TWENTY-THREE

The Voyage of the Mulekites

The Mulekites crossed the ocean to the New World sometime after the Babylonians captured Jerusalem. The Mulekites landed in the area where the Jaredites lived and subsequently migrated into the Land Southward.

INTRODUCTION

JOSEPH OF EGYPT WAS HATED by his brothers "for his dreams, and for his words." (Genesis 37:8) Joseph said to his brothers:

. . . Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

And his brethren said to him, shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? (Genesis 37:6-8)

We see a temporal fulfillment of this dream in Genesis 43, where the brothers of Joseph did indeed bow down to Joseph, the great governor of Egypt, as the famine drove the sons of Jacob to Egypt in search of grain.

We, as Latter-day Saints, live in a day when the climax of that vision is taking place, as we (Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph) are preparing the way for our brothers, the Lost Tribes (the brothers of Joseph) to return.

An intermediate fulfillment also comes to fruition in the Book of Mormon. In Genesis 49:22, Jacob blessed Joseph and told him that Joseph was a fruitful bough and that his branches would run over the wall.

More than 1,000 years after this blessing was given, around 600 years before the birth of Christ, Lehi and Ishmael, descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, crossed over the ocean in fulfillment of the Genesis 49 prophecy.

Four hundred years after the arrival of Lehi in the Promised Land, or about 200 years before Christ was born, a portion of the tribe of Joseph, represented by Mosiah, went down from the Land of Nephi to the Land of Zarahemla, where they discovered a portion of the tribe of Judah, represented by the people of Zarahemla. Through this event, the dream of Joseph of Egypt reached a partial fulfillment in the New World; and for the next 400 years, Joseph (the Nephites) ruled over his brother, Judah (the Mulekites).

The first place in the Book of Mormon where we are aware of another culture that came to the New World and that was associated with Old Jerusalem (other than the Nephites and the Lamanites) is in the small Book of Omni.

The Book of Omni discussion between Mosiah and Zarahemla, about a man by the name of Coriantumr who had lived with the people of Zarahemla for nine moons, also gives us our first introduction to the people we call Jaredites.

From the Book of Mormon, we learn the following about a group of people whom we have come to call Mulekites:

1. They received Mosiah with open arms because the Lord had sent him to them with the brass plates that contained a record of the Jews, whereas the Mulekites had brought no records with them. This event took place about 200-180 BC. (Omni 1:14, 17)

2. The people of Zarahemla, or their forefathers, came out of Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of the Jews, was taken captive into Babylon. Zarahemla gave Mosiah a genealogy of his people from memory. Jerusalem was taken into captivity in 586 BC. (Omni 1:15, 18; see also 2 Kings 25:1-2)

3. Mulek was a son of Zedekiah, who was the king of the Jews at the time of the Babylonian captivity. (Helaman 8:21)

4. The Lord brought Mulek into the Land North and Lehi into the Land South. (Helaman 6: 10)

5. The Mulekites landed in the Land Northward in the area where the Jaredites lived. (Alma 22:30)

6. The forefathers of the people of Zarahemla journeyed in the wilderness and crossed the great waters and that subsequently a colony of Mulekites migrated to an area they called the Land of Zarahemla. (Omni 1: 16, 13; see also Alma 22:3031)

7. By the time Mosiah discovered the people of Zarahemla, they had become exceedingly numerous and had experienced many wars and serious contentions. (Omni 1: 17)

8. The Mulekites' language had become corrupt, and the people of Mosiah could not understand the Mulekites. (Omni 1:17, 18)

9. The Mulekites denied the being of their creator. (Omni1:17)

10. The Mulekites far outnumbered the Nephites. (Mosiah 25:2)

The Book of Mormon is primarily a record of the lineage of Nephi; and, as a result, we learn about the Mulekites only from their association with the Nephites. We have limited help from the Old Testament, as it deals with the father of Mulek, who was Zedekiah, the king of Judah, at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Zedekiah was also the name or title of the king at the time Lehi left Jerusalem. Therefore, we are not sure when Mulek and his party left Jerusalem, nor do we know what route they took to get to the Promised Land.

We have a little more help once the Mulekites arrive in the Promised Land. The Book of Mormon, along with native Mesoamerican documents and archaeological data, provides us with a few rays of insight to the Mulekite-Jewish society.

The Jaredites and the Nephites probably sailed the Pacific to get to America. I suggest that the Mulekites arrived at the Promised Land through the Atlantic seaway. I further propose that the Mulekites departed somewhere off the Mediterranean Sea. The most probable place for the landing of Mulek's party is off the shores of Veracruz, Mexico.

SCRIPTURES AND COMMENTARY

Scriptures from the Book of Mormon about the landing site of the Mulekites, with commentary from native Mesoamerica records and archaeological data, are as follows:

Helaman 8:21-Mulek, a Son of Zedekiah

Zedekiah, whose Hebrew name was Mattaniah, was placed on the Jewish throne by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Babylonians, as a puppet king. He began his reign in the year 597 BC. Zedekiah/Mattaniah, forsaking the counsel of the prophets, among whom was the Prophet Jeremiah, rebelled against the Babylonians; and Jerusalem was burned. A terrible famine in the land also occurred at the same time.

Lehi and Ishmael, descendants of Joseph of old, did in reality listen to the counsel of the prophets and fled Jerusalem. In the Land of Promise, Zedekiah/Mattaniah's own descendants were ruled over by the descendants of the Prophet Lehi.

The Bible does not tell us about Mulek, but it does inform us about the death of the other sons of King Zedekiah:

And they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon. (2 Kings 25:7)

Zedekiah/Mattaniah was 21 years old when he was placed on the throne of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Eleven years later, when Jerusalem was destroyed, Zedekiah/Mattaniah was only 32 years old. His age suggests that all of his sons, would-be heirs to the Jewish throne but killed by the Babylonians, were all under 14 years of age. This reasoning is based on the assumption that Zedekiah/Mattaniah's oldest son was born when Zedekiah/Mattaniah was 18 years old.

The question has always been raised as to how Mulek escaped the onslaught when all of the sons of Zedekiah/Mattaniah were killed. At least four answers to this question are possible, none of which is conclusive:

1. Some Book of Mormon readers suggest that Mulek was only a baby and that those who were charged with his care literally carried him away from Jerusalem and saw to it that he was brought to the New World.

2. Other readers propose that perhaps Mulek was disguised as a daughter and was taken into Egypt prior to coming to the Promised Land.

3. A further possibility is that the mother of Mulek may have been pregnant at the time and that she was the one who escaped the wrath of the Babylonians. This proposal would explain, as do the above two proposals, the reason for this group's not having any records with them. The group had no time to collect records, as they were fleeing. The mother's major concern probably was the protection of her unborn child; and, as such, she played the role of other great women in history who were inspired by the Lord that their children had very significant missions to fill.

4. A fourth proposal reflects the possibility that Mulek was not even born at the time his older brothers were killed. This proposal suggests that Zedekiah/Mattaniah, who was now blind, had children while in captivity among the Babylonians. Thirty years later, when the Jews were released from Babylon, would then be the time that Mulek, now a young man, was led by the Lord to the "Land North." These proposed events are then in line with the commentary of Archaeologist Bruce Warren, who identified the date of the Mulekites' arrival to Mesoamerica at about 536 BC, which matches a significant date in the Nuttall Codex.

Of considerable interest here, and as previously mentioned, is the existence of a group of so-called "dancer" monuments at the archaeological site of Monte Alban, located near the City of Oaxaca in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.

These monuments date to Monte Alban Period 1, whose early dating corresponds to the middle of the 5th Century BC. I earlier proposed that Monte Alban may have been a Jewish-Mulekite community. If this is the case, then the figures at Monte Alban may be depicting the Babylonian captivity.

At Monte Alban are found more than 20 figures with engravings representative of a people who were probably taken into captivity, as demonstrated by their nakedness. To emphasize the power of captivity, the monuments' creators displayed the captured people in strict embarrassment and, from a practical point of view, unclothed. As such, the victims are in no position to fight or to hide weapons. Such a practice is a historical commonality. Even Hitler exploited this method to the great disadvantage of a much-later Jewish community.

Two figures among the dancers appear to be crawling on their knees and also appear to be blind. You will recall that Zedekiah was blinded after he witnessed the death of his sons. He was then taken captive to Babylon. (See Figure 23-1.)

Alma 22:30-The Mulekites Landed in Land Northward

And it [Bountiful] bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it [Bountiful or Desolation] being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it [Desolation] being the place of their first landing.

The place where the people had been destroyed was called the Land Desolation by the Nephites. It was called Desolation, not because it was geologically desolate, but because it had become uninhabited as a result of the great Jaredite civil war. (See Helaman 3:5-6.)

From the archaeological records and the dates of native documents, as well as from hints in the Book of Mormon, we can conclude that the Jaredite nation did not fall for approximately 250-300 years after the Mulekites arrived. This conclusion suggests that the Mulekites and the Jaredites lived together simultaneously for this length of time. It also explains why, if the dancer monuments are depicting the Babylonian captivity, the figures are Olmec (Jaredite) in style.

Again, if the Olmecs were in reality the Jaredites, then the Jaredites would have their established headquarters along the Gulf of Mexico.

We could then conclude that the initial landing site of the Mulekites was by Veracruz, or perhaps as far north as Tampico, Mexico. This is the same area where Cortez landed in the year 1519 AD as he began the Conquest of Mexico. The 16th-Century Catholic writer, Sahagun, records the following regarding the landing of a particular group of people:

Countless years ago the first settlers arrived in these parts of New Spain [Mexico], which is almost another world, and they came in ships by sea approaching this northern port; and because they disembarked there it was called Panutla, or Panoayan, "place where they arrived who came by sea" now corruptly called Pantlan [Panuco]. (Sahagun, Book Nine)

Panuco is near the present-day City of Tampico, Mexico. The account continues by explaining that the settlers traveled along the Gulf Coast of Mexico and eventually settled in the areas of Campeche and Chiapas on the southeast side of the Isthmus. (lbid)

Sahagun, in talking about the same people in his first book, indicates that the settlers came from the sea north. (Sahagun, Book One) The Sea North to the 16th-Century writers was the Atlantic Ocean, which included the Gulf of Mexico.

Another Spanish writer by the name of Juan de Torquemada writes the following, as recorded in a 1723 edition of his works:

Some years after the origin and beginning of Tulla, there came from the northern part of Mexico [Veracruz] a certain people that landed in the vicinity of Panuco.

Concerning this nation, it is not known where they originated because there is no data on the subject, other than that given above which says they landed at Panuco. (Torquemada 1:254-255)

Ixtlilxochitl states:

Those who possessed this new world in the third period were the "Ulmecas and Xicalancas," and according to their history they came in ships or boats from the eastern hemisphere to the land of Potonchan. (See Ixtlilxochitl:34.)

Ixtlilxochitl, Sahagun, and Torquemada are all evidently talking about the same people. Potonchan is near the colonial City of Tabasco and is in the same area where Cortez landed, as explained above.

With this information, as well as the archaeological data suggesting that the Olmecs (Jaredites) were established along the Gulf Coast of Mexico, we can deduce that Panuco is an excellent landing location for the Mulekites. The location appears more feasible as we pursue the trail of the Mulekites from their initial landing site to a secondary location and ultimately to the place they called Zarahemla.

Helaman 6:10--The Mulekites Were Brought into the Land North

Now the land south was called Lehi, and the land north was called Mulek, which was after the son of Zedekiah; for the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south.

The above scripture was discussed in both Chapter 18, "The Land Northward," and Chapter 19, "The Land Southward." Nevertheless, the scripture is significant here inasmuch as it states that the Lord brought Mulek to the Land North.

The "Land North" in this instance is probably not referring to the initial landing site described above, but rather to the site of the second landing or settlement of at least a portion of the Mulekites. This second place is undoubtedly the area of the Bay of Terminos (Campeche) located in the State of Campeche, Mexico, east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

From this second settlement location, the Mulekites, or a branch of the Mulekites, moved again, in typical Jewish fashion, to escape their enemies. This time they moved up the Grijalva and Usumacinta Rivers to the frontiers of Guatemala where they established their settlements, including the great City of Zarahemla, established by a descendant of Mulek.

Therefore, in reference to Helaman 6: 10, the "Land North" may well mean "the land north of the land south." In other words, the Yucatan, Campeche, Chiapas area is in the Land North; and Highland Guatemala, where the Nephites probably lived for the first 400 years in Mesoamerica, is called the Land South.

Hence, as illustrated in Figure 23-2, the Lord did bring Mulek into the land north, and Lehi into the land south."

Further justification for the above hypothesis, as reported from native documents and the archaeological data, is as follows.

Archaeological Data-The archaeological data from the area in and around the States of Tabasco and Chiapas, Mexico, depict a small group of settlers who moved out of the area north of the Isthmus (Tabasco-Veracruz) to the shores of the Bay of Campeche, which was previously called Bay of Terminos. Not considered to be of great importance, as compared to the overall culture, the beginning of this small group, which dates from 600 BC to 400 BC, demonstrates a pattern of internal differentiation. (See Ochoa and Castro.)

Title of the Lords of Totonicapan-This native Quiche Maya document describes a group of people who were descendants of Abraham and Jacob and who crossed the ocean and settled in the area of the Bay of Campeche mentioned above. They were an agriculture-based people who lived in houses made of sticks. They had things in common. (Chonay, Title of the Lords of Totonicapan)

The Annals of The Cakchiquels-A native Mesoamerican document similar to the one above in describing what is apparently the same group of people states that this Guatemala tribe (1) came from the north (Tampico), (2) arrived at the Gulf of Mexico (Veracruz and Tabasco), and (3) lived many years in the region of the lagoons of Terminos (Campeche), located between Tabasco and Yucatan. (Recinos and Goetz, The Annals of the Cakchiquels)

This area is the same area that later is called the "Land of Many Waters" by the Limhi Expedition, as shown in Figure 23-2. (Mosiah 8:8-11)

And they were lost in the wilderness for the space of many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters .... (Mosiah 8:8)

Alma 22:31-The Mulekites Moved up into the South Wilderness

And they [the Mulekites] came from there [the place of their first landing] up into the south wilderness. Thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful, it being the wilderness which is filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind, a part of which had come from the land northward for food.

As we follow the trail of the Mulekites from the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico across to the Bay of Campeche, we again gain considerable assistance from both archaeological and traditional history that correlates with the Mulekite movement in the Book of Mormon.

The above scripture informs us that the Mulekites, or at least a portion of the Mulekites, traveled up into the south wilderness. As you will observe in Figure 23-2, the area directly south of Tabasco and Campeche is the Chiapas Mountains.

On our trips, we customarily take a boat ride on the Grijalva River in the area of the Central Depression of the State of Chiapas. We board the boat at the town of Chiapa de Corzo, a candidate for the City Sidom in the Book of Mormon. The Grijalva River is one of two leading candidates for the River Sidon in the Book of Mormon. We then boat for about an hour and 15 minutes to the Chicuasen Dam. This majestic canyon-land gorge cuts through the high mountain walls. The river continues through the rough awe-inspiring wilderness and finally snakes lazily through the lowlands of the Gulf of Mexico. It runs through the middle of the City of Villahermosa and then meets up with the Usumacinta River before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean via the Gulf of Mexico.

Once we leave the boat, we usually ascend up into the mountains to 8,000 feet elevation and end up at the picturesque town of San Cristobal de Las Casas, which is about 6,500 feet elevation. The next day, the trip continues from San Cristobal to Ocosingo and past the beautiful, blue waterfalls (Aguas Azules) and then on to the Maya ruins of Palenque. Words fail to capture the events of the day as, with every blink of the eye, the tour members capture the absolute beauty and virgin wilderness of the area. A million pictures are stored in the mind's memory bank.

This is the area that probably constitutes the South Wilderness in Alma 22-31. It is a wilderness of wild animals and sublime wonder.

The archaeological record states:

... toward 600-400 B.C. some groups from the metropolitan Olmeca zone began moving out and settled in the basin of the Middle Usumacinta; their influence was then felt more clearly, to the extent that local cultures were transformed. (Ochoa and Castro 18)

Some of the archaeological sites that were occupied or transformed during this time period include Tierra Blanca, Pomoca, Emiliano Zapata, and El Mirador. These sites are just a few of those that begin to depict this transformation. El Mirador is a Preclassic (150 BC-150 AD) site that has been explored in recent years by an archaeological team from Brigham Young University.

The native document, Title of the Lords of Totonicapan, also confirms the above movement, as it describes how these descendants of Abraham and Jacob,

... compelled by the necessity of establishing themselves in a propitious spot and harried perhaps by their enemies, the tribes once more went up the Usumacinta and Tabasco (Grijalva) rivers and their tributaries and penetrated into the territory of present Guatemala. After a long journey they found themselves in the hills and the valleys of the interior, the land of Main and the Volcano of Tacana, on the frontiers of Guatemala and Chiapas. Then they dispersed into the interior of the country, occupying all the places which are referred to in the manuscript under their ancient names. (Recinos and Goetz 1953:39)

The regions that are referred to by both the archaeological account and the native documents are precisely the same regions that are proposed to be the Land of Zarahemla in the Book of Mormon.

Behold, it came to pass that Mosiah discovered that the people of Zarahemla [Mulekites] came out from Jerusalem at the time that Zedekiah, king of Judah, was carried away captive into Babylon.

And they [the Mulekites] journeyed in the wilderness, and were brought by the hand of the Lord across the great waters, into the land where Mosiah discovered them; and they had dwelt there from that time forth.

The puzzle fits together as we witness the potential settlement of the Mulekites along the Usumacinta and Grijalva Rivers-having traveled into the South Wilderness after landing in the Land Northward.

The stage is set for Mosiah to come down, probably from the Guatemala Highlands (Land of Nephi), where he discovered the people of Zarahemla, as shown in Figure 23-3. Zarahemla was a descendant of Mulek. Mosiah, who was of the tribe of Joseph and a descendant of Nephi, became king over the Land of Zarahemla. The people of Zarahemla were descendants of Zedekiah/Mattaniah; and, as a result, Zarahemla was of the tribe of Judah. As mentioned earlier, Joseph ruled Judah for the next 400 years.

Mosiah 25:2-Mulekites More Numerous Than Nephites

The Book of Mormon comment gives us to understand that there were many more Mulekites than Nephites. This information is consistent with the Spanish Chronicle accounts, which tell that several ships arrived in the north-ships whose passengers we conclude to be Mulekites. As far as we know, the Nephites came over in only one ship. We should also remember that only a righteous branch of the Nephites followed Mosiah when he fled out of the Land of Nephi.

The above scripture also seems to imply that not all of the Mulekites followed Zarahemla into the wilderness of the Peten and Chiapas. This thinking substantiates the conclusion that Monte Alban, located on the west side of the Isthmus, was also a Jewish community.

Mosiah 25:4-Mulekites and Nephites in Separate Bodies

Although Mosiah was the king of both the Nephites (tribe of Joseph) and the Mulekites (tribe of Judah), the two groups still maintained their identities. The separate identities have far-reaching effects, as we see later in the Book of Mormon history when a group of so-called king-men arose claiming their right to rule:

And it came to pass that those who were desirous that Pahoran should be dethroned from the judgment-seat were called king-men, for they were desirous that the law should be altered in a manner to over-throw the free government and to establish a king over the land.

Now those who were in favor of kings were those of high birth, and they sought to be kings; and they were supported by those who sought power and authority over the people. (Alma 51:5, 8)

The archaeological record of Mesoamerica is identical in describing the activity mentioned in the above passages of scripture. Beginning in the 1st Century BC, a group of the elite in Mesoamerica began to rally for control. By 200 AD, the influence was much stronger; and during the strength of the Maya Classic Period, which extended to the 10th Century AD, the elite hierarchy ruled totally in Mesoamerica. In analyzing the archaeological history of the Maya ruins of Uxmal, located about 40 miles south of the City of Merida, Yucatan, Alfredo Barrera Rubio says:

During this period the dominant group was a hereditary elite which emerged in the last century before Christ. Its authority extended throughout all aspects of social life, but in particular they were representatives or mediators between the community and the divine or supernatural forces, utilizing magical/religious means. The group controlled the knowledge of the times, much of which, in order to maintain a relationship with the direct production of the people, determined social behavior. (Barrera 1985:33)

As we balance the history and culture recorded in the Book of Mormon with the archaeological and traditional records of Mesoamerica, we can perhaps perceive that the Mulekites, or at least the hierarchy among the Mulekites, were not always satisfied by being ruled over by the tribe of Joseph. The 64 BC and 34 AD attempts to establish kings may have been Mulekite (tribe of Judah) attempts to gain the glory of the olden days in Jerusalem. They may even have succeeded in part, as the Maya Classic Period shows just such a hierarchy.

SUMMARY

In Chapters 21-23, with the information available to us, the landing sites of the Jaredites, the Lehites, and the Mulekites were proposed. For the most part, the information presently available is very scarce outside of the Book of Mormon text itself as we attempt to use the map in departing all three of these groups and following them across the ocean.

However, once we get them to Mesoamerica, we are aided by both archaeological and native traditional history.

1. Jaredites-Although the information is far from conclusive, I suggest that the Jaredites crossed the Pacific Ocean after launching their eight vessels off the coast of China and arriving perhaps close to the Gulf of Tehuantepec. They then moved inland to a place called Moron, which is proposed to be the Oaxaca Valley in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. Subsequently, the kingdom headquarters of the Jaredites moved to the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

2. Nephites-The colony of Lehi, which became known later as Nephites and Lamanites, probably set sail off the Arabian coast. The Book of Mormon is rather detailed in its directions; and with the aid of knowing where Jerusalem and the Red Sea are located, we can surmise the approximate area of the launching of Nephi's ship.

The route of Nephi is purely speculative. The landing site is much more firm, if we can legitimately declare the Country of Guatemala to be the Land of Nephi. Therefore, I propose that Lehi landed off the coast of Guatemala, perhaps even close to the area of the Izapa ruins located on the Guatemala-Mexico border. Izapa may have been the Land of First Inheritance and later the City of Judea in the Book of Mormon.

3. Mulekites-More archaeological and traditional data are available that seem to refer to the Mulekites than to the other two civilizations. The Book of Mormon, however, is rather sporadic in its discussion about the Mulekites. Nevertheless, when we examine the determined consistency of archaeology, tradition, Book of Mormon, and the geological and geographical structure of the areas around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, a very believable case can be presented for the Mulekite migrations.

The Mulekites probably landed along the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico; and then at least a portion of them settled for many years around the Bay of Campeche. From there, they settled many communities along the middle Usumacinta and Grijalva Valleys. By200-l8OBC, Mosiah traveled down from Highland Guatemala, where he discovered the people of Zarahemla.