theperninsula in the south. On the map, the Hilton's p;roposed locationof Sshazer--al-Muwaylah would be just north of Duba. [Lynn M. Hilton and Hope A. Hilton. Doscovering Lehi, p. 113]
1 Nephi 16:13 We did call the name of the place Shazer (Hilton Theory) [[Illustration]]: The Frankincense Trials.This map shows the Hilton's proopossd location for Shazer--theWadi al Azlan. [Lynn and Hope Hilton, In search of Lehi's Trail.p 22-23]
1 Nephi 16:13 We did call the name of the place Shazer ["Trees"] ([Illustration]- Potter Theory): Wadi Al-Gharr has 18 miles of cultivation running through it, including thousands of date palms. There is simply no other place in the northwest corner of Arabia that the expression, "Shazer," which means "a valley with trees," more aptly describes. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, p. 104]
E. Shazer was a place where they could hunt (1 Nephi 16:14).
It seems strange that the family would go to the effort of breaking camp and then, after only four days of travel, unpack everything and set up camp again. Besides, Nephi had mentioned only three verses earlier that they took their provisions with them when they left the valley. It would seem unlikely that the family had run low of food after only four days. What seems likely is that they reached an area of excellent hunting and here was the opportunity to eat well and stock meat before they continued. (see 1 Nephi 16:14) It seems possible that the Lord took this opportunity to have the men hone their skills. Diodorus, who wrote of this area in 20 B.C., mentioned that the local people lived primarily by hunting: "The inhabitants . . . are called Banizomeneis. They engage in hunting and eat the flesh of animals of the mainland." Wadi Gharr has steep mountains on each sided of it standing nearly 7000 feet high (see illustration). According to Groom the place name Aghar means a "precipice, crevice or cave, depressed place in a mountain; wild animal lair, a steep place.
Note* The ibex (capra ibex nubiana) is a shy animal with curved horns resembling a rather stout goat. It lives high among the steep craggy mountains, where few other animals can survive. The ibex does not obtain all of its water requirements from its food and so must come down from the peaks to drink. It is at this time that it is susceptible to ambush by hunters. We would suggest that the men in Lehi's group may well have left the rest of the family in the protected halt and traveled into the mountains just as the text infers in order to hunt this most noble of beasts.
1 Nephi 16:14 We did . . . go forth into the wilderness to slay food for our families ([Illustration]-Potter Theory): The mountain range immediately east of Al Gharr (Shazer) provides good hunting to this day. The local residents have told us that the best ibex hunting in Midian is found in these mountains. this was an excellent place for the men to go and hunt. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, p. 104]
F. After leaving Shazer they were still in the "borders near the Red Sea" (1 Nephi 16:14).
As discussed earlier, the "borders" to which Nephi refers were the mountains which formed the border between the Tihama (beach) and the Negev (desert). These mountains were known as the Hijaz. The fact that after leaving Shazer the family kept "in the borders near the Red Sea" (1 Nephi 16:14) implies that they must have been close to or in the Hijaz mountains. It also implies that Nephi could tell they were near the sea, or in essence, they were on the seaward side of the range and could still see the Red Sea.
Conclusions:
The halt of al-Aghra qualifies in every important way as Shazer. It was the first authorized halt on the Frankincense trail after leaving al-Bada'a. Shazer was Lehi's first halt after restarting his trail into the wilderness. It is a four-day journey from the valley of Lemuel (Tayyib al-Ism) and is in a nearly south-southeast direction. Indeed it is in the same basic location to where an old map shows "Segir," and established variant spelling for Shazer. Unlike the rest of Midian, which is barren and almost entirely void of trees, wadi Algharr has miles of trees growing within it, and the most likely meaning of Shazer (Shajir) is a "valley abounding with trees." It may be that Lehi chose a name for the halt which was a clever word play combining a number of meanings of the word "Shazer": a valley with trees, a cleft in a rock with water, and an intertwining (here the trail intertwined with the valley track, all three being found at this location. Finally, there would have been a good reason for Lehi to stop; at Agharr as it is surrounded by tall mountains that abound with large game. [George Potter and Richard Wellington, Discovering The Lehi-Nephi Trail, Unpublished Manuscript, 2000, pp. 91-103]