According to Hugh Nibley, when it says that "the daughters of Ishmael did mourn exceedingly" (1 Nephi 16:35), this is following correct Arabic tradition. Whenever a person died among the ancient Arabs it was the daughters, and only the daughters, that had the privilege of mourning. Later on they hired professional male mourners, but in the early times that was unthinkable. It was the mothers and the daughters, but specifically the daughters, who mourned for the dead--both at the burial and at the funeral. [Hugh W. Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Semester 1, p. 219]
“Ishmael Did Mourn Exceedingly”
According to the Astons, two closely related Semitic roots are possible for the term Nahom, NHM and NHM. What is important is that both these roots related in significant and very specific ways to the experiences of Lehi's group while at Nahom. The first root, NHM has the basic meaning of "to comfort, console, to be sorry," so in Hebrew we see it used extensively in connection with mourning a death. In Arabic the root (NAHAMA) refers to a "soft groan, sigh, moan."
The second root, NHM, is also found in biblical Hebrew and means to "roar," "complain," or "be hungry." Similarly, in ancient Egyptian it refers to "roar, thunder, should," which are similar to the Arabic meanings of "growl, groan, roar, suffer from hunger, complain." This clear association with hunger may well have reference to the fasting usually associated with mourning for the dead anciently.
It is hard to imagine any place-name that would be more appropriate in view of what Nephi tells us happened there ("our father [Ishmael] is dead . . . we have suffered much affliction, hunger, thirst, and fatigue" -- 1 Nephi 16:35). Not only do the two roots of Nahom refer unquestionably to both mourning and consoling (and perhaps also to fasting) in connection with Ishmael's death and burial, but they seem to go still further and echo the complaining and the rebellion that followed his burial. [Warren and Michaela Aston, In the Footsteps of Lehi, pp. 12-13]