Geography: A three days’ journey was relatively long considering that the distance from sea to sea was a day, to a day and a half’s journey (Hel. 4:7, Alma 22:32). The general topography would locate Ammonihah downstream from Zarahemla along the River Sidon. Sorenson suggests:
The route taken by Alma from Melek ran “on the north” parallel to the mountain wilderness on his left. Beyond it lay a narrow coastal strip. During his three-day trip he seems not to have gone through any settlement worth mentioning. Since he was an older man by this time, we should not suppose he would cover in three days more than 50 or 60 miles. From the Frailesca [a major settlement area in Chiapas] such a trip would have brought him to the archaeological site of Mirador, a major regional center of western Chiapas from Jaredite times until after the Nephites disappeared. Its 30 major mounds are impressively concentrated in an area about 400 meters on each side. This place was prominent enough to justify the pride of the Ammonihahites in its importance (Alma 9:4). Its cultural connections with the Zarahemla/Santa Rosa area were definite though not intimate, the same type of relationship implied in the Ammonihah people’s guardedly hostile response to Alma’s message (Alma 8:11–12).
Sorenson’s speculation on the relationship between archaeological sites deserves further comment. While it is difficult to know about political alliances in this period preceding widespread implementation of the Maya glyphic writing system, we may infer that relationship from the later period. They became, as the Book of Mormon describes, rather loose alliances in which cities have individual autonomy with a more or less voluntary affiliation with a “central” city. This is the type of relationship that Ammonihah had with Zarahemla.
The archaeological evidence shows some stylistic similarities in pottery suggesting that the two sites (Mirador-Ammonihah and Santa Rosa-Zarahemla) shared the same general cultural milieu but not necessarily a complete overlap that might be indicated by greater exchange of material goods or greater stylistic similarities. In other words, the archaeological relationship fits into both a Mesoamerican and Book of Mormon political style. On the other hand, El Mirador is a much more significant site than Santa Rosa. From the archaeological evidence alone it is difficult to imagine El Mirador as submitting to any other site of the time. The general correlation of the Book of Mormon to this region fits well, but the association with specific sites is still speculative.
Variant: The printer’s manuscript originally had the city’s name as “Ammonidah,” (also Alma 8:7–9, 8:14, 16). At Alma 9:9 this spelling was changed to Ammonihah, then carried through in corrections to the printer’s manuscript and for the first printing in 1830. Skousen examined the variation and concluded that Oliver had been the scribe for all occurrences of “Ammonihah” in the original manuscript. When Oliver was the scribe for the printer’s manuscript, he spelled the name “Ammonihah.” Only in scribe 2’s hand do we have the variant spelling “Ammonidah.” The conclusion is that “Ammonihah” is the correct spelling.