“Toward the Land of Zarahemla in the Wilderness”

Alan C. Miner

Alma 48:6 says that the Lamanite army led by Zoramite chief captains "took their camp and moved forth toward the land of Zarahemla in the wilderness." Because their destination was the city of Ammonihah, Amalickiah's army probably did not intend to get there via the land of Manti and the local land of Zarahemla. Another possible route might have been along the west coast in the wilderness strip which went "round about" the land of Zarahemla (see Alma 22:27). Assuming a Mesoamerican setting (and that Chiapas, Mexico = the general land of Zarahemla), the Lamanite armies would have traveled up the western coastal corridor of Guatemala and then turned north through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See Geographical Theory Maps]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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