Did Nephi Build a Raft?
With the Iron Age technology available to Nephi, his options for building an oceangoing vessel were limited. If indeed a hulled vessel, it was likely a lashed (“sewn”) ship rather than a nailed one. Great skill is required to ensure that the timbers are shaped precisely before being lashed together, a method taking two or three times longer than using nails. Another design possibility is a raft of some sort. Because it required much more timber than other ship styles, the raft concept did not develop in Arabia. For anyone building at Kharfot, however—and, very significantly, only at Kharfot—availability of timber was not an issue, and a raft design, more than any other, would have been totally unfamiliar (and thus not “after the manner of men,” 1 Nephi 18:2) to anyone in Lehi’s party. Building a large oceangoing raft would still have been a significant project, but one more closely matched to the materials and labor resources at hand. Additionally, although equipped with sails and rudd
