The Reading Room

Book of Mormon Geography

Book of Mormon Articles by Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth

Wanderings - Jerry Ainsworth - the man

Which hill's Cumorah?

Moroni, warrior or man of peace?

Where's the East Wilderness?

The Jaredites & the Land Southward

What are the towers mentioned in the Book of Mormon?

Where Cumorah's not - fireside notes.

The Hill Cumorah is not Cerro Vejia

Meaning of the name "Mormon"

Mathonihah & his Brother

Mt. Zerin & the Hill Shim - a speculative scenario

Teotihuacan & the Nephites

Musings on the signs of the times

The Lost Tribes of Israel

The Plates of Ether

The five amens of Moroni

Chariots in the Americas?

The Mayan Calendar

The ninth chapter of Moroni

The Narrow Pass and the Narrow Passage

Where are the "wagon loads" of records?

The meaning of Ancum

Surviving death and snakes - El Jefe's close encounter at Cumorah3

Food for Adam and Eve - what did they eat?

The Killing Fields

Cumorah-Ramah - three articles about Cumorah's location.

Are Cumorah and Ramah the same hill? Did the Jaredites battle at Cumorah?

The Padilla Golden Plates - response to Brant Gardner's criticism.

Maya Conference supports Ainsworth's River Sidon.

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A personal email to Marcel - October, 2003

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An email to Marcel - March, 2006

Moroni, Warrior or Man of Peace?

August, 2003

There is only one instance in which Moroni is said to have attended a battle in the Book of Mormon.  The battle of 385ad, which took place in the land of Cumorah.  In The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, I have contended that Moroni was raised by a pacifist mother, (from the People of Ammon), and as such was never placed in a position where he had to take a human life.  It is my belief that Moroni had himself adopted the pacifist convictions of his mother.

Having said that, it appears that Mormon placed his son at the battle of Cumorah, where Moroni “led” one of the twenty-three cohorts of ten thousand.  All twenty-three cohorts were killed parenthetically, (or disserted), with the exception of twenty-four survivors, of which Mormon and Moroni were two. 

I wish to call attention to the way Mormon describes these twenty-three commanders, (himself being one), as they relate to their ten thousand people.

Mormon says of himself:

“And it came to pass that my men were hewn down, yea even my ten thousand who were with me, and I fell wounded in the midst…”

(Mormon 6:10)

Mormon then states the following concerning the other groups of ten thousand:

Mormon 6:12 – “And we also beheld the ten thousand of my people who were led by my son Moroni.”

Mormon 6:13 – “And behold, the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen, and he also in the midst.”

Mormon 6:14 – “And Lamah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Gilgal had fallen with his ten thousand; and Limhah had fallen with his ten thousand; and Joneam had fallen with his ten thousand; and Camenihah and Moronihah, and Antionum, and Shiblom, and Shem, and Josh, had fallen with their ten thousand.”

Mormon 6:15 – “And it came to pass that there were ten more who did fall by the sword, with their ten thousand each;…”

There are some subtle, yet important differences in these accounts given by Mormon.  To wit:

1. Mormon states that all of the twenty three leaders of ten thousand fell “in the midst of their people,” or “with their ten thousand,” with the exception of Moroni.

Mormon was himself seriously wounded and left for dead. (see Mormon 6:10)

2. Mormon is specific about himself being “in the front” of his ten thousand.  With the exception of Moroni, all twenty one other leaders were represented as falling in the midst, or with their ten thousand, implying these twenty one leaders were directly involved in the battle with “their people.” 

3. Mormon says of himself that he was at the front of his ten thousand men. 

4. The ten thousand that Moroni led were not represented as being Moroni’s people, but Mormon’s people.  “And we also beheld the ten thousand of my people, who were led by my son Moroni. 

5. The other twenty-one groups of ten thousand are represented as being the people of each individual leader. (And behold the ten thousand of Gidgiddonah had fallen and he also in the midst.)
6. Plus. In the case of all commanders of ten thousand, Mormon states they led their people, while Mormon says of himself, that he led his ten thousand men.

This account clearly represents both Mormon and Moroni differently than all other twenty-two leaders of ten thousand.  The ten thousand Moroni “led” were not his people, but his father’s, and the account does not place him in “the midst”, or “with” those ten thousand when they fell.

The ten thousand that Mormon led were all men, while apparently, all other groups of ten thousand were comprised of men, women and children.   

Since I know that Mormon was a foreigner to the Nephite nation, (see Mormon 1:6 and 2:1), I assume the same was true of Moroni.  A careful reading of Mormon 2:1-3 shows that Mormon started out as the leader of “their armies,” but within two years represented the Nephite armies as “my armies.”   It took Mormon two years before he considered the Nephite armies “his.”  It appears that he did not consider the ten thousand people led by his son, as being Moroni’s people, but his own.  This leads me to believe that Moroni, as with his father’s first experience with the Nephite armies, was not considered one of them.

I interpret these events as follows.  Each of Mormon’s commanders had an army of ten thousand people, comprised of men, women and children.  Mormon had an army of twenty thousand people, comprised of men, women and children.  Mormon called his son to gather with him at Cumorah, as he planned to give his son the plates, assuming he himself would be killed.

Mormon then divided his army into two groups, of ten thousand each.  One group of ten thousand, (assumedly women and children), were commanded by Moroni, while Mormon commanded the ten thousand men.  I suspect the ten thousand of Mormon’s people that Moroni commanded, (women and children), were in charge of weapons production, caring for the wounded, food production, and lastly, reinforcements.

It is my belief that Moroni was not a warrior, but a man of peace, which he probably got from his mother.  It is entirely possible that this was Moroni’s first battle.  He was here for two reasons:

1. At the end of the battle, Mormon assumed his son would take and complete the Nephite record.
2. Since all healthy Nephite males were certainly involved in this critical battle in some way, it was imperative that Moroni be involved.  Especially since Moroni had similar credentials as his famous father.
3. Given these realities, Mormon probably arranged to have his son at the battle, but not in harms way.  I theorize that the ten thousand that Moroni “led” were something like reinforcements.  Moroni probably watched the battle from atop the hill Cumorah, and as one of the other groups of ten thousand became weakened, Moroni would send reinforcements, (a thousand or more), to strengthen the embattled cohort.
4. Such a leadership position for Moroni would place him over ten thousand that were not “his” people.  It also takes him out of the “midst” of these ten thousand, but it is still accurate to say that he “led” these ten thousand. 
5. Such a position would increase the probability of Moroni’s survival, which was essential for the completion of the Nephite record.

As one of the greatest seers of all time, having seen literally the whole history of the planet, I believe it would be unseemly for Moroni also to be a person of blood, a warrior that killed many, as did his father.  This in no way diminishes the mission or Mormon, or the greatest of his character.  It is just that his son had a different calling. One for which being a man of peace sounds more congruent.

I believe it is this mantle, the man of peace, not that of a warrior, that led Moroni to write:

And now I, Moroni, bid farewell unto the gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren, [the Lamanites], whom I love,…(see Ether 12:38)

Never in seven hundred years had a Nephite leader called an unconverted Lamanite his brother.  And no other Nephite leader ever proclaimed their love for these rebellious and wicked people, the Lamanites.  Only Moroni, a man who I believe had a Lamanite mother and had therefore adopted the pledge of the People of Ammon, (not to kill).  Moroni, was a man of peace.

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Where's the East Wilderness?

An email to Marcel March, 2006

The Jaredites and the Land Southward

By Jerry Ainsworth 24 March, 2006

For the past twenty years I have attended a variety of annual Maya conferences, in my efforts to understand the Book of Mormon, with its lands and people.  During those years I have concluded, as have many others, that the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica and that the Maya are related to, if not directly the remnants of the people the Book of Mormon talks about.

As part of that belief, I and others have concluded that the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the narrow neck of land referred to in the Book of Mormon.  It also gives an account of two major groups that came to this continent and developed major civilizations.  The descendants of Lehi, who came here around 600bc developed their major cities for 950 of their 1,000 years South of this narrow neck. (see Mormon 2:29-30)  The people who came with Jared arrived around 2,500bc, landing north of the narrow neck. 

The Book of Mormon then states that the Jaredites decided to develop their civilization north of the narrow neck of land, making a conscious decision not to colonize the land southward, maintaining that for a game reserve. (see Ether 10:21)  Given these statements of the Book of Mormon, my expectations were to find such colonization’s confirmed via the research reported at the Maya conferences I attended.

Another way of stating this, is that I expected to find civilizations that began around 600bc to be located south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, while finding many others that started much earlier, north of the Isthmus.  And on the whole, these two assumptions seemed to have been born out.

Having said that, there were a few exceptions.  There were conferences that I attended that showed ancient cities which had begun before 600bc, yet were in the land south of the narrow neck.  Places such as Santa Rita in Belize, which dates to 1,200bc, and others.

My initial reaction to such sites was, that there must have been a few folks from the Jaredite culture that sneaked down south of the narrow neck, contrary to the standing policy.  In other words I assumed there were a few rule breakers, or a couple of renegades who were responsible for this modest ruin site that pre-dated the landing of Lehi, in the land south of the narrow neck.

As I continued to attend the Maya conferences, the discovery of additional pre-Lehi sites in lands where I considered they should not be, grew larger and larger, which became more and more troubling to me.  Finally at the March 2006 Maya conference at the University in Austin, Texas, I listened to a report by Barbara Arroyo.  Her topic was. Understanding the Early Maya Highlands: Discovering El Naranjo, Guatemala.

During her report, Ms. Arroyo showed a number of sites, including El Naranjo, all of which were located adjacent to sites that date to, and were assumed to be sites developed by the people of Lehi.  She was adamant that these earlier sites dated well before 600bc, El Naranjo itself dating to 800bc, a date of which she was certain.  It was then clear to me that there were many cities that were built by people well before the landing of Lehi, in the land referred to as the land southward, (south of the narrow neck).  Not just a few small cities, but large and substantial cities, many adjacent to the cities I consider to be Nephite or Lamanite.  Such a realization did two things for me:

1. It confirmed what I had already concluded, that when Lehi landed, there were many cities in that immediate area, and that the Nephite and Lamanite cultures grew up surrounded by other cultures and cities that already existed in the same area.  I am equally sure that, minimally, the Lamanites inter-married with these other cultures.
2. It sent me back to the Book of Mormon, to read Ether again, to determine if I had missed something in that book.  Something that would explain what I was hearing from archaeology reports.  And, as is usually the case, I discovered that I had mis-read the Book of Mormon, and there was a clear explanation to what the archeologists had been trying to show me for all these many years.  The explanation is as follows:

It appears that the people who made the trip to this continent with Jared consisted of four distinct groups, (see Ether 1:33, Ether 1:37, Ether 1:41 and Ether 2:1):

1. Jared and his family
2. The friends of Jared and their families
3. The Brother of Jared and his family
4. The friends of the Brother of Jared and their families.

The history of Mexico states that there were seven separate families that came to this continent at a time consistent with Jared and his group.  Assuming that account is correct, then there were possibly five additional families that made the trip, with Jared and his brother.  But here is the surprise.  In Ether 6:1, Moroni writes:

“And now I Moroni proceed to give the record of Jared and his brother.”

The book of Ether is a record of just two of the families who came here, Jared’s and his brother’s.  The other five families are not covered by the record.  Ether gives his genealogy in chapter one, and makes it clear that he was a descendant of Jared.  It appears that all the kings and the people over who they reigned were descendants of Jared and his brother.  Nothing is mentioned of the descendants of the remaining five families.

Therefore, when the Jaredites state that they were not going to build cities south of the narrow neck of land, this prohibition apparently did not apply to the other families, those not related to Jared or his brother.  In fact, Ether 1:1 and 9:35 make it clear that at least a large segment of the Jaredites migrated northward, to places referred to as the “North Countries.”  Assumedly these lands were far from the narrow neck.

It seems logical to me therefore, that these other families, or at least some of them, migrated south of the narrow neck.  I therefore conclude that these were the people who built the cities that were in the lands ultimately occupied by the Nephites and Lamanites.

There is also no reason to believe that these families were involved in the wars of destruction that led to the demise of the Jaredites.  The cities built and occupied by these families are therefore the cities that archaeologists have reported on, that date to Pre-Lehi dates, but yet are in the land south of the narrow neck.  Nor is there any reason to believe that the people from Jared’s group, those friends of his who occupied cities in the land southward, were involved in the battles between the Nephites and Lamanites.

Assuming this is a correct interpretation, it provides possible answers to the following questions:

1. Why there were large and successful cities south of the narrow neck, when the Jaredites say they did not build there.
2. Who some of the people were who lived contemporaneously with the Nephites and Lamanites – in the same geographical areas.
3. Why and how the people of Lehi so quickly adopted the practices of this other culture, their language, their architecture, their calendrics, and religious practices.
4. Indicates groups the Lamanites could have inter-married with, providing so many additional warriors.
5. Why the DNA of the current Lamanites does not match that of other Middle Eastern peoples. (Maybe their DNA became diluted from these other families)
6. How the skin of the Lamanites was turned into a dark color.  It is possible that some of the families who came with Jared were dark skinned people.  Indeed the figurines shown at the 2006 Maya conference by Ms. Arroyo, those from El Naranjo, looked very much like that could be the case.

If the assumption(s) of this paper are correct, then maybe it resolves some of those lingering questions about who the people were who built the cities south of the narrow neck, that date to Pre-Lehi times.  There are certainly other defensible possibilities, but the ones I have reached seem to have merit – enough for consideration.

Addendum –

After writing this article and sharing it with friends, to a person I was asked, “If a variety of different people/cultures lived proximal to the Nephites and Lamanites, why are they never mentioned in the records of the Nephites?”  A legitimate question and one I had already considered.  Following is my answer to this question:

First of all there is no indication that Lehi, Nephi, et. al., did not mention these people in their records.  But, we do not have their records.  What we have is an abridged account of these records by Mormon. It appears that Mormon was given a directive – to write only about the Nephites and Lamanites. It would not surprise me to discover that Mormon had explained that very thing at the beginning of his abridgment, the 116 pages that were lost.

Second, Moroni did state as much in the foreword to the Book of Mormon, to wit:

“Wherefore it is an abridgment of the record of the people of Nephi and also the Lamanites.”

I assume Mormon and Moroni took that mandate seriously and wrote only about those peoples.  You will notice that Mormon does not mention the people of Mulek, except to the extent that they directly influence the Nephite nation, (receiving the plates of Ether, etc.).  From that point forward, the people of Mulek are not mentioned, even though they were clearly in the same vicinity.  In fact, Mormon states there were more Mulekites than there were Nephites – yet nothing is said about them.

Also, Mormon does not mention the Jaredites at all, and they were still here when Lehi landed.  Plus they were the greatest civilization ever to occupy this land, (see Ether 1:43).  Given that, why would Mormon not mention them?  It appears clear to me that he was commanded not to.

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Towers and the Book of Mormon

 By Jerry L. Ainsworth January, 2003

In a variety of church paintings, such as King Benjamin’s farewell speech, towers are an integral part of the story. These structures are frequently painted as being made of wood, similar to a modern Forest Ranger lookout post.  The purpose of this short paper is to make a case for the idea that these towers are not structures of wood, but are made of stone and/or brick.  Indeed are pyramids.

I begin by quoting from the heading of the Book of Ether, where it states, “The prophet Ether’s genealogy … the great tower -…”(italics added).   This structure in also referred to in the Book of Genesis as the tower of Babel.  Genesis 11:3 explains that this structure was made of bricks, stones and slime, (mortar).  Such a structure was imitated on this continent at such locations as Cholula and Xochitictl, in the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala, Mexico.  These structures are made of brick (adobes), stones and mortar.  It appears that anciently, the term tower referred to a large towering structure made of brick and/or stone.

It is my contention that when the Book of Mormon uses the term tower, it is referring to  similarly large structures, made of brick, and/or of stone.  Structures which we currently refer to as pyramids.

To begin with, the Book of Mormon indicates that these towers were present throughout the land, in all the cities.  Alma writes the following about Captain Moroni “And it came to pass also that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land, which was possessed by the Nephites;…” (Alma 46:36).

Assuming that I am correct about the Peten area of Guatemala and the southern part of Mexico being the land of Zarahemla, then this scripture is in concert with those lands.  There are indeed pyramids in almost every part of that land.  There are hundreds, if not thousands of stone and brick pyramids throughout this area of Mesoamerica.

It appears the towers, or at least some of them, were very tall.  They were so tall that a person could view all of the land from the top of the towers.  Indeed this appears to be one of their primary functions.  I refer to Mosiah 11:12: 

“And it came to pass that he built a tower near the temple; yea, a very high tower, even so high that he could stand upon the top thereof and overlook the land of Shilom, and also the land of Shemlon, which was possessed by the Lamanites; and he could even look over all the land round about.”

Even the Lamanites appear to have built towers, upon which they addressed their citizens.  In Alma 48:1 we read:

“…it came to pass that Amlickiah …appointed men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites.”

We see here a couple of additional characteristics of the towers.  They were tall, they were used to address citizens, they were used to survey the lands and they were frequently built near temples.  Mosiah 19:5 confirms that towers were built near temples when it says, “And it came to pass that he fought with the King; and when the King saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple.”

The use of these towers as lookout posts is also confirmed in Mosiah 20:8 where Limhi “discovered them from the tower, even all their preparations for war did he discover;…”

Mosiah 11:13 adds one additional feature of these towers.  They were frequently built on the top of a hill.  “…and he caused a great tower to be built on the hill north of the land Shilom.” 

It appears that not only were some of these towers built on hills, (which makes sense if they were watchtowers), but some were “great” or large towers.  All of these characteristics appear to fit the characteristics of the pyramids in Mesoamerica.

King Benjamin also appears to have used such a tower, a pyramid, to address his people.  In Mosiah 2:7-8 we are told that the King “caused a tower to be erected that thereby his people might hear the words which he should speak unto them.”

One additional function of these towers appears to have been for prayer.  In Helaman 7:10-14 we are told that Nephi “got upon my tower that I might pour out my soul unto my God, because of the exceeding sorrow of my heart,…”

It appears that some of these towers were owned by individual persons and were used for their personal intercessions with the Lord.

In all of these references to towers, there is one that is somewhat unusual; the towers that were constructed adjacent to the large picket fence that surrounded the city of Bountiful.  Alma 50:4

In conclusion, here is a summary of the towers mentioned in the Book of Mormon.  It appears they were made of stone and/or bricks, they were very high, used for look out posts, were built in a variety of places, (frequently on hills), by temples and for special occasions.  In some cases, individuals owned and used personal towers, such as in the case of Nephi and King Benjamin.

What I have just described is a fairly good accounting of the pyramids in Mesoamerica.  They were built throughout the land, were built on hills, were tall and large structures of stone/brick, and were used for civil, religious and personal purposes.  It was not at all unusual for them to be constructed by other structures, such as temples.

And lastly, these pyramids appear to have been built by the thousands throughout the Book of Mormon lands, (Mesoamerica).  I believe the towers referred to in the Book of Mormon are pyramids, and even more specifically, those of the Maya of Mesoamerica.

If I am correct about these towers being tall stone/brick structures, as was the tower of Babel, then this would be a characteristic of the lands of the Book of Mormon.  Since I do not believe there is adequate evidence of large stone/brick pyramids in Panama, South America, or North America, I exclude those as potential candidates for the lands of the Book of Mormon.  By way of the process of elimination, Mesoamerica remains as the primary candidate for the lands in which the Book of Mormon took place.

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The Location of Cumorah - Where it isn't...

24 January, 2005

1.  Let’s begin with the hill’s first name, (Read Ether 15:11).  What does Ramah mean and why was the hill given that name?

2.  The first description given of the land in which we find the Hill Cumorah, is provided by Mormon, from the Nephite’s account, (Read Mosiah 8:8-11).   Where was this land  located?  AMONG MANY WATERS.

3.  Where/what is “many waters?”  Read 1 Nephi 17:5

4.  Two questions:

a.       Does Irreantum have any significance other than this description

      (Read Mormon 1:3)

     b.   Is “Many Waters,” the same as the ocean?  (Read Alma 3:3 and 4:4)

5.  Are the “Waters of Sidon” different from the River Sidon?

6.  Where did the men of King Limhi begin, in their search for Zarahemla?  Even they ended up in the land of Cumorah, where did they think they had been?  (Read Mosiah 21:26)

7.  What significant event, between the Nephites and Lamanites occurred in 350ad? (Read Mormon 2:28-29) Where does this place the Nephite and Lamanite nations?

8.  From 350ad until 375ad, (only 25 years), how far from the narrow neck did the Nephite nation travel?  Read Mormon 4:12-19)

9.  What did Mormon do in 380ad? (Read Mormon 6:1-2)  Does it make sense that  Mormon would ask that both armies move from Mexico/Guatemala to up-state New York for their final battle?  What advantage would that be? Read Mormon 6:4)

10.What was Mormon’s purpose for having the battle at Cumorah?  Would it be an  advantage to take people who had lived in a tropical land, to a place where it snows  5-10 feet during the winter?

11.  How does Mormon describe this land?  What kinds of water sources are mentioned? Are lakes mentioned?

12.  How does Mormon’s description differ from Mosiah’s?  Why are the descriptions different?  Had the topography of this land changed?

13.  What was the date of this battle at Cumorah?  (Read Mormon 6:5)

14.  Parenthetically, how does Mormon represent the abridgment which he gave to his son? (Read Mormon 6:6)  Does this sound like 500 plates, (which is what six inches would amount to?)

15.  What year was Mormon killed?  How many years after the battle of Cumorah? (Read Mormon 8:1-6)

16.  What year was Moroni killed?  (Read Moroni 1:1) Notice what Moroni calls the Lamanites.

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Why the Hill Cumorah could not be Cerro Vejia, as some have proposed.

By Jerry L. Ainsworth 26 May, 2002

1.   It looks as if the ship of Mulek made two landings on this continent while searching for a place to settle.  The first landing appears to have been very close, if not at, the place where the Jaredites had their final battle. 

Alma 22:30

        And it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far  

        northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of   

        whose bones we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it 

        being the place of their first landing.

It is my assumption that the reason the people of Mulek did not stay at the site of their first landing, was that they arrived in the location where the Jaredites were involved in the pre-lims of their final conflict.  Rather than get involved in this war, they climbed back on their boat(s) and sailed further south.  Or, it simply could have been territorial.  The Jaredites occupied the land north of the narrow neck, and had eschewed living in the land south of the narrow neck.  It would have therefore been politically expedient for the Mulekites to get back in their boat and move to a land uninhabited by the Jaredites.

Most LDS writers who believe Central America was the Nephite lands, accept La Venta as the landing place of Mulek.  La Venta is very close to the narrow neck, as well as to Cerro Vejia.

Since the final battle of the Jaredites, (as well as the Nephites), took place at the hill Cumorah, and this is the location of the first landing of the people of Ammon, this creates a conundrum.  Cerro Vejia is less than 100 miles from La Venta.  This means that the People of Mulek would have landed first close to, or at Cerro Vejia, and then returned to their boat, (assumedly to avoid the Jaredite conflict/politics), and sailed less than 100 miles, further south, for their final landing.  It is difficult to accept that the people of Mulek would have moved less than one hundred miles for their second landing.  Plus, Alma 22:30 implies this area of the Hill Cumorah was a far distance into the land northward.  Of course Cerro Vejia is not.

2.   The final battle of the Jaredites took place at the Hill Ramah, later to be renamed Cumorah.  If the Hill Ramah/Cumorah is Cerro Vejia, then it would be very close to the narrow neck of land.  Yet a description of the location of their final conflict does not mention the narrow neck.  To wit:

     Ether 14:26

     And it came to pass that Shiz did pursue Coriantumr eastward to the borders by the

     seashore, and there he gave battle unto Shiz for the space of three days.

     Ether 14:28

     And they pitched their tents in the valley of Corihor; and Coriantumr pitched his tents   

     in the valley of Shurr.  Now the valley of Shurr was near the hill Comnor; wherefore

     Coriantumr did gather his armies together upon the hill Comnor, and did sound a

     trumpet unto the armies of Shiz to invite them forth to battle.

     Ether 15:7-8

     And when Coriantumr saw that he was about to fall he fled again before the people of

     Shiz.

     And it came to pass that he came to the waters of Ripliancum, which by interpretation,

     is large, or to exceed all;...

     Ether 15:11

     And it came to pass that the army of Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill

     Ramah; and it was the same hill where my father Mormon did hide up the records  

     unto the Lord, which were sacred. 

It appears that the last locations of the battles of the Jaredites were first in a couple of valleys, (with two hills), then close to the sea, then moving on to the seashore, and finally around the hill Cumorah.  Nowhere does it say that this location was close to the narrow neck, nor does this describe the land around Cerro Vejia.  That land, at the time of the Jaredites was surrounded by lagoons and was marshy, swampy land.  The name of this land, (the land around Cerro Vejia), prior to Columbus was Tlapalco, which means swampy or marshy land.   Plus, it is undulating land.   I don’t know of any valleys or prominent hills within 100 miles of Cerro Vejia.

And there is one additional conflict.  Cerro Vejia is very close to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, (the narrow neck of land).  It is less than fifty miles from the land that most scholars accept as the land of Zarahemla.  Since Mormon had given this land to the Lamanites in 350ad, this would mean the location he selected for the final battle, Cumorah, would have been as close, (if not closer), to the Lamanties than to the Nephites.  This would not appear to give Mormon an advantage, which is the reason he states for selecting the site of Cumorah for the final battle.  (see Mormon 6:4) To be an advantage to Mormon, it appears that he would have had to schedule the battle farther from the Lamanite territory, not closer to it, which would be the case if Cerro Vejia was the hill Cumorah.

The hill Cumorah is not Cerro Vejia.

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A possible meaning of the name "Mormon"

By Jerry L. Ainsworth 4 August, 2001

I am aware that Joseph Smith stated the “literal meaning” of the term Mormon, was “more good.” (Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 300)  This monograph is an effort to demonstrate a possible additional meaning. Just as people anciently, as well as currently, have more than one name, these names often have more than one meaning.

A meaning of Mormon that I am going to suggest in this paper is based on the Tzutujil Maya view of Lake Atitlan and its surrounding lands, which many LDS researchers consider to be the Waters and the Land of Mormon. 

A visit to the small village on the south side of lake Atitlan, Santiago Atitlan, will help a person appreciate the sacred nature of the lake, as well as the land that buttresses this small village.  The people of this local, as direct descendants of the highland Maya, consider the waters of this lake, as well as the surrounding lands to be most sacred.  The lake is said to be the navel of the earth, carrying the renewing and healing heritage of its sacred origin.  The mythical belief of the lake is that it is bottomless, indeed descending to the very bowels of the earth.  To these Maya, the waters are considered an everlasting source of life, springing up from the source of life itself.  The surrounding lands are considered to be one of the origins of the Maya people.  It is therefore a most sacred, unique and pure land, all of which come from this “navel,” which is considered to be the center of the earth, the axis point at which lines from the four cardinal directions intersect.

Very simply put, the waters of lake Atitlan, as well as the surrounding lands, are believed to be the purest connection to the parent of all the Maya people, the earth, or as we would say, God the Father.  The lake and its surrounding land represents a royal heritage from the giver of life; the first and most pure parent of these people, mother earth.

Annually, a ceremony is held by local communities around the lake, which culminate in selected Elders, who walk into the water, (at a pre-selected site), go under water and then emerge, being renewed via this process.  It is a reenactment of the creation process, so to speak.

Having explained this Maya view of Lake Atitlan, and its surrounding lands, let us now take a look at what Mormon says of himself.  He is very specific about his name, its meaning and his heritage.

In 3 Nephi 5:20 Mormon states that he is a “pure descendant” of Lehi.  I assume this means that throughout the 950 years since the arrival of Lehi, (and the marriage of Nephi to a daughter of Ishmael), Mormon’s family had always married within one of the direct lines of the descendants of Lehi.  Based on what his son Moroni says, it appears Mormon was also a direct descendent of Nephi, (Mormon 8:13), which of course would make sense if he was a pure descendent of Lehi.  This would exclude any of his progenitors ever having married a descendant of Laman or Lemuel.

We know that Mormon’s father’s name was Mormon.  “And I, Mormon, being a descendant of Nephi, (and my father’s name was Mormon), I remembered the things which Ammaron commanded me.”

Mormon claims a pure lineage from the original parent, Lehi, continuing through the lineage of Nephi.  He implies that such genealogical “purity” may be conveyed by use of the name Mormon, which reflects the pure and original land of the early Nephite inhabitants.  It may be assumed that Mormon was simply named after his father, as happens frequently, even today.  However Mormon gives us an alternative explanation to his name.  In 3 Nephi 5:12 he states:

“And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people, yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression.”

It appears the land of Mormon was very sacred to the Nephites, as it represented the origin of the church, as established by Alma.  A place of renewal, being born again, a source of eternal nourishment or eternal life.  It also appears that this view of its sacredness was still held by the Nephites in Mormon’s day, even though they had moved from the land five hundred years earlier.  The land and the Waters of Mormon represent a pure origin, and a place of renewal or rebirth.

When we compare what Mormon tells us about this land, with what the Maya of the land of Atitlan say, they appear to be very similar, to wit:

Mormon’s Name from the Book of Mormon

1. Mormon was named after the Waters of Mormon.
2. Mormon was a pure descendent of Lehi and a direct descendent of Nephi.
3. Mormon’s name reflected the religious significance of the land of Mormon.
4. His name also reflects a place of renewal and rebirth.

Tzutuhil Maya Lake Atitlan

1. The land adjacent to as well as the waters of Lake Atitlan are viewed as sacred, as well as the origins of the people and the religion of the highland Maya.
2. This land/lake are viewed as springing from the navel of the earth and therefore as a pure representation of the parent earth.
3. Annually a ceremony takes place here that culminates in the renewal and rebirth of the Maya of that community.

Mormon’s name may therefore reflect the purity of Mormon’s genealogy, as well as the sacredness of that lineage.  This view appears to be in concert with Maya tradition of the lands of Atitlan, as well as the lake by the same name.  An area that many LDS scholars view as the Waters and land of Mormon.

This takes on additional significance when compared to Doctrine and Covenants 63:23,

“But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom,  and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.”

I therefore suggest that an additional meaning/purpose of Mormon’s name is to reflect that he was indeed a pure descendent of the Nephite’s most revered leaders, Lehi and Nephi, their primary source of life.

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Mt. Zerin & the Hill Shim

By Jerry L. Ainsworth 24 April, 2002

This is a highly speculative scenario about the location of the Mt. Zerin and the purpose of it being moved by the Brother of Jared.  I have taken strands of information, both scriptural and historical, and woven them together, taking a great deal of license in doing so.  There is simply not enough information to document such a theory as developed here, but this is written to stimulate discussion about such a possibility.

Moroni, while giving a discourse on Faith, Hope and Charity, matter-of-factly states, “For the brother of Jared said to the mountain Zerin remove, and it was removed.”

Moroni clearly used this account to demonstrate the faith of the brother of Jared, but the account begs the question, “why did the brother of Jared move this mountain in the first place?”  There is no doubt that this event was done as a unique act of faith, but there must have also been a reason for moving the mountain.  You don’t just move mountains to entertain, any more that you part the Red Sea to show off.  I wish to suggest a reason for such a fete.  I repeat that there is very little data for what I’m going to suggest.  It is a highly speculative theory, with very little scriptural or historical data to support it.  But, the concept has been of such an interest to me that I have decided to write it and then let the reader decide if it has merit.

Here are the “facts,” or more precisely the bits of information that I will use to develop the theory I am proposing:

1.    The Jaredites were scattered from the Tower of Babel, and came to this continent in eight boats.  At least one of those boats had fish in it, and I speculate they were fresh water fish, which were used to restock this continent.  I assume all fresh water fish on this continent were killed during the flood.

2.   The history of Mexico says that this initial group that landed in the Tampico area, around 3,000bc, were called Quinamis, and came from “The Great Tower.”

3.   The history of Mexico further states that these Quinamis, upon landing, went immediately to “the land of the white caps, the land of the smoking mountains.”  I assume this to be the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala in Mexico.  These two states are the only place in Mexico that have snow covered volcanoes.  The reason for their going to this area was two fold:

   a.  because the land adjacent to the ocean was not yet dried out from the flood.

   b.  they needed to go the continental divide, where the rivers begin to flow, in order

        to restock the rivers with fresh water fish.

4.  The history of Mexico states that these initial inhabitants, those from the “Great Tower,” came from Chicomoztoc.  Chicomoztoc means the seven families from the seven caves.  Drawings of this Chicomoztoc, (page 58 of my book), show two events:

    a.  The seven families, from the great tower coming across the water, (I interpret this as

         the ocean).

    b   The seven families emerging out of caves.

My initial interpretation of this drawing of Chicomoztoc, was that the seven families coming out of seven caves was simply the families who came with Jared.  I theorized that these people consisted of seven families, who came in seven boats, the eighth boat being used for fresh water fish. (see Ether 2:2)  The cave part of the Chicomoztoc story was simply their way of saying these caves, (that the seven families emerged from), were pockets of air under the ocean.  (Remember the boats were submerged for indeterminate amounts of time during the trip.)  I now believe this second part of the term may have a different meaning.

5.   At some point in the life of the brother of Jared, he moved the mountain Zerin.

Using the information provided above, I have developed the following theory.

There were seven families who traveled from the Tower of Babel, in seven of the eight  barges mentioned in the book of Ether.  The eighth barge/boat was used for fresh water fish.  One thing Jared was commanded to do, as part of his moving to this continent, was to restock this continent with fresh water fish.

When the Jaredites landed at the Tampico, Mexico area, the land was still muddy from the flood, so they had to continue to live in the boats.  While living in the boats they either explored, or used the Urim and Thummim to detect where they should relocate.  Remember that the brother of Jared had already seen the whole history of this planet, via the Urim and Thummim, so he knew where he would need to go in order to restock the continent with fresh water fish.

The brother of Jared also knew how difficult it would be to move a whole boatload of fish from the sea shore of Tampico, to the highlands of Mexico, all the time keeping the fish alive.  He therefore “sailed” the eight boats up one of the rivers of the Tampico area, (there are seven of them), and sailed them into caves in the mountain range of Zerin, from which the river emerged.  There is a mountain range about fifty miles from the Gulf coast, where the Jaredites landed.  In fact, the history of Mexico states that these early inhabitants, upon landing at Tampico, took their boats up the Panuco River to a place called Altamera, (high lookout), which is about twenty miles up this river.

The Jaredites then secreted these boats in seven caves of this mountain, and continued to live in the boats.  At some predetermined time, the brother of Jared gathered all seven families into the boats, along with the one boat of fish, which were secreted in the caves of the mountain Zerin, and he, (by way of his faith), moved the whole mountain to the land of Antum. 

The land of Antum, I believe, is where the water begins to flow, which is the continental divide of Mexico.  From that location it would be much easier to restock the rivers with fresh water fish, which I believe the Jaredites did.  This is also the place in Mexico where there are snow-covered volcanoes, (smoking white caps, as described in the history of Mexico).  These are also the two states that the History of Mexico states the Quinamis settled in.

The Jaredites continued to live in their boats, in the caves of the mountain Zerin, which was now no longer a mountain, as it was just one section of the mountain range that was moved, even though it was a very large segment of that range.

After restocking the rivers with fish, the Jaredites then migrated out of their homes/boats in the caves of the mountain/hill, building cities in the Antum area, the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala.  Cholula, which dates to Jaredite times, would be one of those principle cities.

This scenario therefore fulfills the two aspects of Chicomoztoc.  It represents the seven families coming over in seven boats, and then emerging from seven caves.  Part of my proposed scenario also assumes that the eight boats still exist in the caves of this mountain, which now is viewed as a very large hill.  (It could easily be called a mountain)

There is such a hill in the Puebla/Tlaxcala area, called Malenchi.  This hill, especially the caves, are viewed by the local people as so sacred, that no one is allowed in them, upon threat of death.  Indeed a number of people have been killed trying to enter these caves.

I believe that the eight boats of the Jaredites still exist, and like the ark of Noah and the Ark of the Covenant, will at some future date be brought out of their “hiding places” and shown to the worthy public.

I also believe that the hill referred to, (Malenchi), is the hill that Ammaron refers to in Mormon 1:3, where he tells Mormon:

“Therefore, when ye are about twenty and four years old, I would that ye should remember the things that ye have observed concerning this people; and when ye are of that age go to the land Antum, unto a hill which shall be called Shim; and there have I deposited unto the Lord all the sacred engravings concerning this people.” (bold added)

I believe it was this same hill that Ammaron used to deposit the plates of Nephi, and from where Mormon retrieved them.  You will notice that Ammaron renamed the hill.  He states that the hill “shall be called Shim.”  I believe the name of that hill, before Ammaron changed it, was Zerin.  I believe Ammaron changed the name for two reasons:

   a.  It was no longer a mountain, but was now a hill, albeit a very large one.

   b.  People probably knew the history and sacred nature of Zerin.  Ammaron therefore 

        re-named it so people of Mormon’s day would not be aware of its sacred nature and

        therefore not go into it to destroy, or steal the plates, and other sacred artifacts

        which are still in the seven caves of that hill.

As an aside to this story I do know of one person who has been into one of these caves, partially.  He saw the remains of a very large person, (the Jaredites were large).  The femur of those remains was the length of - from his hip to the ground.  About twice the size of a regular femur.  And, the sad part of this story - the local person who took him into the cave was killed for doing so.  The local townspeople never knew the name of the person taken into the hill, or they would have hunted him down and killed him also.

Once again, as I stated at the beginning of this paper, this is a very speculative account of these pieces of information and of the Zerin/Jaredite story.  But I believe it is an account worthy of discussion.

9-18-2005

As an addendum to this article I received an email from my ‘exploration partner” today which gives some insight into this proposed scenario of mine.  The small village that is located by the entrance to these caves, is about half way down the side of this hill, currently named Malinche.  Esteban just discovered  that the ancient name of this village is las canoas,(the canoes).  The obvious question is what a village on the side of a hill, where there are no lakes or rivers, and which does not make canoes, is named the village of the canoes.  Is it possible because the village is by where the Jaredite boats are secreted?

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Musings on the Signs of the Times

An email to Marcel January, 2004

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The ten lost tribes of Israel

Writings suggesting where they are, and where they are not

By Jerry L. Ainsworth 15 March, 2000

Tenth Article of Faith

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

This article of faith implies to me that those of Israel who are scattered, are to be gathered, which represents one event in the latter days.  The article also states that the ten lost tribes will be restored, which I understand to be a different process than the gathering.  Restoration implies to me that they first must be taken.  Being taken is very different from being scattered.

This view of there being two separate events is reinforced in Doctrine and Covenants 110:11, which explains that Moses appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and bestowed two sets of keys.  The first were the keys of the Gathering of Israel, which was followed by the bestowal of the keys of the Restoration of the Ten Tribes.

Doctrine and Covenants 110:11

“After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.” (Italics added)

The Ten Lost Tribes were taken to the “North Countries,” which, as indicated in the above scripture, appears not be in the four quarters of the earth.  In Ether 13:11, we read:

“...they are they who were scattered and gathered from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries.”  If the north countries are not part of the four quarters of the earth, then where are they?

Moses gives a clue in Deuteronomy 30:4, where, while prophesying of the scattering and gathering of Israel, he states:

“If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee.”  Moses raises the possibility of some of Israel being driven into the outmost parts of heaven.  He does not state it as fact, only that if this happens, the Lord will bring them back from this location.

Nehemiah on the other hand, (1:9) states this phenomenon as a reality, not as a possibility:

“...though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will he gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.”

This concept of part of Israel, (assumedly the Ten Lost Tribes), being brought from the “uttermost parts of the heavens appears to be supported in Doctrine and Covenants 133:7:

“...gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

This section of the Doctrine and Covenants also implies some significant events that accompany the return of the lost tribes, to wit:

D & C 133:26 indicates these lost tribes will have “their [own] prophets.”  Verses 26-27 also states, about their return:

“And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves; and they shall smite the rocks, and the ice shall flow down at their presence.”

“And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.”  (for a definition of the Great Deep, see 2 Nephi 4:20 and 2 Nephi 8:10)

This event will be so significant that Jeremiah implies it will over shadow the miracle of Moses parting the Red Sea, in the deliverance of Israel in his day.  No longer will people remember the unique circumstances of the miracle through Moses, but that memory will be replaced by the “parting of the great deep” during the return of the Ten Lost Tribes.  In Jeremiah 16:14-15 he states:

“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, “The  

  Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;”

“But, the Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north,

  and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their  

  land that I gave unto their fathers.”

The prophets who are among the Ten Lost Tribes will “restore” these people, and upon their return the ice will melt and flow down and a great highway will be thrown up in the midst of the great deep, (the ocean).

Such events appear to reflect the return of a part of the earth that has been taken, not the discovery of the Ten Tribes on an isolated section of the earth.

The belief that the Ten Lost Tribes are not on this planet, (they have been removed), as was the land of Enoch, was reflected in an LDS hymn, as indicated below:

In 1850 Eliza R, Snow wrote a hymn which first appeared in the 1856 hymnal, (number 313).  It remained in the church hymnbook entitled Hymns: Sacred Hymns and spiritual Songs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, until 1912.

Thou, Earth, wast once a glorious sphere

    Of noble magnitude,

And didst with majesty appear

    Among the worlds of God.

But they dimensions have been torn,

    Asunder, piece by piece,

And each dismember’d fragment borne

    Abroad to distant space.

When Enoch could no longer stay

    Amid corruption here,

Part of thyself was borne away

    To form another sphere.

That portion where his city stood

    He gain’d by right approv’d;

And nearer to the throne of God

    His planet upward mov’d.

And when the Lord saw fit to hide

    The “ten lost tribes” away,

Thou, Earth, wast sever’d to provide

    The orb on which they stay.

And thus, from time to time, thy size

    Has been diminish’d, till

Thou seemst the law of sacrifice

    Created to fulfill.

All of this could easily lead one to believe that the Tenth Article of Faith is very accurate when addressing the fact that the Lord scattered segments of Israel, while at the same time removing ten of the tribes, which therefore must be “restored.”

These writings appear to indicate that the Ten Lost Tribes are not on this planet, but indeed are some place else - lost. 

For additional discussion on this see:

THE LOST TRIBES, by R. Clayton Brough, Horizon Publisher, 1979.

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Language of the Plates of Ether

By Jerry L. Ainsworth 10 February, 2002

For many years I wondered how the complete history of the planet could be written on but 24 gold plates, even given that Ether used both sides.  This conundrum was partially discovered during the writing of The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, and can be found in appendix A of that book.

This insight, as well as some quality Priesthood lessons, led to an expansion of my understanding of this language phenomenon, as well as a few additional language issues addressed in the Book of Mormon.  By way of this paper I wish to explain how this language concept permeates, indeed explains, more than just the twenty four plates of Ether.

As I explained in my book on Mormon and Moroni, it would be impossible to write the complete history of the planet using any language currently known.  It is this reality that led me to understand that the language of the plates of Ether, is only a language in that it instructs the Urim and Thummim to reveal historical and future events to the view of the person accessing the information on the plates.  The record is not read in the classical sense of the word.

In brief, the person wishing to access the record just puts on the Urim and Thummim, and then turns to the “writings” in the plates.  Assumedly one of the symbols on these plates “instructs” the Urim and Thummim to show the person a selected history of the world, (say the first 100 years).  The person then literally sees the events intended to be revealed.  He doesn’t envision them, he actually sees them.  As Ether 3:24 says, “these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men...”  Notice the events being pursued are not magnified to the person’s mind, but to their eyes. 

This scripture has lead many people to assume that the Urim and Thummim are worn in front of a person’s eyes, like spectacles.  Such a belief is dispelled in Exodus 28:30 which states that these instruments are to be worn “upon Aaron’s heart...before the Lord continually.”  They are not worn over the eyes, but over the heart – continually. 

The reason Ether states that the Urim and Thummim will magnify the events to the eyes, is because the person actually sees the events.  Given that reality, how else could have Ether expressed it?

The person then moves to the next symbol on the plates, which “instructs” the Urim and Thummim to show another time period of the world.  For example, “show this person the second 100 years.”

Once the person has read/seen everything contained on the twenty four plates of Ether, he has essentially seen everything that has ever taken place, or ever will take place on this planet, including the creation of the world – which addresses some involvement of other planets.  It is this experience that led Moroni, (Ether 5:1), to say that he wrote information from the plates of Ether “from memory.”  He did not translate these “writings,” but he viewed them and then wrote them from memory.  This is why such a person is referred to as a Seer.

The gift of a Seer is so unique and powerful, that it led Ammon to say of this calling, “and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can;...”  (Mosiah 8:16)  And while I’m talking about Ammon, I should address a statement which he made about the Urim and Thummim, in Mosiah 8:13, where he states;

“Now Ammon said unto him [King Limhi]: I can assuredly tell the O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look,...”.  Once again this scripture led people to conclude that a person looks through the Urim and Thummim.  However the scripture does not say King Mosiah had something to look through, but something to look with.  This subtle difference is similar to when a person says, “Look, let me explain something to you.”  You are not being asked to look at the person doing the explaining.  Rather, you are being asked to allow yourself to visualize the answer, or the explanation.

This phenomenon is also what led Ether to indicate that he wrote these things in “a language that cannot be read.”  (Ether 3:22).  When I first read this verse, I assumed that these things could not be read because they were prohibited, or were confounded in such a way that disallowed their interpretation.  I now understand that the confounding of this language, indeed the real reason they cannot be read is because they can only be seen, not read, in the traditional sense.  It takes the power of the Priesthood, indeed the power of God to do so.

It is this very concept that led Moroni to write of the twenty four plates of Ether, as he was burying them, “and whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account.  Assumedly that “power” is the Urim and Thummim.  I assume that once Moroni received the Urim and Thummim from the Prophet Joseph Smith, that he returned to the location of where he had buried the plates of Ether, and secreted the instruments with those records.  Therefore whosoever finds these plates, will also find the Urim and Thimmim, thereby having the “power” to get the translation.  (Ether 1:4)

And remember that in order to function as Seer, one does not need to be called and ordained.  The position of Seer was the first calling which the young prophet Joseph held.  He was known as Joseph the Seer before he was known as Joseph the Prophet.  Ammon also instructs us in this when, in Mosiah 8:13 he states:

“...And whosoever is commanded to look .. [Urim and Thummim], the same is called seer.

Once I understood the basic concept of this language, indeed the power of it, I began to view and understand other Book of Mormon scriptures differently.  I now understand why Moroni said, of the Jaredite writings, “...thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the over-powering of man to read them.” (Ether 12:24)

Moroni here explains that the power of the language was like unto the power of the Savior himself, overpowering those who were to access those accounts.  I guess they would be overpowering, if when you accessed the information, “read it,” you actually saw the events of the world.  That would indeed be overpowering.

I believe this also explains the prayer the Savior prayed over the little children in 3 Nephi 17:15-17.  Listen carefully to what Mormon says concerning the language used in this prayer:

“And when he, [Jesus Christ] had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.”

“And after this manner they bear record: The eye have never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father.” 

I previously understood that Mormon was saying that the Nephites simply had never seen anyone pray like this before.  I now believe that the Savior spoke in the same language that Ether wrote the 24 plates.  It was a language in which, (like the Seers of old), the people actually saw what the Savior was describing.  And they heard a description of these Celestial events. 

Remember that Moroni, Nephi, Isaiah, Lehi and other Seers, only saw these events.  For the first time, the Savior chose to “speak” to the Nephites in a way that they actually saw and heard these beautiful events.  Under those circumstances, it is easier to understand Mormon’s statement:  “...eye have never seen, neither hath the ear heard....”

Of these Celestial events that the Lord seems to have revealed, (via his language),  Mormon says:

“And no tongue can speak neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak;...”

Looking at each of these statements individually, what happened becomes clear:

Can a tongue actually speak what another person has seen and heard, from a Celestial being?  No.  Can any man actually write and describe these events?  No.  How could a person put to words, (adequately), Celestial events that people saw and heard from the Savior.

And lastly, can such an event enter into the hearts of men, without them actually seeing and hearing what the Savior showed these people?  No.

It appears that the written “language” which was used to write on the plates, by the Brother of Jared, and by Ether can also be spoken.  This may be the language that the Lord gave to Enoch.  A language so powerful that Moses 7:13 states:

“And so great was the faith of Enoch, that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their courses; and the roar of the lions was hard out of the wilderness , and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.”

Could this be the same language that Zephaniah says will be taught to everyone during the millennium:  (Zephaniah 3:9)

“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord to serve him with one consent.”  This may be the same pure language, or at least the beginning of it, that Joseph Smith referred to in his Inspired Version of

Genesis 6:6”

“And by them, [Adam and Eve] their children were taught to read and write, having a language which was pure and undefiled.”

In conclusion, what can we learn about languages and the power of the Lord?  It appears that as we grow in faith, the Lord is prepared to teach us a new language, one that has much greater power and capabilities than anything that exists on the earth, or among any people of today.  With it we can command the elements, show unto our fellow man the greatness of the Savior, and access all that God has or will ever create.  All we need is adequate faith. 

It appears that we still have the “language of the Lord” to look forward to.

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The five Amens of Moroni

By Jerry L. Ainsworth 24 March, 1999

This monogram is designed to draw attention to five very different sequences of Moroni’s writings, by explaining his placement of Amens at the end of these special segments of his writings.  Understanding the Five Amens of Moroni will help to obtain a better understanding of five separated events during his life, events which are punctuated by his propitious use of these five Amens.

MORONI’S FIRST AMEN

As Moroni indicates in the eighth chapter of Mormon, he had very little space remaining, (I estimate a little over ½ of one side of a plate) to write on.  Yet after having written that statement, he inscribed twice the number of plates as contained in his father’s abridgment.  The first comments he wrote are found in Mormon 8:1-13.

Mining ore, forging the gold and then forming this metal into 8 x 6 plates must have taken some time.  Even if Moroni had assistance from the People of Ammon, (which I believe he did) this would still have been quite a challenge.

After producing the plates, (I estimate 48), Moroni then had to find a safe place to begin the abridgment of the plates of Ether.  Such a task would minimally require the following:

* Forty-eight unused plates

* Tools to write with

* A template in which to place an individual plate while writing on it. (see page 28

   of The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni)

* The twenty-four plates of Ether

* His father’s twenty-four plates, (the abridgment of the Nephite record)

* The Urim and Thummim, along with the breastplate

With all of this equipment and being in a secure location, Moroni began to access what was on the twenty-four plates of Ether.  It appears that before Moroni wrote any of the  history of the Jaredites, he had actually accessed all of the information from those plates, (i.e. he had seen the whole history of this planet).  After writing the Genealogy of the people of Jared, he then appears to have begun writing the historical accounts from memory.  (see Ether 5:1)

As I have documented in appendix A of The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, I believe one side of a gold plate translates into about ten pages of typed English.  Therefore I believe Moroni wrote chapters one, two and three of the Book of Ether, as well as Chapter 4, verses 1 through 3 on the front side of the first of his plates.  Ether 1:4 indicates that Moroni has buried the plates of Ether again, and is writing the remainder of this account from memory and/or use of the Urim and Thummim. Although this account takes only seven pages in my Book of Mormon, I assume the reason Moroni did not get ten typed pages on this one side was because of the very long genealogy in chapter one.  Writing proper names probably takes more space than does the writing of events, when using abbreviated languages, (such as Reformed Egyptian), which Moroni was doing.

Having buried the twenty four plates of Ether, Moroni was now free to move around with fewer records to worry about, and one less heavy item to carry and protect.

Beginning on the back of plate number one of Moroni’s account of the Jaredites, he actually begins to write what the Brother of Jared saw.  The segment we refer to as the sealed portion of the plates.  He was instructed not to write the story of the creation, or the events from the creation to the tower of Babel, but begins the sealed portion with the story of the people of Jared.  This obviously saved him some space on the plates.  Since he was writing in the same “language” as Ether, his account should have taken about the same number of plates as it took Ether, (twenty-four).  Moroni excluded the short segment of history, from the creation to the great tower.

I therefore assume that Moroni wrote approximately twenty-three plates, revealing the same historical events that Ether had revealed, making only the alterations as commanded by the Lord.  (See Ether 5:1)

In Ether 4:4 Moroni states, Behold I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw:...(bold and italics added). 

After writing on one side of a gold plate, Moroni now writes an additional 23 plates, essentially revealing the complete history of this planet from the tower of Babel.  Such an enterprise must have taken him an extended period of time. 

When he finished this momentous task, he had a little space remaining on the 24^th plate, which allowed him to write Ether 4:4-19.  The portion of the sealed plates which conveys the same thing the brother of Jared saw are therefore sandwiched in between verses 3 and 4 of the fourth chapter of Ether.  When he finished this sealed portion, with these unsealed fifteen verses, Moroni writes his first AMEN.  (see the last verse in Ether 4)

Viewed in this context, the AMEN at the end of the fourth chapter of Ether, is not a casual ending of a short chapter about the Jaredites.  It is a concluding statement about a Huge amount of writing – as much as Mormon’s total abridgment, a record that covers the total history of this world.  Understood in this context, it makes one appreciate why Moroni put an AMEN at the end of the fourth chapter of Ether.

It is also a certainty that Moroni did not write these 23 sealed gold plates in Reformed Egyptian.  You cannot write the whole history of the world, including everyone's life, in Reformed Egyptian, using only 23 gold plates.  Moroni must have used the same “language” as both Ether and the Brother of Jared used.

This is probably why the witnesses of the gold plates said of their experience, (viewing the gold plates):

The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved.

This statement implies the sealed portion(s) were written in a different manner than were those plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.  It also implies the sealed portion of plates was sealed by the priesthood and not by a physical device, as seen in many paintings. 

Evidence of a priesthood sealing, as opposed to a physical “latch” is found in Ether 4:5 where Moroni states “wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.”

It seems unlikely Moroni would be instructed to put a physical latch on the Urim and Thummim.  He certainly must have sealed them up by virtue of the priesthood also.

MORONI’S SECOND AMEN

Moroni knew he was required to write the interpretation of what the brother of Jared saw, (see Ether 4:5).  As he wrote this segment of the sealed portion he more than likely had a second group of gold plates, (around 22), on which he wrote the interpretation of the events which were engraved on the initial segment of the sealed portion of plates.

The Interpretation:

One may wonder why the Lord would have Moroni write the very same information on one set of plates, (the sealed portion), that was already written on the initial set of 24 plates, (the plates of Ether).  The answer is two fold:

a.  The Lord did not have Moroni write everything that he observed from the plates of

     Ether, only what he was commanded, (Ether 5:1).  Plus the Lord had Moroni preclude

     those events that transpired from the creation, down to the Tower of Babel, (see Ether

    1:3-5).  It appears the Lord is not going to reveal precisely how the world was created

     until he returns, (see Doctrine and Covenants 101:32-33) 

b.  The Lord wanted the interpretation of these writings to accompany the sealed portion,

     so whoever finds and reveals them will also have the interpretation of these events.

     (see Ether 4:5)

Moroni was essentially writing two segments of the sealed portion of plates at the same time.  He wrote everything the Brother Jared saw, (from the Tower of Babel), on one segment of sealed plates and the interpretation of these events on the other segment.

Once Moroni finished the interpretation segment, he added six verses in Reformed Egyptian, which are found in Ether 5:1-6.  These six verses were placed at the end of the twenty-two sealed plates which contained the interpretation of the events which the Brother of Jared, and now Moroni had seen.  At the end of these six verses, he also places

an AMEN.  Once again, why would Moroni write an amen after six verses?  He did so because those six verses are at the end of the interpretation of some of the most revealing information the Lord has ever shared with mankind. 

Moroni reveals this section of plates to us in Ether 4:5 where he says:

    Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them.  And

    he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I

    should seal up the interpretation thereof:...

That Moroni was writing from what he had seen and not from what he was “reading” is confirmed in Ether 5:1:

    And now I Moroni, have written the words which were commanded me, according to

    my memory;...

Ether 4:4-19 and Ether 5:1-6 were essentially written during the same time period, after he had completed two portions of the sealed segment; the events the brother of Jared had seen as well as their interpretation.  He placed an AMEN at the end of each of these volumes of work. 

For all practical purposes, there are two segments to the sealed portion, and they are interspersed by twenty verses of Moroni’s personal commentary.  This is an additional reason the sealed plates would not have a physical latch on them.  It is also a reason why Moroni could not separate the sealed portion from the unsealed plates which he had.  Since Joseph Smith was prohibited from reading the sealed portion, (see Ether 5:1), it would have been much easier for young Joseph to be given Mormon’s abridgment, along with the book of Ether.  This would have rendered the plates around 1/3 the weight that they were with the sealed portion.  Therefore there must have been a good reason Moroni did not remove the sealed portion from the account of the Jaredites found in the book of Ether.  Portions of these two accounts were found on the same plates.

Moroni’s second amen therefore represents the completion of a momentous event.  This amen and the first that he wrote represents years of visions, explanations and writings from this great Seer.

MORONI’S THIRD AMEN

Having completed the sealed portion of the record, Moroni is now free to continue the story of the Jaredites.  He also has more freedom to continue his trek toward the eastern                                                                 

part of the U.S.  He wrote chapters six and seven and as he wrote chapter eight of Ether, he took pause from the Jaredite history to warn us in the latter days about secret combinations.  He pleads with the gentile nations to avoid the secret combinations, which always accompany control of the devil and are a result of sin.  He warns us that:

     And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and

     gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold they shall be destroyed;...

After continuing with the history of the Jaredites in chapters nine through twelve of Ether, Moroni once again returns to addressing the gentiles of our time.  He gives his discourse on faith, hope and charity, and then ends by pleading with the Lord to give the gentiles charity.  In Ether 12:36-37, the Lord responds to Moroni by saying:

     And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the gentiles

     grace, that they might have charity.

     And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me; If they have not charity it matereth not

     unto thee, thou has been faithful; wherefore thy garments shall be made clean.

Moroni then bids farewell to the gentiles, promising us that he shall see us at the judgment seat of Christ , and then shall ye know that he hath talked with me face to face,...

Moroni then ends chapter twelve with his third AMEN.  The uniqueness of the twelfth chapter of Ether and the significance of this third amen, is that Moroni shares this personal visit from the Savior of the world.  Jesus Christ appeared unto him, and spoke with him face to face.  This is another way of saying that Moroni had his calling and election made sure.  He had received the Second Comforter, even the Savior of the world.  No wonder that he ends this unique and special event, chapter twelve, with his third AMEN.

Moroni then continued to travel toward up-state New York and continued to write the history of the Jaredites, and finally finished this account with the fifteenth chapter of Ether.  Although there is an amen at the end of this chapter, it is not Moroni’s.  This amen was written by Ether, and Moroni simply quotes this prophet’s last statement from the twenty-four plates which Ether wrote.

It is of interest to know that after Moroni wrote the two portions of the segment known as the sealed portion, he returned to the Jaredite narrative and wrote an additional nine chapters.  These nine chapters, as they are typed in English, take twenty-two pages.  In Mormon’s abridgment, he appears to have gotten around ten pages of English on each side of a gold plate, twenty pages to one completed plate, front and back.  Moroni seems to have gotten a little more writing on a gold plate than did his father.  He got the equivalent of twenty-two English pages on this last gold plate, (of the Jaredite account). 

This writing of Moroni represents eleven typed English pages per side of a gold plate, which is a little more efficient than Mormon.  But this would make sense, inasmuch as Moroni wrote twice as much as did his father, and probably became a little more proficient in his utilization of the available space on a gold plate.

MORONI’S FOURTH AMEN

By this time Moroni was now at the site in upstate New York where he was to bury the plates.  He returned to his father’s abridgment and began writing where he had left off some twenty-one years earlier, Mormon 8:14.  In this verse he tells us that he is now prepared to bury the plates.  It is apparent that the remainder of chapter eight, as well as the ninth chapter of Mormon were written after Moroni transcribed the events from the plates of Ether, including the sealed portion.  There are two evidences of this:

1.  In Mormon 8:14 Moroni states he is ready to bury the plates.

2.  In Mormon 8:35-38 Moroni indicates that he has seen the events of our day, “and I

     know your doings.”  He saw this when he viewed the history of the world contained

     on the twenty four plates of Ether.

The very mature Moroni who wrote Mormon 8:35 is much different from the younger, and confused Moroni revealed in Mormon 8:3-5.  He should be different, he is now twenty-one years older, has traversed the breadth of this country and has envisioned every person, place and event of this world.

After finishing his father’s record, (the eighth and ninth chapters of Mormon), Moroni closes with amen, the fourth AMEN of Moroni.

Moroni has now finished his father’s record, (I estimate 24 plates), and has finished the Jaredite record, (I estimate 47 plates), reserving one last plate.  On the inside of this last plate, he wrote what has become known as the Title Page to the Book of Mormon.  He then had the back side of that last plate which contained no writing.

MORONI’S FIFTH AMEN

At this time Moroni assumed he was finished with his writing and would soon be killed.  However, after preparing the stone box in which to bury the plates, he had not yet been discovered by the Lamanites and was still alive.

In that venue Moroni decided to use the unused side of the last gold plate, the reverse side of the plate that contained the Title Page.  On this plate he began:

    Now, I Moroni, after having made an end of abridging the account of the people of

    Jared, I had supposed not to have written more, but I have not as yet perished; and I

    make not myself known to the Lamanites lest they should destroy me.  (Moroni 1:1)

The first part of Moroni’s book is dedicated to a recitation of baptismal prayers, a prayer for bestowing the Holy Ghost, how to ordain teachers and priests, and finally the sacrament prayers.  I often wondered why Moroni included these in his book.  It finally dawned on me.  This is what his primary ministry was as he traversed this country from

coast to coast.  He taught people the gospel, baptized them, conferred the Holy Ghost, ordained men to the priesthood and instituted the sacrament.

Also in his book, Moroni added letters from his father as well as his father’s discourse on faith, hope and charity.  I frequently wondered why Moroni placed this discourse of Mormon in his book and not in his father’s.  The answer appears to be that his father’s discourse was given to the people in the north country, Moroni’s people.  It was not given to the Nephite nation, Mormon’s people – the people in his abridgment.

Moroni, still being efficient with his writing, gets twelve typed pages on this remaining side of the last gold plate.

Upon completion of the tenth chapter of Moroni, challenging the gentiles to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, Moroni ends his book with an AMEN.  This was the last amen Moroni was to write.  It was the last of - THE FIVE AMENS OF MORONI.

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Chariots in The Book of Mormon

By Jerry L. Ainsworth 20 April, 2002

Horses were probably small and may have been used to pull travois with no wheels as in the artwork.

CHARIOTS

in

The Book of Mormon

By Jerry L. Ainsworth

20 April, 2002

When people read about chariots in the Book of Mormon, the image they usually conjure up in their mind is a wheeled Roman chariot pulled by two Arabian horses, with a soldier riding in it lance in hand.  This is probably as much a process of watching  movies like Ben Hur, as any other reason.   This paper is an effort to dispel this view, and in its place create the image(s) the scriptures are trying to convey by use of the term chariots.  Although the specific image I will address, is that of the Book of Mormon, I will also use Biblical references to help appreciate a correct perception of the use of this term.

The term chariot, (in the singular), is never used in the Book of Mormon, while the term chariots is used seven times.  Two of those seven times, (2 Nephi 12:7 and 3 Nephi 21:14), are in reference to events of the last dispensation, while the remaining five have to do with events taking place during Book of Mormon days.  And those five Book of Mormon occasions take place during a 107 year period of time, (90 bc to 17ad).  Four of these five references are related to the interchange between Ammon and King Lamoni while in the land of Ishmael, which was “up” in the land of Nephi, (Lamanite territory).

The remaining one verse, in which the term chariots is used, was during the administration of Gidgiddoni, in 17ad, when he was gathering all of the Nephites together, “throughout all the land,” as a defense against the Gadianton robbers.  This gathering drew people from every quarter of the land of Zarahemla, which means some traveled over mountains, while others traveled predominantly over lowlands.  The scripture is not clear as to whether all of those who traveled had chariots, or if only those from selected parts of the land.

Each of these five verses utilize the term chariots in conjunction with horses.  One may therefore assume the chariots that are mentioned, were pulled by horses.  However, unlike scriptures in the Bible, no one in the Book of Mormon is ever referred to as riding in, or on a chariot.  The only time the mobility of people is spoken of in relationship to the use of horses and chariots, it has to do with people marching.  To wit:

3 Nephi 3:22 – And it came to pass in the seventeenth year, in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forth through out all the face of the land, and they had taken their horses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did march forth to the place which they had appointed...  (bold added)

Here, although chariots are mentioned, the people are said to have marched, not ridden.  This is the only reference (historical) in the Book of Mormon in which the chariots are used in conjunction with the movement of people, and then it simply states that the horses and chariots were gathered, as well as all other possessions.  It does not even state that the chariots were used to assist in moving possessions, although that does seem like a logical conclusion.

Nowhere in the Book of Mormon does it imply that chariots were used in war.  It appears that the best conclusion we can make about the use of chariots, is that they were used for carrying possessions, and even that is an assumption, as it is not stated as such.

Since the use of the wheel has never been found in Mesoamerica, (the proposed location of the Book of Mormon), there is no reason to assume the chariots mentioned in the Book of Mormon, had wheels.  Other than being on a few toys, Archaeologists have never found the use of the wheel among the Pre-Columbian people of this continent.  Not within the time frame of the Book of Mormon anyway.   And while we are at it, there is no reason to assume that the horses referred to in the Book of Mormon were the large Arabian horses that we think of when envisioning the Ben Hur type chariot.

As an aside, it may be of interest to know that no one in the Book of Mormon is ever represented as riding a horse, the paintings of Arnold Frieberg notwithstanding.  It is entirely possible that the horses the Book of Mormon mentions were not large enough to be ridden.

The picture that actually emerges, when reading all of the scriptures related to the use of chariots in the Book of Mormon is:

A non-wheeled vehicle, that is pulled by a small horse, upon which no one ever rode, and in which no one ever went to battle.  Essentially the image of a Book of Mormon chariot is that of a sled, made of two sticks, with a covering, like that which the North American Indian used.  That is more than likely the type of chariot referred to in the Book of Mormon.

The symbolism of chariots:

The term chariot is used in scripture when referring to almost any means of transportation.  In Isaiah 66:15 this great prophet, while prophesying of the coming of the Lord in the last days, writes:

“For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.” (italics added)

One need not suppose that the Lord will return in a wheeled vehicle, pulled by two Arabian horses.  Such prose by Isaiah is simply a way of saying that the Lord will be conveyed here via some method of transportation.

Such symbolism is even more clear in 3 Nephi 21:14, where the Lord is prophesying what will happen to the gentiles during the period of time immediately preceding his coming.  He states:

“Yea, wo be unto the Gentiles except they repent; for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots.”

It appears that during the last days, our methods of transportation, cars, planes, buses, trains, etc, will be useless, (cut off) to us, and we will be afoot.  Whether that is caused by the lack of fuel, destruction of roads, rails, etc, or just general chaos, the concept is clear.  We will not be using our “chariots” immediately preceding the coming of the Savior.

When understood in this context, the use of the term chariots in the Book of Mormon, should be viewed as the use of a method of transporting articles, on something drawn by horses.  We should not assume these were wheeled chariots, the kind we generally think of when conjuring up images of what Ammon was tending for King Lamoni.

The use of chariots among the Book of Mormon people, like so many other concepts in that book, were very different than those used in other parts of the world.

Horse head petroglyph carved in rock near Cedar City, Utah.

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The Mayan Calendar

By Jerry L. Ainsworth March 20, 2003

Most LDS scholars agree that the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica, and that the people of that book were related to the Maya, if not one and the same.  I and others have shown many Book of Mormon similarities to the Maya culture.  Similarities such as language, architecture, histories and geography, to name a few.  This paper is an attempt to show one additional possible similarity; the Maya calendar.

The Maya calendar actually consists of two separate, but integrated calendars.  One is referred to as the long count calendar, which consists of eighteen months of twenty days each, while the other, the short count calendar, consists of thirteen months of twenty days each.  The short count calendar was 260 days long, while the long count calendar was 365 days long.  I know that 18 x 20 amounts to only 360 days, but the Maya added a five day celebration at the end of the year, which accounted for the five “extra” days.  Adding these five extra days also allowed them to change that to six days when necessary, as the solar year is actually 365¼ days long.  Therefore, every fifth year the Maya would add six days, rather than five.  We currently call this a leap year.

That is a very brief explanation of a rather complex calendric system of the Maya, and one that played an integral part of their religious, and political beliefs and practices.  For example, when these two calendars were integrated, allowing the cycles to run concurrently, it would take 52 years for the two calendars to synchronize back to their original starting positions. 

This fifty two year cycle was extremely significant to the Maya and the date these calendars synchronized was a super new year, with grand celebrations, festivals and coronations.  It was considered somewhat of a new birth.  If the sun rose on the morning of the first day of the new 52 year cycle, it was considered a sign that the gods were pleased with them, and they would survive another 52 years.  This super new year, as well as the ushering in of any new year, was always a significant event among the Maya.  They believed that special powers and guidance were given by “the heavens” during such special times.

In some time periods and locations, the people threw out all the old and brought in everything anew.  They would break all their old dishes and make new ones.  They would even rebuild all of their public and religious buildings.  In the case of their pyramids, we see new structures super-imposed over earlier structures.  So, when a Maya pyramid is torn down, what is revealed is a number of pyramids that are built over smaller ones, which existed before.  That rebuilding generally took place every 52 years.  It is therefore clear that this 52 year event was a significant time period among the Maya.  It was also common for coronations, or victory celebrations to take place during this festive celebration.

Once again, this very brief explanation, of such a significant event of the Maya will have to suffice.  If additional information is desired relative to this process of the Maya, I recommend the following books:

THE ANCIENT MAYA by Robert Sharer, Stanford University Press, 1983.

THE MAYA by Michael Coe, Thames and Hudson, 1987.

MESOAMERICAN WRITING SYSTEMS, by Joyce Marcus, Princeton University Press, 1992.

So, the obvious question is, what has this got to do with the Book of Mormon?  I will attempt to make the case that the calendar used in the Book of Mormon, at least up until the Birth of Christ, was the Long Count Calendar, one of eighteen twenty-day months. 

The first piece of evidence I will offer is that there is never a day in the month given in the Book of Mormon, which is past twenty, as seen below.

Alma 52:1      “…first morning of the first month…”

Alma 56:1      “…second day in the first month…”

Alma 56:42 “…third day of the seventh month…”

3 Nephi 8:5    “…first month on the fourth day…”

Alma 16:1      “…fifth day of the second month…”

There are no references for the sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth days of the month.

Alma 49:1      “…on the tenth day of the eleventh month…”

There are no references for the 11 – 30 days of the month.

This in and of it self is not adequate evidence that the calendar used was one that did not have days beyond the 20^th of the month, as there is an absence of days from 11 to 20, as well as from 21 to 30.  It does however raise the possibility.  There is however additional evidence to support this thesis.

If the calendar used in the Book of Mormon was eighteen months, then why isn’t there a mention of one of those months between thirteen and eighteen?  All months from one to twelve are mentioned.  The answer to this lies in the difficulty the Urim and Thummin would have had in translating an eighteen month calendar into a twelve month calendar, without rearranging the complete dating system that Mormon presented in his abridgment.  I believe what took place in this regard, is that when the Urim and Thummin, or possibly Joseph Smith, came to these months which represented the latter part of the year, months 13-18, the terms latter end of the year, or just end of the year were inserted.

The term “latter end of the year” is used seven times, in Alma 30:6, 48:2, 48:21, 52:18, 58:38 and 3 Nephi 3:22, 4:1.  The term “end of the year is used twice, Alma 46:37 and Alma 50:40.  In fact, the difference between these terms may even be significant.  The term “latter end of the year” may refer to the months 13-17, while the “end of the year” could refer to the eighteenth month, the actual last month of the year, or literal “end” of the year.

The terms, first part of the year, or beginning of the year are not used in the Book of Mormon.  This implies to me that the use of the term “latter end of the year” served a purpose.  If it was just a desire to generalize, (which B of M and Maya folks seldom, did), then it seems they should have used a generalized term for the beginning or first of a year also, which they did not do.   The terms “latter end,” and “end of year” do seem to serve a specific function.  I suggest that function may have been to accommodate the eighteen month calendar used by the *Maya/Book of Mormon people.

Assuming this idea has merit, then it would be an interesting challenge for someone to go through the Book of Mormon to see if there are significant events occurring during the special times of these 52 year cycles.  Certainly to look at special events taking place during the first of a new year cycle.

The belief that the end of one year and the beginning of new one, were special times, where special powers were given, may have been one of the reasons Teancum chose New Years eve to sneak into the tent of the head of the Lamanite army, Amalickiah, and put a javelin through his heart. See Alma 52:1

The reason I state that the use of this calendar was discontinued with the birth of Christ, is because 3 Nephi 2:8 states that “the Nephites began to reckon their time from this period when the sign was given, or from the coming of Christ;…”  One segment of this new reckoning was their changing the first month of the year to April.  3 Nephi 8:5 indicates that the first month of the year for the Nephites was changed to April. To wit:

“And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, on the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land.”

This clearly refers to the catastrophic events, which attended the crucifixion of the Savior, on April 4.  This scripture also makes it clear that Jesus Christ was resurrected on April 6, the same day as his birth.

We therefore know that the Nephites changed their calendar at this time.  This is the reason that I suggest they may have changed away from the eighteen month calendar at this same time.

*The term Maya is a modern term that we have ascribed to a segment of the Pre-Columbian people who initially occupied the lands of MesoAmerica, south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, (the Narrow Neck of land).  This is not a term that these early inhabitants applied to themselves.  In fact, there is no agreement as to where the term, Maya came from, or how it became applied to this ancient culture.

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The ninth chapter of Moroni

Why I think it took place after the battle of Cumorah

By Jerry Ainsworth March, 2000

Moroni 9:1 makes it clear that this letter was written when Moroni was a mature person and when his father was involved in on-going battles with the Lamanites.  This excludes the following dates as possible dates of this being written:

310-362ad.  Mormon became commander of the Nephite armies in 325ad, and at that time preached unto the Nephites, which they rejected.  (Moroni was not yet born at this time).  Mormon was then forbidden to preach unto the Nephites, (see Mormon 1:16). 

Mormon again preached to the Nephites in 359ad.  Since Moroni was performing ministerial duties with his father in Moroni 9:6, I assume this event is different from Mormon 3:3, where he states that, “I did cry unto this people, but it was in vain;...”  Here Mormon states that he does the crying, not he and his son, which was the case in Moroni 9:6.  I assume these are two different events.  Also this effort of Mormon to preach took place in 359ad.  For Moroni to have been old enough to participate in this preaching, as represented in Moroni 9, he would have to have been fairly mature.  For Moroni to be this mature, he would have had to been born around 340ad, in order to be preaching with his father and receiving the mature letter he did.  If Moroni was born in or around 340ad, it would make him over 100 years old when he was walking from Utah to up-state New York.  That seems unlikely to me.

I believe Moroni was born when his father was in Moron, (Moron-i) around 350ad, which would make Moroni nine years old at the time of his father’s second attempt to preach to the Nephites, 359ad.  To me, this does not reflect the letter that Mormon is writing in Mormon 9.

From 362ad until 380ad Mormon refused to be the commander of the Nephite armies.  Since Moroni 9:2 indicates he is still battling with the Lamanites, then this letter could not have been written between 362 and 380ad. 

My calculations indicate that the contents of this letter preclude it being written before 380ad, when Mormon once again became the commander of the Nephite armies.  Mormon was permitted to preach unto the Nephites only twice, 325ad and 359ad.  He was forbidden to preach to the Nephite nation outside of those two times.  If Mormon was precluded from preaching to these people, I assume the same prohibition extended to his son Moroni. 

Since Mormon was not allowed to preach to the Nephite nation, he would not have done so when he resumed command of the armies, indeed he never mentions preaching unto them after 359ad.  There were a few battles in 380, and then Mormon called a truce with the Lamanites from 380 – 385ad.  So since the letter of Mormon refers to battles occurring while he and Moroni were preaching, this precludes 380 –385ad.  My calculations show that Mormon 9 does not refer to pre-Cumorah events.

Moroni 8 implies that Moroni was called to the Ministry by someone other than his father, and that his father was apprised of the call after it had taken place.  Had Moroni been called to the ministry in the Nephite nation, Mormon would have done the calling.  But since the Lord did not allow preaching to these people, there was no need to call Moroni to the ministry.

When Moroni was called to the ministry, Mormon found out that his son and others were having arguments over the baptism of “your little children.” (Moroni 8:5).  This could not have been in the Nephite nation as there was no one being baptized there, infant or other wise.  Plus, the use of the term, “your little children,” implies that these were children outside the Nephite nation, especially since children in the Nephite nation were not being baptized.

The only children Moroni could have been baptizing were those of the still righteous Nephites and Ammonites in the land Northward.  Mormon was not prohibited from preaching unto them.   The events of Moroni 9 fit perfectly Moroni’s call to the ministry by a Priesthood holder in the church other than Mormon.  It fits Moroni, as well as his father preaching to those not of the Nephite nation, but those in the north countries. 

And it fits Moroni 7, where Mormon preached Faith, Hope and Charity to a group of Peaceful followers of Christ, all of whom were going to the Celestial Kingdom, (Moroni 7:1-4).  We know these people, (The People of Ammon), had gone “an exceeding great distance” from the Nephite nation, which places Mormon the same distance from the Nephite nation preaching to these people.  (see Helaman 3:4)  This once again is in concert with Mormon and Moroni being far from the Political boundaries of the Nephite nation.  We know Moroni was in the North Countries when he was writing the Jaredite record, because he says so in Ether 1:1.

It appears that Moroni 7, 8, and 9 were all written after the battle of Cumorah.  That is why Moroni placed them in his book, not his father's.  They told of events outside the Nephite nation.  Indeed, when Moroni wrote Mormon 8:13, “I make an end of speaking concerning this people,..” he meant just that.  From that time forward he really does not make reference to the Nephite nation, only to the events of his ministry among the people in the land northward, those not of the Nephite nation, and therefore not covered in Mormon’s abridgment.

Further evidence of this is given when Mormon states, (Moroni 9:4), “behold I am laboring with them continually...”  Mormon never labored among the Nephite nation continually.  He labored with them for only two very brief periods of time.  Other than those brief interludes, he was forbidden by the Lord to preach to the Nephite nation.

Moroni 9:6 makes it clear that Mormon and Moroni were laboring together among a group of people, and implies they had been doing so for an extended period of time, which once again is counter-indicative of their relationship to the Nephite nation.

In Moroni 9:16-18 Mormon states that the people he is trying to protect are widows, their daughters and old women.  These were the very kinds of people that Mormon would have sent away from the battle at Cumorah.  The only people at the battle were the soldiers, their wives and their children, (those old enough to help – see Mormon 6:7).  Widows, orphans, old women, sick, infirmed, etc, were sent into the land northward to seek sanctuary with the Nephites and Ammonites who had moved there many years before.  Mormon had sent his weakest solders with these people, those unfit for battle.  This is why, when Mormon met up with them, after Cumorah, he said I “cannot any longer enforce my commands.”   (Moroni 9:18)

There is nowhere in the battles of pre-Cumorah, where we are told that the soldiers would not obey Mormon’s command.  They loved him as a commander and followed him without hesitation.  The soldiers Mormon is talking about in Moroni 9 were not his elite soldiers, they were the ones he had sent away from Cumorah to protect the widows and orphans he had sent northward.  Plus, they knew the major segment of the Nephite army had been destroyed at Cumorah, which left them little chance for success. 

Moroni 9:25 finally states that he has sacred records to give his son, and that Moroni should return and get these records, hoping that he is not discovered and killed first.  Once again, this could not have been at a time close to the battle of Cumorah, as the Nephites and Lamanites were not fighting during the five years immediately before Cumorah.  For Moroni 9 to have been written before Cumorah, Mormon would have had to write his son in 379ad, asking him to come get the records five years before the final battle.  This does not make sense to me.  Mormon had not even finished the abridgment at that time.  In fact I believe he wrote a major portion of the abridgment during those five years before the battle of Cumorah.

Mormon 6:6 indicates that Mormon did not complete his work with the plates until he got to Cumorah.  There he secreted all of the records, “save it were these few plates [24], which I gave unto my son Moroni.” 

Mormon expected to be killed at Cumorah, indeed he was left on the battle field for dead.  He had given the abridgment to his son before the battle.  Since he survived the battle, Moroni returned the plates to his father, and was then called on a mission.  Mormon kept the plates for another fifteen years, as he was being chased from Cumorah to the land Northward, (I believe to southern Utah).  It was here that he wrote his son, asking him to come get the abridgment at around 399ad.  I believe it is this event to which Moroni 9 refers.

That is my case.  It took me many hours, but I convinced six editors, including Avraham Gileadi, who is a difficult person to convince, that Moroni 9 occurred after Cumorah.  Since my interpretation runs contrary to the Pratts, Talmage and others, convincing six editors was no pushover.  But I feel I give compelling evidence for my position on Moroni 9.

Then again, I could be wrong.  I have welcomed alternate arguments in this regard, but so far those arguments have not passed muster.

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The Narrow Pass

By Jerry L. Ainsworth 22 September, 2003

The Narrow Pass

This paper is the outgrowth of an evolving process that began March 24, 2003 while driving to Palenque, Mexico with Esteban Mejia.  I knew this trip would require us to drive through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, which many people, (myself included), accept as the Narrow Neck of land mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

In my book The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, I indicated that the narrow pass began in the eastern section of the narrow neck, ending at the Pacific Ocean.  A few other writers have taken the position that the narrow pass ran into the Gulf of Mexico, and that people accessed the land northward via the northern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.  In my earlier studies of this geographical issue, I had considered the same possibility.  However once I visited this land adjacent to the gulf, I realized that the land was much too swampy to allow for passage into the land northward, (via the Gulf side).

To garner information to support such a view about the narrow pass, I decided to count the rivers and streams that ran north, to the Gulf, through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.  This would represent the number of rivers and/or streams that a person would have to cross if they accessed the land northward via that direction.  I counted twenty-four rivers or streams in the land as described.  Specifically these rivers and steams were between the cities of Coatzalcoalcos and Villerhermosa, Mexico.

After counting these rivers in the northern part of the Isthmus, I then wondered, out loud, how many rivers there were on the Pacific side of the Isthmus.  While contemplating this question it dawned on me that if dozens of rivers ran north to the Gulf and a similar number ran south to the Pacific Ocean, there must be a space close to the center of the Isthmus where there were no rivers, a continental divide.  I concluded that if this was the case, then possibly that narrow section of land, (where there were no rivers), might possibly be the narrow pass.  A section of land where people could walk from the land southward to the land northward, without having to cross a river, or at least fewer rivers.

I took this theory home with me, studied my many maps of Mexico to determine if such a theory was supported by my relief maps of that area.  I found nothing on these maps that clearly supported such a view, although I did locate a few locations that could possibly meet the criteria of this Narrow Pass theory.  I even located a number of cities in this area with the term Pass in their name, but I did not find an obvious pass.  I then knew that to resolve this issue I would have to travel to the narrow neck and personally look at these possible locations.  The remainder of this paper is a discussion of what Esteban Mejia and I discovered during that visit to the Isthmus in September of 2003.

Before presenting that experience, I wish to define a number of terms, as well as present the scriptures that refer to the Narrow Pass and other contiguous boundaries related to this investigation.

Definitions, according to Webster’s dictionary:

Pass – A way through or on which one can move or travel.

Passage – A path, channel, or corridor through, over, or along which something may    

                 pass.

Desolate – Devoid of inhabitants. Unfit for habitation.

Desolation – Wasteland

Three Book of Mormon references to the Narrow Pass

Alma 50:34

And it came to pass that they, [Moroni’s army], did not head them until they had come to the borders of the land Desolation; and there they did head them, by the narrow pass which led by the sea into the land northward, yea by the sea, on the west and on the east.

Alma 52:9

And he [Moroni] also sent orders unto him [Teancum] that he should fortify the land Bountiful, and secure the narrow pass which led into the land northward, lest the Lamanites should obtain that point and should have power to harass them on every side.

Mormon 3:5

And it came to pass that I [Mormon] did cause my people that they should gather themselves together at the land Desolation, to a city which was in the borders, by the narrow pass which led into the land southward.

One Book of Mormon reference to the Narrow Passage

Mormon 2:29

And the Lamanites did give unto us the land northward, yea, even to the narrow passage which led into the land southward.  And we did give the Lamanites all the land southward.

Book of Mormon references to a day’s journey, as well as a day and a half journey:

Helaman 4:7

And there [the land of Bountiful] they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day’s journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country.

Alma 22:32

And now, it was only the distance of a day and a half’s journey for a Nephite, on the line Bountiful and the land Desolation, from the east to the west sea; …

Alma 22:30

And it [Bountiful] bordered upon the land they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it being the place of their first landing.

Conclusions drawn from these definitions and scriptures:

1. There is both a pass as well as a passage through which people could travel, indeed the gateway, from the land northward to the land southward, or vice versa.
2. This pass and passage were the demarcation that separated the land southward and land northward as divided by Mormon in 350ad.  It appears the pass and the passage were two separate places.  Mormon was very precise in what he wrote.
3. The land Desolation was a segment of land that was unfit for, and devoid of habitation.  A wasteland.
4. The land Desolation bordered the land Bountiful on the east, while its west border extended from the western side of the Isthmus into the land northward so far that it came to the location of the final battle of the Jadeites.  The same location where the 43 soldiers of King Limhi discovered the remaining bones of that battle, as well as the 24 plates of Ether.  (Depending on where you consider that location to be, known as Cumorah, the land of Desolation extends that far northward.)
5. The border that separated the land Desolation from the land Bountiful began at the west sea, (Pacific Ocean), went north and then turned east, but did not reach the east sea.
6. It took a day and a half for a Nephite to walk the complete border, (referred to as a line), that separated these two lands, Bountiful and Desolation
7. This boundary that separated Desolation and Bountiful is referred to as a line.
8. The portion of this border/line, (separating Bountiful and Desolation), that required fortification to keep Lamanites from entering the land Desolation, took a day for a Nephite to walk.  Assumedly one third of the border, (a ½ day’s walk), did not require fortification.

Scriptures indicating cities in, or close to the land of Desolation:

Mormon 3:5-8

And it came to pass that I [Mormon] did cause my people that they should gather themselves together at the land Desolation, to a city which was in the borders, by the narrow pass which led into the land southward.

And there we did place our armies, that we might stop the armies of the Lamanites, that they might not get possession of any of our lands; therefore we did fortify against them with all our force.

And it came to pass that in the three hundred and sixty and first year the Lamanites did come down to the city of Desolation to battle against us; and it came to pass that in that year we did beat them, insomuch that they did return to their own lands again.

And in the three hundred and sixty and second year they did come down again to battle.  And we did beat them again, and did slay a great number of them, and their dead were cast into the sea.

Mormon 4:2-3

And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites were driven back again to the land of Desolation.  And while they were yet weary, a fresh army of the Lamanites did come upon them; and they had a sore battle, insomuch that the Lamanites did take possession of the city Desolation, and did take many prisoners.

And the remainder did flee and join the inhabitants of the city Teancum.  Now the city Teancum lay in the borders by the seashore; and it was also near the city Desolation.

Mormon 4:6-8

And it came to pass that the Lamanites did make preparations to come against the city Teancum.

And it came to pass in the three hundred and sixty and fourth year the Lamanites did come against the city of Teancum, that they might take possession  of the city Teancum, also.

…and [the Nephites]  took possession again of the city Desolation.

Mormon 4:13-14

And it came to pass that the Lamanites did take possession of the city Desolation, and this because their number did exceed the number of the Nephites.

And they did also march forward against the city Teancum, and did drive the inhabitants forth out of her, and did take many prisoners both women and children, and did offer them up as sacrifices unto their idol gods.

Mormon 4:19

And it came to pass that the Lamanites did come down against the city Desolation; and there was an exceedingly sore battle fought in the land Desolation, in the which they did beat the Nephites.

Conclusions from these scriptures, related to cities:

1. Mormon mentions two cities in, or close to the land of Desolation.  The city of Desolation and the city of Teancum.
2. Neither of these city names appears until after 350ad, when the lands were divided between the Nephites and Lamanites at the narrow pass.  The cities are mentioned by name only after the Nephites possessed that land.
3. The city Desolation was in the western border of the land Desolation, the land northward. (It was in the land given to the Nephites after the division of land in 350ad.)
4. The city Desolation was very well fortified.
5. The city Desolation was located in the lowlands, as the Lamanites always came down to it.
6. The city Teancum was close to the city Desolation, while being in the land Desolation proper.
7. The city Teancum was close to, or on the seashore, (Pacific Ocean).  Later in this paper I will develop the idea that this may be the meaning of the name Teancum.
8. There were numerous and significant battles that took place in and around these two cities.  Lamanites killed in these battles were cast into the sea, so these cities were close to the ocean.
9. It seems apparent that of the two cities (related to Desolation), that the Lamanites were trying to control, (cities of Desolation and Teancum), the city of Desolation was the most important.  I assume the reason for this, is that the city of Desolation was more strategically located than Teancum.

Given the conclusions described above, I, with Esteban Mejia drove to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, where we explored locations for the first week of September, 2003.  Specifically we intended to discover the narrow pass, the narrow passage, the boundaries of Desolation and Bountiful, and the cities of Desolation and Teancum.

It may be helpful to mention how we proceeded to locate the sites we were searching for, (i.e. the narrow pass, borders of Desolation and the cities of Desolation and Teancum.)

There were four sources of information we used for this investigation.  The Book of Mormon itself, relief maps of Mexico, historical and archaeological maps and descriptions of this area, interviews with people of the Isthmus and personal visits.  We specifically spoke with archaeologists who were working at sites in this area, as well as many “old timers,” those who could tell us why they built a road or train track in a certain location, (i.e. did either follow an ancient route or pass.)  It should also be of interest to mention that Esteban and I have discovered that frequently current borders, (of states, etc.), conform to, or approximate, ancient political borders.  (For example the northern border of the state of Chiapas probably conforms to, or approximates the northern border of the land Bountiful in the Book of Mormon. This may also be true for the western border of the state of Chiapas.)

Our first day of driving took us from Puebla, Mexico to the small town of Matias Romero, Oaxaca where we spent the night.  Before going to bed we spoke with the owner of the hotel, (Hotel Real ISTMO), and asked him if he knew anything about the areas we were interested in.  He mentioned that Mexico was building a new road in the southern part of the Isthmus and while doing so had run into some ancient ruins, which required them to divert the road.  He suggested that we visit the Casa de Cultura in Ixtepec for that information.

The following day we drove to Ixtepec (40 meters above sea level), and while searching for the Casa de Cultura, we discovered a place where workers were putting together potshards, from the ancient site the new road had encountered.  While speaking with the people working on this pottery, we were introduced to the archaeologist in charge, Gloria Bifano.  She provided us with additional information about other ancient sites in this area.  She indicated that in the early 1930s a number of sites in the Isthmus had been discovered and explored, but not excavated.  When sites are excavated and left unattended, they degrade rather rapidly.  Much more so than if they are left covered by growth.  And since the Isthmus is not a tourist area, there was no incentive to excavate these sites.  However we were told that the record of these early excavations was housed in the Casa de Cultura, if we wished to read them.

Gloria mentioned two sites in particular.  One was a site close to the city of Juchitan, (18 meters above sea level), which was named El Basurero, because it was discovered by the city garbage dump.  Archaeologists have since provided the name of Lagua Zope for this site.  The second site was at the foothills of the Sierra de Mixes, which is about eight miles west of the city of Tehuantepec.  The name of this site is Guingola, which means split rock.  The site, which has the traditional Pre-Columbian public buildings and pyramids, is located half way up a very step hill.  Treacherous cliffs and ravines flank it and the remainder of the city boundaries has a large stone fortification that protect it.

Guingola is located at the entrance of the highway into the highlands of Mexico, (the land northward).  It is strategically located to protect/control access to this major thoroughfare.   Very little of this site has been excavated, although the large public buildings are visible. In book of Mormon language this city would be located in the borders of the land Desolation, and is a perfect candidate for the city of Desolation.

When we drove to this site we had breakfast with a family that lives at the base of the hill upon which the site is located.  The father of this family acts as an unofficial guide to the few who visit the site.  Since Esteban is a licensed guide in Mexico, they developed an immediate friendship and he shared many things with us.

We then ran into the INAH archaeologist who is working at the site and he shared with us what he knew about the area.  He indicated it was a pre-classic site, (around 300bc) and was inhabited throughout classic and pre-classic times.

This site was still inhabited when the Aztecs were conquering the pre-Columbian cultures of southern Mexico.  They laid siege to the site of Guingola for sixty days, but were unable to conquer it.  They therefore abandoned their assault of Guingola.  This battle marked the southern most part of their conquest, which kept the Aztecs from conquering the Maya of the Peten area and highlands of Guatemala.

When visiting the Casa de Cultura, we were told of the two typed papers that contained the history of the early exploration of these sites.  We therefore had them make  photocopies of these *papers for us.  (*see end of article)    

Guingola is located about eight miles northwest of the city of Tehuantepec.  We were also told of a pre-classic ruin site close to the city of Juchitan, (pronounced Huchitan), which is about twenty five miles Northeast of Guingola.  While Tehuantepec is about fifty meters above sea level, Juchitan is only eighteen meters above sea level.  During the short time we were in this area, we were led to believe that the ruin site close to Juchitan would have been on the coast during Book of Mormon times.

These two ruin sites, appear to meet the criteria to be considered the cities of Desolation and Teancum.  Guingola, (our candidate for Desolation), is located at the location that would be considered the borders of Desolation and the land northward.  While the ruin site close to Juchitan meets all the criteria for the city of Teancum.  Of these two sites, Guingola is much more strategically located than the other, and is very well fortified.

As indicated in my book, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, I believe the term ancum is Jaredite for ocean, (see page 262).  In the Zapoteca, Maya language, Te or Ta indicate the end of something.  Teancum (Te-ancum), could therefore mean the city that was located at the end of the ocean, (on the coast of the Pacific Ocean).  Note – There are over twenty different Maya dialects which exist today.  Zapoteca is one of those dialects. Those natives who occupy the cities in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec speak Zapoteca.

While driving back to Ixtepec we were surprised to find that the major highway had been blocked and therefore closed down by demonstrators.  Trucks were backed up for miles, and when we asked how long such a protest could last, we were told “possibly days.”  It was just our luck to run into a small revolution during our search.  We were however successful in finding an old dirt road that by-passed the closed highway.

The following day we visited the train station in Ixtepec as we had been told that the train tracks had been laid through a small pass that ran through the small mountain range that bisected the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, making passage of the area difficult.

This small mountain range is called Sierra Atravesata.  The term Atravesata comes from the Spanish word Atravesar, which means to be in the way, or to block a way or a path.  This range of mountains runs east – west and traverses the narrow neck.  In order to travel from the Book of Mormon land southward to the land northward, one must pass through, or go over this mountain range.  Therefore the obvious thing to look for would be a pass through this mountain range, which was the purpose of our questions to many people we spoke with.  The Sierra Atravesata averages 250 meters in height, while the highest point is 650 meters.

It became obvious to us that there are currently only two passes through this mountain range.  One was the route that the highway followed, which had some steep climbs and descents to it.  The other was the pass the train track followed.  This track was laid through a very narrow and meandering pass through the Sierra Atravesata. 

We then tried very hard to rent a plane to fly us over this area.  To do so however required our having to have a plane fly to the area from many miles away.  The plane would have had to land at a militarily controlled airport, and would have cost thousands of dollars.  We gave up on that idea and decided to see if we could persuade those who ran the train to take us instead.

We therefore spoke to the man in charge of the train station in the city of Ixtepec.  (These are not passenger trains, but cargo units only.)  Ixtepec was one of the switching stations.  Esteban, in his magical way convinced the Jefe of the trains to allow me to ride on the front of the locomotive, taking pictures of the narrow pass as the train went through it, a distance of about 12 miles, (21 kilometers). 

I therefore took my two cameras, climbed on the locomotive and was able to have a clear view of the narrow pass, as the train snaked through it.  It had many twists and turns, but did indeed pass through the lowest areas of the Sierra Atravesata.  The train track itself was half way up the sides of the small pass, as there was a small stream at the very bottom of the pass.  There was so much growth in the bottom of the pass that it was hard to actually see if there was an ancient path there or not.  At some point I wish to return and walk this 12 miles to see if there are remnants of an ancient path.  As it stands right now, this is the best candidate I know of for the narrow pass mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

The pass actually begins at a small town named Mena, and ends, twenty one kilometers later, at a place called Chivela.  At this small town the engineer stopped the train and dropped me off – in someone’s back yard I might add.  I stayed there until Esteban picked me up, as he had driven the distance on the highway and then cut over to the little town where I was dropped off.

The pass was very different from what I had always envisioned, but it did meet the criteria of being a narrow pass that leads from the land southward into the land northward.  The Pass is rather shaped like an  S, and as odd as it may sound, in order to go through this into the land southward, you must travel north.  In order to take the pass into the land northward, you must ravel south. (see maps and schematic # ?)

Once you are through this narrow pass, there is a wider corridor (narrow passage) that continues to run north for another 15-20 miles.  It is not necessary to stay in that corridor, as you can turn east as soon as you come out of the narrow pass, and travel into the land Bountiful.  However, Mormon mentions that the narrow passage served as the boundary for Mormon’s division of the land with the Lamanites in 350ad.  At the time Mormon wrote this, I assume that the Narrow Pass went from the Pacific Ocean to the other side of the mountain range, Sierra Atravesata.  At the end of that pass, a narrow passage, (bounded by low hills), then continues through the marshland towards, possibly the Gulf of Mexico.  These two passages, going from ocean to ocean, provided a clear boundary between the lands of the Nephites and Lamanites, as agreed to in 350ad.

Assuming we have located the narrow pass and narrow passage, the distance for this demarcation of the lands southward and northward was about 30-35 miles.  This was more than likely also the width of the narrow neck, (at it’s most narrow place), during book of Mormon days.  Especially since you could walk the line that divides Bountiful and Desolation in a day and a half, a distance of about 35-40 miles.  (see Alma 22:32). 

Narrow Pass Possibilities:

Assuming I am correct about the Isthmus of Tehuantepec being the narrow neck, two possibilities have been put forth related to the narrow pass in this narrow neck. 

1. Some argue that the whole area of the Sierra Atravesata, (small mountain range that bisects the narrow neck), is the narrow pass mentioned in the Book of Mormon.  This would mean that the narrow pass would actually be the total area between the mountain ranges east of the Isthmus and the mountain range west of the Isthmus.  Given this interpretation, the pass would be around sixty miles wide and a person could pass through it at almost any location along that sixty mile width. 

     Such a view would mean that the term “narrow pass” would be a relative   

     term, meaning narrow in relation to the other parts of the Nephite/Lamanite

     territories.  This argument essentially says that the narrow neck is the narrow pass. 

     There are two reasons I believe this is not the case:

1. The narrow pass, combined with the narrow passage constituted the boundary that separated the Nephite and Lamanite territories in the treaty of 350ad. (see Mormon 2:29)  Given that, it is hard to believe that the dividing boundary was sixty miles wide. 
2. The second argument that would disallow this scenario, would be that the ocean, during Book of Mormon times, came all the way inland, so as to reach the foothills of the Sierra Atravisata.  In such a case, crossing the mountain range at the wrong location would place you at the foothills of the mountains, descending directly into the ocean.  This would make it next to impossible to then travel westward, along the ocean/mountain interface to the route that leads into the highlands of Mexico, the land northward.

2. I am therefore left with only one option, an actual narrow pass that runs through the Sierra Atravisata, emptying close to the route that leads to the route to the highlands of Mexico.  Such a narrow pass appears to be the most likely option to me, as demonstrated in map #?

I believe the narrow pass is indeed the narrow area through which the train track runs, from Mena to Chivela, Oaxaca, Mexico.  I also believe the narrow passage is a corridor that begins at Chivela (north end of the narrow pass), and runs due north for about twenty miles.  This passage then runs directly into the swamp lands that were known as Tlapalco in Pre-Columbian days, possibly extending all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Line that separates Desolation and Bountiful:

Mormon refers to the boundary that separates the lands Desolation and Bountiful as a line.  As hard as I tried, I could not locate any geographical demarcation of this area, (river, mountain range, etc.) that would constitute a “line.”  There may be one, but I could not locate any candidates on a map of Mexico.  However the boundary that currently separates the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas does run in a rather straight line, from south to north and then turns east, just as the Bountiful/Desolation line mentioned in the Book of Mormon does.  I do not know why the boundary that separates these two states takes this linear route, but given no acceptable alternative, I am prepared to accept this line as the ancient line that separated Bountiful and Desolation.

Assuming the ocean extended from the current coast inland, so as to reach the mountain ranges, which I believe it did, the distance of this line, from the ocean to the east swamp is about the distance a Nephite could walk in a day and a half, (around 35-40 miles).

I believe the “line” that separated the lands Bountiful and Desolation is essentially the same line that separates the states of Chiapas and Oaxaca today.

After writing the above observations, I studied the matter for weeks, finally referring to archaeological maps that mark the easternmost boundary of the Maya nation.  Every map that I consulted drew the same boundary as mentioned above, an artificial line that traverses mountains, being the exact same location as the boundary which separates the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas.  And finally I figured out this line, the boundary between these two states, that appears to make no sense at all, at first glance.

As shown on page 98 of my book, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, The Lamanites, (Highland Maya), were deeded the tops of the mountains for their nation, where they built their major cities.  The Nephites, (Lowland Maya), were ceded the lowlands.  The land between these geographical opposites were, by agreement, not developed, either by the Nephites or the Lamanites. These mountain slopes were viewed as wilderness and were occupied by the Gadianton robbers. (3 Nephi 1:27)

This “treaty” is implicit in the Book of Mormon, but never stated as such.  However the same distinction appears to have existed between the Highland Maya (Lamanites) and the Lowland Maya, (Nephites).  In both cases the western most boundary of these two nations appear to have been at the same location.  The question is why at that location?

The answer to this question lies in the conundrum these two enemies faced.  The narrow neck, the land Desolation had a modest amount of both of the characteristics dividing the nations.  The area was composed of a mountain range as well as a significant portion of lowlands.  The mountain range, Sierra Atravesata, already mentioned, was a very low mountain range, and ran transverse to the mountain ranges that surrounded the central basin of Mexico.  If the Lamanites were to be granted the tops of all the mountains, and the narrow neck was part of this treaty, then they would have to be deeded the mountainous part of the narrow neck, which would grant them control of the exit of the land Southward. 

Under these circumstances, the Lamanites would occupy, and control, three of the Nephite boundaries, the fourth boundary being the ocean.  Given those choices, the Nephites must have arranged to have the Lamanite/Nephite territories end where these lands buttressed the Sierra Atravesata.  Under these conditions, the line that separates Bountiful from Desolation would be an artificial line that separates one mountain range (Atravesata), from the mountain ranges where the Lamanites were deeded the top portion.

It appears that this Book of Mormon line/boundary continued after the demise of the Nephite nation in 385ad, and was still in use during the Classic period of the Maya nation.  This same boundary appears to have been adopted as the separation of the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas of Mexico.

Boundary of the west side of the land Desolation:

The western side of the land Desolation is never mentioned in the Book or Mormon, as it relates to lands occupied by the Nephites, etc.  The only references in the Book of Mormon indicate that fortified cities were close to, or at this western boundary, and that the land Desolation extended into the land northward far enough to reach the boundaries of the land where the final Jaredite battle took place, the land called Cumorah by Mormon.  (see Alma 22:30)

Realizing how far this land/hill Cumorah was from the land Desolation itself, this particular facet of Desolation always confused me.  I simply could not appreciate how

Desolation could extend that far into the land northward, even given the concept of desolate implying the absence of trees. (see Helaman 3:5)

As mentioned in The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, (page 67) the northern part of the Isthmus, as well as its extension eastward and westward was known as Tlapalco, an ancient Nahuatl term meaning flooded, wet or wasteland.  An area that was uninhabitable. 

The northern part of the Isthmus, anciently known as Tlapalco, is now primarily the state of Vera Cruz, and some of Tobasco.  That area extends all the way to the mountain range that hosts the city of Jalapa.  Some of this area is still so marshy that it is to some degree uninhabitable.  With each passing year, more of this land is rescued from its marshy state, and is turned into productive farm land, but it is still marginally marshland.

On one occasion Esteban’s daughter, Ixchel was traveling by bus from Puebla to Cancun, and as such had to pass through this very swampy area, traveling on well paved and built-up highways.  It had rained for three days prior to her bus trip and when they reached the city of  Palenque the bus had to stop and wait for two days, allowing the rain water to recede from these wetlands.  People who lived in this northern part of the Isthmus had moved their belongings to the dry parts of the highway, where they lived until the waters receded.  Although this land is becoming increasingly dried out and habitable, it is still marginal, as far as human habitation.  This state of Vera Cruz was the northwestern part of the land Desolation, and extended as far north as Jalapa.  As with the state, the land Desolation extended to the borders of the land of Cumorah.

The last boundary of the land Desolation is the southwest border.  I believe the only way that border can be discovered is by discovering the city of Desolation, which was in the boundaries of the land Desolation.  If the ruin site of Guingola is indeed the city of Desolation, then the southwestern border must have extended very close to this ancient ruin site.

Having the southwestern boundary at this location is defensible, as the steep mountain range that is part of the Mexico highlands begins at this location.  Also this is where the ancient “highway” began that followed the river Tihuantepec, into the land northward. The southwestern segment of the land Desolation would have extended to the major mountain range in this area of the Isthmus, the real entrance into the land northward.

REFERENCES:

DE JUCHITAN OAXACA –Leyenda, Tradicion y Poesia

by Ursulino Rueda Saynez

ARQUEOLOGIA Y LA EPOCA PREHSPANICA EN EL SUR DEL ISTMO DE TEHUANTEPEC

by Judith Francis Zeitlin and

Robert N. Zeitlin

Department of Anthropology

Brandeis University

Waltham, Massachusetts, USA

I'll insert a recent article about the Narrow Passage immediately below.

The Narrow Passage

In the Book of Mormon

by

Jerry L. Ainsworth

30 April, 2006

The term “narrow passage” only appears once in the Book of Mormon, (Mormon 2:29). The term “narrow pass” appears three times, (Alma 50:34. Alma 52:34 and Mormon 3:5).  During the forty years I have been studying the Book of Mormon it never really dawned on me that these were two separate terms.  And when it did dawn on me, I assumed they were used interchangeably by Mormon.  I have since learned that is not the case, as Mormon was too good of a historian to interchange words that had separate meanings. 

As everyone who has read the Book of Mormon knows, there was a narrow pass that connected the land southward with the land northward.  This narrow pass was located in the narrow neck of land mentioned so frequently in the Book of Mormon.  Although the narrow pass was in the narrow neck, it did not bisect that strip of land.

In 350ad, due to continual military losses to the Lamanites, Mormon decided to enter a truce with the Lamanites in which they would be granted all of the land south of the narrow neck and the Nephites would be granted the land north of the narrow neck, (see (Mormon 3:5).  As with all treaties, there would have to be clear boundaries established separating these two warring nations – which had been in various states of war for the previous nine hundred years.

The obvious line of demarcation would be the narrow pass, as it ran from the land south of the narrow neck, to the land north of that same neck of land.  The obvious question therefore is why Mormon did not use the narrow pass as the border of separation?  I discovered the answer to this question in 2004 when a friend and I went looking for the narrow pass, which we ultimately found.

Once Esteban and I discovered the narrow pass, four things became clear, related to the treaty that Mormon established in 350ad:

1. The narrow pass did not bisect the narrow neck, as it only ran eleven miles in a narrow neck that was around thirty-five miles wide.
2. The narrow pass therefore could not be the border agreed on for the treaty, as it was not long enough.
3. Once you emerge from the southward segment of the narrow pass, there was a narrow corridor that continued running from that pass, to the Gulf of Mexico.
4. The narrow pass ran through a small mountain range, (cerro Atravesada), while the narrow corridor, (the narrow passage), did not.  It was simply a corridor, a passage that people followed when traveling toward the Gulf.

As we contemplated Mormon’s use of the term “narrow passage,” it became clear to us that he used this term, to designate the pass/passage, which ran from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, to serve as the boundary line separating these two warring nations.  It appears that in Mormon’s lexicon, a narrow pass can be part of a narrow passage, but not the other way around.

The exclusive use of the term “narrow passage,” by Mormon once again shows how precise the Book of Mormon is, and how he used this term correctly.

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I spotted the following article posted somewhere on the internet and because it appears if the article is correctly referenced and quoted that the "wagonloads" of Nephite records yet to be revealed are in the hill near Palmyra, New York, I ran it by Jerry. His response appears below the article.

In the Journal of Discourses published by the LDS Church, Brigham Young related:

Brigham Young, on June 17, 1877, related the following: "I lived right in the country where the plates were found from which the Book of Mormon was translated, and I know a great many things pertaining to that country. I believe I will take the liberty to tell you of another circumstance that will be as marvelous as anything can be. This is an incident in the life of Oliver Cowdery, that he did not take the liberty of telling such things in meeting as I take.

"I tell these things to you, and I have a motive for doing so. I want to carry them to the ears of my brethren and sisters, and to the children also, that they may grow to an understanding of some things that seem to be entirely hidden from the human family. Oliver Cowdery went with the Prophet Joseph when he deposited these plates. Joseph did not translate all of the plates; there was a portion of them sealed, which you can learn from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. When Joseph got the plates, the angel instructed him to carry them back to the Hill Cumorah, which he did.

"Oliver says that when Joseph and Oliver went there, the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room. He says he did not think, at the time, whether they had the light of the sun or artificial light, but that it was just as light as day. They laid the plates on a table; it was a large table that stood in the room. Under this table there was a pile of plates as much as two feet high, and there were altogether in this room more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in corners and along the walls.

"The first time they went there the SWORD OF LABAN hung upon the wall; but when they went again it had been taken down and laid upon the table across the gold plates; it was unsheathed, and on it was written these words: 'This sword will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ." I tell you this is coming not only from Oliver Cowdery, but others who were familiar with it, and who understood it... I take the liberty of referring to those things so they will not be forgotten and lost." (19 Journal of Discourses 38)

Jerry's response to the above article:

Marcel:

 

Whoever wrote this is either intellectually lazy, or so biased that he or she chooses not to search for the truth, probably having a hidden agenda.

 

This statement by Brigham is universally used by those who want Cumorah to be in up-state New York, however, they should read Heber C. Kimball's modifying statement.  When addressing Brigham's statement(s), Heber says that what happened with Joseph and Oliver was a vision, not an actual physical visitation. (See Journal of Discourses, 4:105, Wilford Woodruff Journal Dec. 11, 1869, and William H. Dane Diary, Jan. 14, 1855.) It is rather like visions that so many had, when they were taken in the spirit someplace: Lehi, Nephi, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Moroni, et. al. to name a few.

 

This is all addressed on pages 122-124 in my book.  I have a very large file of the seven different versions of that "vision" given in seven separate journals.  The bottom line is that Joseph and Oliver were taken there in the spirit, and not physically, and the sword was not resting on Mormon's abridgment, but on a set of plates.  My guess is they were the plates of Laban, as that was his sword.

 

Jerry

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The Meaning of Ancum

The meaning of ANCUM

To help in understanding the characteristics of the land of Cumorah

by

Jerry L. Ainsworth

1 May, 2006

For the past three years I have undertaken to define as many of the names in the Book of Mormon as possible.  Names that are unique to this book, and not found in an existing dictionary.  One of the first things I learned in this effort, was that the majority of personal names have geographical meanings.  In other words, once the name is understood, it reveals some geographical information about that individual.

Mormon tells us that although his father’s name was Mormon, he was not named after his father, but after the land of Mormon, (see 4 Nephi 1:5 and 3 Nephi 5:12).  I have theorized that Moroni was named after the city of Moron, (Moron-i)Gadianton named for where they lived, (the middle of the mountains), and Teancum from where he was born, (or raised), on the coast, etc.

By understanding the meaning of these names, we can gain more clarity about the geography of the Book of Mormon.  It is in this context that I wish to consider the root term “ancum.”   It appears in three names in the Book of Mormon, one having to do with the location of the land of Cumorah.

We know the Jaredites finished their final battle in the land of Cumorah.  A reading of Ether 15:8 indicates they used the term Ripliancum in describing this location.  Therefore, by understanding the meaning of Ripliancum, we may gain greater insight into the location of the land of Cumorah, where the demise of the Jaredite nation, and later, the Nephite nation took place.

Lehi, on his sojourn to the American continent, arrived on the coast of the ocean.  In

1 Nephi 17:5, Nephi tells us, “And we beheld the sea, which we called Irreantum, which, being interpreted, is many waters.”  Use of the term “many waters,” in the Book of Mormon, always refers to the ocean, (see 1 Nephi 13:12).

It is my contention that Ripliancum is the Jaredite equivalent of the Nephite term, Irreantum.  1 Nephi 17:5 makes it clear that the term Irreantum is referring to the ocean.   Nephi even defines this term as being “many waters,”  (the ocean).  The Jaredite record attempts the same clarity by using the name Ripliancum, and then he also gives an interpretation of the term, “..that he came to the waters of Ripliancum, which by interpretation, is large, or to exceed all”).  The only body of water I know that is large enough to exceed all, is the ocean.  In other words the place where the Jaredites and later the Nephites had their final battles, was adjacent to the ocean.

As additional support for this view, I offer the two other uses of this root term, “ancum.”

In the fourth chapter of Mormon, he refers to the city Teancum four times.  Mormon tells us that this city is on the borders of the ocean.  Precisely how close to the ocean is shown in Mormon 3:8 where we are told that the bodies of the dead Lamanites, from these battles around the city Teancum, “were cast into the sea.”

You’ll notice that this city is not referred to as the City OF Teancum, as use of the word OF, would imply it was named after someone.  Rather, the use of the term Teancum, is descriptive of the geographical location of this city.

In Zapotecan Maya, the term “te” means “the end of.”  Since I believe the term ancum refers to waters of the ocean, the term Te-ancum would mean, “The end of the ocean.”  Another way of saying, on the coast of the ocean.  The warrior named Teancum could have been born or raised at this city, or some other location on the coast.

In Ether 2:13 we find an additional use of this root term, as quoted below:

“And now I proceed with my record; for behold, it came to pass that the Lord did bring Jared and his brethren forth even to that great sea which divideth the lands.  And as they came to the sea they pitched their tents; and they called the name of the place Moriancumer; and they dwelt in tents, and dwelt in tents upon the seashore for the space of four years.”

In my book The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni I explain why I have concluded that Mori means West (see page 262).  The name Moriancumer would therefore mean the western part of our lands by the ocean.

This is a very long winded way of saying that the term Ripliancum does not refer to lakes, swamps or rivers, but to the ocean.  The land and hill Cumorah are therefore adjacent to the ocean.

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Surviving Death and Snakes - El Jefe's close encounter at Cumorah3

An extract from Dr. Ainsworth's book The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni

Esteban & Jose at Cumorah3 - El Jefe on the camera

....After that, Jose and Esteban, and I decided to visit the hill that Jose considered to be the Hill Cumorah. Rather presumptuously we set out to discover the ancient Nephite library that was purportedly in the hill. With that lofty goal in mind, we began to climb a hill we called Cumorah3.

We decided to ascend its most difficult side, climbing up sheer cliffs. We had armed ourselves with backpacks, strong ropes, canteens, and machetes, so we felt well equipped.

We climbed for five hours, twice changing our strategy because of impassable terrain. Failing to reach the summit before sunset, we found ourselves stranded on the cliff face 800 feet up. We realized we'd have to spend the night there, so we located a small crevice in the cliff's side.

Using our machetes, we made a platform to sleep on. In our cramped condition much of our gear, and our legs, dangled over the cliff's edge. Before settling down for the night, we read from the Book of Mormon and prayed. We were prepared to make the best of a difficult situation.

Two hours into the night, it began to rain, the rain increasing in intensity. Soaking wet, we watched the beginnings of a waterfall coming down the crevice we were lying in.

We began to pray in earnest. Each of us took a turn, after which the rain worsened. Then came lightning and thunder. The whole night sky filled with the flashing of the lightning and the howling of the storm. The rainwater running down the crevice turned into a torrent. It washed away some of our gear and weakened the ropes and tree limbs we had tied together to make a platform.

Lightning bolts hit the side of the cliff, and rocks began to bounce and tumble down near us. We quickly realized that the next rock slide could happen right above us and that would be the end of us.

Of course no one knew where we were or how we got there. Certainly, no one would ever find our remains if we were going to be swept away, as the hill was in a very remote area of Mexico.

Then, just as I had accepted the idea that I was going to die, Jose stood up and with arms stretched upward began pleading and commanding in a language I didn't know. He did this in four directions. At the fourth instance, the rain and storm stopped instantly and the sky cleared. I later heard from Esteban of other instances in which Jose's prayers had been answered in the same manner.

When the sun rose the next morning, we decided to return home. Most of our food and much of our gear had been swept away and we had little water left. It became urgent for us to find the way back to our car as quickly as possible.

We tried to return in a different direction to avoid a large snake we had encountered on our way to the hill. Jose had hit its huge head hard from behind with his machete as it stared threateningly at me, but his machete had simply glanced off. We believed the wounded snake would pursue us if we returned along the same path we had taken.

In our attempts to avoid the snake, however, we soon became lost. Esteban and I followed Jose, believing he could find his way through the jungle. We walked all day in oppressive heat and ran out of water.

As the sun began to set a second time, we again became extremely concerned for our welfare. I had a packet of cinnamon rolls left over and we stopped to eat them, but we couldn't swallow because we couldn't produce saliva.

When I had once more almost given up hope, Jose spotted a pond over a mile downhill from where we were. We took off running for the pond. We jumped in with the cows, drinking the muddy water as though it issued from a crystal spring. Standing in the pond, we stripped off our clothes and picked more than a hundred ticks from our bodies.

It would be several more years before we successfully ascended that hill. Oddly enough, each time we did so we had similar close encounters with death that required all our energies to deal with. For that reason we were never actually able to explore the object of our going there.

We believe that the hill remains taboo at this time...

Jerry's response to an inquiry for details October 11, 2006: