The Lineage History Continues ~ Searching for the People of Zeniff

Shortly after the Nephites left their homeland of Nephi and arrived in Zarahemla, a group of Nephites decided that they were strong and mighty enough to return to the Land of Nephi and reclaim it.  They were led by a man named Zeniff.  This was in the early days of the reign of King Mosiah I.  Nothing was heard of the Zeniffites during all of Mosiah's reign nor during the reign of his son, King Benjamin.  But during the reign of Benjamin's son, King Mosiah II, things changed.

Three years into Mosiah's reign, the leaders of the Nephites decided it was time to send a small group of faithful men out of the land of Zarahemla to look for the remnants of the Nephites who had followed Zeniff.  This group was led by a strong man by the name of Ammon.

Ammon and his group traveled back toward the Land of Nephi when they stumbled upon a group of people.  They were captured and bound and taken before the king of that group, a man named Limhi.  After this rough beginning, Limhi allowed Ammon to speak and found out that he and his group had come from Zarahemla looking specifically for them.  Limhi was overjoyed and had Ammon's bands removed and all of Limhi's people rejoiced.

Limhi was a descendent of Zeniff.  He and his people had been in bondage to the Lamanites since the time of their first arrival.  They were given the City of Nephi and the land of Shilom* as a place for them to live, but at an horrendous cost.  By the time Limhi was king, the Nephites were required to pay a tribute of 50% of their increase to the Lamanite king! 

On their own, the people of Limhi were not strong enough to escape their captors and return to Zarahemla.  However, they had kept detailed records of their doings all those years.  Limhi brought the records to Ammon so that he might read them.  Remember when I said that the Book of Mormon is a complex story?  This week we will be talking about what those records revealed about a rebellious people.

*Where was Shilom?

If you look almost dead center on this map of pre-classic Mayan sites, you will see Kaminaljuyu, the City of Nephi.  Traveling south and slightly westward, you will see the site of Frutal near the smaller of two lakes.  This is the site that some LDS scholars, including Sorensen, believe to be the Land of Shilom.  Sorensen writes:

The land of Shilom, the lower level of the Valley, would have lain between the curving Rio Villalobos and the north side of Lake Amatitlan.  San Antonio Frutal, second largest site in the Valley, sits in this flatish zone, near 4,300 feet elevation [Kaminaljuyu is between 4,800 and 5,500 feet] . . . It occupies a position in relation to the city of Nephi, about seven or eight miles away, which neatly fits the Book of Mormon statements involving the two. (p 168) 

Many of the ruins at this site date to the late pre-Classic period, which would coincide with this time in Book of Mormon history.  Coincidence?  Maybe; but it is the right time and in the right place.  Perhaps it is not a coincidence after all.

Text copyright July 2013, Gebara Education

 

Pictures:

King Mosiah from www.bookofmormonbattles.com

Frutal, possible site of Shilom from www.wn.com

Map of pre-classic Mayan sites in Guatemala from www.latinamericanstudies.org