“There Was Another Army of the Lamanites in the Same Place Where the First Army Met the Amlicites”

One has to contemplate the possibility that if “another army of the Lamanites” attacked the Nephites “in the same place where the first army met the Amlicites” (Alma 3:20), then there might have been a regular route that was used in traveling from the land of Nephi (where the Lamanites presumably came from) into the general area of the land of Zarahemla. This might have been the same route that Mosiah₁, Ammon & Limhi, and Alma₁ all came down. John Sorenson notes here that there is no mention of the land of Manti--it is first mentioned six years later (Alma 16:6). Therefore, according to him, the land of Manti might have been settled in part as an early warning trigger for Nephite defenses against these Lamanite thrusts into Nephite territory (A Source Book, p. 232). Whatever the case, the Lamanites came originally to join with the Amlicites in Minon, and then they came again a second time to attack once more, apparently along the same route. This route might have been a common route from the land of Nephi to the land of Zarahemla. [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See Geographical Theory Maps]