TWO CUMORAH'S

Somehow, certain believers, (In trying to reconcile claims that Lehi landed near Chile.) try to frame all Book of Mormon events in Mesoamerica, except the deposit of the plates in the Hill Cumorah. They, therefore claim there were two Hill Cumorah's - one for their final wars, and the other for the depositing of the record. The Book of Mormon makes no such claim.

Here is a typical drawing representing the two Cumorah's theory by Warren and Ferguson in The Messiah in Ancient America, p. 332:

Two Cumorah's Theory

We know for a fact that the final Nephite battle did occur around the Hill Cumorah near Palmyra New York, and when the Book of Mormon is no longer associated exclusively with the Mormon Church, we will identify the location of an actual Nephite camp that was last used during the final battle and has been untouched to this day.

Up - Down - Over

One of the keys to understanding Book of Mormon geography is Mormon's use of "up" "down" and "over" to describe how they traveled. A study of these words alone can paint a very clear picture of what the ancient Book of Mormon terrain looked like.

In regards to the Hill Cumorah, the use of the word "over" tells us that it was not north or south of where the people lived, but in an entirely different area that they had to go "over" to. The Nephites and Jaredites lived in a land that was longer north to south than it was east to west. So if they were traveling either north or southward they would use the terms "up" or "down" depending on whether the terrain was higher or lower. And if they would travel east or west, they generally used the term "over" instead of "east" or "west."

And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed (Cumorah), and from thence eastward, and came to a place which was called Ablom, by the seashore, and there he pitched his tent, and also his sons and his daughters, and all his household, save it were Jared and his family. (Ether 9:3.)

 

Omer obviously came from the west to get to Cumorah, and then continued on toward the "east" after leaving Cumorah. "Over" in this case may refer to an obstacle running north and south like the sea on the east that he had to go "over" to get to the land of Cumorah. Another clue Mormon left us regarding the location of Book of Mormon lands is this reference to the Hill Cumorah:

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 fallen; and their flesh, and bones, and blood lay upon the face of the earth, being left by the hands of those who slew them to molder upon the land, and to crumble and to return to their mother earth. (Mormon 6:15.)

 

Notice how those who escaped went "south." It is important to note here that Cumorah lay outside of the borders of Nephite lands. The core Nephite lands were relatively small occupying only western New York and were completely surrounded by water or "seas":

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. (Alma 22:32)

 

These seas still exist. By using satellite images, the original seas can clearly be seen in the following map by switching between map view and satellite view. Look for:

West Sea = Lake Erie/Niagara River-Gorge

East Sea = Letchworth State Park/Genesee River-Gorge

North Sea = Lake Ontario

South Sea = Lake Tonawanda

Western New York Satellite Map

We have highlighted the boundaries on the following road map:

Road Map (468 kb)

During the final battle, those who "escaped south" did not go back "over" to the Nephite lands and then travel south (For they had been overrun by their enemies.), but immediately traveled south from the land of Cumorah, being on the eastern side of the East Sea outside of Nephite lands.

People ask why Cumorah was not part of Nephite lands, or why it was chosen for their final battle? Simple, no one wanted to bury the dead, so they needed a remote area no one lived in or traveled through.

Cumorah was also treeless having been used for their lumber industry making it exceptional for open warfare:

And it came to pass as timber was exceedingly scarce in the land northward, they did send forth much by the way of shipping (Cumorah). (Helaman 3:10)

 

It was a large barren piece of land, with many drumlin hills and plenty of water. Old pictures of the Cumorah area are a good representation of what it must have looked like two thousand years ago - treeless.

Having established that Cumorah was "over" to the east from the land of the Nephites, and far north, suffering the same treeless fate as the land northward, let us look at the land of Nephi next.