The current debate about the location of Zarahemla has to do with the authorship of three editorials in an early Church newspaper called the Times and Seasons. Read the full article. Search Search Search. Book Club. Feature Stories. When readers read verses 32 and 33 of Alma 22 together, they will see that the distance from the east to the west sea was the distance of about a day and a half from the east Sierra Madre Mountains to the west sea Pacific Ocean.
The Decline of the Greater Land of Zarahemla, ca. The greatest size of the greater land of Zarahemla did not last long. In the year 35 BC about twenty years after Captain Moroni died , the Lamanites succeeded in overtaking all of the greater land of Zarahemla, and they controlled all of the land southward Helaman — By the end of 31 BC, Moronihah was able to regain the northwestern half 9 of the greater land of Zarahemla, probably the area west of the river Sidon the Chixoy part of the Usumacinta, including the Ichbolay River.
Therefore, everything east of the river Sidon and all of the east-sea cities, including cities Bountiful, Jershon, Moroni, Nephihah, Aaron, and probably Gideon, were still under Lamanite control.
After about 29 BC, the Lamanites became more righteous than the Nephites, and a unity of trade and commerce took place between them. Thereafter, a military need no longer existed for the narrow strip of wilderness as a defensive line. This mountainous area then became the base for the Gadianton robbers. Thus, the east-sea area was no longer an important factor in protecting the greater land of Zarahemla. In fact, after 29 BC, nothing more is ever mentioned in the Book of Mormon about any city east of the river Sidon.
After 6 BC, the wickedness, abominations, and apostasy of the Nephites east of the Sidon were so great that nothing more of them is ever mentioned in the Book of Mormon. Book of Mormon analysts cannot discern whether an area that might have been known as the greater land of Zarahemla continued to exist during the years of peace from AD 34 to AD The city of Zarahemla was rebuilt about AD 60; see 4 Nephi —7 ; however, the Nephite records obviously never remained there.
The Book of Mormon says nothing about the time the records were removed from Zarahemla. They were probably moved just before Zarahemla was destroyed by fire, likely during the time between AD 30 to 33 when the Nephites had no government or church because King Jacob had caused the people to be split up into tribes. The records were probably initially moved to the temple in the west-sea land Bountiful probably at Izapa where Richard Hauck believes Christ first appeared and then later moved to the Jaredite land northward.
Apparently, the political capital of the Nephites returned to Zarahemla after it was destroyed by fire, inasmuch as the people living in the city of Zarahemla were the ones who appointed Mormon at age fifteen to be the leader of all the Nephite armies AD Also, Mormon probably never ventured across or eastward of the river Sidon because the final war began on the west of Sidon when Mormon was eleven Mormon By AD , Mormon age eighteen was defending the west-sea area at Joshua where he resided for more than fifteen years Mormon , 9— In AD , Mormon age thirty-four was chased out of Joshua and the west-sea land Bountiful into the Jaredite land northward Mormon — Then, in AD , Mormon entered into a treaty wherein he gave up all claim to the entire land southward of the line between Bountiful and Desolation Mormon At that point, the Nephite land of Zarahemla ceased to exist.
No attempt is made in this article to describe the size of the Nephite-occupied Jaredite land northward because it was never a part of the greater land of Zarahemla. For a description of this proposed land and size, see my article on the Nephites and the Epi-Olmec. The Nephites made a valiant effort in preserving themselves while being surrounded by myriads of highland and lowland Maya and many other cultures along the Pacific coastal corridor. See F. In his article, Swingler says the following emphasis added :.
We can see it today: they were little fish in a big pond full of many ferocious fish. It is a miracle they survived in this milieu for 1, years. I see thus a dearth of evidences in Mesoamerica, due first to comparatively minimal search efforts, compounded by the jungle conditions which enormously obstruct discovery. Truly, they were protected by the Hand of God. Respectfully submitted, David H. Converse, , s. Helaman —10 emphasis added :.
And in the fifty and seventh year [35 BC] they did come down against the Nephites to battle, and they did commence the work of death; yea, insomuch that in the fifty and eighth year of the reign of the judges they succeeded in obtaining possession of the land of Zarahemla; yea, and also all the lands, even unto the land which was near the [west-sea] land Bountiful.
And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into the land of [west-sea] Bountiful;. And thus those dissenters of the Nephites, with the help of a numerous army of the Lamanites, had obtained all the possession of the Nephites which was in the land southward. And all this was done in the fifty and eighth and ninth years of the reign of the judges. And it came to pass in the sixtieth year of the reign of the judges, Moronihah did succeed with his armies in obtaining many parts of the land; yea, they regained many cities which had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites.
And it came to pass in the sixty and first year of the reign of the judges [31 BC] they succeeded in regaining even the half of all their possessions. The scriptures and rationale supporting the conclusion that Moronihah recovered the northern and western half of the greater land of Zarahemla, including the city of Zarahemla, are as follows:.
And the Nephites and the armies of Moronihah were driven even into the land of Bountiful;. And there they did fortify against the Lamanites from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day's journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country. There has never been anything yet set forth that definitely settles that question.
So the Church says we are just waiting until we discover the truth. All kinds of theories have been advanced. I have talked with at least half a dozen men that have found the very place where the City of Zarahemla stood, and notwithstanding the fact that they profess to be Book of Mormon students, they vary a thousand miles apart in the places they have located.
We do not offer any definite solution. As you study the Book of Mormon keep these things in mind and do not make definite statements concerning things that have not been proven in advance to be true. Harold B. Lee also did not show any awareness that the location of Nephite Zarahemla had been revealed:.
Some say the Hill Cumorah was in southern Mexico and someone pushed it down still farther and not in western New York. And why bother our heads trying to discover with archaeological certainty the geographical locations of the cities of the Book of Mormon like Zarahemla?
In addition to this disavowal, and the Church's insistence that no official geography has been revealed outside the Book of Mormon text itself, there are textual problems with this claim. Joseph Smith simply suggested a name for the new gathering place. Little was done across the river, despite Joseph's instructions, until the March revelation, whose probable intent becomes more clear when read in context. In response to the question, "What is the will of the Lord concerning the saints in the Territory of Iowa?
Obedience is being emphasized, not a geographic identification. Notice also that the Lord specifically stated that Zarahemla, Iowa was being appointed by Him as a gathering place for the Saints along with Nashville, Iowa. He said nothing about the location having any historical significance. The geography of the Mississippi also makes the identification of Zarahemla questionable.
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