Gavin:

The Yucatan was an island anciently, and that places Calakmul almost directly on the coast, which means it could not be Zarahemla, as it was in the center (heart) of the land.

Not only have I been to Calakmul, but also to El Mirador. I was with the first exploratory group that went into El Mirador. The history of this site dates to Jaredite times, (Zarahemla does not), and El Mirador was not abandoned in 350ad, as was the city of Zarahemla.

This excludes this two sites as candidates for Zarahemla, and for that matter, excludes them as Book of Mormon cities altoghter. There are other sites close to these two sites that are good candidates, but not these two.

Jerry A.

Did Lehi and his family encounter other people upon their arrival in the Americas, and if so, who?

The vast majority of people who research and write on Book of Mormon geography believe the setting of the book is in Mesoamerica. And with rare exception these people, myself included, believe Lehi landed on the pacific side of Guatemala, near the border that separates this country from Mexico – in Book of Mormon terms, the land of first inheritance. Were other people living in this area before 600 BC?

The answer given in the 2007 Maya conferences at the Universities of Texas and Pennsylvania is, “Yes, there were people already living in this area, and they had been living there for hundreds of years.”At the Texas conference a number of cities were reported to have existed in this geographi-cal area as far back as 1200 BC, with others dating back to 800 BC.

To appreciate how many people may have lived Mesoamerica at 600 BC, remember that the United States of America has only been in existence for around 350 years, and look at the popula-tion of this country today. It is easy to understand that when Lehi landed, there may have been one or more cultures in this area with large populations.

There were also cultural events, customs, celebrations, traditions and beliefs that Lehi and his family encountered upon their landing. If you can imagine 20 strangers coming to the city where you live, and then ask what kind of evidence they would leave of their arrival – you can appreciate what happened at the landing of Lehi.

Rather than the culture Lehi brought with him becoming preeminent, his culture was, to a large extent, absorbed by the existing culture(s).

Mormons, for example, celebrate Christmas in December although we know that was not the month Jesus was born. It was just the existing custom the LDS church was exposed to after the restoration of the gospel. Rather than trying to change the celebration of the birth date of Jesus Christ to April, we simply adopted the existing custom. Lehi and his people may have made made similar adaptations.

Who were these people?

He landed South of the Narrow Neck, and Ether 10:21 states that the descendants of Jared and his brother did not take their culture South of the Narrow Neck. There were a few who did go into the land Southward, during their battle with the serpents, (see Ether 9:32), but very few.

The secret to who the other people were been may lie in Ether 6:1, where we are told that there were four categories of people who came over from the great tower.

Jared with his family and the friends of Jared and their families, a total of at least three separate families, and

The Brother of Jared and his family and the friends of the Brother of Jared and their fami-lies, again totaling at least three families,

Thus, a total of at least six families made the trip. The pre-Columbian history states that Mexico was originally settled by seven families.

Ether 2:1 states that the Book of Ether is about Jared and the Brother of Jared and their des-cendants. It does not say it is a record of the other families that came with them. So, although Jared and his brother decided not to expand their culture south of the Narrow Neck, that prohibition did not necessarily include their friends’ families.

I conclude that the people Lehi encountered upon his landing in Mesoamerica were descen-dents of the friends of Jared and his brother, or possibly other people who the Lord may have led here. Genesis 11:8 says the following about the people at the tower of Babel – “So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build another city.”

There is evidence that there were people in South America at the same time the Jaredites thrived in Central America. So, either the Lord scattered a separate group of people to that part of this continent, or the friends of Jared or his brother migrated that far.

Archaeologically we know that virtually every succeeding group who inhabited Mesoamerica adopted at least part the culture of the Jaredites, their architecture, their calendrics, some of their language, and some of their theology.

Ether 1:43 states that the civilization descending for the Jaredites would be “…a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of their seed, upon all the face of the earth.”

I believe that these are the people that Lehi and his family encountered upon their landing, and that this explains why they emulated the existing culture, rather than the other way around.

– Dr. Jerry Ainsworth, July 2007

There are two Book of Mormon geographical markers that nearly all current cartographers either ignore or misinterpret.

1. 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; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward.

2. Ether 10:20 - And they built a great city (San Lorenzo, in my opinion) by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land.

A Place “Nearly Surrounded by Water”

Alma 22:32 says that if it were not for the narrow neck of land, the lands of Zarahemla and Nephi would have been completely surrounded by water. That means there was water on the east, south, and west sides of these lands.

And then to the north, there was a narrow neck of land connecting to a mainland which prevented the lands of Zarahemla and Nephi from being completely surrounded by water.

I suspect that virtually all Book of Mormon mapmakers accept that the Atlantic Ocean (East sea) and the Pacific Ocean, (West sea), are part of the waters that Alma is referring to. But that leaves a body of water that must be south of the land of Nephi, (Lamanite territory), otherwise these lands would not be completely surrounded by water, (except at the narrow neck).

In order to currently find a body of water south of these lands, one must go to the tip end of South American, Tierra del Fuego. Indeed, in earlier days of the church, it was this scripture (Alma 22:32) that led people to believe that the Book of Mormon took place throughout all of South, Central and North America.

On page 69 of my book, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, I suggest how Book of Mormon lands would have looked during the time Alma wrote this description. I believe that the two oceans actually converged, indeed surrounded the southern part of the land of Nephi. Today we would say that this water (the two oceans) join one to the other, forming a water boundary between the countries of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Further geological research is needed to test my idea, but at least it offers an explanation of Alma 22:32.

The authors of the maps I have been studying do not address this scripture. They propose a Book of Mormon map, with no accommodation for this description of Alma. I think this is a major mistake, one which calls into question other conclusions reflected in these maps.

A Place where “The Sea Divides the Land”

The second scripture, Ether 10:20, states that very close to the narrow neck of land there was an area where the “sea divides the land.” Two of the maps that I have simply ignore this scripture, offering no place where the sea divides the land close to the narrow neck. Other maps offer the explanation that the Gulf of Mexico, with the Yucatan on the east side, and mainland of Mexico being on the west, is where the sea divides the land.

Mexico is essentially shaped like a fishhook, with the Gulf of Mexico sitting in the bowl of the hook. Yet I doubt that anyone would say that a fish-hook was divided. If you take a small thin piece of metal and bend it into the shape of a fishhook, (as in the case of the shape of Mexico), no one would say you have divided the piece of metal. Nor do I think a persuasive case can be made for the Gulf of Mexico being what Ether is being describing in Ether 10:20, where the sea divides the land.

When I read this proposed explanation of this scripture (the Gulf of Mexico), I took out Webster’s Dictionary, which I often do when reading the Book of Mormon. These are the definitions I found for the word, divide:

–To separate into parts –To sector into units –To disunite –To cut off –To separate from –To become separated into parts –To separate into pieces I read Webster to say that if you divide something, you end up with at least two separate pieces. Indeed, that is what the term division means. It does not mean to indent, to gap, or to bend. The dictionary makes it clear that the term means to completely divide into two (or more) separate pieces. Once again, none of the authors of these maps have a place, close to the narrow neck of land, which is divided from the mainland. I once again propose an explanation of this scripture, as shown on page 66 of The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni. My view may be incorrect, but it does offer an explanation for this scripture, one where the sea actually separates two sections of land. As my research progressed, I could see that I did not make the separated land, (the island), large enough. When I do the second edition of my book, I will make a modest change in the size of the island, making it larger, so as to accommodate some of the ancient ruin sites that are currently excluded with the proposal as it exists. Having said that, I still do believe that the sea did divide the land in this area of Mexico, just as Ether 10:20 indicates. In my opinion, these two scriptures are either ignored, or misinterpreted in the recent Book of Mormon maps that I have in my possession. –Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, September 2007

I realize that views and interpretations of these dramatic events vary greatly. The following observations are simply my views, of both the lands, which I have visited, as well as the scriptures that address the events of the three days of turmoil in Mesoamerica following the crucifixion. I know of no professional linguist that agrees with my meanings of some city names. So, with that disclaimer, here are some of my impressions and views.

Two Accounts of the Destructive Events

There are two separate accounts of the catastrophic events that occurred during this time pe-riod accompanying the crucifixion of the Savior.

One by Nephi the historian in 3 Nephi 8, and

One by the Lord himself in 3 Nephi 9.

As to the location of these events, I have always believed the Book of Mormon’s use of the terms “land, whole earth, face of the land, all the land,” etc., were more specific than general. In other words, these scriptures were meant to address the whole face of the Nephite lands–at least those they were aware of –the land southward and the land northward.

Three Hours of “Great and Terrible Destruction”

These events began on April 4, the first month of the Nephite year (see 3 Nephi 8:5 and 2:8), and lasted for three hours (see 3 Nephi 8:19).

Nephi mentions that there was “great and terrible destruction” that took place in both the land southward, as well as the land northward. However, in the land northward, “there was a more great and terrible destruction, for behold the whole face of the land was changed…”

I infer that the whole face of the land southward was not changed, at least not as dramatically as was the case in the land northward. It should be remembered that the Nephite nation (as well as the Lamanites) lived in the land southward, and did not move to the land northward until 350 AD, 35 years before the demise of their nation at the battle of Cumorah in 385 AD (see Mormon 2:28).

Changes in the Land Southward

After this general description of the changes that had taken place, Nephi and the Savior ad-dressed the specific changes that took place in the land southward. This was a pattern followed by most Book of Mormon historians, including Mormon. They generalized about lands outside of Zarahemla, but were very specific about what transpired in the lands occupied by the Nephites and Lamanites – Zarahemla, Bountiful and the land of Nephi.

One can only guess what destruction and changes occurred in the land northward, or other places on the planet. But as for the destruction and changes that took place in the land southward, we do not have to guess, for Nephi and the Savior are very specific about what those were, at least the ones they consider worthy of mention.

Moroni Sinks into the Sea

Nephi states the city of Moroni was sunk into the depths of the sea and all the inhabitants were drowned. The Savior refers to this city as “the great city of Moroni (see 3 Nephi 8:8 and 9:4). This is the only city specifically described as sinking into the sea. Since there were other cities con-tiguous to the city of Moroni, one might assume that they sank also, but no other cities are men-tioned as sinking into the sea.

My candidate for the location of this city is the underwater Maya site off the coast of the northern portion of Belize, a place named Cerros. The tops of pyramids can be seen sticking out of the ocean at this location, (the city being underwater). Photos of this can be seen on page 71 of my book, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni.

I have dived to the floor of this ancient city and gathered many potshards from that location. If you walk the beach around this location on any given morning potshards can be seen there, which are washed up on shore during the night before.

3 Nephi 8:14 says that “many great and notable cities were sunk.” Some people assume this means they were sunk into the sea, but I believe that Nephi is referring to the cities mentioned by the Savior in 3 Nephi 9:6 & 8, which are described as being sunk “in the depths of the earth,” and “made hills and valleys in the stead thereof.”

The Savior mentions five such cities. My assumption about the sinking of these cities is that there was a parting of the earth and some cities actually sank into very deep fissures. I believe this because at the end of the three days of darkness, 3 Nephi 10:10 states that “…the earth did cleave together again…” I interpret this to mean that those deep fissures then closed up – cleaved together – entombing the inhabitants of the sunken cities.

Cities Sunk in the Depths of the Earth

There is not much to go on as to the location of these five cities, but the names of two of the cities may give a clue. I have concluded that the term “Gadi” in the Book of Mormon means “the middle.” We know that the “Gadi-anton” robbers lived in the middle of the mountains – between the tops and the bottoms. I believe that “anton” means mountain. These were the robbers who lived at the middle level of the mountains.

If I am correct about this term, then the names of two of these five – Gadiandi and Gadiomnah – may give a clue as to their location. These names may place these cities in the middle, or center of the land.

Nah in Maya means the chief person, Lord, or head. As an example, Alma 30:21-23 indicates that Giddonah was the High Priest and Chief Judge. The term “nah” appended to his name indi-cates that – in Maya. So these two cities may have been in the center of the land and the city of Gidiomnah may have been the chief city of a province.

Moronihah Covered by a Mountain

The second city that was named as being destroyed was the city of Moronihah. Once again Nephi refers to it simply as “the city…,” while the Savior refers to it as “the great city of Moroni-hah.”

Nephi states that “in the place of this city there became a great mountain,” while the Savior states that “I have covered this great city with earth, and the inhabitants thereof…”

I believe the Lord caused a large mountain to simply move over, on top of, and to cover the city of Moronihah. Nephi states it was a “great mountain,” so I assume it was large. My candidate for this mountain is the Maya mountain range in southern Belize. I believe the city of Moronihah is underneath that mountain range. I guess the only way to prove that would be to dig up the mountain – a daunting task.

Roads and Buildings Broken Up

Nephi then gives some descriptions of damages to the general infrastructure of the Nephite lands. In 3 Nephi 8:13, he states that the highways were “broken up and level roads spoiled and many smooth places became rough.”

I have traveled this area extensively and I know where the ancient Maya roads were (at least after the crucifixion), and the changes mentioned by Nephi would not appear to be all that cata-strophic. The highways of the Maya had a very deep and substantial foundation made of stone. Once the highways were broken up, it would require little effort to take the existing disrupted stone and rebuild the highways.

In 3 Nephi 8:14-15, Nephi states that the shaking of the earth was so violent, that “the build-ings thereof had fallen to the earth…” and “…some cities remained; but the damage thereof was exceeding great…”

If you can picture the stone pyramids and other stone buildings found in ancient Maya cities, and envision the type of quaking required to make these buildings fall apart, then you can envision the violent nature of the storms and earth quakes taking place during this time. An example of such disruption can be seen at Yaxcaba, at the top of the Yucatan (below Chichen Itza), where the pyramids have been largely destroyed, with the stones laying scattered on the ground.

Rocks were Rent

In verse 18 Nephi indicates “…rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up, upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments and in seems and in cracks…”

I just returned from Guatemala, where I spent some time on the shores of Lake Atitlan and in many of the Maya villages around that lake. The description sited above appears to describe exactly the condition of the rocks in/on the mountains surrounding this lake, as they are broken into fragments, cracked, etc.

These rocks initially were a result of large lava flows from the volcanoes around the lake, but are now broken into pieces and fragments. I am certain there are other similar places in the lands of the Nephites and Lamanites, and that Atitlan, (which I believe to be the waters of Mormon), is just one such place.

In verse 17, Nephi states that “…the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings and lightenings and the quaking of the earth.” And in verse 16 he implies this was due to a hurricane, or some similar violent storm. I have been in two violent hurricanes in this area, and there is no doubt that they deformed the face of the land.

I have seen every tree in Cancun up-rooted by hurricane Gilberto, and all the sand of the resort beaches ripped into the ocean by Katrina, leaving the beaches with ragged stones where the sand once was. All very deforming, but also very easy to recover from. Indeed Cancun has done so a number of times.

Zarahemla Burned by Fire from Heaven

In verse 8, Nephi states that “…the city of Zarahemla did take fire.” Helaman 13:13 makes it clear that this fire came “down out of heaven.” I assume this means that lightening struck the city of Zarahemla and since this city is in a location known for gas and oil reserves in Mexico, I assume the lightning struck escaping gas and oil (remember there were great and deep fissures), and this city did “take” fire.

Some commentators have suggested that massive volcanic eruptions caused the fire and darkness in the land southward, but to date I have seen no geographical or scriptural evidence supportive of this conclusion.

In 3 Nephi 9:3 the Savior states that “the great city of Zarahemla have I burned with fire and the inhabitants thereof.” You may notice a clear distinction between how Nephi represents these events and how the Lord does. Nephi is acting as an historian, simply recording events accurately. The Savior on the other hand is describing a principle of the gospel, blood atonement.

Nephi states that cities were destroyed, while the Savior states that the inhabitants were drowned, burned and/or buried. He also explains why, “…to hide their wickedness and abomi-nations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets should not come any more unto me against them...” (see 3 Nephi 9:7-11. In another Answer I suggest that Parley P. Pratt erred when he divided 3 Nephi 9:6 and 7 into two verses; they make much more sense as one verse).

Put very simply, if sins are not repented of and therefore paid for by the Savior, then other blood must be shed to pay for those sins. Some of that took place during these dramatic and de-structive events being described in 3 Nephi 9.

Other Cities Destroyed by Fire

Nephi, in verse 8:14 states that many cities were burned, while the Savior, in 9:8, lists six of those cities, to wit: Jacobugath, Laman, Josh, Gad, Kishkumen and Zarahemla, once again ex-plaining the necessity of the shedding of the blood of these inhabitants.

At the 2007 Maya conference at the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Canuto of Yale University reported that he has discovered a Maya city (Achates) that was burned by fire, “around 50 AD.” The actual date of the ones mentioned in the Book of Mormon was 34 AD, but Professor Canuto is close enough.

Cities Covered with Water

In 3 Nephi 9:8 the Savior mentions some cities that Nephi does not, namely, the cities of Onihah, Mocum and Jerusalem, which were all covered with water, or as the Savior puts it, “…and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof.” The key words being “waters come up.” I think of the city of New Orleans that was below sea level and how hurricane Katrina caused the waters to “come up,” in the stead thereof.

I do not know where these three cities were located, but the name Onihah implies that this city was by the water, because “hah” in Maya means connected to water. I place these three cities close to the location where the borders of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras converge.

At this location, there is a very large lake, Lago de Izabal, a few smaller lakes and the Bahia de Amatique. I know of no evidence that there are cities underneath these waters, but if I were twenty years younger, I would be diving there to find out. For now, this is simply my best guess as to the location of these cities that were covered with water.

Wherever the cities were located, I assume there are now large lakes or lagoons in that loca-tion. Plus, I would assume, that like New Orleans, the cities were below or close to sea level, where fresh water could cover them easily. Having seen how raging rivers can inundate locations in this part of Central America, it is easy to envision changes in the land that then allowed raging rivers, cascading down the steep mountains, to completely inundate and cover these cities.

Basic Land Features Survived

Although the changes that I have described are pronounced and certainly altered the land-scape, I do not see them as changing the shape or general lay out of the lands of the Nephites and Lamanites that significantly. Some cities had buildings that were toppled, roads were broken up and some cities sank due to earthquakes.

Yet the major mountain ranges appear to have remained the same, the coastal areas remained the same, the narrow neck and pass remained the same, and the basic demarcation between the land of the Nephites and the land of the Lamanites basically remained the same. It also appears that Bountiful, Desolation and other Pre-Crucifixion boundaries remained unchanged.

I find it interesting that the Lord destroyed cities and people by wind, earth, water and fire –the four ancient elements, and buried people under earth, seawater and fresh water. Much more study is needed, but this is my current assessment of the changes that took place at the crucifixion, as described by Nephi and the Savior.

–Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, September 2007

The idea that the city of Jerusalem was adjacent to the waters of Mormon (which I believe is Guatemala's Lake Atitlan) appears in John Sorenson's book, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, (pp. 223-225).

I don't know if the idea originated with Dr. Sorenson, but his was the earliest reference I could find. Dr. Sorenson is well respected as a Book of Mormon researcher, and his writings carry a great deal of credibility. He cites Alma 21:1-2 for this proposition.

1. Now when Ammon and his brethren separated themselves in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, behold Aaron took his journey towards the land which was called by the Lamanites, Jerusalem, calling it after the land of their fathers nativity; and it was away joining the borders of Mormon.

2. Now the Lamanites and the Amalekites and the people of Amulon had built a great city, which was called Jerusalem. (Italics Added)

Land of Jerusalem v. the City of Jerusalem

I read Alma 21:1-2 differently from Dr. Sorenson. The land of Jerusalem bordered Mormon, not the city of Jerusalem. Indeed, verse 2 does not even say that the city of Jerusalem is located within the land of Jerusalem, though I think that is a reasonable assumption.

I would think that the city of New York is located in the state of New York, especially if the passage describing the city of New York was immediately following a discussion of the state of New York.

In its very last sentence, Alma 21:1 indicates that the land of Jerusalem "joins the border of Mormon." Presumably Dr. Sorenson and others believe that the border being referred to is the borders of the waters of Mormon, rather than the borders of the land of Mormon, if they believe Jerusalem was located near the edge of Lake Atitlan - the waters of Mormon.

I went through the Book of Mormon searching the term "borders of" to see if it was ever used in relationship to water, or was used exclusively when referring to lands.

Alma 5:3 clearly distinguishes between the land of Mormon and the waters of Mormon. To me it seems logical that the waters of Mormon and the forest of Mormon were smaller segments of the larger land of Mormon.

Meaning of "the borders of"

The term "borders of..." as used in the Book of Mormon refers to tracts of land near a boundary, which may or may not be close to a body of water. There are 62 uses of this term, (borders of) when referring to Book of Mormon lands. I offer a few examples:

Alma 16:7 - And it came to pass that Zoram and his sons crossed over the river Sidon with their armies, and marched away beyond the borders of Manti into the south wilderness, which was on the east side of the river Sidon.

Alma 25:2 - But they took their armies and went over into the borders of the land of Zarahemla, and fell upon the people who were in the land of Ammonihah, and destroyed them.

Usually the Book of Mormon authors will write "borders of the land Manti," (or some other city or land), but sometimes they will omit the term land, referring directly to the name of specific city or land. The two scriptures I offer above are typical of this difference. Alma 16:7 refers to the borders of Manti, while Alma 25:2 refers to the borders of the land of Zarahemla.

When referring to the boundaries of water, the Book of Mormon, as a rule, uses the term, borders by, not borders of. I give two, of 16 examples from the Book of Mormon:

Alma 51:26 - And thus he went on, taking possession of many cities, the city of Nephihah, and the city of Lehi, and the city of Morianton, and the city of Omner, and the city of Gid, and the city of Mulek, all of which were on the east borders by the seashore.

Alma 52:12 - Now, the king (Ammoron) had departed out of the land of Zarahemla, and had made known unto the queen concerning the death of his brother, and had gathered together a large number of men, and had marched forth against the Nephites on the borders by the west sea.

This is a very laborious way of showing that Alma 21:1 is not referring to the borders of the waters of Mormon, but the borders of the land of Mormon. Indeed, if the waters of Mormon were in the land of Mormon, it would be extremely tricky, (to say the least), to have the borders of the land of Jerusalem, join the borders of the waters of Mormon. For those who have been to Lake Atitlan, they can appreciate how the surrounding volcanoes would make such a possibility very unlikely.

Jerusalem is some distance from the waters of Mormon

I conclude the following about Alma 21:1-2:

The Book of Mormon city of Jerusalem was located within the land of Jerusalem.

The borders of the land of Jerusalem joined the borders of the land of Mormon.

Some place inside the land of Mormon, were the waters of Mormon.

This places the city of Jerusalem a significant distance from the waters of Mormon, and therefore not a candidate for being located under those waters.

Are Onihah and Mocum sunk in Lake Atitlan?

3 Nephi 9:7 mentions Onihah and Mocum as cities which might be thought to be located under the waters of Mormon. But, for the following reasons, I have my doubts about that scenario also.

Although several LDS writers, guides, and commentators make the claim, no one has cited any evidence for this proposition. I have spoken with many Maya archaeologists about this issue, and none believe that such a city exists.

A number of ceramic artifacts have been retrieved from Lake Atitlan. This is a topic with which I have some experience, as twenty years ago I observed some of the ceramic artifacts being retrieved from the lake.

These appear, however, to have been thrown into the lake by the early Spaniards, who considered them to be pagan in nature. All appear to have been created in the Post Classic time periods - around 1300 AD.

I do not know where the Book of Mormon City of Jerusalem is located. I think it is in the land of Jerusalem, and I know that this land joins the borders of the land of Mormon. If I knew where the ancient borders of the land of Mormon were, it would help, but I don't.

Alma 21:1 does however give us a small clue, saying that the land of Jerusalem was "away," from where Ammon was at the time. From this sparse clue, I have always assumed the land of Jerusalem was adjacent to the Eastern border of the land of Mormon, but there is very little to go on.

One Nephite city can be found under water

While I do not think that there is any Book of Mormon city under the waters of Lake Atitlan (waters of Mormon), I do believe that one city mentioned in 3 Nephi 8 & 9 has been sunk under water, and can still be seen it its sunken state. It is the great city of Moroni, an ancient Maya city that is under water off of the coast of Belize at a place called Cerros.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, October 2007

In 3 Nephi 9:6-7, the voice of Christ names cities which were destroyed during the cataclysms at the time of the Savior's crucifixion - Jerusalem, Gilgal, Onihah, and Mocum.

6 And behold, the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the inhabitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth;

7 Yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Mocum and the in-habitants thereof, and the city of Jerusalem and the inhabitants thereof; and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come up any more unto me against them.

Read separately, these verses suggest that -

Gilgal sunk into the earth, but was not covered by water; and

Onihah, Mocum, and Jerusalem were covered by water, but did not sink into the earth.

Were verses 6 and 7 originally written as one thought?

I believe that verses 6 and 7 may originally have been written on the plates as a single thought. If so, the combined verse states that four cities sank into the depths of the earth, along with their inhabitants, and that water later covered the area where the land had cleaved together again (see 3 Ne 10:10).

These verses are divided in a very unusual way. Verse 6 is essentially a fragment of a sentence, ending in a semi-colon (;), not a period. Verse 7 then continues the sentence of verse 6, with "Yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof...."

It then explains that where these cities once stood, "Waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof...." In other words, just like the city of Gilgal, the three other cities sank into the earth, and where these four cities had once stood, water swept in and covered the earth beneath which the cities were buried.

"Yea" preceded by a verse ending in a semi-colon

I have since checked the use of the term "Yea, and ..." in the Book of Mormon and it appears 280 times in the Book of Mormon. In 123 cases, this term appears in the middle of a sentence, fol-lowing the semi-colon (;) of the previous sentence - continuing with the same trend of thought, in the same paragraph.

In 83 cases the term "Yea, and..." appears at the beginning of a paragraph, but in only five of these cases, does the previous paragraph end with a semi-colon (;), as in 3 Nephi 9:6-7. Put another way, in addition to 3 Nephi 9:6-7, there are only four other places where one verse ends with a semi-colon, to be followed by the next verse beginning with "Yea, and..."

In these other four cases, the second verse, the one beginning with "Yea, and..." is a contin-uation of the thought of the preceding verse - which ends in a semi-colon. (see Mosiah 18:9, Alma 9:22, Alma 13:22, and Helaman 8:9)

This is a very laborious way of explaining that in my opinion 3 Nephi 9:6-7 should be read as one paragraph, not two, with verse 7 simply being a continuation of what is being described in verse 6.

Book of Mormon not broken into chapters and verses until 1879

Joseph Smith did not divide the Book of Mormon in chapters and verses. That task was un-dertaken by Orson Pratt in 1879, 35 years after the Prophet's death. Mr. Pratt relied on his own skills and perceptions, and did not have access to the Urim and Thummim, as did Joseph Smith when the plates were translated.

Here are the two verses as I think they should appear, providing more clarity to what is being described in these two verses:

3 Nephi 9:6-7 (combined). And behold, the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the in-habitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth; yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Mocum and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Je-rusalem and the inhabitants therefore; and waters have I caused to come in the stead thereof, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come up any more unto me against them.

Reading the two paragraphs this way changes the meaning of the verses dramatically. Now the event being described is one of four cities sinking into the earth, and then waters filling up the area where these cities once stood.

Reading the verses this way allows the last comment of verse seven, (...to hide their wick-edness...) to apply to all four cities, rather than just three, which makes more sense to me.

The Blood of the Prophets and the Saints

Each verse in the text of 3 Ne 9:5-9 ends with the phrase "that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto me against them" except one - verse 6. To me this is another indicator that verses 6 and 7 were originally one thought on the plates.

5 And behold, that great city Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants the-reof, to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto me against them.

6 And behold, the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the inhabitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth;

7 Yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Mocum and the in-habitants thereof, and the city of Jerusalem and the inhabitants thereof; and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come up any more unto me against them.

8 And behold, the city of Gadiandi, and the city of Gadiomnah, and the city of Jacob, and the city of Gimgimno, all these have I caused to be sunk, and made hills and valleys in the places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I buried up in the depths of the earth, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up any more unto me against them.

9 And behold, that great city Jacobugath, which was inhabited by the people of king Jacob, have I caused to be burned with fire because of their sins and their wickedness, which was above all the wickedness of the whole earth, because of their secret murders and combina-tions; for it was they that did destroy the peace of my people and the government of the land; therefore I did cause them to be burned, to destroy them from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up unto me any more against them.

Are we looking for something that does not exist?

If I am correct about this analysis, then we can understand why we have not yet found a Book of Mormon city under fresh water lakes in Mesoamerica. For certain we have found a Maya city under the waters of the ocean, in a place named Cerros off the eastern coast of Belize, but we are still looking for cities under fresh water lakes.

The reason we have not discovered a city under a lake, from Book of Mormon times, could be that there may not be one. We may have been looking for something that does not exist.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, October 2007

Note: After drafting this Answer, I received an email from a Book of Mormon guide who lives in Antigua, Guatemala, a person I had met while attending church there last month. In his email, he assured me that there was a village under the waters of Lake Atitlan, and it was located close to the city of Santiago Atitlan. He also informed me that there were photos of this under water site, as well as artifacts retrieved from this location in past years.

I know about artifacts that have been retrieved from the lake, as I saw that take place twenty years ago during one of my earlier visits to Santiago Atitlan. As a seasoned SCUBA diver, I was interested in the retrieving of these artifacts from under the waters of Lake Atitlan.

After viewing these items, I was told by the locals they were ceramic artifacts which had been thrown into the lake by the early Spaniards, assuming them to be Pagan. I am also conversant with the type of ceramic artifacts for the different time periods of the Maya, and the artifacts that I saw being retrieved were from the Post Classic time period, which is hundreds of years after the Book of Mormon.

In conclusion, I must consider the issue of underwater Book of Mormon cities as unresolved. I will continue to follow up on the claims made by the person in Antigua, Guatemala, and will continue to keep you, the reader, informed of the progress made in this on-going saga.

I believe that remnants of the Maya language exist in the Book of Mormon. One of those remnants is use of the term "hah." In Maya, this term denotes, "associated with water in some way." Those who have vacationed in Cancun, may have seen such Maya places as Xel-Ha, or the Zazil-Ha, or Misol-Ha, etc, all meaning places in proximity to water. Such terms in the Book of Mormon, such as Moronihah, Nephihah, appear in the text to be close to, or adjacent to water. The meaning of "nah" I wish to now consider another Maya term that is also found in the Book of Mormon - the term "nah." In Maya the term "nah" conveys a variety of similar meanings, such as Lord, number one, the chief, the head, the leader, the best, the biggest, etc. It is somewhat akin to the Spanish term "Jefe." In its description of the final Nephite battle of 385 AD, the Book of Mormon lists those who led cohorts of 10,000 and were subsequently killed in this battle. After addressing the 10,000 of his group and that of Moroni, his son, the next captain of 10,000 that was listed by Mormon, was a man named Gidgiddonah, who "fell in the midst, with his 10,000," (see Mormon 6:13). Please note that all italics appearing in this Answer were added by me, and do not appear in the Book of Mormon. The fact that his name ends in nah, and that he was the first captain mentioned, (excluding Mormon and his *son), led me to believe that this man was Mormon's chief captain, his number one commander. It must be remembered, however, that there are over twenty different dialects of Maya, and the languages vary within these dialects. The term "nah," is not used the same in all of the dialects. Plus, in some of the dialects, there are two possible meanings of the term. In Yucatecan Maya, the term "nah" also means house. Use of "nah" in the Book of Mormon I then began to peruse the Book of Mormon for other possible names ending in nah, ideally those in the military. While doing so, I discovered the following reference to a Lamanite military leader: Alma 43:44 - And they were inspired by the Zoramites and the Amalekites, who were their chief captains and leaders and by Zerahemnah, who was their chief captain, or their chief leader and commander;..." Other Book of Mormon references using the term nah are:

In Alma 30:23 we are told - "Now the high priest's name was Giddonah...."

In Alma 12:20 we read that Alma, during one of his missionary journeys encountered a man by the name of Antionah, "who was a chief ruler among them."

In Alma 18:13 we find - "And one of the king's servants said unto him, Rabbanah, which is being interpreted, powerful or great king

One of the cities mentioned as being destroyed during the catastrophic events of the crucifixion, is named Gadiomnah. Although an interpretation of this name is not given, as with those personal names already mentioned, one could assume that this city was the major city in this locale, possible the "county seat," so to speak.

It appears that the term nah is used to convey a "head" status, in more than personal or city names. Consider, for example, the weights and measures of gold among the Nephites.

Alma 11:5 - Now the reckoning is thus - a senine of gold, a seon of gold, a shum of gold and a limnah of gold.

Alma 11:10 - And a limnah of gold was the value of them all.

Not every use of "nah" in the Book of Mormon appears in a context indicating a "head" status, but there are enough instances of this phenomenon to suggest a direct association between events, history and language in the Book of Mormon, and those among the Maya - relationships few, if anyone, knew about in 1830.

*Some may believe that Moroni would have been the second in command, at the war of 385 AD around the Hill Cumorah. But a close look at Mormon 6:12 shows that Moroni was a "new comer" to the Nephite army. The 10,000 people that he led, were not his people, as was the case of the other twenty two captains of 10,000. The 10,000 that Moroni led belonged to his father: "and we beheld the ten thousand of my people who were led by son Moroni." A reading of Mormon 6:10-15 will show that all the 10,000 people led by the other twenty-one captains, were "their people," whereas the ten thousand Moroni led, belonged to his father. This was probably Moroni's first battle, and is why Gidgiddonah was probably the second in command to Mormon, and not Moroni. Moroni was probably called to the battle because father expected to be killed, and had prepared to turn the record he was working on, over to his son for completion - which is why Moroni showed up at this battle.

- Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, November 2007

One of the most popular vacation spots on this continent is Cancun, Mexico. Although this vacation paradise began at the northern tip of the Yucatan, a long chain of resorts now referred to as the Mexican Riviera now extends down the entire length of the Eastern side of this peninsula.

People who vacation in these many hotels and Timeshares frequently visit some of the ancient sites that are nearby, such places as Tulum, Chichen Itza, Coba, and the newest site, Ek Balam.

To the intrepid explorer, there are other interesting sites, such as Uxmal, Izamal, Sayil, Oxkintok and many others, on the Western side of the Yucatan. And of course there are numerous small ruin sites, consisting of one or two small buildings. There are so many of such small remains that they are frequently incorporated into a golf course or hotel grounds.

Most current LDS authors writing about Book of Mormon geography, myself included, consider Southern Mexico, Northern Guatemala and Belize the primary lands of the Book of Mormon. Such a view obviously raises the question about these sites located on the Yucatan, especially those on the eastern coast.

Looking at the map

To have a clear view about geographical references in this response, it would be helpful to examine a map of Mexico, and look at the base of the Yucatan peninsula. You will see a highway (186) at this base, which runs from the West, beginning around Laguna de Terminos, through the city of Escarcega and then continuing eastward, to the eastern side of the peninsula, ending at the city of Chetumal.

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There are numerous large ancient Mayan sites that appear on either side of this highway, but when viewing the dates of these sites an interesting phenomenon emerges. With rare exception, most large sites south of this highway date back to the Pre-Classic time of the Maya, (300 BC and earlier). Correspondingly, sites north of this highway date to classic or post classic times, (400 AD - 1200 AD).

Highway 186 is the dividing line

Three sites in the very northern tip of the Yucatan date back to earlier times, such as the cave of Loltun, a place named Dzibilchaltun and most recently, a new site named Ek Balam, but they are the exceptions. There are also a few sites, such as Becan, at the bottom of the Yucatan that date back to Pre-Classic times, but are located north of highway 186. However, they are located within walking distance of this highway. In other words, had the highway been built one mile further north, these older sites would also be south of highway 186.

The point I am making, is that ancient ruin sites that date back hundreds, indeed thousands of years BC, appear all over Southern Mexico, until you reach the base of the Yucatan, close to highway 186. Once you reach the very southern base of the Yucatan peninsula, there appears to be a demarcation. Below that southern border, (approximately highway 186), ruin sites date back to the earliest times of habitation, and every time period in between.

Once you go north of that southern border, (approximately highway 186), almost every site dates to much later time periods, 300 AD and later, up until the time of the arrival of the Spaniards.

Why the age difference?

This prompts the obvious question, why? What was it about this line, this southern border of the Yucatan that caused such disparity in the time frames of the building of these ancient cities?

South of that line we find ancient cities that date back to 1200 BC and even earlier, and every time period after that. You then cross this southern border of the Yucatan, (close to highway 186), and ancient sites do not appear until around 300 AD, with those three exceptions at the very northern tip of the Yucatan.

I have read the numerous books on Book of Mormon geography and perused the related maps, but none of the authors give an explanation for this phenomenon. Indeed, they do not even raise the issue.

On pages 66-67 of my book, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni, I offer a possible solution to this conundrum. During most of the Book of Mormon times, the Yucatan peninsula was an island. I present two ancient maps that show the Yucatan as an island.

Since the publishing of that book, I have located an additional ten old maps that also show the ancient Yucatan as an island, separated from the mainland by sea water or marshland. And that separation takes place very close to highway 186.

[picture]

In fact, when it rains hard in this area of Mexico (the base of the Yucatan), the peninsula becomes separated, by water, from the mainland again. The base of the peninsula is so low that six days of rain will simply flood the base of the Yucatan, essentially cutting it off from the mainland.

I have driven to the Yucatan many times, and on two occasions, after hard rains, had to wait three days at Palenque, for the water at the base of the Yucatan to subside enough to allow driving across that southern base of the Yucatan.

Book of Mormon cities in Belize

The Book of Mormon mentions a number of cities that either existed, or were built on, (or near) the Eastern coast of Nephite lands, a coast that most of us consider to be in the country of Belize.

Alma 51 names some of these cities, such as Moroni, Morianton, Lehi, Nephihah, Omner, Gid, Mulek and many others. All of these Book of Mormon cities date back to time periods before the birth of Christ.

When one visits the coastal areas of Belize there are dozens of ancient ruin sites that date to these early time periods and are candidates for the cities mentioned by Alma - such ancient sites as Cerros, Santa Rita, Lamanai, Caracol, Altun-Ha, Colha, etc.

Some of these sites, such as Santa Rita date back to very early habitation, such as 1200BC. Once you leave the area of northern Belize (the location of Santa Rita), there is an interesting transposition. You then enter the eastern coastal area of the Yucatan peninsula, which has no ruin sites that date back to time periods before the birth of Christ.

There are sites, such as Tulum, that date to 400 AD, and then many that appear even later, such as 600 AD, but none that date back to the time period Alma talks about.

The Northern Yucatan Peninsula was an Island

I conclude that the Nephites did not occupy the Yucatan peninsula, and did not build cities in the Yucatan proper, or on its Eastern coast. They built cities, contiguous to each other, all along the Eastern coastal area of Belize, then stopped at the base of the Yucatan because the Yucatan peninsula was an island, or separated from the mainland by marshland, and not part of the Nephite lands proper.

This key makes figuring out Book of Mormon lands exponentially easier. Locating the northern quarter of the land of Zarahemla is now possible, as is locating the border referred to as the "sea, North" (see Helaman 3:8).

It was hard enough for the Nephites to defend their major lands - Zarahemla, Bountiful, etc. Had they also been required to defend cities on the Yucatan, an island during their time, their armies would have been stretched very thin indeed.

- Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, November 2007

I consider a hill in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico to be the hill Cumorah where the Book of Mormon battle of 385 AD took place, a hill named Cerro Bernal.

I have been to the very summit of that hill, and initially thought that it did not look like a place where Mormon 6:11 could have taken place:

"...we...did behold on the morrow, when the Lamanites had returned unto their camps, from the top of the hill Cumorah, the ten thousand of my people who were hewn down, being led in the front by me."

Possible problems with the top of Cerro Bernal

As I considered Mormon 6:11 and other verses related to the final battle, a number of problems surfaced.

Mormon was wounded in battle and left for dead (see Mormon 6:10). Cerro Bernal is a tough climb, easily taking six hours for a healthy person. How could Mormon climb the hill and be observing events on the very next day?

The summit of Cerro Bernal is not an ideal place for a wounded person to comfortably view events.

Cerro Bernal is likewise not an ideal place for a person to recover from life threatening wounds. A place where Mormon and Moroni, as well as the other twenty two survivors, to hide themselves, recover from wounds, have ample food and water, would require more than I saw at the summit of Cerro Bernal.

I initially thought that perhaps the twenty-four Nephite survivors of the battle hid in the chamber where all the plates were secreted, but Mormon said there were no righteous Nephites or Lamanites at this battle apart from himself and his son Moroni. I assume they would not want to take the other twenty-two survivors into the chamber, especially because there were many plates of gold in the cave. Taking such people into the chamber might increase the risk of the location being discovered by the Lamanites, resulting in the destruction of the records - the Lamanites' primary objective from the first.

And then there is the problem of food and water for a sustained period of time while Mormon recovered from his wounds and the victorious Lamanites departed the battlefield after burying their dead and allowing the wounded to recuperate. This could easily have taken weeks if not months.

The meaning of "on the morrow"

I began the search to find answers to these problems.

Webster's Dictionary explains that there are two separate meanings for the term, "morrow" - (i) the day following some specific day, and (ii) the time immediately subsequent to some particular event.

A close reading of Mormon 6:11 suggests that Mormon is using the second definition of this term. The event that is being referred to is "when the Lamanites had returned to their camps..." I will present Mormon 6:11, with the appropriate segments italicized, and you determine if that is a possible meaning:

"And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people, did behold on the morrow, when the Lamanites had returned unto their camps, from the top of the hill Cumorah, the ten thousand of my people who were led in the front by me."

The statement "on the morrow," may refer to the day after the Lamanites had returned to their camps, which could have been many days after the battle where Mormon was wounded. This would have given ample time for a wounded Mormon to get to the top of the hill.

Rocky and dangerous

The summit of Cerro Bernal is very rocky, uneven, narrow and dangerous. There are very few places on the summit where a person is not in danger of falling off to either side and being harmed or killed.

When I climbed to the summit we walked the very dangerous ridge, from the west to the east. We then reached a point where there was a sharp drop, a kind of cliff, which dropped to a flat location around 150-200 feet lower than where we were standing. And there was no way for us to descend to this location, especially since it had begun to snow after we got to the top. (Yes, I know, it does not snow at Cerro Bernal). It appears this was the only time in recorded history it has snowed there.

A plateau with fountains, fruit trees, and caves

While Esteban and I were in Ciudad Mante recently and had been rained out of the fields where we had been digging, we were simply walking around the town looking for a painting or photo of the crest/logo of the state of Tamaulipas. Cerro Bernal is central to that logo.

We finally purchased a copy of the crest (which was later stolen by the way), and while continuing our shopping we came across a shop named Decoracion Real, which had some nice photos of Cerro Bernal in it. The owner, a nice man named Jaime, was not there, so we made an appointment to meet him later in the day.

When we returned and discovered that he is a photographer by profession and avocation. He had a number of photos of Cerro Bernal, as well as some of the fountains in this area, and was nice enough to transfer these digital photos from his computer to my laptop.

Jaime said he had climbed Cerro Bernal several times, as have many people in this area. He told us of a plateau on the south side of the hill, approximately ____ feet below the summit.

He noted that this was a much more popular climbing destination than the summit because at this plateau there is a small fountain of water, which bubbles up forming a small pond of fresh water.

Also located on the plateau, he explained, were numerous fruit trees, such as banana trees, avocado trees, and some citrus trees unique to Mexico. There were also a number of small caves or grottos around the plateau where climbers could take refuge from bad weather if need be.

Learning "line upon line"

I am constantly amazed at how the teaching style of the Lord is often manifested "line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Ne 28:30).

As a result of my research and experiences, I now believe that there was ample time for Mormon to get to the top of Cerro Bernal - at least to the plateau - where he may well have found ample water and food, enough to sustain twenty-four people for an extended period of time.

In my opinion, the plateau on Cerro Bernal meets the description of the top of the Hill Cumorah.

Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, February 2008

In the past few years there has been a significant effort to change the focus from Mesoamerica to North America as the primary lands of the Book of Mormon people.

During a recent weeklong trip to some ancient ruin sites in Mexico I had the opportunity to focus on a few scriptures that appear to support the view that the Book of Mormon people lived in Mesoamerica (southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras).

Dwellings shall become desolate

In Third Nephi, the Savior speaks sternly to the Nephites and Lamanites who survived the catastrophic events that took place during His crucifixion, when a number of cities that were destroyed because of the wickedness of the people.

In 3 Ne 10:5 the Savior tells the survivors how oft He would have gathered them, as a "hen gathers her chickens..." He then speaks in the future tense, essentially saying the same thing, (i.e. if you will repent in the future, He will still gather those "chickens"). In verse seven the Savior then warns these remnants of Israel what will happen if they do not "return unto me with full purpose of heart." He then continues -

"But if not, O house of Israel, the places of your dwellings shall become desolate, until the time of the fulfilling of the covenant to your fathers." (Emphasis added)

Note that the Savior does not say that the places of their dwellings will be destroyed, but will "become desolate." Webster defines desolate as being "devoid of habitation," or "deserted." Two thoughts occurred to me:

Since the "dwellings" would become desolate, they would remain intact, to some degree, and not be completely destroyed. Otherwise, it seems the Lord would have spoken of destruction rather than desolation.

There must be a good reason that the Lord does not want these buildings destroyed, but only rendered desolate. I will return to this later.

Cities to be inhabited again

In the 22nd chapter of 3rd Nephi, the Savior returns to this issue of the desolate cities. In the chapters preceding chapter 22, the Savior describes how the restored gospel will first be taken to the gentiles, and how they will abuse the remnants of Israel, and finally the gentiles will fumble the gift they have been given. In chapter 21 the Savior then explains how the gospel will be taken to the remnant, and how they will accept it, as it slips away from the gentiles. (See Mormon 8:35-38)

As the Savior explains this fumbling by the gentiles, He describes the emergence of the remnant of Israel on this continent, those who are descendants of Lehi, and how they will embrace the gospel. In 3rd Nephi 22:3 he says to the remnant:

"For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the gentiles and make the cities to be inhabited."

I believe the cities the Lord is talking about that are to be inhabited by the remnant, are those cities that were rendered desolate, as indicated by the Lord in 3 Nephi 10:7. It appears to me that the Lord is going to have the remnant return to the ancient cities that became desolate, uninhabited, and inhabit them again. The question therefore is, "where are there ancient cities that were rendered desolate, (not destroyed), and can once again be inhabited?"

North America has no such desolate cities

My candidate for those cities are the ancient cities of the Maya in Mesoamerica. I don't know of any ancient cities in North America that have been rendered desolate and are preserved well enough that that they can once again be "inhabited," as indicated in 3 Ne 22:3.

Later in this chapter, the Lord says that the stones to be used in this rebuilding process will be "stones with fair colors." The Maya built all of their magnificent buildings with stones and then painted them either white, blue, red or yellow. Fair colors indeed. In 3 Ne 22:12 the Lord indicates the borders of these cities will be marked with "all thy borders of pleasant stones."

I have spent an inordinate amount of time studying the Maya culture, and have seen the beautifully colored stones their buildings were constructed with, as well as the borders that are marked by stone walls, stone highways and just plain stone markers. I believe the Lord is talking about the ancient cities of the Maya.

- Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, October 2009

Mormon doubtless considered many factors in his selection of the place for the final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites.

"And I, Mormon, wrote an epistle unto the king of the Lamanites, and desired of him that he would grant unto us that we might gather together our people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle. (Morm 6:2)

"And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents around about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites." (Morm 6:4)

Preliminary considerations

An understanding of a few historical realities is necessary to understand the factors shaping the selection of Cumorah as the battleground.

1. The Nephites lived in the land southward

The Nephites had lived in the land southward for close to 950 years. If we are correct about that land being Mesoamerica south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, then there were other groups living in that same area when Lehi landed, and had been there for well over 400 years. (See Note 1 at the conclusion of this response.)

2. Other peoples lived in the land northward

The Book of Ether states there were at least six families that came to this continent with Jared. Ether 1:41). The History of Mexico states there were seven. The Book of Ether is a brief account of only two of those families. "And now I, Moroni, proceed to give the record of Jared and his brother." (Ether 6:1) Moroni's history did not include the record of the other four or five families.

Based on the comments of Mormon and Moroni, the land northward also included the "North Countries." (See Mormon 2:3 and Ether 1:1). Presumably there were existing cultures in those countries also - and all of these need not be remnants of the People of Jared.

Mormon and Moroni also noted that within the land northward, there were "South Countries," all of which were either south or southeast of the land of Cumorah. All of these cultures need not be associated with the three groups the Book of Mormon talks about (the People of Jared, People of Lehi, and People of Mulek), as there were certainly other groups that had traveled to Mesoamerica during Book of Mormon days.

3. Teotihuacan controlled Mesoamerica during Book of Mormon times

There were well-established groups of people living in the land northward, before, during and after the Nephite nation developed in Mesoamerica. It is evident that Mormon and his family lived in one of these cities:

"And it came to pass that I, being eleven years old, was carried by my father into the land southward, even to the land of Zarahemla." (Morm 1:6)

Archaeologists concur that the most powerful city in the land northward during Book of Mormon times was the city of Teotihuacan, whose ruins lie 35 miles northeast of Mexico City. Residents of this city had political control over all of Mesoamerica, which would include the Nephites and Lamanites.

This control was political, not military, and came from the power they generated through trading and commerce. (See Teotihuacan, an Experiment in Living by Pasztory - Note 2.)

A battlefield distant from other cultures

Mormon was faced by numerous political and strategic considerations, in addition to those posed by the Nephites and Lamanites. He was not free to capriciously make a decision to schedule a final battle anywhere he wanted. That choice was certainly influenced, if not dictated by political and cultural realities of the day.

He could no more say to the Lamanites, "Let's go to a populated land northward, a foreign country and have a battle," than the President of the United States could say to the President of Mexico, "Let's take both of our armies to Ottawa, Canada and have a final battle." The Canadians would certainly not agree to that.

I believe that there were existing cultures and countries in the land northward that Mormon had to consider when deciding on a place for this final battle between the Nephites and Lamanites. Scheduling such a battle adjacent to existing cities and countries would be one of those considerations.

If he were to move his army of 240,000 Nephites to the wrong location, he could end up fighting more than the Lamanites. He wanted to fight the battle at a location that would give him an advantage, not a disadvantage.

Factors which could produce an advantage for the Nephites

Given the time, location and circumstances that Mormon had to deal with, what would give him the advantage he mentions in Mormon 6:4?

1. Human considerations

Mormon had a quarter of a million people to consider when deciding on the location of the battle. Principle among his considerations would be the providing of ample food and water for this large group, the remainder of the Nephite nation.

He also had to decide what to do with those Nephites not fit for battle, the old, infirm, babies, handicapped, sick, retarded, etc. Certainly he did not want them at the battle. The ninth chapter of Moroni gives some clues as to what he did with such people.

2. Political considerations

The location of the battle would have been set in a place that was acceptable to existing cultures, countries and polities.

Mormon would doubtless require approval of (or at least acquiescence to) the proposed location from the political capital of that time and location, Teotihuacan. (See Note 2.)

3. Strategic considerations

Mormon would have sought strategic advantages in the battle, perhaps including the following:

A location that would prove difficult for the Lamanites to reach.

A location that would take the Lamanites away from their base of operation and stretch their supply lines.

A location that would take its physical toll on the Lamanite army, in their efforts to reach the place of battle.

A location that would facilitate the production of weapons of war, or the purchase of same.

A place from which survivors could escape. There were Nephites, as well as the People of Ammon, who had moved to the land northward over three hundred years earlier. (See chapters 2 & 3 of Helaman and Ether 1:1). Some of these Nephites, under Mormon's command, certainly had distant relatives in the land northward - including both Mormon and Moroni, (see Mormon 8:5). If nothing else, Mormon knew that Moroni would need to survive, and with the plates avoid the Lamanites by retreating further northward. Being close to a route, as well as distant relatives would help in that regard. Minimally, Mormon's wife's family, (Moroni's mother) lived in the land northward.

The Tuxtla Mountains are not compatible with these factors

The Tuxtla area on the Gulf of southern Mexico, the area of Cerro Vejia (which some say is the Hill Cumorah), would be one of the last places a general would want to fight a battle. It was very close to the land occupied by the Lamanites, making it a short distance for the Lamanites to travel, and this area is located in a place occupied by large populations for that time period, places such as San Lorenzo.

Although there were certainly food and water in the Tuxtla area, to some degree that area was a marshland during the time of the battle of Cumorah. There are other places further north of Cerro Vejia that have similar conditions of fresh clean water, an ample supply of fish for food, but would be much more difficult for the Lamanites to access, and would also be more remote, not located close to other countries.

For this and many other reasons, I have always placed the land of Cumorah closer to the Tampico area of Mexico, an area of which appears to be a better candidate for Cumorah than the Tuxtla area where Cerro Vejia is located. I believe Cerro Bernal in the State of Tamaulipas to be Hill Cumorah where the final battle was fought.

- Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, October 2009

Note 1

At the March, 2007 Maya Conference at the University of Texas, Dr. Richard Hansen, of Idaho State University reported, "These earlier sites, (BC 1000 and forward), were very complex and sophisticated and extended from LaVenta to the Pacific side of Mexico and then up into the highlands of Guatemala, as well as into the Mirador basin.

"Nakbe and other sites date to BC 1000. From BC 800 to BC 600, their buildings were crude. Then around BC 600, something happened and their buildings became much more sophisticated. They were developed and shaped more uniformly. After BC 600, there is evidence of influence from the highlands of Guatemala, which came down the Usumacinta River."

I have known for years that the Nephite nation existed side by side with other cultures in Mesoamerica - but I did not know what percentage of those populations the Nephites represented. It may be possible in the coming years to determine, or at least project an answer to that riddle.

During the last two years, while attending the annual Maya conferences at the University of Texas and the University of Pennsylvania, there have been reports given by archaeologists of cities along the Usumacinta River, (River Sidon), that were abandoned in and around AD 350. This is the date Mormon gives for the Nephites abandoning their cities and moving to the land northward.

Archaeologists report that some of these cities along the river were abandoned, but not all. In a few years, the archaeologists should be able to make an educated guess as to how many of the ancient cities along the Usumacinta, (the Peten area of Guatemala and Southern Mexico), were abandoned in AD 350, and how many were not.

This could give us a peek into what percentage of the cities in that area was Nephite, and what percentage were not. Currently it appears more of the cities were non-Nephite, than were those occupied by the Nephites, as most were not abandoned in AD 350.

At the March, 2007 Maya conference at The University of Texas, Dr. Charles Golden of Brandeis University reported that, "We are finding a large number of Pre-Classic sites along the Usumacinta River, that were abandoned around AD 350. There is a silent period before the places were re-occupied, or in some cases, they were not re-occupied."

I put the above comments in quotes, but I was not recording these comments electronically. I was taking notes as fast as my writing would allow. I'm fairly certain the quotes are accurate, but they may not be exact.

Note 2

At the March, 2007 Maya Conference at the University of Texas, Dr. Megan O'Neill of the University of Southern California, reported, "Rulers of the cities of the Usumacinta Basin, also traveled to Teotihuacan to receive their bona fides, which legitimized their rulership. Those bona fides included a sign or symbol that was worn in the ruler's head dress, giving him or her legitimacy."

Given the political influence that Teotihuacan had over the existing cultures of that time, Nephite, Lamanite and others, and since I believe Mormon was raised in Teotihuacan, it makes much more sense for the Nephites to accept Mormon, a 15 year-old boy, as their leader.

Given the political power of Teotihuacan, the Nephites were rather obliged to do so. The fact that Mormon was also a "pure descendant of Nephi," large and politically well connected, simply sealed the decision to accept Mormon as their leader. You'll notice that in Mormon 2:1, Mormon is a little vague as to whether he was the leader of the Nephite nation, or the Nephite army, or both.

Archeologists agree that there were hundreds if not thousands of divergent groups that came to North and South America, most not associated with each other.

Ancient civilizations in the New World

I give you the Chinese, the Scandinavians, the Israelites, Africans, people from over the Siberian Straits, just to mention a few. We know that when Lehi landed on the Pacific side of Mesoamerica close to the Mexican-Guatemalan border, there were many cities in that area that dated to 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 BC. At the time Lehi landed El Mirador was in full bloom and had over 200,000 inhabitants.

There were also many groups in North America and in South America. The Mocha landed in South America about the same time the Jaredites landed in Mesoamerica - and were probably also from the Tower of Babel, since the Bible implies that people were scattered among all nations from the tower.

The largest civilization in Peru were the Inca, which began their ascension around 1300 AD.

The historical records of the Maya

The history of the Maya say their initial progenitor was named "ahau Jawbone" (Lord Lehi), and landed on the Pacific side around 600 BC at the Rio de la Puerta - the place of entrance.

This history continues that there were nine men with their families with this landing, and each had a tribe that bore his name except for one, the third son of Jawbone/Lehi, because he had no male children. This was Sam and explains why there are no "Samites."

The Maya later divided between the highland Maya (Lamanites), and the Lowland Maya, (Nephites).

The Landing of the Jaredites

The history of Mexico recounts that a group of people landed in Tampico, having crossed the sea in from the great tower in boats that could go under water. It also says there was another group that landed at a point near the Jaredites around 600 BC, but then got back in their boats and went further south, where, 400 years later, they met up with the folks from the highlands of Guatemala.

That sounds very much like the Book of Mormon to me. I do not doubt that there were great civilizations in South America, but the historical evidence of these cultures so far does not match up with the Book of Mormon the way the Mayan history does.

The Book of Mormon lands will be dotted by pyramids

I like to think that I am open minded, but proponents of South America as the Book of Mormon lands are going to have a hard time convincing me. The Book of Mormon says there were towers-read pyramids-throughout all of the lands. These were tall enough to afford a view over the jungle canopy which is around 150 feet tall. Given this height requirement, these towers could not have been made out of wood.

So the question becomes, "Where are the hundreds of 180 feet tall pyramids in South America that date to Book of Mormon times"? Guess what? They aren't there.

Or even better than that, where are the under water cities, that sank at the crucifixion. There are none there, but there are a number off the coast of Belize.

There is no persuasive evidence that Book of Mormon events took place in South America.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, September 2003

When Moroni reached the place in upstate New York where he buried the plates, he actually buried them twice.

Moroni 1:1 - 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.

I infer from this verse that once Moroni had completed the account of the people of Jared, he assumed he was finished with the record. He expected to be discovered and killed. Given that reality, it seems to me that he would immediately bury the plates to keep them safe.

Recovering the plates from the stone box

When he was not killed, I think he recovered the plates from the stone box where he had secreted them, and wrote the following:

Moroni 1:4 - Wherefore, I write a few more things, contrary to that which I had supposed, for I had supposed not to have written any more....

If Moroni had not supposed to have written any more, then there would be no need for him to keep the plates with him. Indeed, to do so would subject them to continuing risk of capture.

It is therefore my assumption that after burying the plates, and then not being discovered by the Lamanites, he retrieved them from the stone box he had prepared and wrote his book, the last book in the Book of Mormon. After doing so, he then buried the plates for the second and final time as a mortal.

The Book of Moroni was written after the Title Page

Further evidence of this is a statement by Joseph Smith indicating that the title page of the Book of Mormon was written by Moroni, and was on the inside of the very last gold plate (History of the Church, Vol. 1, page 71). To me this suggests that Moroni thought he had completed the abridgment, and therefore wrote what is now known as the title page.

This left the back side of that last gold plate with no writing on it. I assume therefore that after burying the plates, Moroni retrieved them, wrote his book (the Book of Moroni) on the back of the last gold plate, and then returned the plates to the place he had prepared and buried them for the second time.

- Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, November 2009

A number of Book of Mormon commentators have concluded that the land of Cumorah may be adjacent to the narrow neck of land (the Isthmus of Tehuantepec), and that Cerro Vigia may be the Hill Cumorah where the final battle of the Nephites and Lamanites was fought.

I believe this view is inconsistent with the history of the Book of Mormon.

The Land Northward

Let me first define the two terms "land northward" and "land southward." Land northward, as used in the Book of Mormon, refers to the land that begins immediately north of the narrow neck, (sometimes referred to as Desolation) and extends northwest, presumably until it reaches the "north countries."

Mormon 2:3 - And it came to pass that in the three hundred and twenty and seventh year the Lamanites did come upon us with exceedingly great power, insomuch that they did frighten my armies; therefore they would not fight, and they began to retreat towards the north countries.

Ether 1:1 - And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country.

The Land Southward

The land southward describes the land that begins immediately south of the narrow neck, and extends in a southeastward direction. The northern boundary of this land southward is the line that separates Desolation from Bountiful.

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; and thus the land of Nephi and the land of Zarahemla were nearly surrounded by water, there being a small neck of land between the land northward and the land southward.

The South Countries

I feel certain that the term "land southward" refers to an area different from the "south countries" described by Mormon.

Mormon 6:15 - And it came to pass that there were ten more who did fall by the sword, with their ten thousand each; yea, even all my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me, and also a few who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had deserted over unto the Lamanites....

Had these terms referred to the same location, Mormon would not have used two separate terms to identify it. He was an excellent historian and would not have made such a confusing word choice. He used two separate terms, because the "land southward" and the "south countries" are two separate places.

So read, this scriptures says that between the place where this final battle took place, (the land of Cumorah), and the land Desolation/Narrow neck, there is enough room for at least two "south countries." (The term "countries" could refer to more than two countries - but the plural term means there were at least two.)

Location of Cerro Vigia

Now, here is the problem: Cerro Vigia is only 60 miles from the narrow neck, perhaps too small an area to fit two or possibly more south countries.

Faced with this problem, the commentators described above argue that the terms "south countries" and "land southward" are used interchangeably to describe the same area south of the narrow neck. I am certain that was not intended by Mormon.

Moroni's Description

Moroni was confronted with the same challenge. Like his father, Moroni uses the term "land southward" four times when referring to the lands south of Desolation (the narrow neck). Yet when he describes the same event as his father, the escape of a few Nephites, he says the following:

Mormon 8:2 - And now it came to pass that after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites until they were all destroyed.

Moroni differs from his father in this description. Mormon refers to this area where some Nephites had escaped as the "south countries," while Moroni calls the area as the "country southward." But neither of these two historians refers to the destination of escaping Nephites as the "land southward," which was the area clearly understood by them to be the land south of the narrow neck.

One thing is for certain: these "south countries" were located south, or southward (that is, southeast) of the land of Cumorah, and yet north of the Narrow neck. If the land of Cumorah is around Cerro Vigia, there is little space for two or more countries between it and the narrow neck to the south.

What is a "Country"?

Webster's Dictionary defines country as: "A large tract of land distinguished by a unique culture."

This definition indicates that one of the characteristics that qualifies a tract of land to be referred to as a country, is a group of people living there that have developed a unique culture. Were this not the case with the "south countries," Mormon would have referred to the land as the "south wilderness," which, in Book of Mormon terms, means where there are no cities, no unique culture.

Why the difference in descriptions?

Mormon was around seventy-five years old when writing his account, while Moroni was around forty. Mormon had been keeping and writing the Nephite records for around fifty years, while Moroni, at the age of around thirty-five, had just begun as the record keeper.

I am therefore inclined to give more credence to Mormon's account than to Moroni's. Plus, Moroni had not as yet accessed the records of Ether and had therefore not seen the whole history of this planet (see Ether 3:25; 4:4). That happened later, when Moroni translated and abridged the information in the Plates of Ether.

The important point is that Mormon's reference to "countries" south of Cumorah but north of the narrow neck indicates there were such countries.

Why schedule the final battle near population centers?

There is one last point about this issue that should be mentioned. If there were countries south and/or southeast of the land of Cumorah, and Cumorah is but a few miles from the narrow neck, then Mormon scheduled the battle adjacent to at least two (possibly more) existing populated countries.

Mormon 6:2 - And I, Mormon, wrote an epistle unto the king of the Lamanites, and desired of him that he would grant unto us that we might gather together our people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle.

This seems a little odd, if not politically unacceptable by local rulers. And Mormon's description of the site of the final battle says nothing of local cities.

Mormon 6:4 - And it came to pass that we did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch our tents around about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters, rivers, and fountains; and here we had hope to gain advantage over the Lamanites.

Escaping Nephites would not flee to the land southward

There is an additional reason I believe these two different terms refer to two separate lands. If they are one in the same, (i.e. the South Countries and the Land Southward), then these Nephites would have escaped into the lands totally occupied and controlled by the Lamanites. Mormon had given these lands to the Lamanites in 350 AD, some thirty- five years earlier (see Mormon 2:28-29).

As a pure point of logic, during a war, you do not escape by running to the country you are at war with. You can dissent over to the enemy's lands, but not escape. And Mormon mentions both groups of people in Mormon 6:15: "...a few who had escaped into the south countries, and a few who had dissented over unto the Lamanites."

Cumorah is distant from the narrow neck

If I am correct in this interpretation of these statements by Mormon and Moroni, and there are "countries" in between the land of Cumorah and the narrow neck, this places the land of Cumorah a considerable distance from the narrow neck. If this analysis is correct, the Hill Cumorah cannot be Cerro Vigia, a hill only 60 miles from the narrow neck of land.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, September 2009

Jose Davila, my friend and mentor in Book of Mormon studies, believed that certain petroglyphs located in the foothills of Fillmore and Cedar City, Utah, were written by Moroni. These petroglyphs can be seen on page 214 of my book, The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni.

Not shown in my book, however, was a singular petroglyph which Jose claimed was Moroni's signature. I placed a semblance of that petroglyph - Moroni's signature - at the top of page 215, and other textual pages in my book.

Several professors who hold credentials in such matters have expressed a belief that these petroglyphs are graffiti, written as a lark, and of recent origin.

"Moroni" petroglyphs are scattered across the West

Since the publishing of my book, I have received feedback from readers identifying over twenty locations where this "Moroni" petroglyph appears. These identical "Moroni" petroglyphs have been located in Arizona, Nevada, California, New Mexico and other locations in Utah.

Three friends and I have set in motion a formal investigation of these petroglyphs to see if the meaning of these writings can be ascertained. We have taken visitors to these petroglyph sites, LDS and non-LDS alike, and a few of those who speak Aramaic languages have, when looking at this "Moroni" glyph, have said, (unsolicited), that the meaning of this glyph is "MR" (mir) and ANAE" - reading Mranai.

We are now in the process of studying these petroglyphs systematically to see if a scientific agreement can be reached respecting them. And I remind you, this is no easy task, for few scholars agree on the meaning of these kinds of ancient petroglyphs.

The burial place of Mormon and the Plates of Ether

According to Jose Davila, the set of petroglyphs appearing in Cedar City, (see page 214 of my book), were written by Moroni and give the directions as to where he buried his father. If this turns out to be so, this means that Mormon would have been killed and buried outside of Cedar City, Utah.

The other group of petroglyphs on page 214, according to Jose, gives directions as to where Moroni buried the plates of Ether.

Ether 1:4 - Therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the days of Adam until that time; but they are had upon the plates; and whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account.

These are the petroglyphs located in Fillmore, Utah. And since the publishing of my book, we have either located, or been made aware of this same petroglyph, (Moroni's signature), behind the temple in Manti, east of the temple in Ogden and numerous other locations in the western part of the United States.

Could Jose be correct?

As I close this article, I remind the reader that the meaning of these petroglyphs was rendered by Jose Davila, a man who has no professional training in ancient languages. The reason his "translation" impresses me is that I knew this man for over thirty years.

When I first met him, he was attending Maya conferences, where he was explaining the meaning of the glyphs to those who hold credential in the Maya language. Once again, these professionals made sport of Jose, rejected his idea that Maya glyphs had phonetic meaning, and rejected what he said.

However, just recently, prior to the death of Jose, the Maya scholars announced that they had made a great discovery - that the Maya glyphs also have phonetic meanings to them.

My three friends and I are now recruiting those with credentials in ancient languages to determine if Jose's ideas and translations may have merit. If so, then the actual travels of Mormon and Moroni become much easier to determine.

I expect to write much more on this topic as research progresses.

- Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, August 2009

A few years ago I wrote an article about the events that attended the crucifixion and death of the Savior. I have since received emails from a number of people who expressed their opinion that the three days of darkness was the result of volcanic eruptions. It was their view that the volcanic ash caused the darkness, which made it impossible to light any kind of fire.

It has been my contention that volcanic ash would probably not prevent the burning of a fire, although it could certainly create darkness. I have therefore always assumed that the conditions that disallowed the burning of fire, was some form of moisture, such as a thick vapor and not volcanic ash. The descriptive verses can be found in 3 Nephi 20-22:

And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could feel the vapor of darkness;

And there could be no light, because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceedingly dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all;

And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.

Oil and water vapors

While recently preparing comments for a presentation to an LDS Institute class, a couple of Book of Mormon scriptures "leaped off the pages" at me.

There are very large deposits of oil, gas and water, underneath the lands I consider to be Zarahemla (in the vicinity of Yaxchilan on the Usumacinta River). I believe that during the crucifixion, there were large and deep fissures in the land, allowing for the dramatic escape of these gas, oil and water vapors from beneath the ground.

Then, at the end of these three days, these fissures cleaved back together, the vapors subsided and light returned to the land. The scriptures which appear to support these views are as follows:

3 Nephi 8:20 - And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had fallen could feel the vapor of darkness.

3 Nephi 8:22 - And there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.

It appears from these verses that the darkness appears to have been from conditions of moisture, (mists), not ash from volcanic eruptions. The fact that the scriptures says "mists," in the plural, may indicate there were mists from a variety of substances, not just one.

Prophecies of destruction

Now, switching from the events occurring during the crucifixion of the Savior to the prophesies of these events, the following conditions are described:

1 Nephi 19:11 - For thus spake the prophet (apparently Zenos): The Lord God surely shall visit all the house of Israel at that day, some with his voice, because of their righteousness, unto their great joy and salvation, and others with the thunderings and the lightenings of his power, by tempest, by fire, and by smoke, and vapor of darkness, and by the opening of the earth, and by mountains which shall be carried up.

My reading of this scripture seems to indicate the vapor of darkness was associated with the "opening of the earth," which was my thesis from the first. There were great fissures in the earth and thick vapors of gas, oil and water erupted from those fissures. In some cases, the lighting, which "came down from heaven," may have set some of those gases and vapors on fire.

What brought an end to the darkness?

Going back to events of the crucifixion, we are told the following in 3 Nephi 10:10-

And the earth did cleave back together again, that it stood; and the mourning, and the weeping, and the wailing of the people who were spared alive did cease...

I believe that the earth was torn apart during the crucifixion, vapors and mist, (made of gas, oil and water), escaped from beneath the earth, and those vapors and mists caused darkness for three days, a darkness in which no fire of any kind could be lighted.

At the conclusion of those three days, the earth did cleave back together, the vapors and mists dissipated from the land, and light returned unto the cities of the Nephites.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, May 2009

The Maya have a great affinity for using numbers to express religious ideas and other unique concepts in their culture. This fact caused me to wonder whether certain numbers used in the Book of Mormon may also have special meaning.

Principle among the numbers I have found used in the Book of Mormon is the number twenty-four.

There were twenty-four plates of Ether.

Mormon was to retrieve the plates of Nephi from the Hill Shim when he was "about twenty and four years old."

There were twenty-four regiments, and therefore twenty-four commanders, in the Nephite army during the last struggle of that nation (see Mormon 6:11-15).

Although not explicitly stated, it appears there were twenty-four plates in Mormon's abridgment. (This is explained on pages 237-241 in my book, The Lives and Travels of Mormon & Moroni).

Twenty-Four survived the final battle

When contemplating these kinds of issues, it is easy to see why Ether would use twenty-four plates for his account. The same is true for Mormon. Each of these records gave an account of a complete/whole time period of the people they were writing about. A numerical way to express the fullness of this time period is to express it in a total or full day - twenty-four hours.

To the Maya, and I believe to the Nephites as well, the number of plates used, were to convey a specific meaning, as well as the record itself. This is one of the ways the Maya used numbers, to convey additional information.

When making a record, a writer can pre-determine that the account will fit onto twenty-four plates. You make the twenty-four plates and plan your writing accordingly. But it is far more complicated to end a battle, where almost a quarter of a million people were killed, and end up with twenty-four survivors.

Who were the Survivors?

Twenty-four people survived the battle of Cumorah, where around 230,000 Nephites were killed. I have often wondered how this came about, and who the twenty-four survivors were. It was not until Esteban and I visited the killing fields of the battle of Cumorah that I discovered a possible explanation for the survival of these twenty-four Nephite soldiers.

One of our first discoveries about these killing fields is that some were very far from the hill itself (Cerro Bernal, the one I consider to be Cumorah). So far in fact, that it would have been next to impossible for Mormon to see what was taking place with those contingents of ten thousand warriors, who were at least fifteen miles away.

I thought I remembered reading that Mormon observed all twenty-three groups of ten thousand from the top of the hill. However, upon re-reading the text, I found that was not the case. Mormon 6:11-12 states that the only two groups Mormon had observed from the top of the hill where (1) his ten thousand men, and (2) another group of ten thousand that had been led by his son Moroni. The record does not say he was able to see all groups of ten thousand.

11 And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people, did behold on the morrow, when the Lamanites had returned unto their camps, from the top of the hill Cumorah, the ten thousand of my people who were hewn down, being led in the front by me.

12 And we also beheld the ten thousand of my people who were led by my son Moroni.

Communicating through runners

If that were the case, how did Mormon know what was happening with the other 22 commanders and their contingents of ten thousand? The obvious answer was, "runners."

Each group of ten thousand, excluding his own would have to send runners back to the command post, which it appears was at the hill Cumorah. The runners would then return with directives from Mormon himself.

Presumably these runners would report on the status of each regiment of ten thousand until each contingent had been annihilated. At that point, there would be but one person remaining from each of these military contingents to report the news of destruction to General Mormon - the runner.

Since Mormon did not need a runner for his ten thousand men that left twenty-two groups that would need runners. Therefore, at the end of the battle of Cumorah, there would remain twenty-two runners, who had survived the battle, as well as Mormon himself, and his son Moroni, a total of twenty-four, just as the record indicates.

Mormon 6:10 states that Mormon himself had been wounded and left for dead, but recovered from his wounds. He also had presumably arranged for his son to be out of harm's way, as Moroni had to survive the battle in order to complete Mormon's abridgement (see Mormon 6:6).

It appears that either by way of serendipity, or as a result of essential communications, (runners), twenty-four Nephites survived the battle of Cumorah. And thus, in a rather ironic way, the message of completeness was conveyed. The twenty-four hours in the day were up and "the day" was ended, all which convey a subtle, but powerful, message about those who had strayed from the teachings of Jesus Christ. For those who apostatize, their day (time) is up.

One day with the Lord

I would also remind the reader that the Nephite nation began around BC 600 and ended around AD 400, for a total of one thousand years. Bearing this in mind, the following scripture seems to apply to this article, concerning twenty-four.

2 Peter 3:8 - But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [24 hours] is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, May 2009

Let us review the Book of Mormon's description of the Hill Cumorah. The name of the hill prior to it being Cumorah was Ramah. Ramah in Aramaic means larger than almost everything else, but not as large as the largest. It is the root word for Abraham, (Abramaham). What this therefore says about Abraham, is that he was greater than most men, but not as great as God.

Vigia offers no military advantage

Geographically, Ramah means a hill that was larger than any other hill, but not as large as a mountain. Ramah was more than its name, it was its description. It was a Ramah.

A way to get a sense of the size, is to look at the hill Lehi-Ramah, in the Old Testament. It is a very large hill, where Sampson slew 1,000 philistines with the Jawbone of an ass. Lehi is Hebrew for Jawbone.

That hill in the Old Testament is much larger than Vigia. Mormon selected Cumorah because he hoped to get an advantage over the Lamanites in the final battle. I don't know what advantage Vigia offers. The advantage for my candidate for Cumorah, Cerro Bernal in the State of Tamaulipas, is that it has seven rivers surrounding it. Attacking Lamanites would have to cross the rivers, where they could be engaged and killed.

I have been to the top of both hills. If you go to the tops, and then read Mormon's account, there is no comparison between the two candidates with respect to creating a strategic military command center.

A mixing of land and water

"Cumorah" means an equal mixing of land and water. That land by Vigia does not do that. Cerro Bernal has springs and fountains right on the hill; Vigia does not. It cannot be a Cumorah, (hill of land and water), if there is no water on the hill.

Surrounded by ancient burial sites

At lease twenty-three different pre-Columbian cemeteries surround Cerro Bernal. I know of none around Vigia.

Did these five events occur at Vigia?

Alma 22:27-30 states that five things happened in the area of the Hill Cumorah:

27 And it came to pass that the king sent a proclamation throughout all the land, amongst all his people who were in all his land, who were in all the regions round about, which was bordering even to the sea, on the east and on the west, and which was divided from the land of Zarahemla by a narrow strip of wilderness, which ran from the sea east even to the sea west, and round about on the borders of the seashore, and the borders of the wilderness which was on the north by the land of Zarahemla, through the borders of Manti, by the head of the river Sidon, running from the east towards the west--and thus were the Lamanites and the Nephites divided.

28 Now, the more idle part of the Lamanites lived in the wilderness, and dwelt in tents; and they were spread through the wilderness on the west, in the land of Nephi; yea, and also on the west of the land of Zarahemla, in the borders by the seashore, and on the west in the land of Nephi, in the place of their fathers' first inheritance, and thus bordering along by the seashore.

29 And also there were many Lamanites on the east by the seashore, whither the Nephites had driven them. And thus the Nephites were nearly surrounded by the Lamanites; nevertheless the Nephites had taken possession of all the northern parts of the land bordering on the wilderness, at the head of the river Sidon, from the east to the west, round about on the wilderness side; on the north, even until they came to the land which they called Bountiful.

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.

1. The Jaredites landed here.

2. The first landing of the people of Mulek was here.

3. The final Jaredite battle ended here.

4. The final Nephite battle took place here.

5. The Hill Cumorah is located where Desolation (uninhabitable lands) ends and the Land of Cumorah begins.

I know of nothing that suggests that any of these five events took place at Vigia. Yet I have records that indicated all five took place around Cerro Bernal.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, March 2006

I believe that Moroni buried the plates twice in up-state New York, where young Joseph Smith discovered them some 1,400 years later. The first time he buried the plates, he expected to be discovered and killed in short order. When that did not happen, he retrieved the plates, added his short book, and reburied them (see Moroni 1:1 and Moroni 1:4).

Moroni and the Brother of Jared saw all events on the earth

One of the questions that such a scenario raises is, how could Moroni not have known when he would be discovered and killed, since he, as well as the Brother of Jared, Ether and others had seen everything that had happened and would happen on this planet.

Ether 3:25 And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth.

Ether 4:4 Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.

They saw events, but no time line

Here's my explanation. Although the Urim and Thummim, as well as the plates of Ether did show to Moroni every event to take place on this planet, there was not a time line with those visuals. In other words, even though Moroni knew he was to be killed by the Lamanites, which is implied in Moroni 1:1, he did not know the precise time line for that happening.

Moro 1:1 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.

To me this implies that Moroni expected his murder to take place immediately after he buried the plates. Since that did not happen, he decided to write a little more, which is why we have the Book of Moroni.

As I thought about this, I realized that although it is possible for a Seer to envision the whole history of the planet in a very short space of time, it would be next to impossible for those images to have a precise time line with each image. If that were the case, you would have to watch the history of the world in real time, or close to it.

A Seer, when envisioning these events of the world, knows where they fit in relationship to the history of the world, by their relationship to other events, rather than by a finite time line. In other world, events A, B and C took place before Christ, while events X, Y and Z, took place after Christ (an over-simplification).

No man knows the hour of the Savior's coming

If true, this may explain why Jesus said that even though people like the Brother of Jared, Ether and others had seen the whole history of the world, no one knew the day or the hour of his second coming (see Matthew 24:22).

There was not a time frame with these events. Those Seers viewing these future events clearly understood that Jesus would have to hasten his coming, but were given no time line in what they saw, none of them knew the day or the hour.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, August 2009

King Benjamin gave his farewell address from the top of a tower. In some drawings of this event, these structures are painted as being made of wood, similar to a modern Forest Ranger lookout post. I believe that these towers are not structures of wood, but are made of stone and/or brick. Indeed, these towers are pyramids.

The Great Tower

The Book of Mormon contains three references to the "great tower":

Mosiah 28:17-Now after Mosiah had finished translating these records, behold, it gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth, yea, and even from that time back until the creation of Adam.

Ether 1:3-And as I suppose that the first part of this record, which speaks concerning the creation of the world, and also of Adam, and an account from that time even to the great tower, and whatsoever things transpired among the children of men until that time, is had among the Jews-

Ether 1:33-Which Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered.

Chapter 11 of the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament describes the construction materials used in this great tower:

3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

Towers in Mesoamerica

Structures made of brick, stone and slime (mortar) were built 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.

I believe that the Book of Mormon term "tower" refers to similarly large structures, made of brick, and/or of stone - structures which we currently refer to as pyramids.

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).

If 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.

Lookout Posts

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."

Limhi "discovered [the Lamanites] from the tower, even all their preparations for war did he discover;..." (Mosiah 20:8)

Speaking Platforms

King Benjamin also appears to have used 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."

According to Alma, even the Lamanites built towers from which they periodically addressed their citizens.

Alma 48:1 -...it came to pass that Amlickiah ...appointed men to speak unto the Lamanites from their towers, against the Nephites."

Constructed 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."

Built on Hilltops

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.

Used for Prayer

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,...."

Advantageous in Warfare

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 - And he caused towers to be erected that overlooked those works of pickets, and he caused places of security to be built upon those towers, that the stones and the arrows of the Lamanites could not hurt them.

Pyramids in Mesoamerica

The uses of towers made by Book of Mormon peoples is consistent with the pyramids of 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. 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 there are relatively few examples 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.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, January 2003

For many years I wondered how, as Ether said, he recorded on just 24 gold plates the complete history of the planet Earth, even given that Ether used both sides of the plates.

Ether 1: 1-2 - And now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country. And I take mine account from the twenty and four plates which were found by the people of Limhi, which is called the Book of Ether.

Ether 3 describes the vision given to the brother of Jared:

19 And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting.

20 Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus; and he did minister unto him.

21 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt not suffer these things which ye have seen and heard to go forth unto the world, until the time cometh that I shall glorify my name in the flesh; wherefore, ye shall treasure up the things which ye have seen and heard, and show it to no man.

22 And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them and shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall write them in a language that they cannot be read.

23 And behold, these two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also with the things which ye shall write.

24 For behold, the language which ye shall write I have confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men these things which ye shall write.

25 And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the earth.

26 For he had said unto him in times before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him all things--it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things.

27 And the Lord said unto him: Write these things and seal them up; and I will show them in mine own due time unto the children of men.

28 And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that he should seal up the two stones which he had received, and show them not, until the Lord should show them unto the children of men.

A seer sees the events, not just the characters

I believe 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. If so, the record is not "read" in the classical sense of the word, but rather events themselves are seen or experienced by the "reader."

Perhaps the person wishing to access the record uses the Urim and Thummim, and then turns to the "writings" in the plates. Perhaps a symbol on these plates "instructs" the Urim and Thummim to show the person a selected event or portion of the history of the world. The "reader" then literally sees the events intended to be revealed. He doesn't envision them, he actually sees them.

Ether 3:24, set forth above, says "these stones shall magnify to the eyes of men..." The events being studied are not magnified to the reader's mind, but to their eyes.

How are the Urim and Thummim used?

Ether 3:24 has lead many people to assume that the Urim and Thummim are worn in front of a person's eyes, like spectacles. Exodus 28:30 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.

I think 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?

Moving through the plates

The person then moves to the next symbol on the plates, which may instruct the Urim and Thummim to show another time period of the world, or another other event. For example, "show this person the second 100 years," or "...the life of Enoch."

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 may be this experience that led Moroni to say at Ether 5:1 that he wrote information from the plates of Ether "from memory." He did not translate them, but viewed them and then wrote them from memory. This may be why such a person is referred to as a Seer.

A Seer

The gift of a Seer is so unique and powerful that Ammon described it to King Limhi in the following words of Mosiah 8:

12 And I say unto thee again: Knowest thou of any one that can translate? For I am desirous that these records should be translated into our language; for, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of a remnant of the people who have been destroyed, from whence these records came; or, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of this very people who have been destroyed; and I am desirous to know the cause of their destruction.

13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.

14 And behold, the king of the people who are in the land of Zarahemla is the man that is commanded to do these things, and who has this high gift from God.

15 And the king said that a seer is greater than a prophet.

16 And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.

17 But a seer can know of things which are past, and also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or, rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known.

18 Thus God has provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings.

Again, some have jumped to the wrong conclusion based on verse 13. 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.

A language that cannot be read

This phenomenon is also, I believe, what led Ether to indicate that he wrote these things in "a language that cannot be read" (Ether 3:22, set forth above). When I first read this verse, I assumed that these things could not be read because they were prohibited, or were confounded or encrypted in such a way that prevented 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.

The power to get the full account

Ether 1:4 - Therefore I do not write those things which transpired from the days of Adam until that time; but they are had upon the plates; and whoso findeth them, the same will have power that he may get the full account.

Perhaps that "power" is the ability or commandment to use the Urim and Thummim. I believe 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.

If so, whoever finds these plates will also find the Urim and Thummim, and thus have the "power" to get the full account.

Must a Seer be ordained?

In the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith is called a seer before being called a prophet.

D&C 21:1- Behold, there shall be a record kept among you; and in it thou shalt be called a seer, a translator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ, an elder of the church through the will of God the Father, and the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ,

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 taught this to Lamoni:

13 Now Ammon said unto him: I can assuredly tell thee, O king, of a man that can translate the records; for he has wherewith that he can look, and translate all records that are of ancient date; and it is a gift from God. And the things are called interpreters, and no man can look in them except he be commanded, lest he should look for that he ought not and he should perish. And whosoever is commanded to look in them, the same is called seer.

A new perspective on language

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 you actually experienced the events of the world. That would indeed be overpowering.

Christ's prayer for the children

I believe this also explains the prayer the Savior prayed over the little children in 3 Nephi 17, where Mormon describes his language.

15 And when he 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.

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

17 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; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.

18 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.

I once thought 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, at least with the same effect, 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 saw or experienced 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... 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 to me. 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 in adequate words Celestial events that people saw and heard from the Savior? Can such an event enter into the hearts of men, without them actually seeing and hearing what the Savior showed these people? No.

The language of Enoch

I believe that the written "language" used by the brother of Jared on the plates, and by Ether in his transcription, can also be spoken. This may be the language that the Lord gave to Enoch, a language so powerful that Moses states:

Moses 7:13-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.

The language of the Millennium

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

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.

The language of Adam

Might it be the same pure language, or at least the beginning of it, that Joseph Smith referred to in his Inspired Version of the Bible?

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.

The power of the Lord's language

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.

-Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, February 2002

When the Book of Mormon names the twelve disciples that the Savior chose, it indicates that there were two sets of brothers. Nephi, the President of the Quorum of Twelve, had a brother named Timothy, who it appears was raised from the dead by his brother Nephi (3 Nephi 19:4).

The second set of brothers were named Mathoni and Mathonihah. I believe that the similarity of the two names offers some insight into the relationship of these two disciples.

The Maya Meaning of "Ha"

I, and many other students of the Book of Mormon, believe the Pre-Columbian people today called the Maya to be the descendants of Book of Mormon people. If this is correct, use of the word "ha" may give us some insight into the Book of Mormon.

I must first explain that in the Maya language "ha" or "hah" implies a relationship to the water in some way. It could be a proximity to a body of water, or something less obvious.

The term hah does not appear among the Nephites until after the twenty-four plates of Ether were translated by Mosiah. They were translated and made accessible, at least in part, to the Nephite nation.

The plates of Ether, an account of the Jaredite nation, explain that Jared had four sons. Two of those sons had names ending with hah, Orihah and Mahah (see Ether 6:14). If the use of this term among the Jaredites indicates proximity to water, this may tell us something about these two sons of Jared. It may be that these two sons of were born while on the coast preparing the barges, or during the trip to this continent, or upon their arrival, while living by the ocean.

Once Mosiah translated the Jaredite records and made them available to the Nephites, the term "hah" begins to appear in Nephite names, such as Nephihah, Cumenihah, Mathonihah, etc. Alma makes it clear that the city of Nephihah was located by the East sea, which may support my view that, like the Maya, the Nephites used the term "hah" to indicate something by or related to water.

Those who have vacationed in Cancun may have visited a site named Xel-ha, which means the resort by the water, or Altun-ha, or Misol-ha, all ancient Maya cities which are located by the water.

The Brothers Mathoni and Mathonihah

Now, back to my theory about Mathonihah and his brother Mathoni. Why would parents give two brothers essentially the same name? As with most, (if not all) Book of Mormon names, individual names give additional insight into some special aspect of that person. For example, Mormon was named after the land and waters of Mormon. Moroni was probably named after the city or land of Moron.

I finally asked myself, why would parents name two of their sons Mathoni, and then append the term Hah (related to water), at the end of one of their names? I finally concluded that these two boys were more than just brothers. They were twins, and Mathonihah was the firstborn. He was the one who "broke the water," so to speak.

By naming their two sons this way, the parents announce which of the two twins was the firstborn, which is significant in a Patriarchal society. In our society, one of the first questions asked when twins are introduced, is: "Which was the first born?" In the case of Mathoni and Mathonihah, assuming my theory is correct, the necessity of that question was eliminated. This is just a possibility that I submit for consideration.

̶ Dr. Jerry Ainsworth, June 2005

The Book of Mormon offers a few clues regarding the location of the area described as "the East Wilderness."

We know Captain Moroni did not build cities in the East Wilderness. It had the name wilderness expressly to denote cities were not built there. He did, however, "possess" the land and keep soldiers there, so as to keep the Lamanites away from the areas where the Nephites lived.

We know the East Wilderness was not in the Eastern part of Zarahemla, as so many commentators place it. The East Wilderness was West of Zarahemla (provide citation). The term East is used relative to its juxtaposition from the West Wilderness.

South Dakota is not in the Southern part of the U.S. It is only South in comparison to North Dakota. North Carolina is not in the Northern part of the U.S. It is North only in comparison to South Carolina.

Three Wildernesses

Three wilderness areas were established by treaty between the Lamanites and Nephites (provide citation) - the South Wilderness, the West Wilderness and the East Wilderness.

The South wilderness was the area from the tops of the mountains to the bottoms of the mountains - which separated the area ceded to the Lamanites (tops of the mountains) and those ceded to the Nephites, (bottom of the mountains).

Wilderness (where cities were not to be built), were in the middle of the mountain slopes. This is where the Gadianton robbers dwelt. In fact, this is what Gadianton means.

Gadi = middle

Anton = mountain

If we had the Lamanites record, it would call the South Wilderness the North Wilderness, as it was North of their lands.

Two mountain ranges flank the Central Depression

There is a football shaped twin mountain range in southern Mexico, each running north and south, which nearly surrounds a geographical feature called the Central Depression. The West Wilderness ran from the tops of those western-most mountains, down to the bottom of same, close to the Pacific Ocean.

The East Wilderness ran from the tops of the mountain range on the Eastern side of this depression, down to the bottoms of the mountains, to the lands called Bountiful and Zarahemla. Both the East and West wildernesses were west of Zarahemla.

Many commentators place the East wilderness to the east of Zarahemla, but I believe this is a mistake. Look up the term wilderness in a dictionary, and you'll find it is a place where there were no cities. Then try to find a place in the Eastern part of Southern Mexico and Belize where there were no cities, during Book of Mormon days. There is no such place. Cities were everywhere in this region, and therefore there is no wilderness in that area of the country.

̶ Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, March 2006

Moroni, while giving his moving discourse on faith, hope and charity contained in Moroni ____, matter-of-factly states:

"For the brother of Jared said to the mountain Zerin remove, and it was removed."

For what reason, and to what location, was this mountain moved? I offer the following highly speculative possibility, taking strands of information, both scriptural and historical, and attempting to weave them together. There is simply not enough information to fully support the theory developed here, which is offered only to stimulate discussion about such a possibility.

Mt. Zerin

Moroni's reference demonstrates the faith of the brother of Jared, but prompts the question, "why did the brother of Jared move this mountain in the first place?" There must have 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 feat.

Here are some the bits of information that suggest a possible answer:

A barge for fish

The Jaredites were scattered from the Tower of Babel, and came to Mesoamerica in eight boats. At least one of those boats had fish in it.

"...and they did also prepare a vessel, in which they did carry with them the fish of the waters" (Ether 2:2).

These may have been fresh water fish, which were used to restock Mesoamerica with fresh water fish, to replace those killed during the salt water flood in Noah's day.

First settlers came from the Tower of Babel

The history of Mexico says that this initial group that landed in the Tampico area around 3,000 BC was called Quinamis, and came from "The Great Tower." (provide citation.)

Land of the white caps

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." (provide citation.)

I assume this to be the states of Puebla and Tlaxcala in Mexico. These two states are the only places in Mexico that have snow covered volcanoes. The reason for going to this area was two-fold:

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

The travelers needed to go the continental divide, where the rivers begin to flow, in order to restock the rivers with fresh water fish.

Seven families in seven caves

The history of Mexico states that these initial inhabitants from the "Great Tower" came from Chicomoztoc. Chicomoztoc means the seven families from the seven caves. Drawings of this Chicomoztoc show two events:

The seven families, from the great tower coming across the water (perhaps the ocean).

The seven families emerging from caves.

[picture]

My initial interpretation of this drawing of Chicomoztoc, was that the seven families coming out of seven caves were the families who came with Jared. These people consisted of seven families, who came in seven boats, the eighth boat being used for fresh water fish.

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 that Jared's 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.

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

A possible explanation

Seven families 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 may have been 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 the adjacent land 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 with the aid of the Urim and Thummim (provide citation.), 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 at Tampico to the highlands of Mexico, 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 mount Zerin, from which a river may have emerged.

There is a mountain range about fifty miles inland from the Gulf coast, where the Jaredites landed. In fact, the history of Mexico states (provide citation) 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 placed these boats in seven caves of this mountain. At some predetermined time, the brother of Jared gathered all seven families into the boats, along with the one boat of fish. He then, though his great faith, moved the whole mountain to the land of Antum.

The land of Antum

The land of Antum, I believe, is where "the water begins to flow"(why do you believe this?) - 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.

Puebla and Tlaxcala are the only two states in Mexico where there are snow-covered volcanoes - "smoking white caps" as described in the history of Mexico. These are also the two contiguous states that the History of Mexico says the Quinamis settled in.

The Jaredites continued to live in their boats, in the caves of the mountain Zerin, in its new location. After restocking the rivers with fish, the Jaredites left their boats in the mountain to build cities in the Antum area. Cholula, a city dating to Jaredite times, would be one of those principle settlements.

The Hill Malenchi

This scenario therefore meets the two elements of the Chicomoztoc story. It represents the seven families coming over in seven boats, and then emerging from seven caves. I believe that the eight boats still exist in the caves of this mountain.

There is a hill in the Puebla/Tlaxcala area called Malenchi. This hill, especially the caves, is 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. Perhaps they, the ark of Noah, and the Ark of the Covenant, will at some future date be brought out of their "hiding places" (provide citation) 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" (emphasis added).

I believe it was this same hill that Ammaron used as a depository for the plates of Nephi, from which Mormon later 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 may still be 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. 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.

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

The small village that is located by the entrance to these caves, about half way down the side of the hill Malinche was anciently called las canoas - the canoes. The obvious question is why a village on the side of a hill, where there are no lakes or rivers, and which does not make or use canoes, is named the village of the canoes. Is it possible that the village is located near the spot where the Jaredite boats are secreted?

̶ Dr. Jerry L. Ainsworth, April 2002

My primary understanding of Book of Mormon lands comes from my study of the Maya. I will outline a few things I have been taught about the Maya, while attending Maya conferences for 35 years. During the first 15 years of attending Maya conferences, I did not attempt to connect them or their culture to the Book of Mormon people. I studied the Maya because I fell in love with this culture, not because I was trying to make a connection between that culture and the Book of Mormon. It was only after the data that I discovered and was presented to me by world class anthropologists, was I willing to consider these cultures were related, or even one in the same. Below is what I was taught about this Maya culture(s).

1. An independent culture appears to have emerged in the highlands of Guatemala around 600bc. It began on the shore of the Pacific ocean, and in short order, they moved to the highlands.
2. Over several hundred years, this culture separated into two warring factions. One of the factions stayed in the highlands of Guatemala, while the other moved to the lowlands, (Peten area of Guatemala and Usumacinta basic of Mexico). These two groups are now named the Highland Maya and the Lowland Maya.
3. These two groups were mortal enemies and fought with each other for hundreds of years.
4. The Highland Maya always went down to battle, (from the tops of the mountains), while the Lowland Maya always up to battle, (to the tops of the mountains).
5. According to the archaeologists, when traveling from the tops of the mountains to the lowlands, the Maya traveled down the Usumacinta River, and when going to the tops of the mountains, they traveled up the Usumacinta River. This river is called "The Highway of the Maya."
6. When asked who traveled down, or up other rivers, these world class archaeologists said, "No one." It was the Usumacinta River - period.
7. This migration started around 400bc and continued until the lowland Maya left and went into the land northward.
8. At the 2007 Maya conference, every archaeologist reported that in 350ad, (not around this time, but precisely this time), the Lowland Maya abandoned their lowland cities and moved into the land past the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, (the narrow neck). And these cities that were abandoned were located on and around the Usumacinta River - not around any of the other rivers.
9. When I asked these authorities what other cultures packed up and left in 350ad, they said, "None." It was the lowland Maya, (Nephites), exclusively.

So, in answer to you question, "Why do I believe the Usumacinta is the River Sidon?" I give the answers I have learned from archaeologists over the last 35 years. There isn't even a debate about this among the authorities, (only among LDS folks). I accept this river because it is the one David Stewart, Charles Golden, David Friedel, Linda Schele, Stewart Ferguson, Mary Ellen Miller, et. al. (I could name other world class Maya archaeologists, but you get the picture.) On this issue, they all agree.

If the Maya were the Book of Mormon people, they migrated down the Usumacinta River. If they were not the Book of Mormon people, then I don't know who was.

I am a scientist. This is what the world class scientists say.

Jerry A.