Potter’s Placement of the City of Mulek – Part II

Continuing from the previous article regarding the location of the city of Mulek and the other information provided by George Potter regarding his chosen location in a submitted article. 
   As discussed in the previous article, the reason why Potter has to move his Lamanite army fifty miles in a short period of time, is because in his search for a likely location for the city of Mulek in his scenario in southwestern Peru, the only nearby ruins of an ancient city to Nazca, was 54 miles to the south. However, it is one thing to make a claim on paper of a movement of troops, but something else entirely for that movement to ring true and be realistic. Fifty-four miles in a day and a half is simply out of the question to claim that the Lamanite army chased Teancum’s Nephite army that distance in such a short time—and to do so without supplies as Potter states: “Undoubtedly, the Lamanites would not have been carrying their camping provisions.”
    While movies and books don’t dwell on the supply train of any army movement, no army can move without food and supplies—and no army is going to chase an enemy for a day and a half without stopping to eat along the way.

    Patton’s remarkable achievement, with mobile transportation over existing roads, averaged a speed of .96 miles per hour. At that rate, it would have taken the Lamanites, marching on foot, fifty-two hours to travel fifty miles that Patton’s mobilized army did.

    As ridiculous as that scenario might be considered, Potter makes another mistake about his choosing Tambo Viejo as the city of Mulek. First of all, Mormon tells us the city was fortified.
    Of fortifying or fortifications, Mormon makes it clear that Moroni caused his army to “also building walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands; yea, all round about the land. And in their weakest fortifications he did place the greater number of men; and thus he did fortify and strengthen the land which was possessed by the Nephites” (Alma 48:8-9). In addition, Mormon explains that fortifications were “erections” when he explained that Moroni, “caused them to erect fortifications that they might secure their armies and their people from the hands of their enemies” (Alma 50:9, emphasis added).
    Thus, Mormon tells us that “when the Lamanites saw this they were affrighted; and they abandoned their design in marching into the land northward, and retreated with all their army into the city of Mulek, and sought protection in their fortifications” (Alma 52:2), he is obviously referring to a fortified city with "erected fortifications," i.e., solid walls for defense. “Teancum thought it was not expedient that he should attempt to attack them in their forts” (Alma 52:5). Also, that Teancum “resolved upon a plan that he might decoy the Lamanites out of their strongholds” (Alma a 52:21).
    Now, understanding that the city of Mulek was a fortified city, and that as a city it was surrounded by a fortified wall of stone, we compare that to the ruins found at Tambo Viejo, Potter’s suggestion for the city of Mulek, and learn that Tambo Viejo is on the southern outskirts of the city of Acari, along the eastern banks of the Acari River, as well as extensive ruins on the west bank between the river and the highway from Lomas to Santa Lucia, with the ruins of Tambo Viejo flowing over and covering the hill of Otapara in the Acari Valley.
    Consider that, according to Dr. Aleš Hrdičksa, Curator, Divison of Physical Anthropology, U.S. National Museum (Anthropological work in Peru, in 1913, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1914) there were foundation walls in the ruins of Tambo Viejo, but not exterior walls nor was Tambo Viejo a walled city as Mulek would have been to present such a fortified obstacle to Teancum wanting to attack the Lamanites in Mulek. As Mormon describes it, “it came to pass that Teancum made preparations to make an attack upon the city of Mulek, and march forth with his army against the Lamanites; but he saw that it was impossible that he could overpower them while they were in their fortifications; therefore he abandoned his designs and returned again to the city Bountiful, to wait for the coming of Moroni, that he might receive strength to his army" (Alma 52:17).

According to Lidio M. Valdez, Tambo Viejo was mostly built of platform pyramids and individual  houses, all of rounded river stone

In addition, Lidio M. Valdez, an historical anthropologist of the MacEwan University, Edmonton, Canada, states: “studies carried out by different researchers indicate that early Nazca settlements were small unfortified villages dispersed along the course of the rivers (Human decapitation and fortified settlements in the Acari Valley, Peru, Conference paper, Journal of Andean Archaeology Vol 34, No2, May 2017). In fact, he also states that the first fortified cities in the Acarti Valley did not begin until around 100 A.D., which would be about 150 years after Moroni’s death (Lidio M. Valdez, “Fortified Settlements and the Origins of Conflict in the Acari Valley, Peru,” South American Archaeology Seminar, May 2012, UCL Institute of Archaeology)

By Comparison, this is an image of Tambo Colorado, an obvious walled city with a wall around the entire complex—something missing in Tambo Viejo

Despite all of these obvious problems, Potter goes on to say: “Given the above evidence, I believe that the city of Nasca in Peru is the best known candidate for the ancient Book of Mormon city of Bountiful.”
    Now, in order to set the stage and understand the locations, we need to follow the events taking place between Moroni, Teancum, and the Lamanites army in the scriptural record:
• While Moroni was engaged in the Land of Zarahemla contending with the rebellious Nephite King Men (Alma 51:14);
• Amalickiah came down at the head of his Lamanite army (Alma 51:9,12);
• Lamanites captured several Nephite cities, all of which were on the east borders by the seashore (Alma 51:26, emphasis added) moving northward toward Bountiful;
• The Lamanites marched to the borders of the land Bountiful driving the Nephites before them (Alma 51:28);
• Teancum, who had killed Morianton and stopped the King Men’s efforts to gain the Land Northward (Alma 51:29);
• Teancum also stopped the Lamanites northward movement (Alma 51:31);
• Teancum pitched his tents in the borders of the land Bountiful, and Alalickiah pitched his tents on the beach by the seashore (Alma 51:32);
• Teancum kills Amalickiah (51:34, 37);
• Lamanites retreat into the city of Mulek (Alma 52:2);
• Moroni tells Teancum to fortify the land Bountiful and secure the narrow pass into the Land Northward (Alma 52:9);
• Moroni still by the West Sea near Zarahemla was dealing with another Lamanite army (Alma 52:12);
• Moroni who was protecting the west and south borders of the land of Zarahemla, later headed to the land of Bountiful to assist Teancum (Alma 52:15);
• Moroni arrives in the land of Bountiful (Alma 52:18);
• A plan to draw the Lamanitesout of the city of Mulek is devised (Alma 52:19);
• Teancum took a small number of men and marched down near the seashore (Alma 52:22);
• The Lamanites leave the city of Mulek and chase after Teancum, who retreats down by the seashore northward (Alma 52:23);
• Part of Moroni’s army retakes Mulek (Alma 52:24), and the other part follows the Lamanites who are pursuing Teancum (Alma 52:26);
• Lamanites pursue Teancum all the way to nearly the city of Bountiful (Alma 52:27);
• Lehi, who had been left to guard the city of Moroni, intercepted the Lamanite army pursuing Teancum (Alma 52: 27-28);

• The Lamanites found themselves surrounded by three Nephite armies of Moroni, Lehi, and Teancum (Alma 52:31).

Mormon tells us that the city of Mulek is "far to the north" along "the east seashore," with a plain between it and the city of Bountiful 

In all of this, we see that the city of Mulek was along the Sea East, with a Plain (Alma 52:20) between Mulek and the city of Bountiful, which was to the west of Mulek. Now a “Plain” is defined as “a large area of flat land with few trees.” It could be a “grassland, prairie, flatland, lowland, pasture, meadowland, savanna, steppe, tableland, tundra pampass or veld.” In geography, a plain is “a flat, sweeping landmass that generally does not change much in elevation; plains occur as lowlands along the bottoms of valleys or on the doorsteps of mountains, as coastal plains and as plateaus or uplands." Note, that in all of this, it is not described as a desert as Potter claims.

While plains are described as nearly every type of flat, level ground, they are not described as a desert

In fact, according to Geoff C. Brown, et al, in Understanding the Earth (Cambridge University Press, 1992, p 93), plains are one of the major landforms on earth, where they are present on all continents, and would cover more than one-third of the world’s land area. Plains would generally be listed under the grassland (temperate or subtropical), steppe (semi-arid), savannah (tropical), or tundra (polar) biomes (Vivien Gornitz, Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments, Springer Nature International Publisher, Dordrecht, Netherlands, 2009, p 665). It is also important to know that plains are often connected with agriculture and planting—something that would never include a desert. In fact, plains in many areas are important for agriculture because where the soils were deposited as sediments and would be deep and fertile, while the flatness facilitates mechanization of crop production; or because they support grasslands which provide good grazing for livestock. Either way, the idea of a desert would simply not fit the description of a Plain.
    The point is, that choosing Tambo Viejo as the city of Mulek is neither consistent with the scriptural record and descriptions Mormon gives us, nor the reasonable understanding of the events surrounding the city of Mulek.