Where Is the Hill Cumorah? (The Truth About Book of Mormon Geography)

Everyone knows where the Hill Cumorah is… right? Joseph Smith received the gold plates from a hill in upstate New York. But is that the same hill where Mormon hid the Nephite records and the Nephites made their last stand in Mormon 6? It's one of the most debated questions in Book of Mormon geography, and the history behind it may surprise you. In this episode of Informed Saints, Jasmin Rappleye, Neal Rappleye, and Stephen Smoot walk through what the Book of Mormon itself says about Cumorah, trace when the New York hill first came to be called by that name, and look at what the Church has officially said. Along the way they draw on the Joseph Smith Papers, the Church's "Book of Mormon Geography" statement, and the Hill Cumorah issue of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, including archaeologist John E. Clark's assessment of the site. Chapters: 0:00 The Hill Cumorah background  5:35 Is it in New York? 12:00 Assessing the sources  16:57 What’s from Joseph Smith? 21:21 David Whitmer sources  25:27 The Church’s position  28:00 What the BoM says? 35:15 Looking at the archeology  42:50 Another candidate in Mexico  47:00 Conclusion - Learning more ===Informed Saints Credits=== Produced by The Ancient America Foundation Producer: Spencer Clark Hosts: Stephen Smoot, Neal Rappleye, Jasmin Rappleye Further Readings: Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Hill Cumorah issue: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jbms/vol13/iss1/ "Book of Mormon Geography," Gospel Topics: www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/book-of-mormon-geography Our Book of Mormon geography episode with Brant Gardner: https://youtu.be/lHEAG87wh9Y https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/hill-cumorah-site-guide/03-curators-notes https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book/introduction-study-book-mormon https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/MStar/id/27175/ https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/lucy-mack-smith-history-1844-1845/41 https://interpreterfoundation.org/journal/the-cowdery-conundrum-olivers-aborted-attempt-to-describe-joseph-smiths-first-vision-in-1834-and-1835 https://bhroberts.org/records/pWTXhj-mc2Zjf/w_w_phelps_identifies_the_hill_cumorah_as_being_in_new_york https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-a-1-23-december-1805-30-august-1834/9 https://bookofmormonresources.blogspot.com/2016/10/ramahcumorah.html https://bhroberts.org/records/zrSENb-yN34Vd/heber_c_kimball_recounts_the_cumorah_cave https://mappingmormonism.byu.edu/the-restoration-1820-1845 https://archive.org/details/bookofmormonaccosmit/page/46/mode/2up https://bhroberts.org/records/QSDbqc-gQTr6j/frederick_g_williams_identifies_chile_as_the_landing_spot_of_lehi https://bhroberts.org/records/pWTXhj-Qd94Vc/observer_and_telegraph_reports_early_church_leaders_saying_lehi_landed_in_south_america https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/letter-vii Subscribe to Informed Saints for faithful scholarship on the scriptures and Church history every week. Study deeply, believe boldly. ===Discover=== If any of our thoughts resonated with you, consider learning more about the single most influential book in our lives. https://www.discoverbookofmormon.org/ ===Content Disclaimer=== The views expressed represent ours alone and do not necessarily reflect the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. #BookOfMormon #HillCumorah #Cumorah #LDS #LatterDaySaints #ChurchOfJesusChrist #JosephSmith #Moroni #Mormon6 #BookOfMormonGeography #Mesoamerica #Heartland #OliverCowdery #LetterVII #ChurchHistory #GoldPlates #Palmyra #BookOfMormonEvidence #ComeFollowMe #InformedSaints