Dissection of Mormon's Account
Logic of Cumorah

Even without giving a complete commentary on the Mormon's account of the last sequence of events leading to the destruction of the Nephite Nation, it is still a length presentation. And though attempting to keep it to a minimum of only what is critical to consider, because Cumorah requires the Nephite lands to be of a large and vast nature, must is considered critical to the support of Curmorah being in Western New York, where it has always been. Thus this presentation of dissecting Mormon's account will be done in multiple sections.

While the logical organization of such a dissection is considerably governed by the chronology of events and must be segmented according to the order presented in Mormon chapters 1-6 and Moroni chapter 9; there are a number of significant items which the reader should also strive to obtain an organized grouping of. And in this introduction, I will attempt to alert the reader to such. There are nine such areas of significance which I wish to alert the reader to in order to aid in a deeper appreciation of what is being presented here.

First. Both as a section of initial presentation, and also in subsequent reference through out, there will be a contrasting of the Cumorah being Cumorah position to that of the Mesoamerican two Cumorahs position. This 'opposition' or contrasting of positions is deemed necessary as it is the basis for all understanding. When the scriptures teach the need for 'opposition' in all things, it is not just speaking of good and evil, but in all things there needs be a contrasting which is used to learn and know the difference and contrast between opposites such as sugar and salt. Salt and sugar while actually contrasting in flavor are also used in baking to accentuate each other. In order to keep the sweets from being overly sweet and sickening, salt is added in the cake mix as well. This contrasting is not meant to be of a contentious nature, just of a contrasting and opposing view to heighten appreciation.

Second. Background information helps to understand what one is talking about. It lays the foundation for understanding events by placing them in their proper setting. And while an entire documented background of the entire Book of Moron is out of the question, some significant background information should help in understanding more completely what is being said. There will be a separate section for this background to provide a basis of information and there will also be additional elements brought into the discussion in other sections to the extent of what seems appropriate. There will be no attempt to fully document the background presented other than in a general sense.

Third. Elements of geography will be brought in throughout that various sections as they apply to the topics being discussed, but there will not be a separate section just for building a geography model. That process is must too involved and beyond the scope of this immediate presentation and is elsewhere built upon these great Book of Mormon pages presented on this site for those so interested. And since detailed information is presented else where in this sites over all pages, no detailed documentation other than general reference will be given in this presentation.

Fourth. There are seven general Nephite land regions identifiable north of the narrow neck and one south. And while these are significant, they are discussed more completely elsewhere. Thus references to them will only be to enhance the discussion. The one south Zarahemla, which is a large nation in and of itself. The detailed geography of Zarahemla is presented elsewhere, so references to such will be of a general nature with details presented elsewhere. Then there are seven geographical regions discernable in the land northward from Mormon's writings.

1. The southern most region includes Desolation and Teacum,
2. The next region includes the defensible lacations of Boaz and Shem, as well as Antum and Jashon.
3. The next strategic land region contains Jordan, Sherrizah, and Moriantum.
4. The fourth region is all the 'protected country' north of the strategic grouping of the 'Jordan Defense'. Moroni was laboring apart from the conflict in these lands and cities.
5. Then fifth region is the land of Zelph supported by Church History and the Prophet's letters to his wife Emma.
6. Cumorah is the sixth known land resion.
7. And finally, there is the 'country southward' from Cumorah to which the surviving Nephites flee after the battle at Cumorah.

Now one must consider that Mormon's record is a very condensed abridgement and that many of the lands, cites, towns and villages are not recorded in the Book of Mormon. Thus each of these identified regions would have many more cites and locations that are just not given by Mormon.

Fifth. There are five strategic defense areas of Mormon's record. These are (1) Joshua, (2) Shem, (3) Desolation, (4) Boaz, and (5) Jordan. The order I just gave them in is the order in which they appear in Mormon's record. I will refer to these as the 'Joshua Defense,' the 'Shem Defense,' the 'Desolation Defense,' the 'Boaz Defense,' and the 'Jordan Defense.' The order in which they are located south to north are, (1) Joshua, (2) Desolation, (3) Boaz, (4) Shem, and (5) Jordan. Each of these locations provided a position from which a significant defense position could be maintained. And it is felt that they provided hope of defending the land north of each of these position from further Lamanite invasion and where not easily flanked. Thus in this presentation, they will be associated with the four defensible narrow necks from the Isthmus of Darien north. The map at the right shows how these defenses might fit the stratigic locations of the narrow isthmus areas of Central America.

Sixth. Mormon speaks of three occasions in which his military leadership was able to 'Deliver' the Nephites from destruction. The suggestive Book of Mormon footnotes associate these with the 'Shem Defense' and the two Lamanite attacks on the 'Desolation Defense.' I would suggest that a better consideration for the 'Three Deliverances' would be the 'Zarahela Deliverance' where Mormon first defeated King Aaron of the Lamnaites, the 'Shem Deliverance,' and the 'Desolation Deliverance' being only count as one 'deliverance' though two attacks where made. I will refer to these three deliverances as I have indicated in the appropriate sections.

Seventh. There are Five specific War events recorded by Mormon and I will present and arrange my information according. There are also periods of Peace between these wars. And I will also refer to these in my presentation. The point is that war was not continuous, and these Five times of War with their associated periods of peace will be addressed and should be looked for. There are Three Wars Initialed by the Lamanites, One War Initialed by the Nephites, and finally the lengthy final period of war which ended in Cumorah.

Eighth. As a part of this presentation, I will be referring to Mormon's Preaching to the people and the results in conjunction with these various times of War and Peace. This should be looked for, as it seems to play a significant role in Mormon acting as Prophet and Military commander and chief.

Ninth. Of an on going interest, which provided fuel to the feud, is the perceived Nephite and Lamnaite rivalries which seemed to carry on throughout. One of these is the fact that Mormon's first victory over the Lamanites was to defeat the army of the Lamnaite King Aaron. Mormon and Aaron's rivalry seems to carry through to beyond the 'Jordan Defense,' as it is at that period where Aaron is still stated to be King of the Lamanites. Now Mormon served from age 16 to 74 and beyond until his death in battle after Cumorah. It seems that he had Aaron to be his arch enemy throughout also. Perhaps like the hatred Shiz had for Coriantumr, this was one of the driving forces of the Lamanite leadership to pursue Mormon and the Nephites to the very end at Cumorah and beyond like they did.