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56-529: In the text of the Book of Mormon, "Cumorah" is a hill located in a land of the same name, which is "a land of many waters, rivers and fountains". In this hill, a Book of Mormon figure, Mormon , deposited a number of metal plates containing the record of his nation of Nephites , just prior to their final battle with the Lamanites in which at least 230,000 people were killed. Early Latter Day Saints assumed that

112-426: A brief summary of their wickedness is recorded on the plates that Joseph Smith translated. Mormon records that besides much theft there was murder and divine cursing in the land. The Nephites boast in their strength and make oaths. They fight without asking God for help. Mormon says they were doing abominations too, but we have no record of what that entailed. The Nephites are again hunted until they come northward to

168-566: A long digression from Mormon where he explicitly states that people tend to become rebellious, causing God to respond with punishment until they repent. Lacking more information about Nephite and Lamanite history, readers are left to come to a similar conclusion as Mormon based on the evidence he presents. Mormon states that Satan influenced the Nephites to create secret combinations like the Gadianton robbers. Mormon scholar Hugh Nibley noted

224-686: A vision rather than a physical visit. There has been no on-site archaeological research at Cumorah in New York. For a variety of reasons, some Mormon scholars have proposed the Cerro El Vigia (coordinates: 18°33′N 95°11′W  /  18.550°N 95.183°W  / 18.550; -95.183  ( Cerro Vigia ) or 18°27′25″N 95°21′01″W  /  18.45694°N 95.35028°W  / 18.45694; -95.35028  ( Cerro Vigia ) ) in Veracruz , Mexico , as

280-573: Is believed by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be a prophet-historian and a member of a tribe of indigenous Americans known as the Nephites , one of the four groups (including the Lamanites , Jaredites , and Mulekites ) described in the Book of Mormon as having settled in the ancient Americas . According to the Book of Mormon, the prophet Mormon engraved an abridgement of his people's history on golden plates . Based on

336-538: Is identified as being north of the land of Zarahemla . Moroni lived several years after recording the destruction of his people. He translated and abridged the plates which were the record of the Jaredites as the Book of Ether on to the plates that he was keeping. During this process, he wrote, "Omer ... passed by the hill of Shim , and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed," and "it came to pass that

392-423: Is near the place where Ammaron told Mormon to dig up the plates of Nephi, which Mormon promptly did. Fourteen years prior, Ammaron told Mormon to dig up only the plates of Nephi and update them with the current doings of the Nephites. But Mormon has seen nothing but wickedness and abominations around him all his life, so he makes an account of them on the plates of Nephi and they end up in the hill of Cumorah. But only

448-407: Is ten years old, because Ammaron judges him to be a serious child who was very intelligent. He tells Mormon that when he will be 24 years old, he must to go to the land of Antum and to the hill Shim, where he can find all the plates which Ammaron buried. He is supposed to take only the plates of Nephi but leave the other plates in the ground. Then he is to keep a journal of the doings of his people on

504-439: Is the name of a book, or subdivision, of the larger Book of Mormon . This "inner" book has nine chapters. According to the text, the first seven chapters were abridged by the prophet Mormon and the last two by his son Moroni . The book thus explains the claimed provenance of the Book of Mormon as an ancient record, mostly of the Nephites , compiled by Mormon and Moroni on golden plates . Ammaron comes to Mormon when he

560-650: Is the narrator the Book of Mormon presents as the final editor of the latter part of the Book of Mormon called the Plates of Nephi , which includes Helaman. In an article published by Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Religious Studies Center, Thomas W. Mackay, a professor of classical and medieval studies at BYU, outlines Mormon's philosophy of history. Mormon's editorial decisions reveal his attitudes about history, life, and theology. Mormon chooses to include incidents that fulfill earlier prophecies, indicating that he wishes to call attention to them. Additionally, Helaman 12 contains

616-401: Is where Smith said he discovered the golden plates which contained the writings of the Book of Mormon . Smith wrote: "On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box." Smith visited the hill each year on September 22 between 1823 and 1827 and said he was instructed by a "holy messenger", whom Smith identified as

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672-473: The Angel Moroni . Smith was finally allowed to take the record on September 22, 1827. Eleven other men gave written testimony that they had also seen the plates and held them in their hands. The hill, which was unnamed prior to 1829, is situated a few miles from Smith's boyhood home on a farm that was then owned by a local farmer, Alonzo Sanders. This farm was 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Palmyra , on

728-464: The Book of Mormon . According to the record, Mormon is one of the final caretakers of the records of his people. He combined and abridged the records and engraved them on gold plates. His people, called the Nephites , were near to being destroyed by the Lamanites who had had many previous wars with the Nephites. Mormon wrote to the leader of the Lamanites to ask that he may gather his "people unto

784-548: The Latter Day Saint movement about whether Hill Cumorah in New York is the same place described in the Book of Mormon, or whether there are two hills of the same name—one in New York and one in either Southern Mexico, Central America, or South America. Mormon archeologists overwhelmingly favor the "two Cumorahs" theory, while conservative theologians and some leaders prefer the view that only one Cumorah exists. Some non-Mormon scholars have provided alternative theories for

840-470: The Nephites are also destroyed. He explores the hill's role in the Book of Mormon's destruction of purported ancient American peoples, namely the Nephites and the Jaredites, and how that is portrayed in literature. The 283-acre (1.15 km) site near Palmyra, New York , formerly hosted the annual Hill Cumorah Pageant . This large, outdoor Latter-day Saint pageant typically occurred in early July and

896-589: The Book of Mormon took place on a hill in southern Mexico, Central America, or South America. The LDS Church has no official position on the matter, and while these hypotheses are not held by some leaders and members of the LDS Church, they are firmly espoused by others. In the official account of Joseph Smith it is stated that Manchester, Ontario County, New York, is the location of the encounter with Angel Moroni. The hill named Cumorah in Manchester, New York

952-481: The Book of Mormon. Divisions of the book relating to Mormon's personal history are the Words of Mormon and the first seven chapters of the larger book. The book says that Mormon eventually passed all of the records on to his son Moroni . According to Mormon's record in the Book of Mormon, he was born to a father whose name was also Mormon, but was named "after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish

1008-593: The Cerro El Vigia meets all of them. Grant H. Palmer suggested that Smith borrowed the name "Cumorah" through his study of the treasure-hunting stories of Captain William Kidd . Previous to announcing his discovery of the Book of Mormon, Smith had spent several years employed as a treasure seeker in Chenango County, New York . Kidd is considered to have started the treasure digging phenomenon after burying treasure on Gardiner's Island in New York, which

1064-696: The Cumorah in New York was the same Cumorah described in the Book of Mormon , based largely on a letter written by Oliver Cowdery (Letter VII), published in the July 1835 Messenger and Advocate and reprinted several times at the direction of Joseph Smith. In the early 20th century, scholars from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) began to speculate that there were two such hills and that final battle in

1120-592: The Hill Cumorah (or Ramah as the Jaredites termed it), which hill is located between Palmyra and Manchester in the western part of the state of New York ... Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and many early brethren, who were familiar with the circumstances attending the coming forth of the Book of Mormon in this dispensation, have left us pointed testimony as to the identity and location of Cumorah or Ramah. ( Mormon Doctrine , s.v. "Cumorah", p. 175). Mormon (Book of Mormon prophet) Mormon / ˈ m ɔːr m ən /

1176-441: The Hill Cumorah visitors center. There were no injuries or fatalities, and investigators determined the shots were unintentional and came from target shooting on nearby farmland. The stone box, described by Joseph Smith as the location where the plates were found, has not been located on the hill. In a letter, Oliver Cowdery gives the location as "the west side of the hill, not far from the top". Shortly after Smith announced he had

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1232-610: The Jaredites as Ramah. It was approximately near to the waters of Ripliancum, which the Book of Ether says, "by interpretation, is large or to exceed all." ... It must be conceded that this description fits perfectly the land of Cumorah in New York ... for the hill is in the proximity of the Great Lakes, and also in the land of many rivers and fountains. ( Doctrines of Salvation , vol. 3, pp. 233–34). I do not believe that there were two Hill Cumorahs, one in Central America and

1288-755: The Latter-day Saint apologetics organization, contends at length that the connection is tenuous. Mormon authors have suggested that the ancestors of the Nephite people may have encountered the Comoros islands on their initial voyage from the Arabian Peninsula to the western hemisphere, and that the Nephite civilization therefore may have retained a collective knowledge of the names "Comoros" and "Moroni". A minority of LDS scholars, some of whom specialize in 19th-century American literature, place

1344-517: The Lord commands Mormon to preach repentance to his people. It's useless, however, and they remain wicked. At the end of the ten years (AD 360), the Lamanites attack again, and the Nephites defeat them—twice. The Nephites become arrogant with these victories and decide they will avenge their fallen people and destroy their enemies. As a result of this, Mormon washes his hands of the mantle of the Nephite armies, and distances himself from them, especially after

1400-416: The Lord tells him that if the Nephites do not repent, it is they who will be destroyed instead. Mormon, when writing about this, adds that future generations are not immune from this same judgment. (Mormon ch. 3.) In the year 363, the Nephites, without Mormon at their head, leave the land Desolation to attack the Lamanites. The Lamanites drive them back to Desolation, fight and defeat the Nephites again, and

1456-406: The Nephite armies as they were being badly beaten by the Lamanites. Upon returning, Mormon again led them in battle against the Lamanites until the entire destruction of the Nephite nation, which took place as a result of a huge battle fought between the two groups in 385. As the last prophet and keeper of the record, Moroni is said to have become the angel or messenger who revealed the location of

1512-447: The Nephites retreat from Desolation to Teancum. Mormon explains to future readers that the Nephites would not have been defeated if they had not attacked the Lamanites. The following year, it is the Lamanites that attack the Nephites and are defeated, causing the Nephites to boast again. War continues until the year 367, when the Nephites, in their anger at the Lamanites' act of sacrificing women and children prisoners, fight back and drive

1568-502: The Nephites that Jesus Christ orders a recall of his three glorified disciples , and their work of miraculous healing comes to an end. But Mormon himself receives the Holy Spirit because of the soberness of his mind. He wants to become a preacher, but his mouth is stopped shut by God due to the wilful rebellion of the Nephites. There are robbers among the Lamanites who roam the land, causing the Nephites to bury their worldly goods in

1624-497: The Nephites that they cannot keep their own property on account of the robbers and the cursed land, and there arises a great lamentation. Mormon hopes that they will now turn back to the Lord and receive his blessings again, but his hope is in vain, because they are not sorrowful for their sins, but sorrowful for their lost property. The Nephites are pursued by the Lamanites to the land of Jashon before Mormon can get them to stop and make another stand. The city of Jashon, by coincidence,

1680-445: The army of Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill Ramah; and it was that same hill where my father Mormon did hide up the records unto the Lord, which were sacred." These passages identify the Nephite hill Cumorah as the same hill where the Jaredites had fought their final battle. For over 100 years, Mormons generally accepted the New York setting for the Hill Cumorah. Since the early-20th century, there has been discussion within

1736-439: The chronology described in the book, Mormon lived during the 4th century AD. As a narrator in the text, Mormon presents himself as a redactor . He quotes and paraphrases other writers, collects and includes whole texts by other authors, contributes running commentary, and also writes his own narrative. He writes about the process of making the book, both in terms of compiling the works of other prophets and also in terms of engraving

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1792-496: The church among the people". At about the age of ten, he was visited by Ammaron and given instructions on where to find the sacred engravings of the Nephite prophets and what to engrave upon them. At the age of eleven, Mormon was taken to the land of Zarahemla by his father. Mormon writes that at age fifteen he was visited by Jesus Christ . In his "sixteenth year," being young but "large in stature", Mormon "was appointed by

1848-481: The city of Angola and fortify it to defend against the Lamanites. But it is still not enough, and they are driven by their enemies out of the city and out of the land of David. Then Mormon's army comes to the land of Joshua and try to make a stand, with the western sea hard by. The Lamanite king Aaron comes against Mormon's 42,000 with 44,000 of his own men, and is defeated in battle. This occurs in AD 331. Finally it dawns on

1904-577: The corners and along the walls." When they first entered, the Sword of Laban was hanging on the wall. When they re-entered later, the Sword of Laban was unsheathed and resting on top of the newly delivered golden plates. The sword had an inscription on it that said the sword "will never be sheathed again until the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ." It has been suggested by Mesoamerican Cumorah advocates that these events occurred in

1960-467: The earth, but the land is cursed, and it will not securely hold their valuables. When war comes again between the Nephites and Lamanites in AD 327, Mormon is appointed the leader of their armies because he is large in stature, despite being only 16 years old. But the Lamanite armies are so great that Mormon's armies will not fight, and they began a retreat toward the north. There they take possession of

2016-520: The golden plates to Joseph Smith in 1823. Mormon witnesses the destruction of the Nephite people and their armies as they battle against the Lamanites (Mormon 6:1). 15 years later (Mormon 8), Moroni finishes his father's record (Mormon 8:1) and mentions that his father was killed after the battle against the Lamanites at the Hill Cumorah (Mormon 8:3). The emphasis of several themes in Helaman leads some scholars to draw conclusions about Mormon. Mormon

2072-464: The hill Cumorah in the Book of Mormon . John L. Sorenson has listed 15 cultural criteria for the hill Cumorah which are based on contextual clues from the text of the Book of Mormon: cities, towers, agriculture, metallurgy, formal political states, organized religion, idolatry, crafts, trade, writing, weaponry, astronomy, calendar systems, cement , and wheels. Sorensen alleges that the hill in New York at least partly fits four of these requirements while

2128-405: The hill. The 187-acre (76 ha) Sexton farm was purchased from the heirs of Pliny T. Sexton, who owned the "Mormon Hill farm" encompassing the remainder of the hill. The Church has constructed a monument that is topped with a statue of the Angel Moroni on the top of the hill, and there is a visitor's interpretative center at the base of the hill. On June 8, 2022, several shots were fired into

2184-438: The land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle." Cumorah is described as being in a land with "many waters, rivers, and fountains". The leader of the Lamanites agreed, and all of the Nephites gathered together, including their women and children. Mormon wrote, "And when three hundred and eighty and four years had passed away [since the sign of the birth of Christ], we had gathered in all

2240-478: The land of Shem and fortify the city there. Mormon inspires the people at last stand to boldly and fight for their wives and children and hearth and home. It seems to work, for they did not shrink back when the Lamanites attack Shem. Mormon's army of thirty thousand defeats a Lamanite army of fifty thousand. They chase after the Lamanites, beat them again, reclaim their homelands, get them divided, and cease fighting for ten years. (Mormon ch. 2.) During those ten years,

2296-698: The main road toward Canandaigua from Palmyra to Manchester, and is not far from Carangrie Creek and the Clyde River. According to geologists, the hill was formed during the retreat of the Ice Age glaciers, and it rises approximately 110 feet (34 m) above the surrounding valley floor. Since 1829, the Latter Day Saints have called the hill "Cumorah", and local non-Mormons have called it "Mormon Hill" or "Gold Bible Hill". The hill has also been called "Inspiration Point". The hill and surrounding land

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2352-513: The origin of the name Cumorah. At least ten different accounts refer to certain events that occurred at the hill Cumorah in New York. According to the account of Brigham Young , the angel instructed Joseph Smith to carry the golden plates back to the hill Cumorah. When Smith and Oliver Cowdery arrived, "the hill opened, and they walked into a cave, in which there was a large and spacious room." The account continues by saying they found "more plates than probably many wagon loads; they were piled up in

2408-463: The original literary setting for the Book of Mormon among the mythic mound builders of North America. Charles W. Dunn depicts Coriantumr's last battle in his book The Master's Other Sheep: An Epic of America and Other Poems . In an analysis of Dunn's poem, professor of English Edward Whitley highlights the significance that the Hill Ramah is portrayed as being the same as the Hill Cumorah, where

2464-538: The other one up in New York, for the convenience of the Prophet Joseph Smith, so that the poor boy would not have to walk clear to Central America to get the gold plates. (123rd Annual Conference of the LDS Church, April 4–6, 1953, Conference Report , pp. 83–84; Improvement Era , June 1953, p. 423). Both the Nephite and the Jaredite civilizations fought their final great wars of extinction at and near

2520-463: The pageant's last year as a result of new directives by the church to discourage large-scale pageants. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , this final performance was initially rescheduled for mid-2021 and later canceled entirely, bringing the tradition to an end. It is known that the Hill Cumorah where the Nephites were destroyed is the hill where the Jaredites were also destroyed. This hill was known to

2576-462: The people of Nephi" to be the leader of their armies, and fought against the Lamanites in many battles thereafter. Mormon went to the hill Shim at about the age of 24, as instructed by Ammaron, to take and abridge the Nephite records. Mormon writes that he "utterly refuse[d]...to be a commander and a leader" to the Nephites "because of their wickedness and abomination". However, about thirteen years later, Mormon decided to return as commander of

2632-414: The plates of Nephi. When Mormon is 11, his father Mormon takes him south to the land of Zarahemla . Mormon finds that land to be completely covered with buildings and people. He witnesses a war between the Nephites and Lamanites along the borders of Zarahemla. The Lamanites are beaten by a force of 30,000 Nephites, then they withdraw and there is peace for four years. There is so much wickedness among

2688-406: The plates, some local residents unsuccessfully searched the hill for a freshly dug hole that could have contained the plates. They did note a significantly sized hole on the east side of the hill that had been dug years previously by treasure seekers. In the Book of Mormon, Cumorah is mentioned in six verses, five in chapter 6 and one in chapter 8 of a subpart of the book, which is also known as

2744-580: The prevalence of names in the Book of Mormon with the root "mor" and suggested that the root may be of Egyptian origin with the meaning of "beloved". However, in the 15 May 1843 issue of the Times and Seasons , Joseph Smith explained the name as being a contraction of the English word "more" and "mon", a word that Smith claimed was Egyptian for "good", making the name literally mean "more good". Book of Mormon (Mormon%27s record) The Book of Mormon

2800-501: The remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah." Mormon then hid all of the records of his people in the hill, except for the plates that he was currently writing on, which he gave to his son Moroni . The Lamanites then attacked the Nephites, who were led by twenty-three men each with ten thousand men under their command. Mormon recorded that all but 24 of the Nephites had been killed, "even all my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me", except for those who fled to

2856-422: The south or defected to the Lamanites. Mormon then records his mourning for his people and a last message to those who will read his record later, then again turns the unburied records over to his son Moroni. Moroni records, "after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed. And my father also

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2912-421: The words on metal plates. He alludes to content that is left out of the book, and refers to a larger collection of records at his disposal. The Book of Mormon states that Mormon was instructed by the prophet Ammaron where to find the records that had been passed down from their ancestors. It also says that Mormon later abridged the near-millennium-long history of his ancestors, and added additional revelations into

2968-428: Was free to the public. The pageant was sponsored by the LDS Church and traced its history back to 1935. The tradition of staging the play America's Witness for Christ began in 1937. This was a play by H. Wayne Driggs that remained the basic text of the pageant until 1987. The 1987 revision, which was used through the final performance, was written in large part by Orson Scott Card . It was announced that 2020 would be

3024-433: Was killed by them, and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people." This hill, known as "Cumorah" among the Nephites, was called "Ramah" ( / ˈ r ɑː m ɑː / ) by the Jaredites : In the Book of Mormon, during the time of the Book of Alma , the land of Cumorah was part of the land of Desolation, "the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken". This land

3080-519: Was later recovered by the colonial governor of New York. Capt. Kidd had buried this treasure after returning from an Indian Ocean voyage where he lost a third of his crew to cholera on the Comoros islands. Palmer suggested that Smith borrowed the name of a settlement in the Comoros— Moroni —and applied it to the angel who showed him where to find the golden plates buried in the Hill Cumorah. FAIR ,

3136-470: Was purchased in the 1920s by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the direction of church president Heber J. Grant . The transaction involved two separate purchases: the purchase of the "Inglis farm"; and the purchase of the "Sexton farm". The Inglis farm consisted of 96 acres (39 ha) on both sides of the Canandaigua–Palmyra road and encompassed one third of the western edge of

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