Geography/Culture: As I have reconstructed Zarahemla’s political system (see “Excursus: Nephite Political Geography,” following Alma 5), it was a polity consisting of at least seven cities, each with its own government but part of an alliance headed by Zarahemla. This basic model had taken shape in Mesoamerica for this period; it will become both better developed and also more widespread during the next several hundred years, according to the now-translatable texts on the Maya monuments. This picture of mostly independent cities in a loose confederation is confirmed by Moroni. The fact that he “sent forth in all the parts of the land where there were dissensions” confirms that some parts had no dissensions. We would not expect any, for example, in Jershon or Gideon.
The land of Zarahemla was apparently exhibiting regionalized trends toward the larger society’s monarchies and hierarchies. While specific locations are not always given, Ammonihah, site of an earlier dissension was northwest of Zarahemla. From the archaeological record, other downriver sites would have been involved. Sorenson ascribes this rising monarchical desire to descendants of the pre-Mosiah Zarahemlaites whom Mosiah and the Nephites superseded.