The Book of Mormon speaks of a land called Cumorah,
where the Nephites were destroyed in a final battle about AD 385.
There, the prophet Mormon deposited a collection
of Nephite records into a hill that he called Cumorah
and that the Jaredites much earlier
had called Ramah.
Then Mormon gave his record and compilation
to his son Moroni,
together with a few other small sets of plates.
Moroni finished his father’s record
and wandered with these sacred treasures for 36 years,
staying away from his enemies and fearing for his life.
He eventually buried the plates of Mormon
in a hill in New York,
where he revealed them to Joseph Smith in 1823.
For several reasons that are found within
the Book of Mormon itself, many readers see
this hill as being in a much different location
than the hill of the final Nephite and Jaredite
battles.
Beginning in the mid-1830s, early Latter-day
Saints started calling the place where the
plates had been deposited and found the “Hill
Cumorah”.
The earliest such historical uses of that
name come from accounts of William W. Phelps
and Oliver Cowdery.
Due likely to the popularity and influence
of those leaders, as well as to the lack of
scrutiny given immediately to the newly-published
Book of Mormon, the name “Hill Cumorah”
soon became a convenient commonplace name
among the Saints.
However, existing historical documents indicate
that Joseph Smith himself only used the name
once towards the end of his life.
He left that hill unnamed in all his earlier
accounts of the recovery of the plates.
It remains unknown whether the Prophet near
the end of his life came to use the name “Cumorah”
by revelation or by conveniently accepting
a common usage circulating among early Church
members.
While other accounts indicate that the Angel
Moroni called the hill in New York “Cumorah”
during the 1820s, those uses are found in
later recollections or second-hand statements,
and therefore can and should be viewed cautiously.
The same applies to accounts that describe
a large cave in the New York hill as containing
ancient records and artifacts.
These accounts are based primarily on hearsay.
In some such descriptions, it is unclear if
this cave was a local place or a cave seen
in vision at some uncertain location.
In general, late, second or third-hand accounts
can be unreliable due to the amount of time
that has passed between the event and the
report and how often details change from one
source to another as they are retold.
Likewise, widespread beliefs or cultural assumptions
may influence later recollections, thus compromising
the reliability of such accounts.
As a result, a number of Latter-day Saint
scholars have pointed out that the New York
hill doesn’t match very well the description
in the Book of Mormon, such as it being prominently
located in the land Northward, north of a
narrow neck, and close to a sea.
The lack of archaeological evidence for massive
battles at the New York hill seems to confirm
the idea that the hill where Moroni deposited
the final record was located in a different
area than were the Cumorah battlegrounds.
Meanwhile, the Church itself has no official
position on this matter.
Almost a century ago, Apostle John A. Widtsoe,
after discussing the controversy surrounding
the location of Hill Cumorah, explained that,
“As far as can be learned, Joseph Smith,
translator of the book, did not say where,
on the American continent, Book of Mormon
activities occurred.”
It is left to all readers to ask questions
and remain open to uncertainties and possibilities
about the Book of Mormon’s geographical
and historical settings.
While it is interesting and important to collect
and use the best information and tools available
in reconstructing the Book of Mormon’s geographical
setting, it is more important not to lose
focus on the book’s own self-declared purpose
to be a divine witness of Jesus Christ and
the eternal truths of His Gospel.
And now you know why.
