Book of Mormon Geography: The Sons of Mosiah

Our next view of NEPHI is from the eyes of the missionary sons of Mosiah2. All of the lands in NEPHI previously identified are mentioned specifically in this account: Nephi (Alma 20:1, Alma 22); Shilom and Shemlon (Alma 23:12); Mormon (Alma 21:1); and Helam and Amulon (Alma 24:1). Mormon also identifies four new lands: Jerusalem, Middoni, Midian, and Ishmael.

This map reflects ZARAHEMLA and NEPHI at the time of Alma 22. It shows the southern border lands of ZARAHEMLA, the narrow strip of wilderness which separated ZARAHEMLA and NEPHI, the wildernesses along the west sea and east sea coasts that were inhabited by the more idle part of the Lamanites, and the lands in NEPHI that have been identified. The blue lands are those which had large scale conversions as the result of the missionary efforts of Mosiah's sons. The place of Mormon is grayed out because the text is silent as to its population and reaction to the missionaries.

The land of Jerusalem included "a great city, which was called Jerusalem," and which was built by the Amalekites and Amulonites (Alma 21:1-2). Jerusalem joined "the borders of Mormon" (Alma 21:1). We find out in 3 Nephi 9:7 that the city Jerusalem was destroyed at the time of Christ's death: "and the city of Jerusalem and the inhabitants thereof; and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof." Mormon does not provide any information about Jerusalem's fate after this destruction, whether it remained covered by water, and he does not name it as one of the cities that was rebuilt.

Aaron went to the city Jerusalem to preach to the people, but met with such resistance from the Amalekites that he left the city and went "over to a village which was called Ani-Anti, and there he found Muloki preaching the word" (Alma 21:1-11). Failing there, the two missionaries went "over into the land of Middoni" (Alma 21:12). The relationship of Jerusalem to Mormon, and of Middoni to Jerusalem allows us to locate these two new lands.

Ishmael was the land governed by King Lamoni. After Lamoni's conversion, he wanted to bring Ammon to meet his father, the King of all the Lamanites, who lived in the city of Nephi. Ammon, however, received instructions from the Lord to not go to see the King, because his life would be in danger, but to go instead to Middoni to free his brethren who were in prison. On the way to Middoni, Ammon and Lamoni encountered Lamoni's father, who was on his way to see Lamoni in Ishmael. Mormon does not specify exactly where this encounter took place, but it did not occur in Middoni or Ishmael, but somewhere in between: "Now the father of Lamoni commanded him that he should slay Ammon with the sword. And he also commanded him that he should not go to the land of Middoni, but that he should return with him to the land of Ishmael (Alma 20:14, emphasis added). Since Lamoni's father was on his way from Nephi to Ishmael, Nephi lies between Middoni and Ishmael, and the chance meeting took place in Nephi.

However, this seems inconsistent with the command Ammon received in Alma 20:2: "And the voice of the Lord came to Ammon, saying: Thou shalt not go up to the land of Nephi, for behold, the King will seek thy life; but thou shalt go to the land of Middoni; for behold, thy brother Aaron, and also Muloki and Ammah are in prison." Why would the Lord tell Ammon not to go up to the land of Nephi if they have to go through Nephi to get to Middoni? If I live in California and I planned to go to Oregon, but someone wanted me to go to Washington, they would say, don't go to Oregon, go to Washington, knowing full well that I would go through Oregon to get to Washington. And, if my placement on the map is correct, Ammon and Lamoni could go through Nephi but easily avoid the city of Nephi, where the King lived. The road from the city of Ishmael to Middoni most likely connected with a road that led to the city of Nephi, the combination of which would have been the main route from the city of Nephi to the city of Ishmael. It was only by a chance meeting the the King met Ammon and Lamoni on their way to Middoni.

Very little information is provided for Midian. It is mentioned only in Alma 24:5. When the Lamanites prepared to attack the converts, Ammon met with his brethren in Midian, "and from thence they came to the land of Ishmael" for the purpose of holding a council to discuss how the converts should defend themselves. Since King Anti-Nephi-Lehi had already gathered the people together into Nephi, and since the northern lands were not converted, but controlled by the Lamanites, it seems likely that Midian was to the south of Nephi. Although it was not specifically mentioned by Mormon as one of the lands converted, it must have at least been friendly to the converts.

Book of Mormon Geography: The Expedition to find Zarahemla

After years of enslavement by the Lamanites, Limhi sent an expedition of 43 men to find ZARAHEMLA and enlist help from the Nephites. This expedition does not identify new sites, but deserves some attention. While traveling from NEPHI to ZARAHEMLA, the 43 men "were lost in the wilderness for the space of many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters, having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind, having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel" (Mosiah 8:8).

This map shows the probable route the expedition intended to take and the probable actual route they took after getting lost. This actual route took them through the wilderness along ZARAHEMLA's west sea coast into the land northward. At this time, Bountiful was not yet inhabited from sea to sea (see Alma 22:33), and the west wilderness probably stretched the entire length of ZARAHEMLA's west sea coast.

Did the 43 men travel all the way to Hill Cumorah in New York? Limhi does not say how far into the land northward the 43 men traveled before finding the plates hid by Ether, but does say "they traveled in a land among many waters" (Mosiah 8:8). When Mormon used the phrase "a land of many waters" to describe the area of hill Cumorah (Mormon 6:4), was he intending to draw our attention to hill Cumorah as the location where the 43 men found the plates? Moroni does not specifically note that Ether hid his plates at or near hill Cumorah, but does say that he "hid them in a manner that the people of Limhi did find them" (Ether 15:33).

Is it reasonable to expect the 43 men could have traveled all the way from Nephi in southern Nicaragua to the hill Cumorah in New York state? Three reasons suggest it is: desperation, diligence, and divine intervention. The people of Limhi were desperate for help from the Nephites, the 43 men were diligent in their assignment, and the Lord wanted those plates discovered and he wanted a contemporary witness of the Jaredite destruction.

In addition, no year markers are provided that would make the lengthy travel to hill Cumorah and back impossible. Limhi says they were lost in the wilderness "for the space of many days" (Mosiah 8:8), but does not give a time length for the entire expedition. Time markers are noticeably missing in the account of Limhi's people. We don't know the year Zeniff's colony left ZARAHEMLA and we don't know the year Limhi's group made their escape from NEPHI. The year identifications at the bottom of the page in the Book of Mormon estimate the total expanse of time from Zeniff's departure from ZARAHEMLA to Limhi's return to be about 67 years. Zeniff does provide two year markers to indicate his people had been in NEPHI for twelve years (Mosiah 9:11) and for 22 years (Mosiah 10:3), but the rest of the account provides no year markers at all.

Furthermore, two factors may have impacted their travel. First, the Jaredite society, which stretched from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to Hill Cumorah, was very advanced ("Good Proof," Evening and Morning Star: June 1833, 99) and undoubtedly established a road system. This road system may still have been recognizable to the 43 men, leading them from major city to major city. Second, much of their travel may have been by water, using the extensive and interconnected river system in the Great Plains and Mississippi River Valley. Navigating this vast river system might be what caused them to describe the land northward as a "land among many waters" (Mosiah 8:8).

The 43 men knew their journey was incredible, so they brought back with them breastplates and swords as evidence of what they had seen, besides the plates hid by Ether (Mosiah 8:11). This personal witness of the utter destruction of "a people who were as numerous as the hosts of Israel" (Mosiah 8:8) would have been a grimly profound story to relate to a people perishing in their own sin-caused enslavement.