Did the Mulekits Land Among the Jaredites?

In order to substantiate their Mesoamerican model with the Olmec people claimed to have lived there from an early B.C. period, these Theorists try to connect the Mulekites and Jaredites. Joseph Allen, in his book, “Exploring the lands of the Book of Mormon, page 223, states:

“The Mulekites had direct contact with the Jaredites, as the Mulekites landed in the midst of the Jaredite lands (Alma 22:30)”

Alma 22:30 does not say the Mulekites landed in the Land Northward. When one reads the quoted scripture correctly, and in context with other scriptures, it is clear that Allen's statement is in error. First of all, Amaleki clearly states that the Mulekites landed in the land where Mosiah found them (Omni 1:16) and that they had always dwelt in that same area. Secondly, when reading Alma 22:30 correctly, one should keep in mind what the scripture is about:

a. The land of Desolation
b. The people whose bones were found there
c. The place of first landing of the people destroyed there

Who discovered the bones is a peripheral thought, discussed earlier (Mosiah 8:8), and here used to make sure the reader relates this land and its destroyed people in time and space with earlier scriptural references. Thus, Mormon is saying:

"And it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, it being the place of their first landing." (Alma 22:30)

The mistake that is made by Mesoamerican Theorists is in trying to use the peripheral thought as the main emphasis of the scripture. Thus they claim that the place of first landing was for the Mulekites who discovered the bones. But a careful reading of the scriptures before and after show that Mormon is describing the land--not the people--both the land southward and the land northward, and connects the logical relationship with the land northward, i.e., the bones of the people destroyed there: "of whose bones we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla." Thus,

• The people of Zarahemla are connected to the discovery of the bones, which is supported by earlier scriptural reference;

• The bones are connected to the land northward, again supported by previous scripture (Mosiah 8:8).

Thus, the people of Zarahemla are not connected in this scripture to the place of their landing because other scripture talks about their having landed in the area of Zarahemla "where Mosiah found them." (Omni 1:14)

In addition, if the Mulekites had direct contact with the Jareidtes, then Coriantumr would not have been a mystery to them, and his writings could have been interpreted by them, as well as Ether’s writings. But they could not read this, nor did they know who these people were (Mosiah 8:12,19), and needed a Prophet and Seer to interpret this for them (Mosiah 8:13).