Peter Covino in his True Book of Mormon Geography website, in discussing the Land of
Many Waters, makes an interesting, though unsupportable claim. He writes:
The
phrase "many waters" is used twice in the geography - once in terms
of Jaredite lands (Mosiah 8:7-11) and once in reference to the Hill Cumorah
(Mormon 6:4). Geographers therefore conclude that the two places must be the
same or close by. That is incorrect. No one wanted to bury the dead so Cumorah
could not have been where people lived. "Many waters" was an
expression NOT a location, and was of benefit for the last battle for the ease
of travel, i.e. "many water routes."
Limhi’s
43-man expedition “traveled in a land among many
waters, having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of
beasts, and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind, having
discovered a land which had been peopled with a people who were as numerous as
the hosts of Israel” (Mosiah 8:8). From this we learn:
1) They traveled into the old
Jaredite lands
2) They found the ruins, bodies, and
armor of the Jaredites
3) They found this in a “land of
many waters”
When Mormon moved his army for the
final battle, they “did march forth to the land of Cumorah, and we did pitch
our tents around about the hill Cumorah; and it was in a land of many waters,
rivers, and fountains” (Mormon 6:4). It should be noted that, in this case, Mormon is being descriptive. Many waters, including rivers (specific) and fountains (specific). Fountains are springs where water comes up out of the earth, and consequently, form rivers. And since rivers and fountains are stated in the plural, we can see that these fountains formed numerous rivers that spread out over the land, thus causing "many waters."
"And the Lord warned Omer in a dream that he should depart out of the
land; wherefore Omer departed out of the land with his family, and
traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and
came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed"
Moroni writing about the movement of
Omer and the Jaredites, said, “Omer departed out of the land with his family,
and traveled many days, and came over and passed by the hill of Shim, and came
over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed” (Ether 9:3).
Thus, with the Jaredites occupying
the Land Northward, the Nephites being destroyed in the Land Northward, and the
Land Northward being a place of many waters, rivers, and fountains, it must be
concluded that all of these areas were one of the same.
When Covino says: “No one wanted to bury the dead so
Cumorah could not have been where people lived,” is a complete misunderstanding
of the situation that existed in those final days of the Jaredite nation. The
scriptural record tells us a different reason: “so swift
and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did
march forth from the shedding of blood to the shedding of blood, leaving the
bodies of both men, women, and children strewed upon the face of the land, to
become a prey to the worms of the flesh” (Ether 14:22).
"And so great and lasting had been the war, and so long had been the
scene of bloodshed and carnage, that the whole face of the land was
covered with the bodies of the dead"
Obviously, no one wanted to bury the
dead, because they were running and fighting for their lives. In fact, “the
loss of men, women and children on both sides was so great” in this running
battle, that both sides decided to stop fighting for a time (Ether 14:31). It
should be noted that “they returned to their camp” (Ether 14:31), which should
suggest that people were no longer living in their homes, villages or cities,
but camped around the battlefields where the fighting was taking place. In
fact, from this time on, the war moved to the waters of Ripliancum (Ehter
15:8), where a great battle took place. From there they fled southward (Ether
15:10) until they reached Ogath, where “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” (Ether 15:11).
Another great battle took place at
this point in which many were killed (Ether 15:15-17). This battle continued
through several days until there were only 59 people remaining (Ether 15:25).
Finally, the battle ended with Coriantumr the last man standing (Ether 15:31).
"Wherefore, he did pursue them, and on the morrow he did overtake them;
and they fought again with the sword. And it came to pass that when
they had all fallen by the sword, save it were Coriantumr and Shiz,
behold Shiz had fainted with the loss of blood...when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he smote off the head of Shiz"
The point is, the entire rationale
for Covino’s claiming there were two areas referred to as the Land of Many
Waters is based upon “No
one wanted to bury the dead so Cumorah could not have been where people lived”
is fallacious and without merit.
And,
too, is his following Statement: “"Many waters" was an expression NOT
a location, and was of benefit for the last battle for the ease of travel, i.e.
"many water routes."
When
Mormon wrote: “and it was in a land of many waters,
rivers, and fountains,” is was not a general term. Consider:
1) “in a land” means in it, not
about it. It is an expression meaning “within.”
2) It was a land of “many waters.”
This could possibly be a general term, but not when you include the additional
description of “rivers and fountains.” Each of those terms has a specific, not
general, meaning.
• River comes from the Italian word
“Riviera” which is from the Latin “rivus/rivulus” meaning “a river with a bank
or shore.”
• Fountain means “natural source of
water.” It also connotes “the head or source of a river” and ”issuing from the
interior of the earth.”
River and fountain are not general
terms, but have specific meaning. When used with the overall description of
“many waters,” it connotes the meaning of an area of many rivers, lakes,
springs—the source of the water itself. That is, an area full of springs that
have formed rivers and lakes.
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