THE LANDS OF THE NEPHITES,
CONTINUED--ZARAHEMLA--JERSHON--ANTIONUM--MANTI--GIDEON.
As there were two lands of Nephi, the greater and the less, so, for
exactly the same reason, there were two lands of Zarahemla; the one
occupying the whole of South America, from the great wilderness, which
formed its southern border, northward to the land Bountiful; the other,
the district immediately surrounding the capital city.
That there was a Zarahemla within Zarahemla is shown by various
passages in which persons are spoken of as journeying to the land of
Zarahemla, when they were already within the borders of the greater
land of that name. For instance, Minon, on the river Sidon, is said
to have been situated above the land of Zarahemla (_Alma ii. 24_);
again, Alma took Amulek and came over to the land of Zarahemla from
Sidon (_Alma xv. 18_). While in many other places, notably where the
boundaries of the possessions of the Nephites are given, the name
Zarahemla is applied to the whole of the lands of that people, even
sometimes including Bountiful, which is generally spoken of separately.
In the days of the first Mosiah and his son, Benjamin, the greater
portion of the Nephites appear to have been located in and immediately
around the city of Zarahemla. King Benjamin, when about to resign
the royal authority into the hands of his son Mosiah, commanded him
to gather his people together, For, he adds, on the morrow I shall
proclaim unto this my people out of mine own mouth, that thou art a
king and a ruler over this people (_Mosiah i. 10_). The proclamation
was sent forth and the people were gathered in an unnumbered host;
a thing that could not have been done in so short a time had their
habitations been widely scattered over an extended territory.
In the reign of the younger Mosiah, the people stretched out in all
directions, and colonies were planted in distant regions. This vigorous
policy was continued, only on a much larger scale, during the days of
the Judges.
After carefully perusing the Book of Mormon, we suggest that the lands
or cities (which in Nephite geography appear to be frequently used
interchangeably, or one for the other), included within the borders of
the Nephites, in the days of the Judges, were:
In the extreme north, the land of Bountiful, which extended southward
from the Isthmus of Panama. On its southern frontier lay the land of
Jershon.
On the River Sidon: Zarahemla, Minon, Gideon and Manti.
In the interior, eastward of the Sidon: Antionum, Siron, and probably
Nephihah.
On the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea: Mulek,
Morianton, Lehi, Omner, Gid, Aaron and Moroni.
In the interior, west of the Sidon: Melek, Noah, Ammonihah and Sidom.
Between the upper waters of the Sidon and the Pacific Ocean, or in the
extreme south-west: Cumeni, Antiparah, Judea and Zeezrom.
Besides the above the following cities are mentioned, but only
in connection with their destruction at the time of the terrible
convulsions that marked the sacrifice at Jerusalem of the world's
Redeemer:
The great city of Moronihah, covered with earth.
Laman, Gad, Josh and Kishkumen, burned with fire.
Gilgal, Gadiandi, Gadiomnah, Jacob and Gimgimno, sunk in the depths of
the earth; and
Onihah and Mocum, in whose place waters came up.
We imagine from the names, that some of the above were built by the
Lamanites or Gadianton robbers. But this is simply a conjecture, as the
sacred record is entirely silent on the point.
We will now very briefly examine, one by one, some of the more
important divisions of the country.
JERSHON.--This was the name given to the regions set apart by the
Nephites (B.C. 78), as the home of the Ammonites, or Christian
Lamanites. It was situated far to the north, and was evidently chosen
for the reason that the strength of the Nephite nation might lie
between the fugitives and their former countrymen, the Lamanites,
who then thirsted for their blood. It was bounded by the Caribbean
Sea and the land Bountiful on the north and east, and by the land of
Antionum on the south. Its western boundary is not defined, but we are
inclined to believe, from the context, that it was the river Sidon. Its
geographical situation is partly described in _Alma xxvii. 22_, thus:
We [the Nephites] will give up the land of Jershon, which is on the
east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south
of the land Bountiful. With regard to its southern boundary, _Alma
xxxi. 3_ (which we shall hereafter quote), states that Antionum lay to
the south of it.
ANTIONUM, the land where the Zoramite apostates gathered (B. C. 75),
was an extensive and thinly settled region, extending from the land
of Jershon to the great southern wilderness. Its boundaries are thus
defined (_Alma xxxi. 3_): Antionum, which was east of the land of
Zarahemla, which lay nearly bordering upon the sea shore, which was
south of the land of Jershon, which also bordered upon the wilderness
south. By this we understand that it stretched north from the great
wilderness, which passed by the head of the Sidon, almost to the
Atlantic Ocean; that its western boundary was the land of Zarahemla,
and Jershon its northern limit. Nothing is said of its eastern borders,
for the simple reason that at the time this passage was originally
written, the country east was yet uninhabited, except possibly by
a few wandering Lamanites. At its extreme southern or southeastern
corner, "among the borders of the Lamanites" of the wilderness, was the
outlaying land of Siron. This place is mentioned but once in the Book
of Mormon (_Alma xxxix. 3_).
MANTI.--During the days of the republic, Manti was a district of
great importance to the Nephites. It was situated contiguous to the
wilderness at the head waters of the Sidon (_Alma xvi. 6_), and lay on
the line of march generally taken by the armies of the Lamanites when
they invaded Zarahemla. Its exact boundaries are not defined; indeed,
it is altogether probable that they varied considerably at different
periods of Nephite history. However, it is evident that it was the most
southerly of all the lands inhabited by the Nephites, in the western
half of the South American continent, after they had moved from the
land of Nephi.
GIDEON.--In a valley on the east of the Sidon was built, during the
early days of the republic, an important city, which was named after
the martyr Gideon. The valley itself was also known by the same name,
and is frequently called the land of Gideon, for we find no evidence to
lead to the conclusion that the land extended beyond the valley. Nearly
all that we know of this region is contained in a single passage (_Alma
vi. 7_), which states that Alma left Zarahemla and went over upon the
east of the river Sidon, into the valley of Gideon, there having been a
city built which was called the city of Gideon, which was in the valley
that was called Gideon, being called after the man who was slain by the
hand of Nehor with the sword.
From the references in the historical narrative we incline to the
opinion that this valley lay either directly east, or somewhat to
the south of the city of Zarahemla. Travelers coming from the north
are never mentioned as passing through it on their way to Zarahemla,
without they had a purpose in so doing, as in the case where Moroni
marched from the north-east to the relief of chief judge Pahoran (_Alma
lxvii._)