Back to Lands of the Book of Mormon
The follow are excerpts from Joseph Allen's book Exploring the Lands of the Book of Mormon 1989: 6-8
The Nephites - Group 1
The Nephites were the record keepers of the Book of Mormon. The name is derived from a 600 BC prophet named Nephi, who migrated with his family from Jerusalem. We are left to speculate as to who the Nephites really were in the complexity of the Mesoamerica picture. Of noteworthy interest is the fact that, in the 16th Century Spanish Chronicles, reference is made to a people called Tultecas who were record keepers and who were considered to be wise and to be men of science. (Sahagun 10:167-197>
The Nephites lived in several geographic and cultural areas from about 586 BC to 385 AD. Mormon, who wrote or compiled the majority of the Book of Mormon, was a descendant of Nephi, as was Mormon's son Moroni.
The Lamanites
The term "Lamanites" is used to describe a people who became followers of an original Book of Mormon figure by the name of Laman. The Lamanites date to 586 BC. They became mortal enemies to the Nephites. Laman was the oldest brother of Nephi. Laman lost his right to rule. He developed a following, and the hatred between the Lamanites and Nephites is a perpetual Book of Mormon theme.
The Lamanite culture corresponds with the Classic Maya (200 AD - 900 AD time period) --suggesting that the largest portion of the Preclassic Maya (600 BC - 200 AD) living south and east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec may have been Lamanites.
The Mulekites - Group 2
The first reference to a group of people we know as the Mulekites is in the Book of Omni. The Mulekites had come out of Jerusalem at the time of the Jewish captivity by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The Book of Kings informs us that Zedekiah, the king of the Jews, witnessed the death of his sons, heirs to the Jewish throne. The Babylonians then put out the eyes of Zedekiah, so the last event he witnessed was the death of his sons:
And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. (2 Kings 25:7)
We first read about Mulek in the Book of Mosiah, where we are told that Zarahemla was a descendant of Mulek. Mulek was a son of King Zedekiah. (Mosiah 25:2; Helaman 6:10, 21) Perhaps Mulek was a young baby or not yet born at the time of the assassination of his brothers when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. Mulek and his party possibly were brought to the Americas by the sea-faring Phoenicians.
The Book of Helaman records that "the Lord brought Lehi to the land south and Mulek to the land north." (Helaman 6:10) In all probability, Mulekites lived on both sides of the Narrow Neck of Land.
Between 200 BC and 180 BC, Mosiah, who lived in the Land of Nephi, led a righteous group of Nephites from the Land of Nephi to the Land of Zarahemla--where Mosiah discovered the people of Zarahemla. And it came to pass that the people of Zarahemla, and of Mosiah, did unite together; and Mosiah was appointed to be their king. (Omni 1:12-19)
Zarahemla recounted orally his people's history and also a portion of the history of the people we know as the Jaredites. Zarahemla and his people had lived in the area of the Jaredites and had traveled into the South Wilderness where Mosiah discovered them.
Zarahemla's people far outnumbered Mosiah and his Nephites. Many of the people of Zarahemla have Jaredite names, which suggests that the Mulekites were greatly influenced by the Jaredites. Indeed, the Mulekites, or at least a branch of the Mulekites, may have lived among the Jaredites from the Mulekites' arrival in the New World in the 6th Century BC up to the Jaredite destruction, estimated to be between 400 BC and 250 BC. (Omni 1:15-22; Alma 22: 30-31)
The Jaredites - Group 3
The mother race of the Book of Mormon cultures is called the Jaredites. We first read about the Jaredites in the Book of Omni, the same place where we read about the people Zarahemla.
And it came to pass in the days of Mosiah, there was a large stone brought unto him with engravings on it; and he did interpret the engravings by the gift and power of God.
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.
It also spake a few words concerning his fathers. 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. (Omni 1:20-22)
The Jaredites developed a massive New World civilization dating from approximately 2500 BC to approximately 300 BC.
Apparently, the Jaredites had a great influence on both the Mulekites and the Nephites. Many Mulekite names are of Jaredite origin, such as Coriantumr and Morianton. The Nephite Alma, the son of Alma, gave two of his sons Jaredite names --Shiblon and Corianton. Even today in Mesoamerica society, some Jaredite names, such as Shule (Xul) and Com, have survived the centuries, as they are names represented in the Maya cultures of Guatemala and Yucatan.
The spoken language of the Jaredites was probably spoken by both Mulekites and Nephites. When Lehi's colony, as well as Mulek's colony, arrived in the Promised Land, the Jaredites constituted a high majority. Both the Nephites and the Mulekites lived simultaneously with the Jaredites for approximately 200 years to 300 years, after which the Jaredite kingdom fell. (Ether 14-15)