The Nephites, the Lamanites and the Inca – Part I

It is interesting and meaningful that the area occupied by the Inca and referred to as the Inca Empire in history, between 1463 and 1525 A.D., very closely mirrors the exact area of the Land of Promise as occupied by the much earlier Nephites and Lamanites. That area, today, called the Andean Plateau, which encompasses southern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, western Bolivia and northern Chile, is the same area that made up the “isle of the sea” to which Jacob referred (2 Nephi 10:20).

When the Lehi Colony disembarked from their ship at the landing site of the Land of Promise (1 Nephi 18:23), they settled in an area later referred to as the Lamanite “Land of First Inheritance” (Alma 22:28). When Nephi, and those who went with him, left to settle an area referred to as the “Land of Nephi” (2 Nephi 5:8), somewhere around 580 B.C., this was referred to as the Nephite “Land of First Inheritance” (Mosiah 9:1).

Later, around 200 to 130 B.C., Mosiah fled from the Land of Nephi and discovered an area called Zarahemla, and the people of Zarahemla who were the descendants of those who left Jerusalem at the time king Zedekiah was carried away captive into Babylon (Omni 1:15). They came with Zedekiah’s only surviving son (Helaman 8:21) named Mulek (Helaman 6:10), and are referred to as the Mulekites in Latter-day Saint teachings, but called the people of Zarahemla in the Book of Mormon.

The Nephites from that point forward and continually were at war with their brethren, the Lamanites, and extended their holdings ever northward to an area they called Bountiful (Alma 22:29), which ran from the east sea to the west sea (Alma 22:33), which was just south of the old Jaredite lands called the Land of Desolation (Alma 22:31), which was separated by a narrow neck of land (Alma 22:32) that was narrow enough for a person to walk across it in one and a half days (Alma 22:32), which would equate to about a 25 to 30 mile width.

Thus, the land to the north of the narrow neck was called the Land Northward and the land to the south of the narrow neck was called the Land Southward (Alma 22:32). This land was long (north-south) and narrow (east-west), for the Land of Nephi went from the West Sea to the East Sea (Alma 22:27), as did the Land of Zarahemla, with a narrow strip of wilderness in between that ran from the west sea to the east sea (Alma 22:27), thus the Land of Nephi and the Land of Zarahemla were surrounded by water except for the narrow neck of land (Alma 22:32). Also, to elongate this land north and south, the Land Northward went so far northward that it came to an area called the Land of Many Waters (Alma 22:30). According to Mormon, who lived after the great upheavals described in 3 Nephi, and how had the records and read them (Words of Mormon 1:3), described the Land of Promise as long and narrow.

The center of the Nephite nation for about 400 years centered in the area of the city of Nephi (Mosiah 9:15; 21:1; Alma 23:11; 47:31), it being the chief city in the Land of Nephi (Alma 47:20). This Land of Nephi was also called the Land of Lehi-Nephi, as was the City of Nephi also called the city of Lehi-Nephi (Mosiah 7:1, 21). This is the land where Nephi taught his people how to build, working all manner of wood, iron, and precious lmetals (2 Nephi 5:15), and where he built a temple like unto Solomon’s Temple (2 Nephi 5:16). This is where king Noah later built spacious and elegant buildings and a palace of find wood, iron and all manner of precious things (Mosiah 11:8), and a tower next to the temple Nephi built that was so tall, one could see clear to the Land of Shilom that was possessed by the Lamanites (Mosiah 11:12) and had been a resort (fort) for Nephi and his people (Mosiah 11:13) when they fled from Laman, Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael after Lehi died. This was also the city where Abinadi preached (Mosiah 11:20), and where Alma (the Older) was converted (Mosiah 17:2).

This City of Nephi was not only the chief city in the Land of Nephi, but it was the headquarters of the temple and the religious atmosphere of the Nephites, and was also the seat of government of the Nephite nation for over four centuries. From this city, founded by Nephi,the Nephites spread out into other lands and cities in the Land of Nephi.

(See next post “The Nephites, the Lamanites and the Inca – Part II,” and see how this exact area was the same area that where the Inca came to power a thousand years after the last Nephi battle. Part III will show the lamantations of the Lamanites during that thousand years)