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The Hill Cumorah
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
Contents
Question
"While trying to finish the Book of Mormon by year end, I read Mormon chapter 6, which describes the last great battle at the hill of Cumorah. Assuming the chapter is pretty much a literal description of what happened — approximately 100 thousand were killed by swords and axes — why hasn't any evidence of the battle been found at the site the Church identifies as hill Cumorah in western New York state?"
Answer
There are a couple of incorrect assumptions in this question.
Where is the hill Cumorah?
First, it is not the case that the Church authoritatively identifies the drumlin in western New York as the same Hill Cumorah mentioned in the text of the Book of Mormon. The Church has consistently made it clear that it does not endorse any particular view of Book of Mormon geography.
While we call the drumlin in New York "Hill Cumorah" based on a usage initiated early in Church history (probably by Oliver Cowdery or W. W. Phelps), that does not necessarily make the two hills the same. Most LDS scholars do not think they are the same, because the New York drumlin does not meet the textual requirements for the geographic placement of the hill in relation to the narrow neck of land.
Also note that the Book of Mormon does not state that the plates of Mormon were buried in the Cumorah; in fact, it says exactly the opposite:
- "And it came to pass that when we had gathered in all our people in one to the land of Cumorah, behold I, Mormon...made this record [the plates of Mormon] out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in the hill Cumorah all the records which had been entrusted to me by the hand of the Lord, save [except] it were these few plates which I gave unto my son Moroni." (Mormon 6:6)
This took place in approximately A.D. 385. Moroni did not bury the plates of Mormon until A.D.421. During this 36-year period Moroni explained:
- "[The Lamanites] put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ. And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life." (Moroni 1:3)
During that 36-year wandering to escape the Lamanites, it seems likely that he would have traveled a great distance, eventually coming to modern New York state where he buried the plates.
Large population counts in the scriptures
A second questionable premise is that the numbers recited in the text should be understood as accurate in the same sense we would understand those numbers today. Ancient militaristic texts, including those of the Bible, frequently exaggerated the numbers involved in battle for their own propagandistic purposes. Very large numbers in the scriptures should always be taken with a grain of salt.
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
- FAIR Topical Guide: Book of Mormon Geography
Printed material
- John Clark, "Archaeology and Cumorah Questions," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 13/1 (2004), pp. 144–51.