Zarahemla

According to the beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or "Mormons", Zarahemla (/zær.əˈhɛm.lə/) refers to a large city in the ancient Americas which is described in the Book of Mormon. It also is used to refer to a large political division, and a minor character in the book. The Book of Mormon is revered by members of various Latter Day Saint churches as sacred scripture. Non-Mormon archaeologists and historians have not been able to archaeologically verify a location for the city. (See Archaeology and the Book of Mormon for more detail about the archaeological debate between Mormons and mainstream archaeologists).

Mormon studies

Some Mormons speculate that the name “Zarahemla” is a compound Biblical Hebrew name זֶרַע חֶמְלָה Zéraʻ Ḥemlah meaning "seed of compassion". Others interpret the name differently.

Narrative

According to the Book of Mormon, the Nephite Mosiah and his followers “discovered that the people of Zarahemla came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon” (about 587 B.C.) The Book of Mormon relates that the surviving seed of Zedekiah “journeyed in the wilderness, and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters” to the Western Hemisphere. The book of Omni in the Book of Mormon tells how Zarahemla and his people came to settle the land of Zarahemla in the New World. Mosiah and his refugee people presumably united with the people of Zarahemla sometime between 279 and 130 B.C. “Mosiah was appointed to be their king.” Mosiah thereafter presided in the land of Zarahemla over a people called collectively “the Nephites”. The Land of Zarahemla was the Nephite capital for many years.

List of Book of Mormon people

This list is intended as a quick reference for individuals mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

Notation

Names with superscripts (e.g., Nephi¹) are numbered according to the index in the LDS scripture, the Book of Mormon. Missing indices indicate people in the index who are not in the Book of Mormon; for instance, Aaron¹ is the biblical Aaron, brother of Moses.

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