The Mulekite Homeland in the Land of Promise – Part V

Continued from the previous post regarding the Mulekite homeland, where they landed, where they settled, and who they were. A scriptural reference with four answers , two of which were in the earlier post, here with continue with the third and fourth reasons why the Mulekites did not know of the Jaredite people nor did they co-mingle with and intermarried with them:
• When the Nephites and the people of Zarahemla became anxious to have Ether’s 24-gold plates interpreted (Mosiah 28:12), it almost seems unbelievable that they would not have indicated, or that the writers of the record would not have written down any information about a so-called “co-mingling and intermarriage between the Mulekites and the Jaredites. This, despite the fact that the Nephite writers mentioned the Mulekites and their interaction with the Nephites, and an entire history of the Jaredites up to the time they were annihilated.

Were there previous inhabitants in the Land of Promise when Lehi arrived that are not mentioned in the scriptural record?

So why would Amaleki, an eye-witness to the first and subsequent contacts with the Mulekites, and subsequent prophet writers, such as Mosiah, who interpreted the entire Ether record, Alma, Helaman, or Mormon not mention that Jaredites lived among the Mulekites in the city of Zarahemla?
    Obviously, they are not mentioned because they did not live among the people of Zarahemla. Their silence on the subject, in light of the fact they mentioned other contacts, can only be taken as proof there was no cultural contact, no co-mingling, no intermarrying of the Jaredites with either the Mulekites or the Nephites.
• Perhaps the most significant event, though, is found in the story of Ammon, who was a direct descendant of Zarahemla (Mosiah 7:3, 13). When he encountered Limhi in the city of Lehi-Nephi, Limhi, a third-generation Nephite king whose grandfather (Zeniff) had lived in Zarahemla (Mosiah 7:9) was desirous that the 24-gold Jaredite plates his 43-man expedition found (Mosiah 8:7) be translated into his language for a very specific reason: “for, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of a remnant of the people who have been destroyed, from whence these records came; or, perhaps, they will give us a knowledge of this very people who have been destroyed; and I am desirous to know the cause of their destruction.” (Mosiah 8:12). This passage makes four specific points:
1). Limhi wondered if there was a larger group of people somewhere to the north of which a portion had been found dead by his expedition;
2). Even Limhi thought the bones found might have represented the entire people and that they were all destroyed;
3). Limhi, and obviously his people, knew nothing of the Jaredites;
4). Limhi knew nothing regarding the reason why the mass destruction had taken place.
    This seems very strange if the Nephites had been involved with the Jaredites for 300 to 450 years as claimed by some Mesoamerican Theorists. Certainly, if such a connection existed, Limhi would have had some understanding of what happened to the Jaredites. This was not some small battleground in some corner of the northern lands, but a war fought where several million had perished.

The lore, legends, and myths of early generations were told around the campfire and in other diverse places so that the stories would be preserved

Such events are always handed down in legends, if not written form, and anyone connected with the Jaredites would have had some knowledge, probably quite a bit, about their history and destruction. But Limhi, a Nephite, whose grandfather had lived in Zarahemla among the Mulekites, and supposedly among these very Jaredites as claimed, did not.
    Nor did Ammon, a Mulekite and direct descendant of Zarahemla (Mosiah 7:3, 13), who was a direct descendant of Mulek (Mosiah 25:2). Ammon might have been Zarahemla’s grandson or great grandson for Limhi’s grandfather, Zeniff, was a contemporary of Amaleki who knew Mosiah and king Benjamin, and whose brother went with Zeniff back into the Land of Nephi (Omni 1:27, 30). Obviously, if Ammon had been among Jaredites in Zarahemla, as these Theorists claim, why did he not at least have a sketchy knowledge of the Jaredite history when Limhi inquired about it? Instead, Ammon can only suggest that he knew a man who could interpret the gold plates (Mosiah 8:13-14). After Ammon recounts Mosiah’s abilities to interpret, Limhi rejoices exceedingly, saying: “Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates.” (Mosiah 8:19)—a mystery because he had never heard of any people, nation or civilization in that north country until his expedition found evidence of them!
    Another point to consider is that when the people of Zarahemla understood that the Nephites had brought the plates of brass, they were overjoyed (Omni 1:14). Why would the people of Zarahemla rejoice over Mosiah having the brass plates? Obviously, because they would now have a record of their ancestry, their religion, and all that had happened since to a chosen line of the house of Israel. This would hardly be of interest to any Jaredites. The Jaredite history would have been about 2,000 years old by then, they had their own history and record (Ether 8:9), and knew nothing of the Jews, or of the House of Israel—they knew of the Creation, of the patriarchs, of Noah, and their ancestors from him.

And, too, after Mosiah taught Zarahemla’s people the language of the Nephites (Omni 1:18) and the people of Zarahemla came to understand the birthright and promise given the Nephites, they united with Mosiah’s people (Omni 1:19) even though they considerably outnumbered the Nephites. Certainly the Jaredites, if indeed they existed in Zarahemla, would have objected to this since they had an earlier birthright to the land of promise. (Ether 1:43;2:9) Again, it seems obvious that only Hebrews, steeped in a knowledge of the Jews, would recognize and identify this birthright and understand the promise given to Lehi and, therefore, be willing to give up their individual identity as a people and thereafter become Nephites.
    Would a group of Jaredites have done this? What would have been their motivation? They would have outnumbered the Nephites and would have had no reason to understand, let alone accept, a religion based upon the developments over 2,000 years of which they knew nothing, that took religion from a Patriarchal system to a temple synagogue system.
    Lastly, the people of Zarahemla did know that another civilization of people had lived long before. Amaleki, again who would have been an eye witness within a few years of the events, writes: And they gave an account of one Coriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons. (Omni 1:21).
    Can anyone doubt that if other Jaredites had lived among the people of Zarahemla that Mosiah would not have been told of it? Why just the story of Coriantumr if other Jaredites were alive and well in Zarahemla? The fact that this story is mentioned, and only in the singular, should suggest to even the most novice reader of the record, that it was a singular event, and impressive enough by its unusual character, for a prophet or historian to record it. This is especially true when realizing once again that Amaleki was a contemporary of these events. Had there been other Jaredites living in Zarahemla (where Amaleki lived) he surely would have known and written about it.
    Can there be any doubt, then, that if the Jaredites were contemporaries with either the Mulekites or the Nephites that such a history, even in legend, would not have survived and been known? Consequently, if one is to insist that such an overlap of cultures existed, that such an exchange between Ammon and Limhi must have been extremely strange, for at least one, if not both, would have known something regarding the Jaredite nation if Jaredites lived among them or their immediate ancestors. But there is not a single word, clue, or suggestion in the entire Nephite record to warrant such a conclusion as made by these theorists.
    Hugh Nibley provides an unbelievable reason for this silence.
(See the next post, “The Mulekite Homeland in the Land of Promise – Part VI,” regarding the Mulekite homeland, where they landed, where they settled, and who they were, and Hugh Nibley’s rationale for why there is no mention of any others)