This is a long but very interesting and thorough deliberation about the Jaredites, their customs, beliefs, successes and failings. Jennice Curlee has done a very inspired version of events that I know you will learn much from as I did. She and I may have a few different ideas of potential places and events, but we have the same belief that the Promised Land of The Book of Mormon is indeed found in the United States of America.
Introduction By Jennice Curlee
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“Almost 4 years ago now I was in my yearly re-read of the Book of Mormon and had reached the Book of Ether. I groaned within myself and said “I don’t like the Book of Ether, with all those people/family killing each other.” But something magical happened, after dozens of years of reading that book, I began to have insights that surprised me. As I read I wrote notes and doubled back to re-check this or that verse. After a few days, I got excited and began typing up my feelings. Within three weeks I had written what I just sent to you. I just was amazed, and I said to myself, “what is this all about? It’s not like they are in our back yard or something!” Then came a personal revelation: THEY are in our backyard in Nauvoo . . . . the 15 large, never discovered, undisturbed mounds in the creek bottoms behind the house ARE Jaredites! Since then Wayne May has confirmed that. I gave this Jaredite essay to Wayne in person 4 years ago. It is long, but I KNOW I did not write this by myself. The insights are directly from the Lord, so I know them to be true.”
…”As I was getting ready for bed, I had many thoughts about the years I had spent reading about Mesoamerica supposedly being where the Book of Mormon happened, although I never doubted that there was just one Hill Cumorah. I was sort of muttering to myself and to God at the same time, saying that I didn’t like this feeling of my “head being messed with”. Then very quickly and emphatically a voice came into my mind saying “You were always into archaeology and history, and wanted to go to Central America, but I put you in the MIDDLE of it here!!”. From the bathroom I called out to Wilson, “It’s True”! Once the Spirit answers, the discussion is over. It was the same voice that spoke when I knew the Restored Gospel was true. Was this the main reason we felt pulled to move to Nauvoo after all?”
The above quote is from a great friend Jeni Curlee. She and her husband Wilson purchased land in Nauvoo, Illinois with 15 ancient Mounds located on the property and have been restoring , preserving, and loving this land to benefit the world and especially lovers of the Book of Mormon. Their story on my blog is called by Jeni, LIVING AMONG THE MOUNDS- Ten Years of Care-taking sacred Nephite/Hopewell Mounds and how it dramatically changed our lives. Jennice Curlee
To see that blog visit the article called “Nauvoo Mounds” HERE!
Deliberations and Perceptions on the Jaredites in North America
By Jennice Curlee, Feb 2017 Edited July, 2017
Maps and Minor Edits by Rian Nelson
This is a summary that may appear redundant, but many fascinating nuggets will emerge as you read.
In the approximate 1500 years of the Jaredite history, they could have spread throughout what is now United States, parts of Eastern Canada and Mexico. What we call the culture of “Olmecs” in Eastern Mexico also fits the timeline of the Jaredites, as do the “Adena” in Eastern United States and Canada. Their mounds and artifacts are found as far west as the Mississippi. Their nation began when the Lord dispersed the people from the tower of Babel.
Jared and his brother, along with their families and many friends were blessed when they were told they would be led to a promised land, which was after the waters from the flood had receded, and the one large continent had been divided into various continents. It appears the book of Ether only deals with the rulers & people who remained in the area where they they first settled around the Great Lakes. Evidence of that begins soon after they arrived in the promised land (Ether: 6-7). Almost immediately it says their kings ruled from the Land of Moron.
Orihah Rules
Before Jared and his brother died, they advised their people not to be ruled by kings because they would be brought into captivity if they were ruled by a wicked king. But they insisted they wanted a king. The last son of Jared; Orihah consented to rule. Though he was a good king, it was not long before a wicked king ruled. During those times, prophets would come among them to warn them to repent or pestilence or war would come and they would be wiped off the land. Towards the end of the Book of Ether, prophets had warned them that another people would come to replace them in the Promised Land if they did not turn to the Lord. It was repeated when the prophet Ether gave King Coriantumr, a personal prophesy & in part he said that if he repented he would keep his kingdom, but if not, they would be wiped off & another people would replace them and he would live to see them.
King Orihah had 23 sons, but in his old age he had son named Kib and it was Kib who became the next king. Kib had a son named Corihor who rebelled against his father when he was 32 years old and Corihor went and dwelt in the land of Nehor where he raised many fair sons and daughters and also drew away many people (Ether 7:4-6). After he had drawn away many people from his father Kib, he gathered together an army and went over to the Land of Moron where his father the King dwelt and he took his father captive. It says that the Land of Moron was near the land which was called by the Nephites “Desolation”. From then on the land of Moron is often mentioned in the Book of Ether as the place where the King dwells. The land of desolation is also mentioned in the abridgement by Moroni as a place that the Jaredites frequented. Moron is always associated with the Land of Desolation and the Land of Bountiful of Nephite times.
Land Moron
Very early in the Jaredite history we learn of several place names that are all located near the “Narrow neck” of land, which is near the land northward, near the Land of Nehor, & near the Land of Moron (where the kings dwelt, including Coriantumr, the final king). All of which leads us to believe that the Jaredites entered the Promised land northward, because they were not in the land very long before these place names show up. In Ether 7:9 it says a son of Kib (Shule) born in captivity to his father in his old age, took his followers back to the Land of Nehor and gave battle to his brother Corihor, and restored his father Kib to this throne in the Land of Moron. After that Kib gave the kingdom (in Moron) back to Shule. Corihor repented and gave his part of the kingdom back to his brother Shule. Years later (Chapter 7:16-20) a son of Corihor (Noah) rebelled against Shule AND his father Corihor and drew away part of the people to fight against Shule. He gained back the part of the kingdom (Nehor) of his first inheritance. Not being content with that victory, Noah came to battle with Shule again and took him captive back to Moron. But sons of Shule crept into Noah’s house and killed him; putting their father Shule back on his own throne in his own Kingdom (Moron). Then there continued to be two kingdoms; the Kingdom of Shule (Moron) and the Kingdom of Cohor, a son of Noah (the land Nehor). It is possible the Land Nehor still existed when the Mulekites/Nephites came, as there were those who believed as the Nehors did. Jaredites pg 2
Editor’s Note: Etymology MORON could come from the West Semitic root mrʾ, “lord, master,” with attenuation of the aleph, as in mrn, “our lord,” in Hatrean texts (DNWSI 684). It is possible that this is the gentilic of the Jaredite GN MORON (see immediately above) (JAT). Nibley also pointed out the connection, giving the meaning “belonging to Moron” or “of Moron” to the name MORONI (LID, 244). Also possible is EGYPTIAN mrny, “my beloved” or mr.n.i, “I was beloved” (RFS). Book of Mormon Onomasticon
We have established that from the point in time that the Jaredites landed in the Promised Land, it was not far or long before they were living near the Land of Moron, as that is where the first king ruled, he being a son of Jared. There is sufficient evidence to show that the Land of Moron is between our present day Lake Huron, or between Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.
Also, just shortly before the first king is chosen, Jared and his brother did a census or count of their people and in Ether 6:19-22, it describes the process and gives the number of sons both Jared and his brother had and how the people desired a king. It also says just before that census, that the people began to spread out and till the land. How far they spread out can only be guessed at, but from the head count given of the sons alone, there could have been several hundred people, given we do not not know how long-lived the people of that time were or how many children their friends had. We know they were a large and mighty people as to the strength of men, and we find in the Old Testament (a number of generations after the flood) that people in Abraham’s time would live past the age of 100, so we can start there.
As for the line of kings, we know Shule was the 3rd king, and his son Omer ruled after him, and Omer beget Jared who rebelled against his father and wanted to overthrow him. He made a real mess of things and pulled Akish into the mix to kill his father. Akish introduced the ancient secret oaths to his followers and at this point in the narrative/abridgement, Moroni gives his warning to us readers that if we allow those secret combinations to come upon us in these last days, wo be unto us!
But back to the history of the kings and the places they ruled from. King Omer found favor from the Lord and was warned in a dream to escape before Akish could kill him. Ether 9: 1-3 explains that Omer and his family traveled many days and “came over and passed by the hill of Shim and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed and thence eastward till they came to a place called ‘Ablom’, by the seashore, and there pitched his tent”, and also his sons and daughters save it were Jared and his family. Back in the Land of Moron, Jared gave Akish his daughter to wife, where he then ruled as king.
Akish soon wanted to be king and so he administered the “secret oaths” to his followers and they murdered Jared as he sat upon his throne (wish we could find that “throne” in Moron that so many sat upon). Akish continued his evil ways and locked up a son he was jealous of until he died, after which another son, Nimrah was angry at his father for what he had done to his brother. Nimrah got up some followers and went to find the real king, Omer, and dwelt there with the people of Omer. Meanwhile back in Moron, different factions had developed. Akish fought against his own sons who were following the “secret oaths”, and continued on in war until nearly all the people of “the kingdom” were destroyed except 30 souls, and those who had fled to Omer. Thus it was that Omer was restored again to the land of his inheritance (Moron). He ruled in righteousness and in his old age he begat Emer and Emer became king and ruled in righteousness as well. Emer ruled for 62 years and the Lord healed the land and they became exceedly rich. When Emer became old he anointed his son Coriantum to reign in his stead. Emer lived 4 more years in peace and he even saw the “Son of Righteousness” before he died. Emer ruled in righteousness and built many “mighty cities” in the land. So now we see there have been 6 rightful heirs who became kings, who all served in righteousness, all descendants of Jared who came from the tower. There were sons and other usurper’s who battled against the kings from time to time, but with the help of the Lord the rightful kings were restored. We also have seen that they all lived near the Great Lakes near their land of inheritance (Land of Moron), including Omer who traveled many days to pass by the hill Shim (See Map Below) where the Nephites were destroyed (Cumorah land).
that Oliver Cowdery spoke about in Letter VII
According to Ether 9:24-25, Coriantum lived 142 years, and his son Com reigned 49 years and he begat Heth. We don’t know how old Com was when he became king, but we see how long-lived some of the kings could have been. Heth became a wicked king and introduced the “secret plans of old” again and he killed his father Com. Now we come to a section of time that gives us interesting geography/places.
Under the wicked king Heth (8th king), prophets came into the land to cry repentance and to warn that there would come a famine in the land if they did not turn to the Lord. The people threw them out and left some to die of starvation in “pits”, and they did “all these things according to the commandment of the king Heth”. Then a great “dearth came upon the land and the inhabitants began to be destroyed exceedingly fast because of the dearth, for there was no rain upon the face of the earth”. Ether 9:31-35. “And there came forth poisonous serpents also upon the face of the land and did poison many people.
And it came to pass that their flocks began to flee before the poisonous serpents, towards the land southward, which was called by the Nephites Zarahemla.” There were many who did perish by the way ( flocks), nevertheless there were some which fled unto the land southward.” The scriptures go on to say that the Lord did cause the serpents to cease pursuing them and the did “hedge” up the way so that people could not follow the flocks or they would get bitten and die. It says that the people did follow the beasts and did eat up their carcasses as they fell. And then when the people knew they would all die they began to repent and cried unto the Lord. I think this all refers to the people north of the serpents, & that is where they were eating the dying beasts, or their carcasses. It was only some of the flocks who had escaped to the south and not the people. When they had humbled themselves enough the Lord sent the rain and there began to be “fruit in the north countries and in all the countries round about”.
Good and Evil Kings
From this, one would think that this all happened in a short period of time, but in following along with the scriptures in Ether 10, we read that the wicked king Heth died during the famine and his son Shez began to build up “again a broken people”, He was the 9th king and he did serve in righteousness and lived to an old age. However Shez’s son Riplakish ruled in wickedness for many years and put many burdens and taxes on the people and threw them in prison if they did not pay. After ruling for 42 years there was a rebellion against him (finally!) headed by a descendant of Riplakish named Morianton. After many years and many battles Morianton succeeded in gaining power over the land and he established himself as king. He ruled justly with the people and brought peace to the land, but he himself was not a righteous man for he had many wives and concubines. He was the 10th king still in the family line of Jared. During his reign he built up many cities and the people became rich. The 11th king was Morianton’s son Kim, who also did not reign in righteousness. After that there was a series of kings and their sons: Levi, Corom, Kish and Lib. Lib was the 15th king, and he ruled in righteousness. Lib stands out in this narrative because the scriptures say “and in the days of Lib the poisonous serpents were destroyed”. We don’t know how long each of the kings ruled, but the time line from Heth (the 8th) to Lib (the 15th) the poisonous serpents had stopped the migration from the north country to the south.
Ether 10:19-20 tells some interesting facts that I would like to give my opinion about, based on the facts that are given to us in the scriptures. (19). . . “and in the days of Lib the poisonous serpents were destroyed. Wherefore they did go into the land southward, to hunt food for the people of the land, for the land was covered with the animals of the forest. And Lib also himself became a great hunter”. (20) “And they built a great city by the narrow neck of land by the place that the sea divides the land”.
There are three places that qualify for what the Book of Mormon speaks of as “narrow neck of land” or narrow passage in another reference. One is where Detroit is located today, two is by Niagara Falls and the third is near the bottom of Lake Michigan and then east to Ft. Wayne, Indiana.
The Algonquin Indian language interprets the word Niagara as meaning “neck”. However, we are of the opinion that the narrow neck and the narrow pass can be different places. I originally wrote this article feeling that it is where the city of Detroit, Michigan is located. If my thinking was correct, looking at all the clues, we could be able to determine where the Land of Moron was located; “where the kings dwelt”, where the king’s land of inheritance was, and where they were living when Jared and his brother counted their people and advised them not to be ruled by kings, and where the Brother of Jared and Jared died and were buried. However, just after I printed up my first article (a matter of just days afterwards), I learned from Wayne May and Ryan Fisher that in earlier centuries from present, there was a large body of water that was an extension of our present day Lake Erie. It was called the “Great Black Swamp” at the time that it was finally drained in the 1880’s. It extended to our present day Fort Wayne, Indiana. Looking at the map, and understanding that Lake Michigan was also larger and longer, it creates a narrow passage of land that is basically passable in a day or so by walking or less if riding an animal. I have added a map of Wayne’s drawing as well as information on the Great Black Swamp. This information adds to our storehouse of facts and scripture references about the “narrow neck/pass”. I have also included page of seven scriptures from the Book of Mormon that speak of this pass. It appears Mormon included those many references to give us a good clue to the geography of Bof M.
Then recently we listened to Cal Christensen, our friend and fellow thinker about Bof M geography, how he had researched pre-historic Illinois River boundaries, and came up with a theory that the “West Sea South” spoken of in the B of M, is a broader version of our present day Illinois River. Since Lake Michigan drains into the Illinois River, it was much wider at the mouth, looking like an extension of the Lake and then flowed down to meet the Mississippi, where it was called the West Sea South, just above where St. Louis is, and not far from Cahokia.
In Ether 10:20, Moroni tells us that the Jaredite rulers built a great city by the narrow neck of land by the place where the sea divides the land. A larger Lake Michigan with a larger Illinois River running into the Mississippi River definitely describes the sea that divides the land (Eastern U.S. From Western U.S).
That opened my mind to another possibility of where Alma 63:5 speaks of Hagoth building an exceedingly large ship on the borders of the land Bountiful by the land Desolation & launched it forth into the West Sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land Northward. He described in detail where it was, so as not to confuse it with any other part of the West Sea, such as north by Lake Huron or Lake Superior (which were all larger and connected at the top and may have been considered one sea), or south by the Illinois River. He is telling us that he launched his ship between a larger Lake Michigan, (perhaps by South Bend) and launched it by the narrow neck which led into the land Northward. He tells us further it was on the borders of the Land Bountiful by the land Desolation, which further pin-points Desolation as the land Northward and runs Southward, or as the Nephites called it “Zarahemla”. So as of July 2017, I am on record as saying I feel the land of Moron and the great city the Jaredites built was closer to the south of Lake Michigan and that is where the borders of Desolation, Zarahemla and Bountiful all met. Land of Moron would be in today’s Michigan between Lakes Huron and Michigan, but where is the City of Moron & the King’s throne?
There are some broad clues when King Omer took his people to escape from Kish and they passed by the Hill Shim which was the same place where the Nephites were destroyed (Ether 9:3). We are also told by Mormon that the Hill Shim is where Ammaron hid up the records that Mormon was expected to protect. And further we know that the Hill Ramah where the final destruction of the Jaredites is the same as the hill Cumorah where the Nephites were destroyed. From that we know common geography between the Nephites and the Jaredites. But now we have identified more common geography because of the scriptures talking about the Land of Moron and the land southward because of the poisonous serpents that hedged up the way between the land northward and the land southward. The flocks began to flee to the land southward, which was called by the Nephites “Zarahemla”.
We see by looking at a map of North America and more particularly the Great Lakes Area, that the narrow passage of land between Lake Erie and Lake Michigan is positioned going northeast or southwest at an angle, so that the flocks and/or people headed south would be headed exactly towards today’s Indiana and Illinois or in other words: the Land of Zarahemla. If by chance they were going through the narrow neck or passage at Niagara, they would have been headed in the direction of southeast or northwest, which would go southeast into upper New York or Pennsylvania . . . no way Zarahemla. So the Land of Moron is somewhere straddling the passage of land between the two lakes, but we do not know how wide or how long that passage would have been in the days of the Jaredites. But there are some clues.
Alma 22:32 says there was a small neck of land that took 1 ½ days for a Nephite to cross. Why did he mention how long it took for a Nephite to cross as if it were different than when the Jaredites crossed it. My take is that this area between two lakes was once much smaller during the Jaredite times, because the lakes themselves were larger in earlier times because of the rate of the water receding after the flood. By Nephite time the lakes were smaller and the land mass between two lakes would be larger, thus meaning it took the Nephites longer than it had the Jaredites. Perhaps the land was not only a shorter distance across, but at it’s narrowest place it could have “hedged up the way” by the poisonous serpents. But why would the serpents be there anyway? Again, our thoughts: The serpents only appeared after the “dearth” began. What if the area between the two lakes was still marshy in places and a wonderful habitat for snakes. When the rain stopped and the lakes continued to recede, perhaps the serpents swarmed into the marsh land that had become enlarged due to the receding shore line. Maybe the serpents were not really pursuing the flocks and the people, but their numbers increased on land so that there was no way to avoid them and their hatches; and perhaps because of the drought their natural prey was reduced and they became more aggressive.
Whatever the distance across the pass, it became so dangerous that the people were no longer willing to take the chance. The flocks that had previously grazed that lush land moved ahead of the serpents as fast as possible, and their owners rushed after them, some dying along with their flocks. The drought lasted quite awhile, at least long enough for the king Heth to die during the famine and his son Shez left to the work of “to build up a broken people”. Just that phrase alone gives us the clue that there were not many people left as they had died by the poisonous serpents or by the famine. Why did the serpents stay there for so many years after the drought was over? Maybe they adapted to the new environment and multiplied for awhile. In any case, Ether 10:19-21, says it was in the reign of King Lib, 7 kings after Heth, that the Poisonous serpents were destroyed and the people began to go into the land southward again to hunt food for the people, “for the land was covered with animals of the forest”. It appears that the years of drought and living in a limited area, they had hunted out most of the game. Did they devise a way to destroy the serpents out of desperation? How? By burning dry marsh? Was the north land getting barren of trees & animals & people needed room? “ The whole face of the land was covered with inhabitants.”
Then the scriptures say that they “built a great city by the narrow neck of land, by the place where the sea divides the land”. So if we are right, then at some point in the future, perhaps after Christ’s second coming, we should be able to find evidence of “a mighty city” by the narrow neck of land. There is not room to build a mighty city where Niagara Falls is, so a good choice is either where Detroit is, or near South Bend, Indiana or somewhere north of the pass. Because of the new information about the “Great Black Swamp” and evidence of Lake Erie extending much longer; a narrow pass could have existed between Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. They built this great city after the serpents were destroyed and the area between the two lakes was widened as the water further receded. Throughout the Book of Mormon there are many references to the land northward and the land southward, so the Jaredites building the mighty city may have been making a statement of their progress. Besides building the mighty city, Ether 10: 22-29 talks about how industrious they became once they could move into the land southward. After explaining all they were able to accomplish. Verse 28 says “And never could be a people more blessed than were they, and more prospered by the hand of the Lord. And they were in a land that was choice above all lands, for the Lord had spoken it”.
Prosperity/Wickedness Cycle
But then began the cycle of prosperity and wickedness that also plagued the Nephites when they came. After Lib’s righteous reign, his son Hearthom became king for 24 years before some “unnamed” person took it from him. He lived out the remainder of his days in captivity, as did his descendants for 5 more generations, or sons and grandsons. When the fifth one, Com, was born in captivity, he somehow was able to draw away one half of the kingdom and went to battle against the then “usurper king Amgid”, and was finally able to get all of the kingdom again for his family (Jared’s line). Here I am assuming that the seat of “the kingdom” still remained in “Moron”, and there is no evidence that it was moved to another area, as will be shown shortly when Coriantumr becomes the last king.
Com is Blessed
However, during Com’s reign, robbers began to adopt the “old plans” after the “manner of the ancients” who sought to destroy the kingdom. Although Com fought against them, “he did not prevail”. But Com was still the ruler even though wickedness was prevailing. During this time Ether 11: 1-4 tells us that prophets came among the people but they were rejected and they fled to Com for protection from the people who had tried to destroy them. Obviously Com was a very righteous man/ruler because “they prophesied unto Com many things, and he was blessed in all the remainder of his days. And he lived to a good old age and begat Shiblom who reigned in his stead”. But then a brother of Shiblom rose up in rebellion and he caused that the prophets should be put to death. Thus became many upheavals in the days of Shiblom; wars, famine and pestilences; “insomuch that there was great destruction in the land”, until finally the people began to see that the prophets were right and they began to repent, and in-as-much as they did the Lord did show mercy. During this time Shiblom was killed and his brother Seth was taken into captivity. Seth’s son Ahah began to reign and he did so in wickedness.
23 Rulers
Now we have had 23 rulers, if I have counted right. Ahah is still in the direct line of “Jared”, even though he is the son of Seth, Shiblom’s brother. The 24th ruler is Ethen, “being a descendant of Seth” and he also ruled in wickedness. In Ethen’s day the prophets came again to cry repentance and to tell the people that “the Lord would utterly destroy them from off the face of the earth” (Ether 11:12-13). But the people hardened their hearts . . “and the prophets mourned and withdrew themselves from the people”.
Wicked King Moron
Ethen’s son Moron (like the Land of Moron where the kings dwelt) became the 25th king and he also ruled in wickedness. From now on things will be getting very interesting indeed because the last king Coriantumr will soon be on the scene. Ether 11:15 says that during the days of Moron “there arose a rebellion among the people BECAUSE of that secret combination which was built up to get power and gain: AND there arose a MIGHTY MAN among them (secret society) in iniquity, and gave battle unto Moron in which he did overthrow the half of the kingdom and he did maintain the half of the kingdom for many years”. We assume that the description given of mighty man refers to huge physical statue.
But it then tells us that it came to pass that Moron did overthrow this mighty man, and gains all his Kingdom back again. BUT in Ether 11:17, we see that it came to pass that ANOTHER MIGHTY MAN arose, AND HE was a descendant of the BROTHER of JARED! Until now, there had not been a descendant of the brother of Jared as a king, not that is mentioned in the scriptures, and for Ether (and Moroni) to put this fact into the scriptures now and at no other time, must mean something important. Also, why does Ether (and Moroni) put into the record that there was a mighty man just before THIS mighty man? Ether 11:18, “And it came to pass that he (MightyMan: descendant of the brother of Jared) did overthrow Moron and obtain the kingdom, wherefore Moron dwelt in captivity all the remainder of his days, and he begat Coriantor”. Coriantor could have been the 26th king . . but now we have someone else as king who is from the brother of Jared’s line instead of Jared’s.
I think that the second mighty man is actually chosen of the Lord to de-throne Moron because both the first mighty man (secret combination) and Moron are wicked. The Lord knew that the winding up scenes of the Jaredites was approaching and he was trying to rid their nation of the secret combinations to give them another chance. “There arose a rebellion among the people because of the secret combination” Moron was no match for this secret society since he was ruling in wickedness himself. Again,we are never told who he is, but the next king mentioned is Coriantumr and he fights against the secret combination. Either the second mighty man was Coriantumr or it was his father who may have ruled for a short time before his very capable, trained son was given the Kingdom. He is their best, last hope to save the nation of Jaredites from extinction. He is a man who “studied” in the art of war and all the cunning of the world. Because the abridgement of the record uses the least possible words to document the events, that sentence about Coriantumr speaks volumes in showing us that he knew the ways of his enemies and the cunning ways of the world, therefore he knew how they thought and could not be manipulated or fooled. He also knew how to strategize for battle. He was toughened and determined. He may have been the exact person for the position he was called to do. The more I think about it, the more sure I feel that he arose at that time for a reason.
More important information here to relate: Ether 11:20-21: “In the days of Coriantor (Ether’s father in captivity) there also came many prophets and prophesied of great and marvelous things, and cried repentance unto the people, and except they should repent, the Lord God would execute judgment against them to their utter destruction; and that the Lord God would SEND or BRING FORTH ANOTHER PEOPLE TO POSSESS the land, by His power, AFTER THE MANNER by which he brought their fathers”. I had not previously noticed that this exact prophecy had been given to the Jaredite people (at least the ones who were living in the Great Lakes Area (if there were other colonies of Jaredites elsewhere we do not know). The last king of the Jaredites, Coriantumr is about to come on the scene, and then he will be given this prophecy in a VERY PERSONAL way from Ether himself and it will give even more detail about himself. Continuing: Ether 11:22-23: “And they did reject all the words of the prophets, because of their ‘Secret Society’ and wicked abominations (22). And it came to pass that Coriantor begat ETHER, and he died, having dwelt in captivity all his days” (23).
I am amazed and stunned that in all my years of reading the Book of Mormon and especially the Book of Ether (at least once year for 50 years) I NEVER saw the obvious, that Ether would have been the 27th king in the line of kings since Jared. When he was born, his father was in captivity under the usurper king who does not have a name BUT he was a MIGHTY MAN, and who was a descendant of the brother of Jared. So now we know that the rightful heir to the throne was Ether himself, who then becomes one of the mightiest prophets, and the last prophet in the entire Jaredite nation.
We do not know how long Jared and his brother lived before they died, but we know there were 27 kings (including Coriantumr). Some lived long lives and others were killed while on the throne after only a few years. It is interesting to imagine just how many years the Jaredites lived on this continent. Archeologists say the Adena (Jaredite) race were here at least 3000 years ago. I think they came over within 200 years of Noah’s flood, or about 2200 BC. Just saying! Another fascinating item is that when the prophets were telling the people during the time of Coriantor (Ether’s father) that God would bring forth ANOTHER PEOPLE to this land, He (God) was in the process of bringing them at the time the prophecy was given, because we see that Ether AND Coriantumr were about to be born if they had not been born already.
Ether 12:1-2 tell a HUGE STORY! “And it came to pass that the days of Ether were in the days of Coriantumr, and Coriantumr was the king over all the land. And Ether was a prophet of the Lord, wherefore Ether came forth in the days of Coriantumr, and began to prophesy unto the people. .” At this point in the scripture, Moroni uses the entire 12th chapter speaking of the doctrine of Christ, through verse 41. Moroni continues speaking in Chapter 13, until verse 13 about what Ether taught the people.
I hope to show there was an unusual relationship between Ether and King Coriantumr. I feel Coriantumr was older than Ether by a few years as the above scripture says “the days of Ether were in the days of Coriantumr”, suggesting he came on the scene while Coriantumr was already the king.
Ether 13:13-14: . . . . “but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether, but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people (13). And as he dwelt in the cavity of a rock he made the remainder of this record, viewing the destruction which came upon the people, by night” (14).
[Editors Note: This shows it possible for 37 years after the last battle at Cumorah, Moroni could have kept alive near Cumorah in the cavity of a rock the entire 37 years while hunting occasionally for food].
Looking at what else we know about Ether, we remember that he was born in captivity to his father the rightful King, Coriantor. What it means to be in captivity is a mystery, because all through the Book of Ether many kings are taken into captivity, but still raise their families in those conditions and often the sons of those kings rise up to take the kingdom back for their fathers. So there is a degree of freedom associated with captivity, or at least for their families. In Ether’s case, his father died while in captivity. We also come to the conclusion that almost always the captivity seems to be where the king lives, or in the “Land of Moron”, because usually when they take the kingdom back, they are right there.
From what I am gathering, Ether lived in the Land of Moron. We do not know how old he might have been when his father died, but obviously he was free to come and go. In other situations, some of the sons of king’s rose up to take the kingdom back and reigned when their father’s died, but in Ether’s case, he did not do that and became a prophet and served the Lord in that capacity instead. It does not tell us if his father was righteous or not, but his grandfather Moron was wicked. I tend to think Coriantor was good and gave that example to his son Ether. Also, during Coriantor’s day, Prophets came among the people and prophesied “of great and marvelous things” and that “the Lord God would bring forth another people to possess the land by his power after the manner by which he brought their fathers” (does this mean by the same ocean current to the same landing place, or the same kind of boats?). Ether must have heard the prophets and identified with them and gained his testimony of the workings of the Lord in his life.
Coriantumr
Lets look closely at who Coriantumr was, and why of all the kings, there is so much written about him by Ether, but perhaps it was because Ether knew him personally instead of writing of someone in history. I feel he was not a wicked king, although he did have something to repent of.
It is obvious that he was a man of war. Ether 13:16: “And now Coriantumr, having studied himself in all the arts of war and all cunning of the world, wherefore he gave battle unto them who sought to destroy him”.
[Editor’s note: Coriantumr must have been strong physically and mentally as Moroni, but not as spiritual?]
Through the centuries, through all the scriptures, many good men have been men of war. King Benjamin himself fought for his people. King David in the Old Testament was a man of war. Captain Moroni, Helaman, etc. To be clearer, we need to go back to Ether: 13:14-17: “And it came to pass in that same year in which he was cast out from among the people, there began to be a great war among the people for there were many who rose up who were mighty men and sought to destroy Coriantumr by the SECRET PLANS of wickedness, of which hath been spoken”. Se we know that Coriantumr was NOT a part of the secret combinations, but he fought against them. I wonder if there is any spiritual connection between the fact that the same year that Ether “was cast out from among the people” that there became a great war because of the secret combinations. Seems that if we turn from God we reap the whirlwind. But it goes on to say: “But he (Coriantumr) repented not, neither his fair sons nor daughters, . . . . .and in fine, there were none of the fair sons and daughters upon the face of the whole earth (their land) who repented of their sins”. He arose in the days of Moron and overthrew him and gained the Kingdom. Ether does not give the name of the mighty man but then the very next king who is mentioned is Coriantumr. There is another earlier example of the name not being given when Shiblom is the king & his brother rebelled against him and becomes king. There is no name given for his brother until later when it says Shiblom was slain and “Seth” was brought into captivity for the rest of his days. It assumes that we know “Seth” is the brother. I feel this is a like situation.
Review
To review what we know: The prophet Ether was a descendant of Jared and would have been in line to have been the 27th king of the Jaredites. He was born in captivity, but since the record always documented the lineage of the kings even if they were born in captivity, as they often were; they must have been respected for that lineage or the record would not have been kept of who they were. Ether had the right to try to take back the throne for his family line (by force of course), but it is apparent that he chose to follow the Lord and somehow had spiritual teachings to know the will and mind of the Lord. It is most likely he listened to the prophets who came forth in his father, Coriantor’s day, and more than likely he was young enough to have a softened and submissive heart that was easily molded to God’s word. As was stated in the previous page, the scriptures say “the days of Ether were in the days of Coriantumr”, giving rise to the thought that Coriantumr was already king when Ether stepped forward to speak in the name of the Lord. Imagine how it must have been for Ether as he first came among the people after having been raised in a royal lineage, being next in line to be a king, but boldly declaring that the people needed to repent. Moroni says that “great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether but the people esteemed him not.” Did they not esteem him because they knew who he was, as the son of the last rightful king who died in captivity and therefore mocked him, or was it because they were so wicked they would not have listened to ANY prophet? Ether fled and hid in the cavity of a rock and watched by night what the people were up to. Many of the people who cast him out were followers of the secret combinations in the land. We also know the scriptures say that while Ether lived in the cavity of a rock that he finished the record of the Jaredite history. It is apparent that he was already writing or abridging the history before he fled and he would have had all the information about the Jaredite history because he came from the royal family of kings through Jared and as such he had access to those records. He would have been the natural pick to make an abrigement of 1500 or more years, much like Mormon of the Nephite records.
Many hundreds of years later Moroni took Ether’s abridgement and translated it into his own language through inspiration. We will see however, that the last words Ether wrote were not while he hid in the cavity of a rock, because by the time he wrote those last words it was 12 years later and he had left that area near Moron and followed the people in battles.
To review what we know about Coriantumr: a descendant of the brother of Jared, was the son of the second mighty man who took away the kingdom from the rightful king, Moron. Even if he were the mighty man himself and not his son, it would not change the fact that Coriantumr knew Ether and his family and knew their status as the family of kings through Jared. Even if Ether was younger than Coriantumr by a few years, the two of them would know their relationship to each other. As we go along it will be shown that Coriantumr also ruled from Moron as had the 26 kings before him, thus Ether was living there too. The first Mighty Man who rose up was from inside the secret society. About the second Mighty Man, it only says there arose ANOTHER mighty man and he was a descendant of the Brother of Jared. We know almost immediately that Coriantumr fought against the Secret Society that was already entrenched in the land, and would make a formidable leader to go against the Secret Society. It does say that he had something to repent of but the Lord gave him several chances to do so, and at the end Coriantumr did try to repent and stop the fighting with Shiz, when he remembered the prophecies of Ether and he sorrowed.
As we look at those final years (12 years from the first year Ether hid in a cavity to the last battle), there must have been a reason the Lord chose Coriantumr to be the LAST of his people (besides Ether), because Ether prophesied that if he repented the Lord would give him his kingdom, (so the Lord acknowledged the kingdom as Coriantumr’s). He was their last best hope to defeat the secret combinations and if he didn’t repent there was too much evil in the land to justify saving them. They would all be destroyed, even all his household, and he only would live to see another people who would come to possess the land for their inheritance, and he would receive burial by them. (Mulekites or People of Zarahemla). My feeling is that the Lord chose Coriantumr to be the one to bridge the two civilizations and we would have that record of how they overlapped. It was God’s plan and that is why the word of the Lord came to Ether that Coriantumr would not die by the sword.
Coriantumr’s Chance to Repent
Ether 13: 18-24 : “Wherefore it came to pass that in the first year that Ether dwelt in the cavity of a rock, there were many people who were slain by the sword of those ‘secret combinations’ fighting against Coriantumr that they might obtain the kingdom (18). And it came to pass that the sons of Coriantumr fought much and bled much (19). And in the second year the word of the Lord came to Ether, that he should go and ‘prophesy unto Coriantumr’ that if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him ‘his kingdom’ and spare the people (20). Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were Coriantumr (21). And it came to pass that Coriantumr repented not, neither his household, neither the people; and they sought to kill Ether, but he fled from before them and hid again in the cavity of the rock (22). And it came to pass that there arose up Shared, and he also gave battle unto Coriantumr, and he did beat him, insomuch that in the third year he did bring him into captivity (23). And the sons of Coriantumr in the fourth year, did beat Shared, and did obtain the kingdom again unto their father” (24)
The verses above begin counting the years from the time Ether first prophesied to the people, fled and hid in a cavity and shows that Coriantumr was old enough to have sons fighting in battle, and that this begins a series of him being captured, and/or wounded. It also appears to this point the battles were all happening locally, near the land of Moron where the seat of the kingdom was. The continuing verses show how they began moving away (eastward) during their battles. At this point, Ether would have left the cavity of the rock after four years, to follow and record the outcome of the battles. Coriantumr was captured for one year, and then wounded and out of the battles for two more years as happened next.
Coriantumr’s Repeated Battles for many years
Ether 13:27-31: And it came to pass that Coriantumr was exceeding angry with Shared (for capturing him) and he went against him with his armies to battle; and they did meet in great anger; and they did meet in the valley of Gilgal; and the battle became exceedingly sore (27). And it came to pass that Shared fought against him for the space of three days. And it came to pass the Coriantumr beat him, and did pursue him until he came to the plains of Heslon (28). And it came to pass that Shared gave him battle again upon the plains; and behold, he did beat Coriantumr, and drove him back again to the valley of Gilgal (29). And Coriantumr gave Shared battle again in the valley of Gilgal, in which he beat Shared and slew him (30). And Shared wounded Coriantumr in his thigh, that he did not go to battle again for the space of two years, in the which time all the people upon the face of the land were shedding blood, and there was none to restrain them” (31).
We now add two years (total of six) to our time line, in which Coriantumr was healing from his wounds. We also see during his absence, no one could restrain the fighting. Notice they fought back and forth between the valley of Gilgal and the plains of Heslon, which seem to be away from the area of Moron.
Editor’s Note: We know when Joseph Smith said “Plains of the Nephites” he was in Illinois. Could Coriantumr have gone that far away from Moron to maybe the Ohio area? The plains Joseph speaks of were probably over the same territory that Zion’s Camp traveled from Ohio to Iowa?
Ether 14:3-8: “And now after the space of two years, and after the death of Shared, behold there arose the brother of Shared, and he gave battle unto Coriantumr, in which Coriantumr did beat him and did pursue him to the wilderness of Akish (3). And it came to pass that the brother of Shared did give battle unto him in the wilderness of Akish; and the battle became exceedingly sore, and thousands fell by the sword (4). And it came to pass that Coriantumr did lay siege to the wilderness; and the brother of Shared did march forth out of the wilderness by night; and slew a part of the army of Coriantumr , as they were drunken (5). And he came forth to the land of MORON and did place himself upon the throne of Coriantumr (6). And it came to pass that Coriantumr dwelt with his army in the wilderness for the space of two years, in which he did receive great strength to his army (7). Now the brother of Shared, whose name was Gilead, also received great strength to his armies because of the secret combinations” (8).
Important facts mentioned are: 1) Eight years total since Ether first prophesied and hid himself, and four years since the battles have been outside of Moron, as Coriantumr and what was left of his army dwelt in the wilderness of Akish for two years while they added strength to their numbers. 2) after 6 verses it finally gives the name of the brother of Shared as Gilead (like the earlier person named Seth, and like not giving the name of the ‘Mighty Man’ and the next king is Coriantumr, one must carefully watch for who is who). 3) The wilderness of Akish may have been named for an earlier usurper of the throne who introduced the secret oaths of old to the people. 4) The brother of Shared (Gilead) did go forth to the land of Moron and did place himself upon the throne of Coriantumr; 5) they were definitely fighting beyond the land of Moron for Gilead to go BACK there, 6) There was a definite “throne” in Moron that had been there since the very first kings, so the seat of government had never changed in all the 1500 or more years of Jaredite history. 7) Shared and Gilead were definitely part of the secret combinations that Coriantumr was fighting against.
[Editor’s Note: could this seat of government be the Ohio area where the Nephites called the area, the Land of Bountiful in the Nephite times?]
Ether 14:9-12: “And it came to pass that his high priest murdered him (Gilead) as he sat upon his throne (9). And it came to pass that one of the secret combinations murdered him (the high priest?) in a secret pass (password?), and obtained for himself the kingdom; and his name was Lib; and Lib was a man of great stature, more than any other man among all the people (10). And it came to pass in the first year of Lib, Coriantumr came up unto the land of Moron and gave battle unto Lib (11). And it came to pass that he fought with Lib, in which Lib did smite upon his arm that he was wounded; nevertheless the army of Coriantumr did press forward upon Lib, that he fled to the borders upon the seashore” (12).
Shiz
Looks like Coriantumr got enough reinforcements to go back up to Moron and reclaim his throne and then to begin to put Lib and his men on the run. We know that they are continuing to go eastward in their battles and they are somewhere along the borders of the seashore. I now think that the last verse is talking about the northern shores of what Lake Erie was at that time. The Great Black Swamp was what remained of a much larger Lake Erie that extended SW into northern Ohio and Indiana. A map of this is above. The lakes were all larger in those days. Evidence of that has been documented by geologists & archeologists so those places would be more inland today. The two armies fought between seashore and plains & Coriantumr kills Lib (who had the greatest stature in the land, which says something about the endurance of Coriantumr, since he has been wounded a few times already and will endure more severe wounds). After the next few verses in Chapter 14, we meet the last foe of Coriantumr in the person of Lib’s brother, Shiz. Verse 17-18 say: “Now the name of the brother of Lib was called Shiz. And it came to pass that Shiz pursued after Coriantumr, and he did overthrow many cities, and he did slay both women and children, and did burn the cities (17). And there went up a fear a Shiz throughout all the land; yea, a cry went forth throughout the land – Who can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold, he sweepeth the earth before him” (18).
The scriptures tell us that “so swift and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did march forth from the shedding of blood to the shedding of blood, leaving the bodies of both men, women and children strewed upon the face of the land . . . . and the scent thereof went forth upon all the face of the land, wherefore the people became troubled by day and by night, because of the scent thereof. Nevertheless Shiz did not cease to pursue Coriantumr, for he had sworn to avenge himself upon Coriantumr of the blood of his brother, who had been slain, and the word of the Lord which came to Ether that Coriantumr should not fall by the sword.”(Ether 14:22-24). “And it came to pass that Shiz did pursue Coriantumr eastward, even to the borders of the seashore, and there he gave battle unto Shiz for the space of three days”(verse 26).
The armies of Shiz and Coriantumr camped in various valleys, would do battle and then pursued again, while all the people would flock to either Shiz’s side or to the side of Coriantumr, but no one was left alive unless they joined one or the other. No matter how bad it seemed for Coriantumr, the word of the Lord had come to Ether that Coriantumr would not die by the sword, even though he was severely wounded a number of times already. But to add yet another wound, we read in Ether 14:30: “And it came to pass that Shiz smote upon Coriantumr that he gave him many deep wounds; and Coriantumr, having lost his blood, fainted, and was carried away as though he was dead”.
Final Chapter of Ether
In the final chapter of Ether, almost all the verses are full of potent information. To summarize: When Coriantumr recovered from his wounds, he began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him. He saw that there had already been slain nearly 2 million of his people: men, women and children; and he began to sorrow in his heart. He began to repent of the evil he had done, all in the name of fighting against the secret combinations, which he thought was justified. But he saw that all the prophecies had been fulfilled and he mourned & refused to be comforted. He wrote an epistle to Shiz to say he would give him the kingdom if the fighting would stop, for the sake of the lives of the people. But the offer was rejected by Shiz because the condition was that Coriantumr would have to let Shiz kill him. Nevertheless, the people on both sides still were angry and kept fighting anyway and Coriantumr’s side was losing, so they fled again until the got to the waters of Ripliancum, which meant “large to exceed all”. This is in reference to present day Lake Ontario, and given the earlier times the Lake was even larger than now and there were and are many other bodies of water close by known today was the “Finger Lake” region. The day after they camped there, they went to battle again and it was “exceedingly sore”. Coriantumr was wounded yet again and he fainted for loss of blood. But the armies of Coriantumr pressed on against Shiz so that Shiz’ armies fled and they pitched their tents southward from the waters in a place called by them “Ogath”. Coriantumr’s army pitched their tents by the hill “Ramah”, which is where the Nephites also fought their last battles and where Mormon hid up the records in the hill Cumorah, it being the same hill.
Ether 15:12-14: “And it came to pass that they did gather together all the people upon all the face of the land, who had not been slain, save it was Ether. And it came to pass that Ether did behold all the doings of the people, and he beheld that the people who were for Coriantumr were gathered together to the army of Coriantumr, and the people who were for Shiz were gathered together to the army of Shiz. Wherefore they were for the space of four years gathering together the people that they might get all who were upon the face of the land, and they might receive all the strength which it was possible that they could receive” (included men, women and children, old and young, all armed for war). Four more years added to our previous eight totals 12 years since Ether first hid in the cavity, and 8 years that he followed the battles and the doings of the people, recording all of it. Strange to think of the parallels between the Jaredites and the Nephite battles to extinction. Not only did they camp and fight their final battles in the same place, but Mormon had an agreement with the Lamanites that he also had four years to gather forces together and to built defenses,
When they went to battle again after those 4 years of gathering people and making preparations, they would fight all day and at night“ they would rend the air with their cries and their howlings, and their mournings, for the loss of their people”. This happened after two days of terrible battle.
Ether 15:19: “And it came to pass that Coriantumr wrote again an epistle unto Shiz, desiring that he would not come again to battle, but that he would take the kingdom, and spare the lives of the people. But the spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts.” Thus followed 6 more days of similar battles, with the people crying all night and sleeping on their swords, then fighting again the next day. Then came to the final two days when there were 32 people of Shiz and 27 people of Coriantumr left. All together this final slaughter lasted eight days.
Ether 15:26-27: “And it came to pass that they ate and slept and prepared for death on the morrow. And they were large and mighty men as to the strength of men. And it came to pass that they fought for the space of three hours and they fainted for the loss of blood.
After they rested until they could walk, Coriantumr and his men were going to flee for their lives, but Shiz would not let that be as he has sworn he would kill Coriantumr. So they all fought again till everyone was killed excepted Shiz and Coriantumr, and Shiz had fainted with the loss of blood. So Coriantumr rested on his sword for a little and then “smote off the head of Shiz” Then Coriantumr fell to the earth and fainted as if he were dead. Those were the last words we hear about Coriantumr in the Book of Ether, but we know it was NOT THE END for him yet. Ether himself, who must have carried his belongings and the record he was keeping with him all those 8 years while he followed the people in battle, wrote a few more words in his record after he surveyed the final battle scene.
Ether 15: 33-34: (Moroni tells us) “And the Lord spake unto Ether, and said unto him: Go forth. And he went forth, and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled; and he finished his record; (and the hundreth part I have not written), and he hid them in the manner that the people of Limhi did find them. Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the Kingdom of God.
The rest of the story is found in two places in the scriptures. The Book of Omni, written between the years 279-130 BC, by 5 different authors (short histories) gives the account of Mosiah who took the people of Nephi out of the Land of Nephi and were lead away from their enemies the Lamanites, to a land called Zarahemla. The people of Zarahemla were the people called Mulekites, and their leader at that time was named Zarahemla. They were the people who the Prophet Ether told Coriantumr would be given the land of promise in their stead and that he would be given burial by them.
The account given in Omni and in Mosiah describe the Nephite’s relationship with the Mulekites, and how Mosiah was chosen to be the king over both peoples (Nephites and Mulekites). After the Mulekites learned the Nephite language, they brought a large stone to Mosiah to translate. That stone told the story of Coriantumr, and it must have been engraved by Coriantumr himself. But the history of the Jaredite nation itself written by Ether and was left for the people of Limhi to find, was translated a while later when 24 plates of gold were discovered and then translated into what we know as the Book of Ether, which we have just been quoting from these last 14 pages. The stone which Mosiah translated by the gift and power of God, told of Coriantumr and the slain of his people. “And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons. And it also spoke a few words about his father’s. And his first parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their bones lay scattered in the land northward.”
Some of the following is speculation but balanced with what the scriptures say and what is plausible.
Archeologists call the civilization that matches the time line of the Jaredites in North America by the name of “Adena’. Various timelines are given for the conical mounds and earthworks that date back to 2000 BC if not older. When we search the record for where these places are, as I stated on page one of this narrative, they range from the East Coast to the Mississippi River and to the Gulf Coast where a few earthworks have been found dating that far back. The Book of Ether gives the history of the Jaredites only where Ether lived, the Land of Moron, and the genealogy of the ruling families. We have established that the people he wrote about were all living around the Great Lakes of North America, and those particular people, who were in the millions, all died within a couple of hundred miles from where they had lived for possibly 2000 years before their final battle.
But what about the evidence of other Jaredite or “Adena” people living in much of North America and parts of Mexico, known as the “Olmecs”? I think they kept their own records, in their own system of keeping records and at this point we depend on further findings to know more. But we do know they were mound builders, and being they were a people of large stature (giants to us), their mounds were much larger than the later Mulekites and Nephites, & they were conical. Where is the evidence of these other colonies of Jaredites? In those final years of battle, did couriers search out these other cities and plead with them to join the fight? Did some of them stay behind & marry in with later Mulekites, Lamanites or Nephites?
When Coriantumr lay as if he were dead on the last battle field, did Ether find him and help him to heal up (obviously Ether knew he was alive or he would not put it in his record)? Coriantumr was very strong or he could not have survived as many as 5 almost fatal battle wounds and still go back into battle. It is just speculation, but it took him up to 2 years to heal up on two different occasions, so it may have taken him that long to heal again after Ether found him. Moroni says he didn’t even write a hundredth part of Ether’s record, so there is no way of knowing what it might have said about what Ether and Coriantumr dealt with after that battle, but I think they were bound together from the start to the finish.
I like to think it was during those years of healing physically that Coriantumr began healing spiritually, under Ether’s tutelage. I also like to think that during that time Coriantumr found the stone that he began engraving his history on. Because of the millions of bodies laying upon the open earth for many miles in every direction, I think the stench would have driven both Ether and Coriantumr back towards the Land of Moron. Some of the horrible battles started close to Moron, so they would have to travel several hundred miles west to get away from the stench as it lessened over time.
[Editor’s Note: Ether and Coriantumr could also have floated down the Ohio river to Illinois which is classified as the Land Zarahemla and that is where Coriantumr was found. Remember if he had a large stone, he probably would not be carrying it, but rather bringing it by boat all the way from Cumorah area to Illinois. Ether could have died on the trip so Coriantumr was alone when the Mulekites found him.]
Coriantumr was given the Personal message from God through Ether that basically it was all or nothing. It was the final count down for when a new civilization was about to come to their shores. Either he could repent and set his own house in order, thereby being able to rid the land of the secret combinations with the Lord’s help, or the land would be totally cleansed, himself and his household included. Coriantumr could live among them as a righteous people if they repented, or the land would have a reset and start anew. This land is a covenant land, and their first fathers knew that when they were brought here. Now, two descendants of Jared and the brother of Jared were set to play their parts to redeem the land or to cleanse it; to finish what had been started. This so reminds me of where we are now in our own time, in the world and in our own country; this “promised land”. We have been given another chance to rid ourselves of the corruption the secret combinations have infiltrated us with, by turning to God in prayer and morality, to regain what has been lost of our freedom, which have been severely undermined.
We have been warned by Moroni as he translated the Book of Ether. He saw our time and the parallels of our own destruction with those of the Jaredites and the Nephites and hoped we would be wiser. He had seen what those secret combinations had done within his own culture, and now he was reading how it destroyed the Jaredite civilization and he knew what it would require to fight it. Do we have a Coriantumr among us? We need someone who knows the ways of the enemy to pre-empt them.
“Wherefore, oh ye gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not these murderous combinations should get above you, which are built up to get power and gain. And the work, yea even the work of destruction come upon you, yea even the sword of justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be”. “Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you, or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up”. (Ether 8:23-24).
No record is available to us at this time that gives us a hint about how long Coriantumr lived before the people of Mulek “discovered” him. The scriptures say that “he only would live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance and he should receive a burial by them.” Actually it does not say that he would be the “only one”, it says that “he only would live to see the fulfilling . .” etc.
Mulek down the St Lawrence?
One thing we would know for certain, when the people of Mulek came *down the St. Lawrence Seaway they would not have stayed in that area any longer than they had to because of all the death and stench that would have lingered for years, and we know that for them to have “discovered” him it would have been only a short time after the final battles, no matter where they would have found him. They would not have lingered anymore than Coriantumr would have, neither would Ether have stayed there. No one could have tolerated the smell or the scene of death that was pervasive everywhere. Coriantumr would never have stayed with them for nine moons in that environment. They connected somewhere further inland, and it may have been close to the land of Moron as they traveled a route that we do not know of, to their final land of Zarahemla. When they “discovered” Coriantumr, did he know of the area the Mulekites would call “Zarahemla” from previous travels and actually direct them there? How did they determine the land of Zarahemla would be their permanent home unless someone told them it would be a desirable place? The Lord certainly would have guided them, but so often he does the guiding by others or uses other circumstances to bring about his purposes.
I feel he traveled with them to what was later known as “Zarahemla” and that is why they had the stone with them there on the Mississippi River, or River Sidon as it was known then. How big would the stone have to be to have Coriantumr’s own history on it? If the 24 tablets had ALL of the Jaredite history, would this stone have been of a manageable size to have been carried with the travelers until they got to the Land of Zarahemla, or did Coriantumr engrave on it during the 9 moons he was with them? Was the ancient, pure language that the Jaredites spoke from the tower, the same language that Ether made his record with? Was that language still close enough to the Mulekite language when they first came from Jerusalem, that they could understand Coriantumr? That was approximately 400 years before Mosiah found the Mulekites and before their language had been corrupted by having no records of their own to learn from. What we do know, is that the stone was with the people of Zarahemla on the banks of the Sidon River when Mosiah discovered them. What became of it? Was it buried in the earthquakes that happened during the time of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion?
The stone had to have been engraved by Coriantumr himself, because only he was left to record his own history and the slain of his people. He may well have started writing his history before the Mulekites found him, but he finished it in Zarahemla. He himself could have also put the words “and their bones lay scattered in the land northward”. It is obvious he wrote “northward” because he was not living in that land when he wrote it on the stone. He was southward in the land Zarahemla. He was given burial by the Mulekites in the land of Zarahemla. We feel he was buried along the Mississippi (Sidon) River. (Editor’s Note: This is why I think the Mulekites came up the Mississippi river to Zarahemla not by way of the St Lawrence River See * below). But the mystery: since the Mulekites did not keep a written language, and Coriantumr could not have recorded his own death or say that he lived with them 9 moons and received burial by them, who wrote that? The answer to me is that the Mulekites, like all Native Americans through thousands of years, kept an oral history, and one person was appointed to learn that history verbatim, and teach his successor. I think when the stone was brought to Mosiah to be translated, the Mulekites themselves shared that bit of information, and maybe also the fact that “their bones lay scattered in the land northward”. Or were there other colonies of Jaredites who lived along the Mississippi River (Sidon) who did not join the last fight in the Eastern lands? Perhaps only the nation of Jaredites in the East joined the battles, and it was their nation that was destroyed. Did the Mulekites intermarry with some of those Jaredites, and did one of them write the final words about Coriantumr’s death?
By the time Coriantumr died he was more than likely mellowed by age, his body worn out by repeated near fatal wounds and hard exertion, and more than likely bad nutrition. He would have been through the repentance process and had a clearer picture of what and why it all happened. One thing for sure, like Noah’s flood cleansed the earth to be re-populated in righteousness, Coriantumr was the instrument of God to cleanse the Promised Land of the secret combinations for the newly arriving Mulekites and Nephites. It could have ended differently, if Coriantumr had come to himself and repented sooner, but God knew the end from the beginning.
Think what you may, I feel that God uses who and how He will. On that final battlefield, Ether found the still living Coriantumr, as he knew he would, because the word of the Lord had come to Ether before that, saying that Coriantumr would not die by the sword.
Descendants of Jared and the Brother of Jared
These two men stood together upon that scene of death, called of God for two different purposes. One was a descendant of the Brother of Jared; the other a descendant of Jared, bringing to pass what God had told their ancestors to begin with those thousands of years ago; that this was a covenant land, and all who the Lord brought here would serve the Lord or be wiped off. These two men were linked together from the beginning to the end. I feel that noble, long-suffering Ether helped Coriantumr to his feet and on his way to sanity and healing, and to God. I think Coriantumr’s basic nature was good; that he felt keenly about protecting his people from the secret combinations that had corrupted his land. I think he was powerfully strong and fit to have endured the kind of physical beating he put himself through. I think he let pride, anger and violence get the best of him. I think he paid the price and repented. I like to think Coriantumr is happy now.
Jennice Curlee ([email protected])
*Mulekites- From St Lawrence Seaway or the Mississippi River? You decide.
Could the Mulekites come from Jerusalem through the St Lawrence Seaway and then settled in Montrose Iowa which we call Zarahemla? Yes! Some of us believe however that they may have come from Jerusalem the same way Lehi got here. Lehi landed near Apalachicola, FL and Mulek arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River and then continued up river and was stopped at the Des Moines River rapids near Keokuk, Iowa.
The main scripture I like is Omni 1:15-16 to verify the Mississippi route which says, “Behold, it came to pass that Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon. And they journeyed in the wilderness, and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth.”
In other words the Mulekites stayed at the same place that they landed when Mosiah discovered them. (Straight route from the Mississippi River to Iowa). Through the St Lawrence seaway and then through the Great Lakes and Lake Erie they would have to land near Detroit, MI and then walk by foot or take a new route of rivers from Detroit to Iowa approximately 500 miles away.
If the Mulekites came by way of the St Lawrence then the Great Lakes through Lake Michigan and landed in Chicago, they still would have to walk about 270 miles to Iowa.
“And they gave an account of one Coriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.” Omni 1:21
The people of Zarahemla (Mulekites) could have picked up Coriantumr near Hill Cumorah or the Lake Ontario as some believe, or the people of Zarahemla could have picked up Coriantumr where he traveled to. In other words, Coriantumr didn’t die and may have taken a few months to heal up. When he was healed he could have taken the Allegheny River to the connecting Ohio river which runs all the way to the Head of Sidon, (Where the Ohio and Mississippi meet), where anyone from the Land of Zarahemla (Illinois, Missouri, Iowa) could have found him.
You decide. I like the Mississippi route. Rian Nelson See Blog Here