Who Carved King Coriantumr?
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Fromthe president 'And it meaneththat the time cometh that afier all the ltouseof Israel hauebeen scatteredand confounded,that the Lord God will raiseup a rntghty nation amnng the Gentiles,!ea, eaenapnn theface of 4@ ftnoddthis knd; And by tltem shall our seedbe a scattered.And afier our seedis scattered, the Lord God will proceedto do a rnar- uelousworh ttmong the Gentiles,whiclt The Book of Mormon Foundation PublishedQuarterly shall be of great worth untl our seed;' Number 106 December 2002 (I Nephi 7:15-17) I t is with thankful heartsthat we I approachthe end of tiis year.'We Mysteriesof the Bookof Ether,Part One I are reminded of the great blessings bestowedupon us.'Wehave been born in a free land and raisedup as a mighty WhoCarved nation, where the Lord will complete his great and marvelouswork for the latter days.This country is mighry not the Stoneof becauseof military power or financid prosperiry but rather for being estab- lishedas one nation under God. \7e KingCoriantumr? area Christian nation with divine pur- by Wrneil Simmons pose,reserved by God for the restora- tion of the firllnessof the gospel,the he Book of Mormon presents ancestrallands and discoveredMulek's endowment,the building up of the the seriousstudent with an descendantsin the land of Zarahemla. New Jerusalem,the gatheringof the intriguing historicalpuzzle. A The rwo peoplesunited, and Mosiah House of Israel,and all the other pro- stone is brought to King Mosiah becamethe reigning monarch in the phetic fulfillments that haveinspired carved in an unknown tongue. Mosi- capital ciry, Zarahemla. the saintsfor generations.This should ah, by the "gift and power" of God, Lehis son Nephi had kept careful his- strengthenour faith, aswe become readsthe writing and discoversit hon- torical records,and this was continued more awareof the freedomsand privi- ors King Coriantumr, the last ruler of by his successors.Mosiah took these legeswhich allow us to celebratethe a destroyedpeople. national recordswith him and found birth and coming of JesusChrist, our The puzzle to be solved is who Mulek's people without recordsof their Savior,openly and withouc fear.It is carved the stone, *hy was it carved, past. Their king, Zarahemla, gave his our hope that we will soon understand and why was it written in an unknown lineagefrom memory as a descendantof our identity more fully and become more activelyengaged in this later day language?To solve the puzzle,one Mulek (Mosiah 12:14-21). 'We needsto understand some of the histo- The long history of the Nephite- work. at The Book of Mormon ry of The Book of Mormon. Lamanite nation, as recordedover the Foundation hope and trust that the Lcrd will be in your thoughts this The book is a religious and military centuries,was abridged by Mormon, Jesus'We history of some of the people who prophet-leaderof the Nephites, in the season. firmly believeThe Book of lived in Central America before the fourth century A.D. It was his sad role Mormon is a latter day wimessto dre arrival of the European explorers.The to record the downfall and utter de- divinity ofJesusChrist our Savior and history, which coversa thousand years, struction of his nation at the hands of pray that the blessingsof God will be beginsat 600 B.C. with the family of its enemies,the Lamanites.He gave yours during the holidap. t Lehi leavingJerusalem early in the the abridgment to his son, Moroni, reign of Zedekiah, Judah'slast king. who wrote the final chaptersin A.D. Look insidefor: Within the samedecade, another 400. He included a summary of Jared- Testimony of Merva Bird . ..page 3 group fled the ciry taking with them a ite history taken from the 24 gold Congregational young son of the king, known as platesas translatedby Mosiah II and Book of Mormon Days .. .page 3 Mulek. called it the book of Ether. Audio tapes available . .Page4 Dissensiondivided Lehis descen- The Jareditecolony left Asia from Winter/spring classes. .page 5 dants, eventuallycreating rwo seperate the Great Tower, crossedthe Pacific, Alma's geography lesson . .page 6 nations known as Nephites and Lam- and arrived in America many centuries Book of Mormon anites.At about 200 8.C., someof the before the people from Jerusalem. chainreferences ... ....page 7 Nephites, led by Mosiah, left their Continued on page 2 Continuedfrom page I led to their discovery?Certainly Mor- Zarahemla(Mosiah 9:168). This gives oni knew at this time that he was re- us one more clue. The city they found Th.y brought a record with them and peating the role of Ether in the matter had to be on a large river, sincethey kept national records,according to the of hiding the Nephite recordsfor well knew that Zarahemlawas built kingJine. They, too, fell into evil somefuture time. Did he learn some- on dre Sidon river. ways, and their civilization was thing from Ether'saccount that proved Archaeologismhave given the name destroyedby war. usefulwhen he hid his fathert Olmec to the earliestcivilization - In the last daysof the Jaredites, abridgementin an unusualstone box found in Mexico the Jareditesof fought Shiz for the in a country far from his homeland? The Book of Mormon. The largest Kirg Coriantumr 'We throne. The country was in chaos,at may not know how and where Olmec ruin, built on a river near the the mercy of guerrilla bandits,with no Ether hid his record, but we do know narrow neck of land which divided the central governmentin control (Ether how and where it was found, nearly a Jarediteterritory from their Nephite 6:105-108). As their prophet,Ether neighbors,is known as San l,orenzo. had warned the people they must \7e find the fulfillment of Ethert repent or they would be destroyed,but prophecyconcerning the death of he had been forced into hiding to save Coriantumr in the book of Omni. his life. It was then he beganto Amaleki, the last writer on the small engravethe nationt history on metal platesof Nephi, was born in the days plates. of the first Mosiah, king in the land of During his secondyear in hiding, Zarahemla.Amaleki writes an account the lord sent him to the king with a of a carvedstone brought to Mosiah message.If Coriantumr and all his for uanslation. It had to come from a householdwould repent, the Lord Mulekite settlement,possibly far from would give him the kingdom and the city of Zarahemla.The local peo- sparethe people.If not, all his house- ple could not readit, but neifier hold would perish,with the exception could Mosiah.He translatedit by the of the king, and the peoplewould be "gift and power of God," a term used destroyed.The king had grown sons, for the Interpretersor Urim and but none would surviveto restorethe Thummim (Mosiah5:72-82; 12:16- dynasry.Coriantumr would live to see 26).The engravingson the stoneiden- another people inherit his kingdom, tified Coriantumr, who had lived with and he would be buried by them the peopleof Zarahemlafor nine (Ether 6:21-23). months. It gavehis genealory,e time- In spite of the prophett warning, line for his people,and information there was no repentance;not in the on the nation'sdestruction due to court, nor in the land, and so the bat- God'sjudgments. des continued. At long last, the death \Who carvedthe stone?Only Ether and destruction humbled Coriantumr knew thesefacts about Coriantumr's who, lamenting the deathsof nnromil- life and lineage,and only he could lion of his people,offered to give up havecarved it in the Jareditetongue, the kingdom to Shiz. It was too late; which no one in the land could read. Shiz had made a vow to havethe head His prophecywas fulfilled. The king of his enemy! centurylater (Mosiah5:60-71). was buried by thosesffangers who The final batde, which resultedin Limhi, a Nephite ruling over two were desdnedto inherit his kingdom. the death of Shiz and the collapseof small cities in Lamanite territory sent SurelyEther carvedthis memorial to Coriantumr, will be discussedin the a search perry to find Zarahemla and his king to mark his tomb! secondpart of this study.At the ask for help to free them from their \7'hen stone stelewere first found moment, we are concernedwith the Lamanite neighbors.These men lost among the ancient Mayan cities, the role of Ether.The Lord told him to their way and found insteadan aban- most famousarchaeologists of that "go forth" from his caveand seethat doned Jareditecity. It was large,filled time, Thompson and Morley, refused the words of the Lord had beenful- with buildings of all kinds and littered to believethat the unreadablecarved filled, so he could finish his record. with the bonesof people and animals, glyphr recordedpersonal histories. 'S7'hen Moroni wrote that Ether hid rusting swordsand large breastplates. However,recent progress in glyph the record "in a manner that the peo- The searchparty returned with such deciphermentestablishes without any ple of Limhi did find thent'' (Ether souvenirs,including the 24 plarcsof doubt drat thesestones are recordsof 6:108),we arefaced with e plzle. gold which they had found in the personalachievements. They give the \fhy did he not tell us what the "man- ruins. They reported to King Limhi king's narne,his parents,forefathers, ner" was that protectedthem, but also that they supposedthis was the city the datesand the great accomplish- THE \TITNESS. NUMBER 106. DECEMBER2OO2 mentsof his reign,and sometimesthe nameof his heir. One hasto wonder if Ether'sstone carving set a Paffern which survivedfor centuriesamong the descendantsof Mosiah'speople. How long did the prophet survive the death of Coriantumr? Moroni endshis abridgment of Ether'srecord with the prophet'slast words (Ether 6:109).