River Sidon War and Book of Mormon Blooper

[Shulem]

I await your masterstroke with baited breath, mon ami.

The Ace of Hearts is a dagger in the heart of the Mesoamerican model/theory.

All in due time.
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In the meantime

As a side note, it’s interesting to compare how Old World geography of an imagined river in NW Arabia foreshadows the story of the Sidon river in the promised land whereby a valley & river are part of the story:

1) Lehi left Jerusalem and travelled into the wilderness bordering the Red Sea to offer sacrifice

...in a  valley by the side of a river of water.

2) Captain Moroni left the land of Jershon and led his army to meet the Lamanites in battle

...in the valley which was near the bank of the river Sidon.

There may be a rare stream in NW Arabia but there are no rivers leading into the Red Sea as the text claims: “He called
the name of the river, Laman, and it emptied into the Red Sea; and the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof.” Only in the imagination of Joseph Smith and creative old maps in which he may have seen gave him license to romanticize Arabia in suiting his own fancy.

This map is no more accurate than the one described in the Book of Mormon which gives us the impression that Arabia had rivers:



For the record:

Saudi Arabia is a desert country with no permanent rivers or lakes and very little rainfall.

Yemen is so dry that it doesn’t have any permanently flowing rivers—only dry river valleys known as wadis.

There are no perennial rivers in Oman. A small number of wadis (shallow watercourses) are found in the Al Hajar Mountains and their foothills, however.

Of course, this does not bode well for Lehi’s river Laman or Bountiful for that matter!

[Shulem]

This thread has focused on a critical error made by Joseph Smith regarding the use of a number in designating an exact body count. But I give credit where credit is due and therefore would like to describe another battle that took place at a later date (13 years later) within the same region in which the Nephites were again forced to go to battle. I credit Joseph Smith for telling a fantastic story and keeping things in line with his geography in this particular battle.


PART I

4 For behold, it came to pass that the Zoramites became Lamanites; therefore, in the commencement of the eighteenth year the people of the Nephites saw that the Lamanites were coming upon them; therefore they made preparations for war; yea, they gathered together their armies in the land of Jershon.

5 And it came to pass that the Lamanites came with their thousands; and they came into the land of Antionum, which is the land of the Zoramites; and a man by the name of Zerahemnah was their leader

The Nephites under the direction of captain Moroni were based in Jershon and were apprised of the coming of the Lamanites and the sedition of the Zoramites who had joined them in an alliance or a “correspondence” (Alma 31:4). The Zoramites were based in Antionum “which was east of the land of Zarahemla, which lay nearly bordering upon the seashore, which was south of the land of Jershon” (Alma 31:3).

And so...

[Shulem]

PART II

18 And it came to pass that he (Moroni) met the Lamanites in the borders of Jershon, and his people were armed with swords, and with cimeters, and all manner of weapons of war.

19 And when the armies of the Lamanites saw that the people of Nephi, or that Moroni, had prepared his people with breastplates and with arm-shields, yea, and also shields to defend their heads, and also they were dressed with thick clothing—

So the war began close in proximity of neighboring Jershon at its southern border where the Lamanites approached. But the story informs us that the Lamanites were distressed about Nephite armor.

22 Behold, now it came to pass that they durst not come against the Nephites in the borders of Jershon; therefore they departed out of the land of Antionum into the wilderness, and took their journey round about in the wilderness, away by the head of the river Sidon, that they might come into the land of Manti and take possession of the land; for they did not suppose that the armies of Moroni would know whither they had gone.

<snip>

25 Now Moroni, leaving a part of his army in the land of Jershon, lest by any means a part of the Lamanites should come into that land and take possession of the city, took the remaining part of his army and marched over into the land of Manti.

26 And he caused that all the people in that quarter of the land should gather themselves together to battle against the Lamanites, to defend their lands and their country, their rights and their liberties; therefore they were prepared against the time of the coming of the Lamanites.

So, the Lamanites and Zoramites left Antionum and headed towards Manti by the head of the river Sidon and the land round about in thinking they could hide out from the Nephites. The term “round about” used in this instance is important regarding Delmarva geography but is not germane to this thread.

Captain Moroni took most of his army and left Jershon and marched over to the regions of Manti where the Lamanites were hiding. The Nephites prepared their people in that quarter of Manti in which they would battle the Lamanites.

Now the fun begins...

[Shulem]

PART III

27 And it came to pass that Moroni caused that his army should be secreted in the valley which was near the bank of the river Sidon, which was on the west of the river Sidon in the wilderness.

<snip>

31 Therefore, he divided his army and brought a part over into the valley, and concealed them on the east, and on the south of the hill Riplah;

32 And the remainder he concealed in the west valley, on the west of the river Sidon, and so down into the borders of the land Manti.

33 And thus having placed his army according to his desire, he was prepared to meet them.

Captain Moroni positioned his army east of river Sidon (runs north & south) in secret tactical locations in preparation to ambush the Lamanites who would come from the northeast quarter of Manti. The Nephite army was essentially “divided” into two units in which one would be stationed on the east of the river and the other on the west being secretly positioned in a valley close to the bank of the river.

The army on the east side of the river positioned themselves at hill Riplah being concealed on the south and east portions of the hill. So, the Nephites were positioned on both sides of the river but on the east they were concealed behind a hill awaiting the Lamanites to come from the north and then spring the trap as they attempt to cross the river. It was a brilliant set-up in which captain Moroni could move in and encircle the Lamanites by entrapping them on both sides of the river!

34 And it came to pass that the Lamanites came up on the north of the hill, where a part of the army of Moroni was concealed.

35 And as the Lamanites had passed the hill Riplah, and came into the valley, and began to cross the river Sidon, the army which was concealed on the south of the hill, which was led by a man whose name was Lehi, and he led his army forth and encircled the Lamanites about on the east in their rear.

36 And it came to pass that the Lamanites, when they saw the Nephites coming upon them in their rear, turned them about and began to contend with the army of Lehi.

So, as we see, the Lamanites did come from the north and passed the hill Riplah in order to cross the river at that point and enter the land of Zarahemla in hopes of conquering the Nephites. But they were met with disappointment because Moroni sprung his trap! Lehi and his men came out from hiding and before the Lamanites realized it they were surrounded because hill Amnihu was suddenly transformed into a mighty Nephite army and their only recourse was to turn and fight or flee to the river!

39 And it came to pass that the Lamanites became frightened, because of the great destruction among them, even until they began to flee towards the river Sidon.

40 And they were pursued by Lehi and his men; and they were driven by Lehi into the waters of Sidon, and they crossed the waters of Sidon. And Lehi retained his armies upon the bank of the river Sidon that they should not cross.

41 And it came to pass that Moroni and his army met the Lamanites in the valley, on the other side of the river Sidon, and began to fall upon them and to slay them.

42 And the Lamanites did flee again before them, towards the land of Manti; and they were met again by the armies of Moroni.

<snip>

51 Now, the Lamanites were more numerous, yea, by more than double the number of the Nephites; nevertheless, they were driven insomuch that they were gathered together in one body in the valley, upon the bank by the river Sidon.

52 Therefore the armies of Moroni encircled them about, yea, even on both sides of the river, for behold, on the east were the men of Lehi.

53 Therefore when Zerahemnah saw the men of Lehi on the east of the river Sidon, and the armies of Moroni on the west of the river Sidon, that they were encircled about by the Nephites, they were struck with terror.

Thus we see the Lamanites had their backs on both sides of the river having to face the Nephites with Moroni on one side and Lehi on the other -- the Lamanites were effectively hemmed in and were no match against the armored Nephite soldiers. The only recourse the Lamanites had was to flee northward to Manti but they were thwarted in doing so by Moroni on the west side of the river. It was checkmate! A brilliant move on the part of captain Moroni Joseph Smith’s storytelling while his face was buried in a hat.

Interestingly enough, we are informed in chapter 44 that the number of dead was so great that there was no body count for either side but the dead were conveniently cast into the river. We may safely assume that the brilliant author of this war story imagined those bodies quickly floating downstream on the Sidon current where as the text says, “they have gone forth and are buried in the depths of the sea.” (Alma 44:22)