Jaredites
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The Jaredites are a people written of in the Book of Mormon, principally in the Book of Ether. In the Book of Ether, the Jaredites are described as the descendants of Jared and his brother, at the time of the Tower of Babel. According to the Book of Mormon, the people fled across the Ocean via boats and established an ancient civilization in the Americas. The existence of the Jaredites is rejected by non-LDS historians and archaeologists.
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[edit] Summary of Book of Mormon narrative
[edit] Book of Ether
According to the Book of Mormon, the Jaredites are the descendants of Jared, his brother and their immediate family and friends. (Joseph Smith, Jr. 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 brother so that their language, as well as that of their families and friends, was not confounded, and they were granted a land of promise.
According to the narrative, the people were guided by God through the wilderness, and were eventually directed to cross the sea in "barges". These vessels watertight[1][2] and able to be swamped by waves without sinking.[3] Air was obtained from outside the vessels as needed.[4][5] They also brought with them animals, and food for themselves and their animals.[6] The recorded length of this trip was 344 days.[7]
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 times of peace and prosperity. These times of peace were interrupted by intrigue to the throne, civil war, and the accession of wicked kings. Thus the history of the Jaredites proved the fear of Jared and his brother that a monarchy would lead to captivity.[8]
The Jaredites grew to a civilization that exceeded two million people just prior to its destruction.[9] They finally destroyed themselves about the time Lehi and the other refugees from Jerusalem arrived in America (see also Nephites, Lamanites, and Mulekites). A prophecy given[10] by Ether is fulfilled, and the last Jaredite king, Coriantumr, lives both to see the total destruction of his people and the arrival of another people to inherit the land.[11]
[edit] Other references
Besides the Book of Ether history of the Jaredites, elsewhere in the Book of Mormon relates that Coriantumr was found by the Mulekites. The Nephites later discovered the Mulekites and taught them the Nephite language. The Mulekites related that Coriantumr had died nine months after he had come to live with them. The Nephite prophet was able to translate some records (a stone tablet and twenty-four metal plates) that the Mulekites had found. The record on the metal plates are what Moroni later included in the Book of Mormon as the Book of Ether.
[edit] Geography of Jaredites
The ocean crossed is not specified in the Book of Mormon. In the Hugh Nibley books There were Jaredites and The World of the Jaredites, he argues for the Pacific Ocean. Milton R. Hunter has argued for an Atlantic Ocean crossing.
The location of the Jaredite civilization is also not specified in the Book of Mormon, except as called the "Land Northward" by the Nephites. However, the location of the Nephites has not been corelated to a modern geographic location, though there are speculations.
[edit] Proposed Jaredite origins
Some Mormon scholars have argued for substantial parallels between the Jaredites and the Olmecs. For example, one scholar pointed to writings by an ancient native American historian Ixtlilxochitl who wrote in his history about a group of people who came from the great tower to Mesoamerica. According to Ixtlilxochitl's writings, they lived in an area in the northern parts of the land along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. (Allen 1989, 55)
[edit] Descendants of Shem
Some have suggested that the Jaredites may have been descendants of Shem. The reasoning is as follows. Moroni begins his abridgement of the Book of Ether by saying that he is omitting those parts of Ether's record that are had in the Bible; he says he will begin where the biblical record leaves off. He then begins with a genealogy, going from Ether back to Jared. This may imply that his point of departure from the biblical record is also a genealogy.
In the Bible, Genesis 10 lists the descendants of Shem (Shem - Arphaxad - Salah - Eber). Shem's great-grandson Eber (or, Heber) is said to have two sons, Peleg and Joktan (or, Yoktan), noting that in their day, the earth was divided. The record briefly lists Joktan's children but then his line dead-ends. The record returns to Peleg and follows his line after telling the tower of Babel story.
Some interpret "the earth was divided" to mean that the covenant line was divided into two groups, one of which went to America. They point out that one of Joktan's sons is named "Jerah," which is similar to Jared. They propose that Moroni's genealogy of Ether begins where Genesis 10 leaves off. Some have further hypothesized that the word Yucatán is derived from Joktan. (See Smith and Sjodahl's commentary, or a summary.)
[edit] Asian Origins
Hugh Nibley argues the Jaredites are essentially similar to such peoples as the Mongols in culture. This argument is also workable considering they crossed some small bodies of water before going to the ocean and dwelt along the seashore for three years. It is possible people from their group broke off and became part of the ancestors of the population of the Mongols and other people of that region.[citation needed]
