[See the commentary on 3 Nephi 3:23]
The Land Southward Was Nearly Surrounded by Water
J. M. Sjodahl writes that for what it is worth, in the Troano manuscript there is a remarkable glyph, which Dr. Augustus le Plongeon says, if read phonetically, means "The Country of the King, Surrounded by Water." The upper circle, he informs us, stands for Ahau, "king," and the lower, for Luumil, a country in the water; while the feather, the symbol of royalty, indicates that that is the name of the country. And this "Country of the King, Sourrounded by Water" is, he tells us, the old Maya domain in Central America. But from the Book of Mormon we know [of the Land Southward] . . . It was also, as we have seen, "nearly surrounded by water." It appears, then that we have, in the Book of Mormon a geographical name identical with one in the Toano manuscript, and the inferences is natural that both stand for the same portion of Central America. [J. M. Sjodahl, An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon, p. 429]
“The Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla Were Nearly Surrounded by Water”
According to Jerry Ainsworth's interpretation of Alma 22:32, the only thing keeping the lands of Nephi and Zarahemla from being completely surrounded by water was the small (narrow) neck of land (the Isthmus of Tehuantepec), which led to the land northward. Mormon comments: "The land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward" (Alma 22:32).
A possibility for the water surrounding the southernmost part of the land concerns the boundary between Nicaragua and Costa Rica (see illustrations). In Nephite times, that area might have been mostly under water. Almost half of the boundary between the two countries today consists of water--lakes Managua and Nicaragua. The borderland between Nicaragua and Costa Rica is the only place adjacent to, and south of, the "land of Nephi" that is devoid of mountain ranges. That area was also considered as a site for the Atlantic-Pacific canal that was ultimately built in Panama. [Jerry L. Ainsworth, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, pp. 68-69]
Alma 22:32 The land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water ([Illustration]): Map 5. Political Boundaries from 130 B.C. to A.D. 350. Map 6 Alma 22:32 "The land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a narrow neck of land between the land northward and the land southward." [Jerry L. Ainsworth, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, pp. 68-69]