Geography: Mormon gives us a general geographical/political overview, the basic Nephite map. Like virtually all peoples, the Nephites position themselves at the center, giving directions relative to their own position. Thus, the “land south” is south of the land of the Nephites, etc. However, Mormon departs from the usual custom of designating this territory “the land of Nephi” and instead calls it the land of “Lehi.” This nomenclature allows Mormon to include both the Lamanite and Nephite inheritance in the land southward. These were the lands of “first inheritance,” those at which Lehi1 arrived with his family. The Nephites had abandoned this territory when Mosiah1 fled from the city of Nephi.
Mormon defines the land northward as the land of Mulek, where Mulek and his people arrived. This region should not be confused with the land of Zarahemla, where Mosiah1 met Mulek’s descendants. The land of Mulek is farther down the river valley and just over the line understood as the narrow neck of land. It is the first region in the land northward, or the land of Desolation, which describes the ancient Jaredite homeland.
Why is Mormon recording this particular piece of information at this point? I suggest that he is focusing his narrative attention toward the lands northward. By naming it “Mulek,” he links it to the ancestor of those who later inhabited Zarahemla. Thus, he calls the reader’s attention to the ancestors of the Zarahemlaites, probably because he wants to strengthen the cultural/linguistic connections of the early Mulekites with the remnants of the Jaredites. This cultural/linguistic focus on that region of the land northward will continue to be important through the end of the Book of Mormon.