Difference between revisions of "Cumorah"

Latest revision as of 22:58, 29 January 2023

The hill Cumorah in Palmyra, New York, where the gold plates were recovered, later translated and published as the Book of Mormon

Cumorah, more commonly known among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the hill Cumorah, is the name given to a hill (so named in 1829) four miles south of Palmyra, New York. It was in this hill, in roughly the year AD 421, that the prophet/historian Moroni deposited a record, engraved upon golden plates he and his father Mormon had compiled. Fourteen hundred years later in 1827, that same Moroni directed young Joseph Smith to retrieve the record from the hill Cumorah. Joseph did as directed and translated the plates and published the translation as the Book of Mormon.

In addition to being a storehouse to the sacred record, the hill Cumorah was somewhat of a school for young Joseph. During the years between Moroni's first visit to the prophet in 1823 and the time Joseph was allowed to take the plates in 1827, Joseph visited Cumorah. Each year, Moroni would meet Joseph and give him further knowledge and instruction.

Cumorah in the Book of Mormon

In the Book of Mormon, Cumorah was the name of a land and hill where the final battles of that book were fought. In AD 384 General Mormon (after whom the Book of Mormon was named) gathered all his people (known as the Nephites) to the land Cumorah. There, his armies and the armies of the enemy (known as Lamanites) clashed in war. At that tremendous battle, tens of thousands of Mormon's people were slain. After the battle, Mormon records that the enemy "had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni)" (Mormon 6:11). From atop Cumorah, Mormon looked out over his fallen people and mourned their loss.

Mormon, who was a prophet and historian as well as a general, was also the keeper of sacred records. Knowing that the battle at Cumorah would be the Nephites' last stand, he hid up most of the sacred records in Cumorah so that their enemies would not find and destroy them. The remainder of the records he entrusted to his son Moroni.

Cumorah is also the likely location as the gathering place of the Jaredite army of Coriantumr prior to the final battle of the Jaredites.

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.(Ether 15:11)

Latter-day Saint scholars and archaeologists are working to formulate a geographical setting for the Book of Mormon in the Americas from scriptural and archaeological evidences. Some favor a Mesoamerican location for the Book of Mormon peoples (southern Mexico and Guatamala), which could include Cumorah and Ramah as described in the scriptures. Moroni may well have named the hill in modern-day New York Cumorah because of his connections with the original location. He and Mormon could easily have migrated to the northeast corner of North America during their many years of flight from the pursuing Lamanites. Whether the ancient hill Cumorah and the modern hill Cumorah are one and the same is of little consequence. (See Book of Mormon Geography - New England Theory and Book of Mormon Geography - Mesoamerica Theory)

The Hill Cumorah Today

In 1928 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes called the Mormon Church, acquired the hill Cumorah and in 1935 erected a monument commemorating the visit of the Angel Moroni. The Church later built a visitors' center at Cumorah's base. The visitors' center offers information not only about the hill Cumorah, but also about numerous other history sites of the Church of Jesus Christ in the area.

Hill Cumorah Pageant

Nearly every summer since 1935, the Church sponsored a free pageant at Cumorah entitled America's Witness for Christ. The pageant, which ran in July and had a cast of 650, is commonly referred to as the Hill Cumorah Pageant and drew around 100,000 visitors a year. The Church announced that the pageant would cease after the 2020 season, but due to COVID-19 restrictions occurring in 2020, the final season was postponed to July 2021, and later cancelled with no performances held in the future.[1]

The most recent pageant was written by renowned Latter-day Saint author Orson Scott Card based upon the Bible and the Book of Mormon. The pageant consisted of 10 short stories: The Prophet Lehi; The Visions of Christ; The Building of a Ship; The Voyage to Ancient America; The Burning of Abinadi; The Ministry of Alma, The Prophecy: A Day, a Night and a Day; The Resurrected Christ Appears to Ancient Americans; The Written Word: A Golden Message; The Restoration of Christ's Kingdom.

In 1983, annual attendance to the pageant surpassed 200,000. In 2011, however, attendance dropped to 30,000, while in 2019 — the pageant’s final year of performances — it hosted approximately 42,000.[2]

Reforestation of the Hill Cumorah Historic Site and Other Changes

Missionaries help spread and plant seeds on the Hill Cumorah. Photo: Church News/Linda Christensen

After the closure of the Hill Cumorah Pageant, crews removed all production-related infrastructure, including some 24 structures and thousands of square feet of asphalt and gravel, roads and paths previously placed over the course of the 80-year history of the pageant.

On June 11, 2021, Church Historian and Recorder Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. spoke at the Mormon History Association Conference and detailed the history and usage of the Hill Cumorah. He also gave information about the future plans for the property now that the Hill Cumorah Pageant was no longer being presented. He said the Church would begin a long-term project to both rehabilitate and preserve the sacred site, bringing it closer to resembling what Joseph Smith would have experienced there in the early 1800s.

“In the Church History Department, we are grateful for this opportunity to focus our attention on preserving this sacred historic site so future generations can experience the place where Joseph Smith was carefully tutored and prepared for his prophetic role through repeated angelic visitations,” said Elder Curtis, a General Authority Seventy and the Church historian and recorder.[3]

The project at the Hill Cumorah has three major components, Elder Curtis explained:

• Removing pageant infrastructure and other nonhistorical facilities. (The first action to rehabilitate the Hill Cumorah will involve the removal of 21 nonhistorical buildings and about 400,000 square feet of asphalt and gravel roads, parking areas and pageant paths.)

• Rehabilitating the landscape. (150 trees had been removed for the needs of the pageant. The area will be reforested with thousands of native-tree seeds. “Over time, these seeds will grow into a mature forest, similar to the forest that visitors can now enjoy on other parts of the hill,” Elder Curtis said.)[4]

• Upgrading the messaging of the hill’s historical and sacred significance. (The Church will also create a network of accessible trails. At the central trailhead will be a kiosk providing information about sacred events that occurred on the hill and a map of the trail system. Each trail will ultimately lead visitors to the Angel Moroni Monument at the top of the hill.)[5]

The angel Moroni statue will be regilded and the landscaping of the plaza surrounding the monument refreshed with native plants. Several new exhibits will be installed in the visitors’ center by 2023, in time for the bicentennial of Joseph Smith’s first visit there.)[6]

Back in 1928, Willard Bean assembled a group of missionaries to help plant tens of thousands of trees. A lot of those trees were gradually removed when the needs of the Hill Cumorah Pageant expanded. On Friday, November 11, 2022, 50 missionaries from the New York Syracuse Mission helped spread and plant seeds as part of the regeneration of the Hill Cumorah.

The missionaries planted native tree nuts and seeds, including red and white oak, black walnut, shagbark hickory, sugar and red maples, tulip, and black cherry, instead of saplings, to allow for healthier and more natural growth. Ben Pykles, Church historical sites manager, estimates it will take two or three decades for the new seeds to reach full maturity. “With the seeds going up today, this is really the last phase of the project,” Pykles said. “We might need to do another reseeding in the spring as we watch these trees to see if we are getting the regeneration that we are hoping for.”

The Church hopes the changes to the sacred historic site will provide a more contemplative, reverential experience for visitors. “It took 82 years for the pageant to become what it was,” Pykles said. “It will take 25 to 35 years for this to become what it was meant to be. Planting seeds is an act of faith.”

External Links

• Religious Educator, "Acquiring Cumorah," by Cameron J. Packer
• Joseph Smith - Home
• The Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith
• BBC - Religion & Ethics - The Story of Joseph Smith