The Nephite armies "began to retreat towards the north countries" (Mormon 2:3), but what and where were the north countries? Were the north countries a synonym for "the land northward"? It is interesting to note that at the beginning of his abridgment of the book of Ether, Moroni says, "now I, Moroni, proceed to give an account of those ancient inhabitants who were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country" (Ether 1:1). By saying "this north country," Moroni seems to imply that he was located in the north country, or the place where the Jaredites had been destroyed. The final battle site of the Jaredites (the hill Ramah) was the same final battle site of the Nephites (the hill Cumorah) (Mormon 8:1-4). The fact that Moroni was abridging the record of the Jaredites seems to imply that he had returned to the hill Cumorah, located in "this north country." Mormon himself will record that the Nephite "retreat" ended at the hill Cumorah (Mormon 6:4-11). [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes] [See the commentary for Ether 1:1]
“They Began to Retreat Towards the North Countries”
According to John Sorenson, the cultural connections of the Chiapas area (Sorenson's proposed land of Zarahemla) since A.D. 50 had been primarily to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (proposed narrow neck) and beyond to south-central Veracruz (proposed land northward). That would tie Sorenson's Zarahemla area to Bountiful, and also to Desolation and Cumorah, Mormon's homeland. The Book of Mormon's statements and implications agree with that picture. It was northward to those areas that the Nephites finally retreated (Mormon 2:16-17, 28-29). . . . At the date in question the site of Kaminaljuyu (proposed local land of Nephi) in the Valley of Guatemala was regaining its former glory. It was already coming under the influence of the sprawling metropolis of Teotihuacan in central Mexico, at that moment the most impressive of all Mesoamerican centers. Several explanations have been offered for the developing tie between the two centers. They emphasize Kaminaljuyu's function as a southern trade center for Teotihuacan through which to exploit valuable obsidian deposits nearby. . . . The Lamanites who attacked Mormon's forces in Zarahemla/Chiapas could well have been bearers of highland Guatemalan culture under Teotihuacan stimulation. Moving northward from their base in the land of Nephi, the Lamanite lineage chiefs must have had big ideas about power, their eyes having been opened to the possibilities for conquest by their Teotihuacan teachers and exemplars. They would have been organized and equipped better than former Lamanites had been in their attacks on the hereditary enemy, the Nephites. This picture gets support from the archaeological data at Mirador (proposed area for Angola). [John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, pp. 340-341] [See the commentary on Mormon 2:4 and 2:8]