Evidence #41 | September 19, 2020

Book of Mormon Evidence: Seasonal Warfare

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Scripture Central

Abstract

The textual evidence for seasonal military conflict in the Book of Mormon aligns well with patterns of seasonal warfare found in ancient Mesoamerica.

The Book of Mormon records numerous military conflicts, some in considerable detail.1 On many occasions, the accounts of these conflicts include the month of the year or a similar indicator of when the military action occurred.2  Based on this data, John L. Sorenson has suggested that the Nephites may have used a twelve-month solar calendar that utilized either 360 or 365 days.3 Sorenson noted that warfare in the Book of Mormon generally took place in months 11–3, less frequently in months 4, 5, and 10, and seldom if at all in months 6–9.4

It is reasonable to assume the Nephite New Year began on or about the winter solstice (December 21 or 22), a pattern found in many ancient calendar systems.5 If that were the case, then the Nephite battles would rarely have been fought in the time period roughly corresponding to our June through September. Weather patterns may help confirm this assumption. Southern Mesoamerica has well-defined rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season generally begins in May and runs through October. The dry season generally begins in November and runs through April. Crops are planted near the onset of the rainy season and harvests are usually over by the onset of the dry season. As shown in the following images from NASA, there is a dramatic visual difference between the dry season (first image, taken in April) and the rainy season (second image, taken in October) in southern Mesoamerica:6

Mesoamerica in April at the End of the Dry Season. Image via NasaBlue Marble (Next Generation).
Mesoamerica in Ocotber at the End of the Rainy Season. Image via Nasa Marble Blue (Next Generation).

Anciently, the dry season was typically when agriculturalists were mobilized into fighting forces. During this time, surplus food supplies were available for provisions, infantry marches were feasible due to hard-packed paths and sparser ground cover, and field camp conditions were tolerable. During the wet season, streams ran high, wetlands were overflowing, paths were muddy, and ground cover was dense.

Numerous war events recorded in Mayan inscriptions can be securely dated, and, as expected, they show that battles in southern Mesoamerica were generally not fought in the height of the rainy season,7 corresponding to our June through September. That was when farmers stayed home and tended their crops. Sorenson felt that evidence for this same basic tendency can be seen in the Book of Mormon:

While we do not know in detail how the Nephite calendar related to the seasons of our year, it is apparent that the Book of Mormon account portrays the usual seasons for warfare as the time when agriculture had the lowest priority; the wars took place primarily in what the Nephites called the last months of the year and continued into the first months of the their new year (see Alma 53:7). If we make the most likely correlation with our calendar, this pattern was essentially the same as that for Mesoamerican wars, November through April.8

Further Reading
Endnotes
Warfare
Book of Mormon

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