An Archaeological Perspective on the Book of Mormon - Melek

After Alma left Gideon, he returned to Zarahemla, for awhile.  He went to the City of Melek.  It was considerably farther from Zarahemla than was Gideon.  He traveled to the north and west to a city not far from what the Book of Mormon writers call the western wilderness. 

Here is what Sorensen says about Melek: On the western edge of the central depression of Chiapas, one major settlement area stands out.  Called the Frailesca, its name came from the fact that the friars of the Dominican religious order of the Catholic Church controlled this productive territory in Spanish colonial days.  Near Villa Flores, the heart of the area, is an impressive ruined site now labeled Vera Cruz II.*  It is the largest settlement in the whole western zone that dates to [the time when Alma made his journey.]  A primary route directly linked Santa Rosa/Zarahemla with Frailesca/Melek. (p 198)

There is a mountain range running parallel with the sea called the Sierra Madre Occidental.  There is a small stretch of land to the west of the Sierra Madre and east of the Pacific Ocean.  On the map above, you can see the large valley in central Mexico (indicated in brown.)  This corresponds to the area known in the Book of Mormon as the Land of Zarahemla.  The path of Alma's missionary journey would have been along the east side of the Sierra Madre Occidental.

Alma's mission to the people of Melek was successful.  In the eighth chapter of Alma, we read how the people gathered from all the area around Melek to listen to the prophet and to be baptized.  That was not to be the case in the city he next visited and which we shall visit tomorrow.

* Not to be confused with the modern city of Vera Cruz in Eastern Mexico on the Gulf of Mexico

Text copyright August 2013, Gebara Education

Quote from An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon by John L. Sorensen

 

Pictures

Ruin at Vera Cruz II from www.dreamstime.com

Multiple buildings at Vera Cruz II from www.mexico-aholic.com

Map from www.mapasdemexico.org