The Story of the Book of Mormon

by Unknown

Ammonihah.—When Alma had made the three days' journey spoken of above, he reached Ammonihah the country around which city was called by the same name. From the text of the passage some conclude that Alma traveled northward from Melek, but to us it conveys the idea that the prophet journeyed three days westward along or near the northern boundary of that land. We are confirmed in this opinion by the statement made in another place regarding Ammonihah's proximity to that portion of the wilderness which ran along the sea shore (Alma xxii. 27). In Alma (xvi. 2), it is stated: The armies of the Lamanites had come in upon the wilderness side, unto the borders of the land, even into the city of Ammonihah. If Ammonihah had been situated three days' journey north of Melek, we suggest that it could not have been near that portion of the wilderness which the Lamanites so easily reached without discovery; for a march due north would have taken them close to, or actually through the lands of Minon, Noah, Melek and Zarahemla, the most thickly populated portions of the country; or, to have avoided these, they must have taken a circuitous route of immense length and great danger. Then when they attempted to retire, their retreat, owing to their great distance from Nephi, would have most assuredly been cut off, as was the case with the Lamanite general Coriantumr under these conditions.

Noah.—Of this land we simply know two things: First, that it was west of the Sidon; second, that it was not far distant from Ammonihah and Melek.

Sidom is only mentioned in the 15th chapter of Alma. When the persecuted members of the true church were driven out of Ammonihah by its vicious citizens, they fled to Sidom. It is not supposable that these persecuted people were in a condition to travel far. They would necessarily gather to the first available place of refuge. It is, therefore, reasonable to conclude that Sidom was not far distant from Ammonihah.

Aaron.—When Alma was first cast out of Ammonihah he turned his face towards a city called Aaron (Alma viii. 13). It is natural to suppose that Aaron was not far distant from Ammonihah; at any rate, not on the other side of the continent. Yet the only other time when a city called Aaron is referred to, it is spoken of as adjoining the land of Moroni, which was the frontier district in the extreme south-east of the lands possessed by the Nephites. Our only way out of this difficulty is to suggest that there were two cities called Aaron; not at all an unlikely thing when we reflect how important a personage Aaron, the son of Mosiah, was among his people. When chosen to be king he declined this great honor, and the republic was established. It requires no stretch of the imagination to believe that a free and grateful people would name more than one city in honor of this self-denying prince. When we consider how many places there are in the United States called Washington, Lincoln, etc., our only wonder is that we do not find more than two cities called Aaron.

This same difficulty exists with regard to Nephihah. We fancy there were also two cities of this name; one situated on the southern frontier, some distance east of Manti and the Sidon (Alma lvi. 25); the other on the Atlantic sea-board, north of Moroni (Alma l. 14). Of this latter city it is written that in the year B. C. 72 the Nephites began a foundation for a city between the city of Moroni and the city of Aaron, joining the city of Aaron and Moroni, and they called the name of the city or land, Nephihah. This is the region again referred to in chapters 51, 59 and 62 of the Book of Alma. Elder Orson Pratt, in a foot note to chapter 56, draws attention to the fact that the Nephihah there mentioned is not the one spoken of in the other chapters.

The Atlantic Sea-Board.—It appears, though it is not altogether certain, that the lands and cities of the Nephites on the Atlantic sea-board were situated in the following order, commencing at the north: Mulek, Gid, Omner, Morianton, Lehi, Aaron, Nephihah and Moroni (Alma li. 26).

Moroni was situated by the seashore, on the borders of the great wilderness, being the farthest from the city of Zarahemla of all the settlements of the Nephites in the south-east. Or, to use the language of the inspired historian, it was by the east sea; and it was on the south by the land of the possessions of the Lamanites (Alma l. 13). As the wilderness ran in a straight line from east to west, and the Sidon arose near its northern border, on which border Moroni was also situated, if the convulsions at the time of the crucifixion of our Lord did not so alter the face of the country as to change the locality where this river took its rise, then Moroni was in the country now called Guiana, or in the extreme north of Brazil. The city Moroni now lies covered by the waters of the Atlantic (III. Nephi viii. 9). In Guiana, there is a river still called Moroni, or, as it is generally printed on the maps, Maroni or Marony. There is also a river Morona in Ecuador.

Lehi.—The land of Lehi on the Atlantic coast must not be confounded with the whole of South America, also called the land of Lehi by the Nephites. This lesser land of Lehi was the district surrounding the city of Lehi, and immediately adjoining the land of Morianton, whose people indeed claimed, though unjustly, a portion of its territory.

Mulek was the most northern of the settlements of the Nephites south of the land Bountiful, close to the borders of which it was built. It is positively stated to have been located on the east sea (Alma li. 26); west of it was a wilderness, or uninhabited region (Alma lii. 22).

Bountiful.—We believe that there is an idea held by some that the city Bountiful was situated on the Pacific shore. This opinion we think is not warranted by any statement in the Book of Mormon. Mulek, as we have already shown, was on the Atlantic, or east sea; Bountiful was northward of Mulek. When Teancum retreated before the hosts of the Lamanites, who poured out of the city of Mulek to capture his small force, he began to retreat down by the sea shore northward (Alma lii. 23). This course brought him to Bountiful. From the details contained in this chapter we opine that he and his soldiers reached that city on the same day that they started from outside of Mulek. Now, unless the configuration of the coast line has been entirely and completely changed, no march of one day, or indeed of any length of time along "the sea shore northward" would bring a person to the Pacific Ocean. Our only conclusion can be that Bountiful was situated on the sea shore on the eastern side of the Isthmus, if on the Isthmus at all. Other passages than the one above show that Mulek and Bountiful lay in close proximity.