Alma described several building techniques that the Nephites used in defending their country, climaxing his discussion with: “And 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” (Alma 48:8).
Alma makes it clear that stone was used extensively to build defensive walls of stone around”
1. The encamped army units;
2. The cities;
3. Along the borders of the lands.’
It would appear from this that Moroni and the Nephites considered stone their building material of choice. They also used wood to build their houses since such buildings, even if out of stone, required wood for steps, stairways, roof and ceiling beams, window and door frames, as well as the door, and in some cases the floor; however, because of the time involved and lack of tools for shaping and trimming, wood was limited for the most part to timbers, i.e., the round natural tree stem, often seen in the ceiling and roof beams—often covered with thin stone. Wood is sometimes used in lintels, especially where larger stones are not available, or are beyond the ability of the work to lift into place.
Where studs were cut and used, stone was often used over it. Wood was also useful when burned and the ashes used to increase the workability and resistance of stone. It should also be kept in mind that wood houses in earthquake country have a tendency for destruction, whereas stone walls, especially layered like Sacsayhuman, have a great ability to withstand earthquakes. In fact, the larger the stones, the better, and stone with wood reinforcing was very common anciently in seismic-prone areas.
In addition, larger stones work better in such construction than small ones, and where such stone is available, like in a quarry, larger stones are far more desirable. In addition, larger stone is used within the structure as bearing walls, while lesser stones along with wood framing are used in non-bearing walls. Of course, even in stone houses, the upper floors are often built with wood walls laced with stone fill, in order for the lower stone walls to carry the weight.
The point is, when it speaks of building with wood in the scriptural record, it should be understood that this wood was used along with stone. In fact, when the Nephites moved into the Land Northward and found there was no timber in the land (Helaman 3:5) they learned to make cement.
Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary defines cement as: “Any glutinous (sticky) or other substance capable of uniting bodies in close cohesion, as mortar, glue, solder, etc. In building, cement denotes a stronger kind of mortar than that which is ordinarily used.”
Today, Hebrew linguists say cement means: “Any substance used for making bodies adhere to each other, any mortar, glue, etc.”
The Bible uses the word cement only once, and according to Hebrew linguists, the word cement is really “mortar,” a word found 16 ties in the Bible, such as: Cement which is also implied by the use of other words, such as “lute,” which is defined as “a cement of clay or other tenacious infusible substance for sealing joints in apparatus or the mouth of vessels or tubes, or for coating the bodies of retorts when exposed to heat.”
As stated: “To overlay or coat with cement; a type of calcined mixture of clay and lime for making mortar which will harden.”
Obviously the cement of the Bible and Book of Mormon, as mortar, was not freestanding any more than it is today. When it dries, it is a coating for some other object, such as wood or rock. Consequently, the use of “cement” in the Land Northward was spread over rock (since there was no timber in the land) until it dried and hardened—however, it was not free-standing, and alone was of little value in any type of construction and would have required framing before-hand to support the cement as a coating (mortar). Usually this is wood, but since there was no timber in the land, the Nephites would have used rock for fill or stone.
Thus when Moroni took over as chief captain and general of the Nephite armies, he “altered the management of affairs among the Nephites, insomuch that the Lamanites were disappointed in their places of retreat and they could not come upon them” (Alma 49:11). In this, Moroni was a military genius, equipping his soldiers with armor padding to protect them from battle and strengthening the Nephite forts and cities throughout the land. Here we find that Moroni “built walls of stone to encircle them about, round about their cities and the borders of their lands…all round about the land” (Alma 48:8).
The use of stone was common among the Nephites, they were well aware of how to use it for construction, as it is clearly shown in their building walls of stone around their cities and around their land. Such an endeavor would have required Moroni to know how to use stone in building, and men knowledgeable in setting stone for the strength needed for such defensive walls.
In fact, Moroni was such a great man, that Mormon paid him the greatest tribute when he said of Moroni: “If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men” (Alma 48:17), and named his own son after the military genius.
Moroni knew and understood the importance of building both permanent and temporary structures, for when he needed to protect his army for a brief time or a single battle, he cast up mounds of dirt around his men (Alma 48:8), but when he was fortifying the cities and the land, he built with stone for a more permanent defense.
There are numerous walls throughout Peru that have been built around cities and around the land. One of the cities where a great wall was built that ringed the entire city complex of more than 400 buildings, is found in Kuélap in the north of the Land Southward, with a 2000-feet long and 360-feet wide, and 62-feet high stone wall.
Another high wall is one built around Wat’a (Huánuco), an ancient city of Cusco dating back to about 1000 BC, in the little community of Bella Flores north of Singa. Wat'a, which is situated at a height of about 12,759 feet on top of a mountain which is bordered by the little rivers of Tawlli (Taulli) and Aqu (Aco).
When the Lamanites were threatening to overrun the entire Land Southward and were pushing the Nephites back toward the north countries, Moronihah, Moroni’s son who was in charge of the armies, built a wall across the land, beginning at the Sea West, near the Santa River and moving inland. “And there they did fortify against the Lamanites, from the west sea, even unto the east; it being a day's journey for a Nephite, on the line which they had fortified and stationed their armies to defend their north country” (Helaman 4:7). This wall, not discovered until 1932 by Shippee and Johnson in their aerial photography flight over Peru, was 12 to 15 feet thick and as high as 20 feet, and dates to the Chavin period around 200 B.C.
Evidently, this wall is part of the defense that Moronihah built that helped stop the northward movement of the Lamanites. As Mormon wrote: “Moronihah did succeed with his armies in obtaining many parts of the land; yea, they regained many cities which had fallen into the hands of the Lamanites” (Helaman 4:9).
In addition: “Moroni had fortified, or had built forts of security, for every city in all the land round about” (Alma 49:13), and “He also placed armies on the south, in the borders of their possessions, and caused them to erect fortifications that they might secure their armies and their people from the hands of their enemies…fortifying the line between the Nephites and the Lamanites” (Alma 50:10).
Also in addition, the Land of Promise was ringed with forts and fortresses meant to ensure the safety of the Nephites. In Alma five references are made about forts, and their places of security. As an example, Mormon wrote: “Yea, he had been strengthening the armies of the Nephites, and erecting small forts, or places of resort (Alma 48:8); and “thus were the Nephites prepared to destroy all such as should attempt to climb up to enter the fort by any other way, by casting over stones and arrows at them” (Alma 49:19). The practice of erecting small forts, or outposts, is also mentioned (Alma 48:13). In the Amazonia of Peru, an ancient city was recently discovered by explorers that had “high walls” made of perfectly cut stone, thought to be the ancient city of Paititi.
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