Sidon East then West

An interesting textual shift occurs at Alma 50:11, a passage describing events in the Nephite golden age ca. 72 - 71 B.C. Alma 50:23. Captain Moroni's ingenious fortifications worked so well at Noah (1,000+ Lamanites killed in action, 0 Nephites slain Alma 49:23) that the Nephites were busy erecting similar moats, walls & palisades around all of their settlements Alma 50:1. Nephite military forces cleared Lamanites from the east wilderness and drove them south of the east-west line that separated the greater land of Zarahemla on the north from the greater land of Nephi on the south Alma 50:7. Nephite settlers were brought in from the heavily populated local land of Zarahemla and environs to occupy the newly vacated eastern lands Alma 50:9. With the founding of the city of Moroni ca. 72 B.C. Alma 50:13 in the extreme south eastern corner of the greater land of Zarahemla, the process of colonizing the east coast that was well underway ca. 77 B.C. in the land of Jershon Alma 27:22 was nearing completion. Up to this point in the text, all of the action in the greater land of Zarahemla had been in the central riverine corridor and points east (all references to the west sea were in the lands of Bountiful and Desolation). Alma 50:11 marks an important turning point when the west began its ascendancy in Nephite affairs.

The word series "north, south, east, west" was formulaic among the Nephites to mean omni directional 2 Nephi 29:11, Mosiah 27:6, Helaman 1:31. The terms "east" and "west" as a duo are coupled 13 times in the text. The order is always east to west from Alma 22:27 through Alma 50:11. Then from Alma 50:34 to 3 Nephi 1:17 the order reverses and is always expressed west to east. To wit:
Alma 22:27        ca. 90 B.C.  sea on the east and on the west
Alma 22:27        ca. 90 B.C.  sea east even to the sea west
Alma 22:27        ca. 90 B.C.  from the east towards the west
Alma 22:29        ca. 90 B.C.  from the east to the west
Alma 22:32        ca. 90 B.C.  from the east to the west sea
Alma 22:33        ca. 90 B.C.  from the east unto the west sea
Alma 50:8          ca. 72 B.C.  from the east sea to the west
Alma 50:11        ca. 72 B.C.  in the east wilderness, yea, and also on the west
-- Textual turning point --
Alma 50:34        ca. 68 B.C.  on the west and on the east
Helaman 3:8       ca. 46 B.C.  from the sea west to the sea east
Helaman 4:7       ca. 35 B.C.  from the west sea, even unto the east
Helaman  11:20  ca. 16 B.C.  from the sea west to the sea east
3 Nephi 1:17       ca. A.D. 1    from the west to the east

What is going on here? The text is telling us that in the ca. 72 B.C. time frame, the Nephite nation, having settled lands from the river all the way to the east coast, changed its focus from an eastward orientation to a westward outlook as the land northward assumed a much greater role in Nephite affairs. We are seeing the first manifestation of a 1) Sidon 2) east then 3) west pattern.

This semantic shift is even more impressive when you realize that 5 of the 13 east, west couplets are describing features that are probably clustered within 30 kilometers of each other in the area along the west coast where the Sierra Madre reaches almost to the Pacific. Click to enlarge.

Cluster of proposed Nephite geographic referents along the west coast
near the modern boundary between Oaxaca and Chiapas 

The textual transition is clear when we analyze the east west narrow strip of wilderness and the line separating the Nephites in the greater land of Zarahemla on the north from the Lamanites in the greater land of Nephi on the south. In this map, the narrow strip of wilderness is shown in green and the Nephite Lamanite line along its northern (uphill) edge in red.

Narrow strip of wilderness (green) ran from the east sea to
the west sea with the head of Sidon roughly at its midpoint

Alma 22:27 first says that the northern boundary of the greater land of Nephi ran from the sea on the east to the sea on the west. It then says that the narrow strip of wilderness separating Nephites on the north from Lamanites on the south ran from the sea east to the sea west. Finally, it says that the narrow strip of wilderness ran from the east towards the west, passing by the head of the river Sidon with wilderness areas to its north. Alma 50:8 continues this same theme, adding that the eastern portion of the northern boundary of the greater land of Nephi was more rectilinear than curvilenear. In our correlation, this eastern portion of the boundary generally followed the Polochic/Dulce, roughly parallel to the Motagua.

Eastern portion of the narrow strip of wilderness running
in a straight course from the east sea to the west

In Alma 50:11, though, this eastward primacy suddenly changes. We learn that by ca. 72 B.C.:

• Nephite military forces for the first time drove Lamanites out of the wilderness west of the central Sidon corridor
• The Nephites began fortifying the east west dividing line - the northern part of the narrow strip of wilderness that separated the Nephites on the north from the Lamanites on the south
• for the first time, the narrow strip of wilderness was characterized as running from the west sea eastward to the head of Sidon rather than from the east sea westward
• the Nephites for the first time had now begun to inhabit not only the land Bountiful but also the land northward beyond Bountiful. Alma 46:17 ca. 73 B.C. confirms that the Nephites by this time had settled the land Bountiful. 

Going back 18 years to ca. 90 B.C., the text paints quite a different picture:

• While the greater land of Nephi extended westward to the west sea, the greater land of Zarahemla did not. The west wilderness, full of idle Lamanites living in tents, was explicitly west of the greater land of Zarahemla Alma 22:28. The land of Melek was in the central Sidon corridor west of the river with nothing but wilderness west of Melek Alma 8:3.
• While the Lamanites in the west wilderness were exploiting a Nephite settlement vacuum, the Lamanites in the east wilderness had been explicitly driven there by the Nephites' eastward expansion Alma 22:29.
• With the exception of their defensive garrison on the west coast Alma 22:33 the Nephites had not yet inhabited the land Bountiful Alma 22:29.  

These verses make the situation clear: by ca. 90 B.C. the Nephites in the greater land of Zarahemla had settled multiple lands along the central Sidon corridor including the land of Manti in the extreme south just north of the head of Sidon. They had established a defensive outpost in the land Bountiful along the west coast. And, they had begun expanding eastward, driving the Lamanites before them. The settlement of Jershon ca. 77 B.C. was a major milestone in this eastward movement. By ca. 72 B.C. the Nephites had expelled the Lamanites from the entire east wilderness area and were themselves establishing settlements along the east coast from the city of Bountiful on the north to the city of Moroni on the south. Having largely filled in their eastern lands, the Nephites ca. 72 B.C. began to finally turn their attention westward, driving the Lamanites out of the west wilderness and fortifying the east west narrow strip of wilderness line that separated the greater land of Zarahemla on the north from the greater land of Nephi on the south.

In the greater land of Zarahemla, the Nephites settled:

1. first, the river Sidon corridor beginning ca. 200 B.C.
2. second, the east with settlement well underway by ca. 90 B.C. The second wave of eastern expansion near the east sea was going strong with the establishment of the land of Jershon by ca. 77 B.C. By ca. 72 - 67 B.C. there were many cities up and down the east coast.
3. third, the west, beginning ca. 72 B.C.

These conclusions come from analyses of two data sources: 1) the list of geographic referents organized by date of first mention in the text (as a surrogate for polity founding date) published in the blog article "Expansion of the Nephite Nation", and 2) a list of all occurrences of the words "Sidon," "east," and "west" organized by contextual date of the passage in which they appear. This second list is available as an Excel spreadsheet here. To download, click first on "File" and then on "Download."

This map shows the first Nephite settlements in the river Sidon corridor, a single defensive outpost in the land Bountiful beside the west sea, and the beginnings of eastward expansion along the San Pedro river as per point #1 above.

Nephite lands (in white) ca. 90 B.C. either
explicitly attested or inferred in the text

This map adds those lands included in the eastward expansion of the Nephite nation as per point #2 above. The black circles represent areas (Piedras Negras on the north, Altar de Sacrificios/Dos Pilas on the south) unlikely to have ever been under Nephite control at any time.

Nephite lands (in white) ca. 67 B.C.
explicitly attested in the text

This map adds those lands mentioned in the text as part of the westward expansion of the Nephite nation as per point #3 above.

Nephite lands (in white) ca. 66 B.C. attested in the text

We can corroborate the Nephite settlement pattern outlined above by plotting the long string of Lamanite invasions and other military actions in and near the greater land of Zarahemla. These hostilities are organized in ascending chronological order from the time period ca. 200 B.C. when Mosiah₁ first entered the local land of Zarahemla through the time period ca. 31 B.C. when the Lamanites permanently occupied the south half of the greater land of Zarahemla. In the Book of Mormon Model dated August 21, 2012 or later, these 35 military actions are in the battles folder labelled Z1 through Z35, the "Z" designation meaning the greater land of Zarahemla.

1. King Benjamin, local land of Zarahemla & probably land of Minon, ca. 150 B.C. Omni 1:24, Words of Mormon 1:13-14
2. Amlicites, hill Amnihu in land of Gideon, ca. 87 B.C. Alma 2:15-19
3. Lamanites + Amlicites, local land of Zarahemla via land of Minon, ca. 87 B.C. Alma 2:27-28
4. Lamanites, land of Minon, ca. 87 B.C. Alma 3:20-23
5. Lamanites + Amulonites, land of Ammonihah, ca. 81 B.C. Alma 16:2, Alma 25:2
6. Lamanites + Amulonites, land of Noah, ca. 81 B.C. Alma 16:3
7. Captain Zoram & Sons, wilderness south of land of Manti & east of Sidon, ca. 81 B.C. Alma 16:7-8
8. Captain Zoram & Sons, wilderness south of land of Manti & east of Sidon, ca. 81 B.C. Alma 25:3
9. Lamanites, location not specified, ca. 78 B.C. Alma 16:12
10. Lamanites, east wilderness south of newly settled land of Jershon, ca. 77 B.C. Alma 28:1-3
11. Zerahemnah (Lamanites + Zoramites + Amlicites (critical text emendation for "Amalekites"), southern border of Jershon & northern border of Antionum, ca. 74 B.C. Alma 43:18
12. Zerahemnah, east of Sidon, south of land of Manti, ca. 74 B.C. Alma 43:36-38
13. Zerahemnah, west of Sidon, south of land of Manti, ca. 74 B.C. Alma 43:41
14. Amalickiah, wilderness south of the land of Manti, ca. 73 B.C. Alma 46:32
15. Lamanites + Zoramites, city of Ammonihah, ca. 72 B.C. Alma 49:11
16. Lamanites + Zoramites, city of Noah, ca. 72 B.C. Alma 49:21-23
17. Morianton, narrow pass near the west sea Bountiful/Desolation border, ca. 68 B.C. Alma 50:33-35
18. Amalickiah, cities of Moroni, Lehi, Morianton, Omner, Gid & Mulek along the east seacoast, ca. 67 B.C., Alma 51:22-26. Note: the term "Nephihah" in Alma 51:26 is a known error in the text. Royal Skousen's critical text correctly emends this word to read "Moroni."
19. Teancum, southern border of the land Bountiful near the east seacoast, ca. 67 B.C. Alma 51:28-31
20. Ammoron, cities of Manti, Zeezrom, Cumeni & Antiparah, ca. 66 B.C. Alma 56:13-14
21. Helaman & Antipus, west sea area north of Antiparah, ca. 65 B.C. Alma 56:49-54
22. Jacob, northwest of the city of Mulek near the east coast, ca. 64 B.C. Alma 52:31-36
23. Helaman & Gid, Cumeni on the south western border of the greater land of Zarahemla, ca. 63 B.C. Alma 57:17-22
24. Moroni, city of Gid on the east coast, ca. 63 B.C. Alma 55:20-23
25. Helaman, Gid & Teomner, city of Manti on the extreme southern border of the greater land of Zarahemla, ca. 63 B.C. Alma 58:27-29
26. Lamanites, city of Nephihah in the south eastern quarter of the greater land of Zarahemla, ca. 62 B.C. Alma 59:7-8
27. Moroni & Parhoran (critical text emendation of "Pahoran"), north of the city of Nephihah, ca. 61 B.C. Alma 62:14-15
28. Moroni & Parhoran, city of Nephihah, ca. 61 B.C. Alma 62:23-26
29. Moroni, Lehi & Teancum, city of Moroni, ca. 61 B.C. Alma 62:38
30. Moronihah, location not specified, ca. 53 B.C. Alma 63:15
31. Coriantumr, city of Zarahemla, ca. 51 B.C. Helaman 1:19-20
32. Moronihah & Lehi, north of the local land of Zarahemla, south of land Bountiful, ca. 51 B.C. Helaman 1:28-30
33. Lamanites, all of the greater land of Zarahemla, Nephites driven into land of Bountiful, ca. 34 B.C. Helaman 4:5-6
34. Moronihah, west sea to the east along a fortification line 1 day's journey in length, ca. 33 B.C. Helaman 4:7
35. Moronihah, northern half of the former Nephite homelands in the greater land of Zarahemla, ca. 31 B.C. Helaman 4:9-10

This map shows military actions 1 - 8 in and near the greater land of Zarahemla through ca. 81 B.C. Action 9, ca. 78 B.C. has no provenance in the text, so cannot be mapped. Note that all of these engagements are in the central Sidon corridor or slightly east of it as the Nephite settlement data predicts for this time period.

Military actions through ca. 78 B.C. Nephite victories
are shown as red icons, Lamanite victories as blue

This map adds military actions 10 - 19 with dates through ca. 67 B.C. Note that all of these hostilities are in the central Sidon corridor or the east, except for one area near the Bountiful/Desolation border on the west sea. Again, the hostilities map mirrors the Nephite settlement map for this time period.

Military actions through ca. 67 B.C. - central Sidon corridor,
points east, and a single defensive outpost by the west sea

This map adds military actions 20 - 32 with dates through ca. 51 B.C. when the Nephite nation had begun settling the west. Action 30 has no provenance in the text, so cannot be mapped.

Military actions through ca. 51 B.C. Nephite victories in red
Lamanite victories in blue

In ca. 34 B.C., the Lamanites conquered all of the greater land of Zarahemla, forcing the Nephites into the land Bountiful and beyond. The following year, the Nephites set up a fortified east west line along the west coast. This map represents military actions 33 & 34. The white overlays represent the greater lands of Nephi and Zarahemla, both under Lamanite control in ca. 33 B.C.

Military actions through ca. 33 B.C. when the Lamanites
had conquered the entire greater land of Zarahemla

In ca. 31 B.C., the Nephites under Captain Moronihah regained the northern half of their former territories. This map shows the reduced Lamanite possessions, again as a white overlay. Note how the proposed lands recaptured by Moronihah follow the San Pedro river, northern tributary of the Usumacinta. The lands that from ca. 31 B.C. on were permanent Lamanite territory follow the Pasion river, southern tributary of the Usumacinta.

Military actions through ca. 31 B.C. when the Nephites
had regained one half of their former territory

Summary: The Nephites settled the central Sidon corridor from Zarahemla on the north to Manti on the south early in their history. They established a defensive outpost at a key point on the west coast, then began to expand eastward, probably following tributaries of the Sidon. Every Nephite polity in the greater land of Zarahemla referenced in the text through ca. 67 B.C. was along the central Sidon corridor or in the east. The Nephite westward expansion began in ca. 72 B.C. with the first place names in the west appearing in the text 4 years later. The textual semantic, settlement and military action data all match this Sidon - east - then west pattern.