Cumorah ("Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide", churchofjesuschrist.org (retrieved 2012-02-25); IPA-ified from «ka-mōr´a») is a drumlin in Manchester, New York, United States, where Joseph Smith said he found a set of golden plates which he also said he translated into English and published as the Book of Mormon.
In the text of the Book of Mormon, "Cumorah" is a hill located in a land of the same name, which is "a land of many waters, rivers and fountains". In this hill, a Book of Mormon figure, Mormon, deposited a number of metal plates containing the record of his nation of Nephites,Mormon 6:6. The plates that Mormon buried were the plates he had abridged into what he called the "Book of Mormon". This smaller set of plates were not buried by Mormon but were given to Mormon's son Moroni. just prior to their final battle with the Lamanites in which at least 230,000 people were killed.
Early Latter Day Saints believed that the Cumorah in New York was the same Cumorah described in the Book of Mormon as taught by Assistant President of the Church Oliver Cowdery in a formal letter (Letter VII) he published in the July 1835 Messenger and Advocate and reprinted several times at the direction of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith explained that Moroni identified the hill as Cumorah before Joseph found the plates (Doctrine and Covenants 128:20), which was corroborated by other historical sources. In the early 20th century, scholars from the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) began to speculate that there were two such hills and that the final battle in the Book of Mormon took place on a hill in southern Mexico, Central America, or South America.Roper, Matthew, "Limited Geography and the Book of Mormon: Historical Antecedents and Early Interpretations", Maxwell Institute, 2004, cites early Limited Mesoamerican settings for the Book of Mormon advanced by Hills, L. E. (RLDS), "Geography of Mexico and Central America from 2234 B.C. to 421 A.D.", Independence, Missouri, 1917; Hills, "A Short Work on the Popol Vuh and the Traditional History of the Ancient Americans", Independence, Missouri, 1918; and Hills, "New Light on American Archaeology", Independence, Missouri, 1924; and also Gunsolley, J. F. (RLDS), "More Comment on Book of Mormon Geography", Saints Herald, vol. 69, no. 46, 1922, pp. 1074–76. See also the South American setting proposed by Priddis, Venice (LDS), The Book and the Map, 1975, ch. 11, "Mormon, Moroni and Cumorah", pp. 153–57. The LDS Church has no official position on the matter,, Correspondence from F. Michael Watson, 23 April 1993, cited with commentary in William J. Hamblin, "Basic Methodological Problems with the Anti-Mormon Approach to the Geography and Archaeology of the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2(1) (1993): 161–97, accessed 13 September 2009. See also Book of Mormon geography/Statements/First Presidency "First Presidency Letter" on the FAIR LDS Wiki. and while these hypotheses are not held by some leaders and members of the LDS Church,On the subject of a Mesoamerican Cumorah, apostle Joseph Fielding Smith wrote in 1956: Apostle Mark E. Petersen stated: Bruce R. McConkie wrote: they are firmly espoused by others.William J. Hamblin, "Basic Methodological Problems with the Anti-Mormon Approach to the Geography and Archaeology of the Book of Mormon," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2(1) (1993): 161–97.
In the official account of Joseph Smith it is stated that Manchester, Ontario County, New York, is the location of the encounter with Angel Moroni.
New York
The tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement holds that the hill named Cumorah in Manchester, New York is where Joseph Smith received the golden plates which contained the writings of the Book of Mormon. Smith wrote: "On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box."See "Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith", found inside the Church editions of the Book of Mormon printed after since 1981.
Smith visited the hill each year on September 22 between 1823 and 1827 and said he was instructed by a "holy messenger", whom the prophet identified as the Angel Moroni. The prophet was finally allowed to take the record on September 22, 1827. Eleven other men gave written testimony that they had also seen the plates and held them in their hands.Introduction, Book of Mormon, 1981 LDS Church edition
The hill, which was known as Cumorah by the Smith family prior to 1829, is situated 3 miles from Smith's boyhood home on a farm that was then owned by a local farmer, Alonzo Sanders. This farm was south of Palmyra, on the main road toward Canandaigua from Palmyra to Manchester, and is not far from Carangrie Creek and the Clyde River. According to geologists, the hill was formed during the retreat of the Ice Age glaciers, and it rises approximately above the surrounding valley floor.
Since 1829, the Latter Day Saints have called the hill "Cumorah",the prophet Joseph's mother, Lucy Mack Smith, recalls her young son Joseph referring to the place where the Book of Mormon plates were deposited as "the hill of Cumorah": Lucy Mack Smith, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother Lucy Mack Smith, p. 100. Book of Mormon witness David Whitmer referred to the hill by name in an account of an incident in which he, Smith, and Oliver Cowdery were riding in a wagon to the Whitmer home in Fayette, New York. According to Whitmer, an aged and heavy set man walked alongside the wagon. The man had a knapsack strapped over his back with something square in it. When David invited the man to ride he replied: "I am going across to the hill Cumorah." Smith later told Whitmer that they had seen one of the Nephite prophets: Lyndon W. Cook ed. (1991). David Whitmer Interviews (Grandin Book) pp. 19, 27. and local non-members have derogatorily called it "Mormon Hill"A. P. Kesler, "Mormon Hill", Young Woman's Journal, 9:73 (February 1898)."Thomas Cook History, 1930", in Dan Vogel ed. (2000). Early Mormon Documents, vol. 3 (Salt Lake City: Signature Books ) pp. 243–50.Andrew Jenson, Conference Report (April 1917) p. 99. or "Gold Bible Hill".Bruce E. Dana (2003). Glad Tidings Near Cumorah (CFI, ) pp. 58–60. The hill has also been called "Inspiration Point". The hill and surrounding land was purchased in the 1920s by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the direction of church president Heber J. Grant. The transaction involved two separate purchases: the purchase of the "Inglis farm"; and the purchase of the "Sexton farm". The Inglis farm consisted of on both sides of the Canandaigua–Palmyra road and encompassed one third of the western edge of the hill. The Sexton farm was purchased from the heirs of Pliny T. Sexton, who owned the "Mormon Hill farm" encompassing the remainder of the hill.
The Church has constructed a monument that is topped with a statue representing the Angel Moroni on the top of the hill, and there is a visitor's interpretative center at the base of the hill.
On June 8, 2022, several shots were fired into the Hill Cumorah visitors center. There were no injuries or fatalities, and investigators determined the shots were unintentional and came from target shooting on nearby farmland.
Supposed location of the plates
The stone box, described by Joseph Smith as the location where the plates were found, has not been located on the hill. In a letter, Oliver Cowdery gives the location as "the west side of the hill, not far from the top". Shortly after Smith announced he had the plates, some local residents unsuccessfully searched the hill for a freshly dug hole that could have contained the plates. They did note a significantly sized hole on the east side of the hill that had been dug years previously by treasure seekers.
Book of Mormon
Nephites In the Book of Mormon, Cumorah is mentioned in six verses, five in chapter 6 and one in chapter 8 of a subpart of the book, which is also known as the Book of Mormon. According to the record, Mormon is one of the final caretakers of the records of his people. He combined and abridged the records and engraved them on gold plates. His people, called the Nephites, were near to being destroyed by the Lamanites who had had many previous wars with the Nephites. Mormon wrote to the leader of the Lamanites to ask that he may gather his "people unto the land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there we could give them battle." Cumorah is described as being in a land with "many waters, rivers, and fountains".
The leader of the Lamanites agreed, and all of the Nephites gathered together, including their women and children. Mormon wrote, "And when three hundred and eighty and four years had passed away [since the sign of the birth of Christ], we had gathered in all the remainder of our people unto the land of Cumorah.". Mormon then hid all of the records of his people in the hill, except for the plates that he was currently writing on, which he gave to his son Moroni.
The Lamanites then attacked the Nephites, who were led by twenty-three men each with ten thousand men under their command.. Mormon recorded that all but 24 of the Nephites had been killed, "even all my people, save it were those twenty and four who were with me", except for those who fled to the south or defected to the Lamanites.
Mormon then records his mourning for his people and a last message to those who will read his record later, then again turns the unburied records over to his son Moroni. Moroni records, "after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were all destroyed. And my father also was killed by them, and I even remain alone to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people."
Jaredites This hill, known as "Cumorah" among the Nephites, was called "Ramah" ()"Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide", churchofjesuschrist.org (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from «rä´mä» by the Jaredites:
In the Book of Mormon, during the time of the Book of Alma, the land of Cumorah was part of the land of Desolation, "the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken". This land is identified as being north of the land of Zarahemla.
Moroni lived several years after recording the destruction of his people. He translated and abridged the plates which were the record of the Jaredites as the Book of Ether on to the plates that he was keeping. During this process, he wrote, "Omer ... passed by the hill of Shim, and came over by the place where the Nephites were destroyed," and "it came to pass that the army of Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill Ramah; and it was that same hill where my father Mormon did hide up the records unto the Lord, which were sacred." These passages identify the Nephite hill Cumorah as the same hill where the Jaredites had fought their final battle. Oliver Cowdery explained that this record "was written and deposited not far from" [Joseph Smith's home], indicating that both Mormon and Moroni lived in the vicinity of Palmyra, NY.
Geography and historicity For over 100 years, Mormons generally accepted the New York setting for the Hill Cumorah. Since the early-20th century, there has been discussion within the Latter Day Saint movement about whether Hill Cumorah in New York is the same place described in the Book of Mormon, or whether there are two hills of the same name—one in New York and one in either Southern Mexico, Central America, or South America. Mormon archeologists overwhelmingly favor the "two Cumorahs" theory, while conservative theologians and some leaders prefer the view that only one Cumorah exists. Some non-Mormon scholars have provided alternative theories for the origin of the name Cumorah.
New York hill