FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon's "Narrow Neck of Land"
Home > Book of Mormon > Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon's "Narrow Neck of Land"
Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon's "Narrow Neck of Land"
| This page is still under construction. We welcome any suggestions for improving the content of this FAIR Answers Wiki page. |
Summary: Most Latter-day Saint scholars of the Book of Mormon accept a Mesoamerican setting for the events described in the book. Those scholars believe that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the "narrow neck" referred to in the Book of Mormon, which separates the land northward from the land southward. Many question how the Isthmus of Tehuantepec could be the Book of Mormon's "narrow neck" when the Isthmus is 137 miles wide at its narrowest point.
FAIR takes no position on the geography of the Book of Mormon, but we do want to help those seeking a plausible setting for the events described in the Book of Mormon. Issues like these might allow people to dismiss Mesoamerica out of hand. Without a plausible setting for the Book of Mormon's events, people's testimony of the Book of Mormon's divine origins might founder. For this reason, the editors have decided to address two issues that might seem like easy reasons to dismiss the Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon. The first relates to how Mesoamerica is geographically situated and the Book of Mormon's directionality. The second is the one this page responds to.
The Narrow Neck of Land in the Context of the Book of Mormon
In the Book of Mormon, the “narrow neck of land” is a geographic feature that functions as a critical connector and boundary within the narrative, separating the “land northward” from the “land southward.” The term appears most explicitly in the Jaredite record, where Ether 10:20 states that the Jaredites “built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land.” In the Nephite record, the same landform is described more indirectly. Alma 22:32 explains that the land southward and the land northward were “nearly surrounded by water,” with a “small neck of land” connecting them, and that the distance across this neck could be traversed “in a day and a half’s journey.” These passages suggest a relatively narrow land connection between two larger regions, flanked by bodies of water, and significant for travel and defense.
Closely related to the narrow neck of land are references to a “narrow pass” or “narrow passage,” which appear to denote more specific routes or chokepoints within or near this broader neck region. For example, Alma 52:9 and Alma 52:17 describe Nephite military efforts to control the “narrow pass which led by the sea, into the land northward,” indicating that access through the neck could be strategically restricted. Mormon 2:29 and Mormon 3:5 similarly place large-scale movements and final defensive efforts near the narrow passage and land northward. Together, these passages portray the narrow neck of land not merely as a geographic curiosity, but as a strategically vital corridor that shaped migration, settlement, and warfare. Within the text itself, therefore, the narrow neck of land is best understood as a transitional region—limited in breadth relative to surrounding lands, associated with nearby seas, and central to the political and military history recorded in the Book of Mormon.
Scholars have provided different proposals to the identity of the "narrow neck."
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec
The first proposal is that the narrow neck is to be identified in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. This proposal is defended by the likes of John Sorenson and Michael R. Ash.
In an article for Deseret News, Ash defends the Isthmus as a promising candidate for the narrow neck of land described in Alma 22:32, despite its substantial width. The article explains that this region plausibly fits several narrative criteria: it is a constricted land connection between larger territories, it lies between significant bodies of water, and travel across part of it could reasonably be a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite if measured from inland delineations rather than strictly from sea to sea. Scholar John Sorenson’s observations about Nephite endurance and Lawrence Poulsen’s identification of local geographic features—such as cliffs and wilderness areas corresponding to Book of Mormon descriptions—provide context that makes the Tehuantepec isthmus a compelling real-world candidate, bolstering efforts by Latter-day Saints to correlate the text with ancient geography.
Resources
- Michael R. Ash, "Challenging Issues, Keeping the Faith: a Journey Across the 'Narrow Neck'," Deseret News, March 7, 2011.
- Ned Scarisbrick, "Fair Issues 95: a Journey Across the 'Narrow Neck'," FAIR, February 28, 2016.
- Mike Ash, Shaken Faith Syndrome, 2nd ed. (FAIR, 2013), 181–82.
- Joe V. Andersen, "Isthmus of Tehuantepec: Not the “Narrow Neck of Land”," Scripture Central.
- Andrew H. Hedges, "The Narrow Neck of Land," Religious Educator 9, no. 3 (2008): 151–60.
- Kirk Magleby, "The Narrow Strip of Wilderness," Scripture Central.
- The Narrow Pass and Narrow Passage," Scripture Central.