Jaredites

According to the Book of Mormon, the Jaredites are the descendants of Jared, his brother, their immediate family, and their friends. (Joseph Smith later identified the brother of Jared as Mahonri Moriancumer.) At the time of the Tower of Babel, when the tongues of all nations were confounded, the Lord acceded to the desires of Jared, and his people's language was not confounded. The people were also granted a land of promise.

The Lord guided the people through the wilderness and were eventually directed to cross the sea in "barges". The vessels were sealed and watertight{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=2|verse=17}}{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=6|verse=7}} and able to be swamped by waves without sinking.{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=2|verse=24}} Air was obtained from outside the vessels, as needed.{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=2|verse=14}}{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=2|verse=20}} They also brought with them animals and food.{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=6|verse=4}} The recorded length of the miraculous trip was 344 days.{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=6|verse=11}} Among other things they carried in their voyage were honeybees, which, in the language of the Jaredites were called "deseret". Additionally, they brought seeds. {{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=2|verse=3}}

Ether is the last in the royal line that began with one of the sons of Jared. From the time of the first king to the destruction of the Jaredites, there were only occasional periods of peace and prosperity. The times of peace were interrupted by intrigue over the throne, civil war, and the accession of wicked kings. The history of the Jaredites confirmed the fears of Jared and his brother that a monarchy would lead to evil.{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Omni|chapter=6|verse=22|range=-23}}

The Book of Mormon claims that the Jaredites grew to become a civilization that exceeded two million people just before its destruction.{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=15|verse=2}} They finally destroyed themselves about the time Lehi and the other refugees from Jerusalem arrived in America. A prophecy of{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Ether|chapter=13|verse=20|range=-21}} Ether was fulfilled: the last Jaredite king, Coriantumr, lived to see both the total destruction of his entire house, the scattering of the remaining Jaredites, and the arrival of another people to inherit the land.{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Omni|chapter=1|verse=20|range=, 21}}

Outside the Book of Ether, the Book of Mormon relates that Coriantumr was found by the Mulekites. The Nephites later encountered the Mulekites and taught them the Nephite language. The Mulekites told them that Coriantumr had died some nine months after he had come to live with them. The Nephite prophet King Mosiah I was able to translate a large stone with engravings that gave an account of Coriantumr. Another record on twenty-four plates, discovered by the people of King Limhi, was translated by the Nephite King Mosiah II.{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon (1981)|book=Mosiah|chapter=28|verse=11|range=-17}} An abridged account of the Jaredite records was later included by Moroni, as the Book of Ether, in the Book of Mormon.

{{See also|Limited geography model}}

The ocean crossed is not specified in the Book of Mormon. Hugh Nibley's There were Jaredites and The World of the Jaredites argue for the Pacific Ocean, but Milton R. Hunter argues for the Atlantic Ocean.

The location of the Jaredite civilization is also not specified in the Book of Mormon except that it was north of a narrow neck of land in what was called the "Land Northward" by the Nephites. The New World location of the Jaredites and Nephites is a subject of disagreement among Mormons. Joseph Smith indicated that the Jaredites arrived in "the lake country of America"[http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n16.htm Times and Seasons], June 15, 1842, Vol. 3, No. 16, pp. 818-820 and that "the Nephites... lived about the narrow neck of land, which now embraces Central America, with all the cities that can be found."[http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n22.htm Times and Seasons], September 15, 1842, Vol. 3, No. 22, p. 915

{{fringe-section|date=June 2024}}

File:Olmeca_head_in_Villahermosa.jpg sculptures.]]

Some early Latter Day Saints, including Apostle Parley P. Pratt believed the Jaredites were descendants of Ham, based on the group's origins near the Tower of Babel, and initial migration into the Valley of Nimrod, an area associated with the descendants of Ham.Matthew Harris, Newell Bringhurst "The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History" University of Illinois Press 2015 e-book location 197 of 6260

Some Mormon{{Cite web|url=http://ancientamerica.org/library/media/HTML/1pz46v0v/11%20OF%20JAREDITES%20AND%20OLMECS.htm?n=0|title=OF JAREDITES AND OLMECS|author=Douglas K. Christensen|access-date=2016-03-11|archive-date=2013-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218213722/http://www.ancientamerica.org/library/media/HTML/1pz46v0v/11%20OF%20JAREDITES%20AND%20OLMECS.htm?n=0|url-status=dead}}{{Self-published inline|date=July 2021}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.bmaf.org/node/409|title=Jaredites and Olmec - the same? |website=Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum|author=Douglas K. Christensen}}{{Self-published inline|date=July 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.fairmormon.org/answers/Book_of_Mormon/Lamanites/Relationship_to_Amerindians/Maya_and_Olmec|title=Relationship of the Maya and the Olmec to the Lamanites and the Jaredites|website=Latter-day Saints FAIR (Faithful Answers Informed Response) wiki}} have argued for substantial parallels between the Jaredites and the Olmecs. For example, one scholar asserted that the writings of an ancient Native American historian, Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl, wrote about a group of people who came from the great tower to Mesoamerica. Ixtlilxochitl wrote that the people lived in an area in the northern parts of the land, along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. Other LDS researchers, such as W. Vincent Coon, point to native legends and suggest that the earliest immigrants to Central America migrated by land and boat from "northern America".{{Cite book|url=http://www.bookofmormonpromisedland.com/THE%20BEST%20SOURCES.htm|last=Coon|first=Vincent W.|title=

Choice Above All Other Lands|chapter=Chapter 1, Comparing the Book of Mormon with Veytia's History of Ancient Mesoamerica|publisher=Brit Publishing LLC|location=Salt Lake City, Utah}} Phyllis Carol Olive compares Jaredite civilization to ancient cultures of the Great Lakes region.[http://www.bookofmormonlands.com/ Olive, Phyllis Carol], The Lost Empires and Vanished Races of Prehistoric America, Ch. 3, The Jaredites – From Babylon to the Promised Land (2000-1800 B.C.)

{{Portal|Latter-day Saints}}

• 16 Stones, 2014 American film

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{Citation

| last=Petersen

| first=Mark E.

| author-link=Mark E. Petersen

| title=The Jaredites

| publisher=Deseret Book Co

| year=1984

| isbn=0-87747-998-4

}}

• {{Citation

| last=Nibley

| first=Hugh

| author-link=Hugh Nibley

| title=Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites

| publisher=Deseret Book Co

| year=1988

| isbn=0-87579-132-8

| url=http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/book/lehi-in-the-desert-the-world-of-the-jaredites-there-were-jaredites/

| access-date=2014-01-21

| archive-date=2013-12-20

| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220162648/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/book/lehi-in-the-desert-the-world-of-the-jaredites-there-were-jaredites/

| url-status=dead

}}

• {{cite book |chapter-url= http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/book-mormon-fourth-nephi-through-moroni-zion-destruction/4-jaredites-case-study-following |chapter= The Jaredites—A Case Study in Following the Brethren |last= Brinley |first= Douglas E. |pages= 45–59 |title= Fourth Nephi, From Zion to Destruction |editor1-last= Nyman |editor1-first= Monte S. |editor1-link= Monte S. Nyman |editor2-first= Charles D. Jr. |editor2-last= Tate |place= Provo, Utah |publisher= Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University |year= 1995 |isbn= 0-88494-974-5 |oclc= 32500560 |access-date= 2014-02-04 |archive-date= 2013-10-22 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131022042610/http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/book-mormon-fourth-nephi-through-moroni-zion-destruction/4-jaredites-case-study-following |url-status= dead }}
• {{cite book |chapter-url= http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/book-mormon-fourth-nephi-through-moroni-zion-destruction/12-jaredite-zion-societies-hope |chapter= Jaredite Zion Societies: Hope for a Better World |last= Judd |first= Frank F. |pages= 147–52 |title= Fourth Nephi, From Zion to Destruction |editor1-last= Nyman |editor1-first= Monte S. |editor1-link= Monte S. Nyman |editor2-first= Charles D. Jr. |editor2-last= Tate |place= Provo, Utah |publisher= Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University |year= 1995 |isbn= 0-88494-974-5 |oclc= 32500560 |access-date= 2014-02-04 |archive-date= 2013-10-22 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131022041502/http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/book-mormon-fourth-nephi-through-moroni-zion-destruction/12-jaredite-zion-societies-hope |url-status= dead }}

• [http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=952 Jaredite chronology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813151152/http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=952 |date=2015-08-13 }}

Category:Book of Mormon peoples

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Category:Mormonism and Native Americans