bountiful

At the same time that communism enabled Soviet leaders to distinguish themselves from the West, it also created powerful ties to the West. Marx and Engels were German... By adopting Western ideology and using it to challenge the West, Russians in a sense became closer to and more intimately involved with the West than at any previous time in their history... The collapse of communism and of the Soviet Union ended this political-ideological interaction between the West and Russia.
Samuel P Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

So why are the Mormons so enchanted by a few stones in the grass, on a beach no one is interested in? It is because, after decades of exploring the eastern coasts of Yemen and Oman, Khor Kharfot triumphs all other possibilities as the legend of Bountiful. Earlier suggestions revolved around Salalah and Khor Rori, but they are far away from the descriptions of the point where Nephi reached.

The points that work for the Mormons, but which we cannot corroborate, include the fact that Nephi had said that Bountiful was due east from his last stop, Nahom (now present day Nehem in Yemen), which Kharfot apparently is. Bountiful was accessible from the interior desert, and most places along the Dhofar coast are not – Kharfot might be one of the few that is, through its contributing wadi, Sayq. We looked up a detailed map and it could be true, although we haven’t tried it. The Mormons have apparently also found sources of iron ore deep in the wadi, unusual for this part of Oman. We would need to return with a geologist to see if this is true. This is what Nephi and his followers used to make their tools.

What we can agree upon are the more geographical points. Yes, Bountiful is as its name suggests. There are trees big enough to provide timber, a supply of fresh water and enough sources of food. Khor Kharfot is even sufficiently fertile to support cultivation, but we don’t know if this was ever done here. And, lastly, someone was here, a long time ago, and spent a lot of time near the beach.

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