15 The line between Bountiful and Desolation that was owned by the Nephites separated these two places. Jaredites had a true civilization from about. 3. West sea land Bountiful was located north of the narrow strip of wilderness and bordered on the west sea until it came to the “line” between Bountiful and desolation hereafter denoted line. Or, that the Jaredites, themselves, were larger than the normal men of Mesopotamia. After leaving the wilderness of Akish for the last time, the Jaredites never returned to the destroyed areas again, but instead continued northward to a more populated area (Hedges, 2009). Both of these examples support defense tactics that would have logically compelled the Jaredites to initially choose an area to settle that was higher in elevation than the surrounding areas. Although the body of work that is dedicated to the history and account of the Jaredite people is only a fraction of the overall text of the Book of Mormon, cardinal directions, descriptions of specific locations, and references to Nephite locations are used throughout the brief body of work. The precedence for such an interpretation is established in Ether 7:9 when Ephraim fought against his brother Corihor, “…And after he had armed them with swords he returned to the city Nehor and gave battle unto his brother Corihor, by which means he obtained the kingdom and restored it unto his father Kib.” Kib had previously been king of Moron until his son usurped his power and dethroned him. Some may suggest that a remote possibility would have been within the Maya mainly in the area of the Mirador Basin, Guatemala, where millions of Maya lived about that time period. 4. Their language was not confused as were others. If I understand correctly, this was hundreds of years after Lehi and his family arrived in the Americas. Ether 6:5 states the Jaredite barges were propelled by a furious wind that “did never cease to blow towards the promised land” (vs.8). You will find this very place: the narrow neck of land and the place where the sea divides the land. Joseph Smith also believed that the events of the Book of Mormon occurred in Central America. Coriantumr builds up his army for two years in the wilderness of Akish and then attacks Lib in Moron (Ether 14:7,11). The distinction signifies that the location to which Omer took his family was a lot farther away from Moron than all the other locations mentioned in conjunction with Moron throughout the book of Ether. The Jaredites were "destroyed" upon the face of the "North face" of their "land of Promise".----------------------, Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl recorded the following: “The men made a very high and strong Zacualli, which means the very high tower, to protect themselves in it when the second world would be destroyed. Since the only time the word shore is used is in reference to the sea or as part of the word seashore, I conclude that the context and use of the word is consistent throughout the scriptures and thus refers to the ocean. What did the Book of Mormon Plates Look Like? I will start the analysis in Part I by establishing the definitions I used to analyze the geography of the Jaredites and touch on some of the important relevant historical background within the Book of Ether before exploring the main focus of this article as follows: They could have been the foundational culture of the Mixtec people around Puebla. After all, we are all looking to establish the same thing: Where the Book of Mormon took place. It, or the wilderness, refers to the land southward, which was called Bountiful. Many times during the Book of Ether there existed at least 2 kingdoms, but Ether and the writers before him only recorded the events central to those loyal to the rule of the posterity of Jared and perhaps the brother of Jared1. 5) of four groups that the Lord “planted” in different parts of His vineyard; some in good lands and other in not so favorable circumstances. 3 See appendix A, Copyright © 2021, Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum, PARALLELS: Mesoamerican and Ancient Middle Eastern Traditions, Decoding Ancient America: A Guide to the Archaeology of the Book of Mormon, Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon, Is This the Place? Some, from these families, could have eventually extended into southern Mesoamerica and northward past the Mexico City area. After 344 days at sea, the brother of Jared and approximately 22 other adults were led to the “Land of their inheritance” and landed on “the shore of the promised land” (Ether 5:12) and started their kingdom. Interestingly enough, a good friend of mine named Rolando Amado, president of the Archeological Research institute in Mesoamerica (ARIMA), agrees with Richard Hauck and me in an email in June 2011 where he says, Moron was located near but not in the land Desolation (Ether 7:6). Perhaps we should look at this as the first great scattering. Even though they also had a written language, the Pre-classic Maya in the Peten were at their apex from about 300 BC to about 100 AD10, whereas the Olmec precipitously declined in population about 350 BC and ceased to be a recognizable culture by about 300 BC 11. The Jaredite hill Ramah and the Nephite hill Cumorah were the same hill (Ether 15:11). The Jaredites were a large people. As far as I am aware, most of the Mesoamerican proponents are in agreement that the Olmec, or at least the Heartland Olmec were where the majority of Jaredites resided. It incorporates all of the above imperatives. During the first part of chapter 14 the wilderness of Akish becomes the geographic focal point as Coriantumr and Lib fight back and forth. Just where did the Jaredites come from anyway? Create 158. 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. The fact that Omer had to travel many days with his family and then continue onward passing Cumorah and Shim, suggests that Ablom was not located near the same seashore as Moron. The afore mentioned determination of Moron’s location and proximity relative to Desolation shows that the sea that bordered Desolation was most likely the same sea nearest Moron. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded.…I [will] meet thee, and I will go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth.”   (Ether 1:33-42)--------------------- 1. If Corihor had to go up from the land of Nehor, then Moron must be higher in elevation than Nehor. The vantage point would have made Moron easier to defend. (Genesis 11:5-9)  But because of the righteousness and prayers of Jared, the brother of Jared, and their families, the Jaredite's language was not confounded. The “place of their fathers’ first inheritance” refers to the location of Lehi’s arrival on the promised land. There was a small neck of land that included the “line” and divided the land northward (Jaredite) from the land southward (Nephite) (Alma 22:32). 12. The proposed west sea land Bountiful is shown by the small yellow oval. The first step in determining the succinct placement of landmarks between the Jaredites and Nephites is understanding the placement of seas surrounding the land. Lorenzo Boturini, speaking of the ancestral Indians [or Jaredites], tells us "they traveled for a long time in Asia…going from one place to another and carrying with them seeds, particularly of corn, chili, and beans, and in each region they cut down the forests [cleared the land] and prepared farm land [or sowing fields], and perhaps leaving behind the aged and weary that they might populate those lands; and so they … Whales and sea monsters would only be present in an ocean and not a lake or any other freshwater body. By Doug Christensen In July 1941, at a conference sponsored by the Mexican Society of Anthropology, new findings were presented about a race of people that predated the Mayas in Mesoamerica.Though scholars did their best to discredit the findings, this culture which has come to be known as the Olmecs has been shown to reach back to pre-Christian times during which … Steel Utilized as Recorded in the Book of Mormon, Quiché Mayas Ancient Tradition of Eternal Marriage, Old Testament Scriptures in the New World, The Creation, Adam & Eve, the Garden of Eden, They Did Bury Their Weapons of War for Peace, Evidences of the Savior's Visit to the Americas, It Happened During the First Days of the Year, Many Cities Buried In the Depth of the Earth, Cities Sunk in the sea and Covered with Water, Ice Core Samples of Volcanic Destruction 34 AD, Behold I am the Light and Life of the world, Pre-Columbus Crosses in the Western Hemisphere, The Prints of the Nails in Jesus Christ's Hands, Jesus Wept and the Multitude Bare Record of It, Aztecs Prayed for the Return of Jesus Christ, Pre-Columbus Gods Correlate to Jesus Christ, The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the New World, Jehovah's Name Known in the Western Hemisphere. By connecting the landmarks between the Nephites and Jaredites, a more concise map of the geography and locations of the Book of Mormon lands can be established. The larger yellow oval shows the area most influenced by the Olmec. Chapter 9 sheds further light on the area of the Jaredites when King Omer had to flee from Moron: This was about the same time the serpent plague was removed, permitting hunting in the land Bountiful (Alma 22:31) and perhaps in other parts of the land southward (Ether 10:19). Dr. Richard Hauck is correct in his 1988 assessment that the “narrow neck of land” could not have been the Isthmus of Tehuantepec but that the “narrow neck of land” and the “place where the sea divides the land” were most likely located on the southeastern periphery of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and on the Pacific coastal shelf (Hauck, 1988). The Jaredites were only one such group, and it is very possible that their journey to the New World was not unique. Throw the dates aside and examine the evidence yourself. The narrow neck of land that led into the land northward had to have been located southward of the land northward, or at least southward of the principal part of the land northward and within the southern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Narrow strip of mountainous wilderness 2. Since the wilderness of Akish is located in between Moron and Desolation and the seashore is southerly, then the plains of Agosh could only have been located to the north, east, or some combination thereof from the wilderness of Akish. Coriantumr camped nearby in the valley of Shurr. It is from this distinction that I determine the use of seashore to specifically mean the shore of an ocean. In 1842 the Prophet Joseph Smith gave his latest statements of his personal beliefs regarding the geography of the Book of Mormon. The larger yellow oval and bordered the same hill ( Ether 7:6 ) three map diagrams Plates! 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