Compiling everything we have learned about river Sidon from the text and from the geomorphology of earth's rivers, we believe river Sidon will show these 23 characteristics identified below as 1 to 23
with aqua shading.
River Sidon is the only New World river mentioned by name in the text. Nephites in the land southward operated hemispherically, from sea to sea Alma 22:27. From this we infer that river Sidon is the dominant stream in the land southward 1.
Book of Mormon lands in the New World are described as well-watered Mosiah 8:8, Mosiah 23:4, Alma 50:29, Helaman 3:4, 3 Nephi 9:7, 4 Nephi 1:9, Mormon 6:4, Ether 15:8 with verdant forests 1 Nephi 18:25, Enos 1:3, Ether 10:19 supporting a significant lumber industry Alma 50:2, Helaman 3:10, abundant wildlife 1 Nephi 18:25, 2 Nephi 5:24, Alma 2:37, Ether 10:21 and large human populations 1 Nephi 12:1, Alma 2:27, Mosiah 8:8, Mormon 1:7, Ether 10:21. Drought was unusual and catastrophic Helaman 11:6, Ether 9:30. Both cases of drought mentioned in the text were caused not by normal weather patterns, but by divine intervention Helaman 11:4-6, Ether 9:28-30. From this we conclude the river did not flow through a desert or semi-arid region. Average annual precipitation in the river Sidon drainage basin is equal to or greater than the planet-wide mean 2.
The text of the Book of Mormon that fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph was Early Modern English (see the blog article "Early Modern English"). In England in the 1500's the term "river" referred to a large stream with a Strahler Stream Order number of 5 or higher (see the blog articles "Strahler Stream Order" and "OED on Rivers"). Based on this lexical evidence, river Sidon has a Strahler Stream Order number of 5 or higher 3.
River Sidon flowed generally from south to north 4 (See the blog aritcle "River Sidon South to North").
We have estimated the straight-line (air) distance between the city of Nephi and the local land of Zarahemla at 320 kilometers (see the blog article "Land Southward Travel Times"). Land Bountiful was north of the local land of Zarahemla Alma 22:29. Land Bountiful was a coastal entity Alma 22:32-33, Alma 27:22, Alma 63:5. The east-west narrow strip of wilderness separated the greater land of Nephi on the south from the greater land of Zarahemla on the north Alma 22:27. The head of Sidon was in this narrow strip of wilderness Alma 22:27-29. This means the head of Sidon was between the city of Nephi and the local land of Zarahemla. See the blog article "The Narrow Strip of Wilderness." This means the air distance from the head of Sidon to its mouth at the seacoast was probably not less than 160 kilometers (320/2) or greater than 640 kilometers (320x2) 5.
There is a documented relationship between Strahler Stream Order number and river length (See the blog article "Strahler Stream Order"). Based on reasonable distances for the total extension of Nephite lands, we would expect the Sidon to be either a 7th or an 8th order stream 6.
There is a documented relationship between Strahler Stream Order number and river width (See the blog article "Strahler Stream Order"). Based on many examples known to science, we would expect the Sidon near its mouth to have a width in excess of 50 meters but less than 1,000 meters 7.
River Sidon in the text is a unitary stream. Neither tributaries nor distributaries are mentioned. There are no branches nor forks. This implies Sidon from head to mouth flows generally in one principal direction (See the section "Directionality" in the blog article "OED on Rivers") 8.
with aqua shading.
River Sidon is the only New World river mentioned by name in the text. Nephites in the land southward operated hemispherically, from sea to sea Alma 22:27. From this we infer that river Sidon is the dominant stream in the land southward 1.
Book of Mormon lands in the New World are described as well-watered Mosiah 8:8, Mosiah 23:4, Alma 50:29, Helaman 3:4, 3 Nephi 9:7, 4 Nephi 1:9, Mormon 6:4, Ether 15:8 with verdant forests 1 Nephi 18:25, Enos 1:3, Ether 10:19 supporting a significant lumber industry Alma 50:2, Helaman 3:10, abundant wildlife 1 Nephi 18:25, 2 Nephi 5:24, Alma 2:37, Ether 10:21 and large human populations 1 Nephi 12:1, Alma 2:27, Mosiah 8:8, Mormon 1:7, Ether 10:21. Drought was unusual and catastrophic Helaman 11:6, Ether 9:30. Both cases of drought mentioned in the text were caused not by normal weather patterns, but by divine intervention Helaman 11:4-6, Ether 9:28-30. From this we conclude the river did not flow through a desert or semi-arid region. Average annual precipitation in the river Sidon drainage basin is equal to or greater than the planet-wide mean 2.
The text of the Book of Mormon that fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph was Early Modern English (see the blog article "Early Modern English"). In England in the 1500's the term "river" referred to a large stream with a Strahler Stream Order number of 5 or higher (see the blog articles "Strahler Stream Order" and "OED on Rivers"). Based on this lexical evidence, river Sidon has a Strahler Stream Order number of 5 or higher 3.
River Sidon flowed generally from south to north 4 (See the blog aritcle "River Sidon South to North").
We have estimated the straight-line (air) distance between the city of Nephi and the local land of Zarahemla at 320 kilometers (see the blog article "Land Southward Travel Times"). Land Bountiful was north of the local land of Zarahemla Alma 22:29. Land Bountiful was a coastal entity Alma 22:32-33, Alma 27:22, Alma 63:5. The east-west narrow strip of wilderness separated the greater land of Nephi on the south from the greater land of Zarahemla on the north Alma 22:27. The head of Sidon was in this narrow strip of wilderness Alma 22:27-29. This means the head of Sidon was between the city of Nephi and the local land of Zarahemla. See the blog article "The Narrow Strip of Wilderness." This means the air distance from the head of Sidon to its mouth at the seacoast was probably not less than 160 kilometers (320/2) or greater than 640 kilometers (320x2) 5.
There is a documented relationship between Strahler Stream Order number and river length (See the blog article "Strahler Stream Order"). Based on reasonable distances for the total extension of Nephite lands, we would expect the Sidon to be either a 7th or an 8th order stream 6.
There is a documented relationship between Strahler Stream Order number and river width (See the blog article "Strahler Stream Order"). Based on many examples known to science, we would expect the Sidon near its mouth to have a width in excess of 50 meters but less than 1,000 meters 7.
River Sidon in the text is a unitary stream. Neither tributaries nor distributaries are mentioned. There are no branches nor forks. This implies Sidon from head to mouth flows generally in one principal direction (See the section "Directionality" in the blog article "OED on Rivers") 8.