Material matters

Kinds of things in the Book of Mormon world: tents, swords, coins, crops, buildings.

❮ All matters

• Agricultural Tools — Implements for cultivating, harvesting, and processing crops
• Poisonous Serpents — Jaredite serpents that poisoned people and altered migration routes
• Elephant — Valuable Jaredite herd animal
• Cureloms — Unidentified Jaredite beast with elephants
• Cumom — Unidentified Jaredite beast useful to man
• Monster of The Sea — Great sea creature in Jaredite crossing
• Whale — Deep-sea creature in Jaredite voyage
• Barges — Small, light watercraft used for crossing waters
• Birds — Generic fowls carried and caught by the Jaredites
• Containers — Vessels used to hold and carry substances
• Graves — Burial places and patriarchal idioms
• Fine Pearls — Luxury ornaments in Nephite decline
• Pits — Dug excavations used for confinement, destruction, and escape attempts
• Window — Architectural opening and figure for blessing
• Figs — Fruit used in Christ’s comparison of true and false sources
• Serpents — Serpent imagery in Christ’s teachings
• Swine — Jaredite food animal and Christ’s proverb
• Salt — Savoring mineral and covenant emblem
• Torches — Handheld lights extinguished by the three days of darkness
• Candle — Lit source of light named during the great darkness
• Whirlwinds — Violent rotating winds that carry people away at the destruction
• Lightning — Electrical flashes named in the physical destruction at Christ's death
• Darkness — Physical absence of light in the Book of Mormon world
• Highways and Roads — Cast-up roads linking Nephite cities
• Thunder — Atmospheric sound accompanying storms and catastrophe
• Rain — Precipitation affecting crops, famine, and sea travel
• Cloak — Outer garment in law and crime
• Door — Hinged entryway in dwellings and metaphor
• Gardens — Walled enclosures of cultivation
• Nephite Gold and Silver Idols — Idols built from Nephite wealth in apostasy
• Cement — Building material in the land northward
• Epistles — Written letters exchanged among Nephite, Lamanite, and Jaredite leaders
• Daytime Heat — Heat of the day as a material condition in a wartime camp
• Defensive Ditches — Excavated barriers surrounding Nephite fortifications
• Coat — Garment used in civic emblem and teaching
• Camps — Temporary military encampments and their guarded overnight quarters
• Armshield — Arm-mounted defense in Moroni’s reforms
• Head Plate — Helmet-like armor from Moroni’s reforms
• Pole — Pole for Moses’ brazen serpent
• Zoramite Dumb Idols — Cult objects before which Zoramites bowed
• Hills — Lower natural elevations used for travel, teaching, refuge, and battle
• Streets — Public urban thoroughfares and teaching spaces
• Waters — Generic bodies of water in travel, conflict, and settlement
• Precious Stones — Gemstone wealth desired alongside gold and silver
• Health and Disease — Bodily illness, healing, and the natural conditions that affect them
• Antion — Gold piece equal to three shiblons
• Leah — Smallest Nephite silver fraction
• Shiblum — Silver fraction worth half a shiblon
• Shiblon — Silver piece worth half a senum
• Ezrom — Silver piece worth four senums
• Onti — Largest named Nephite silver piece
• Shum — Gold piece worth four senines
• Limnah — Largest named Nephite gold piece
• Seon — Gold piece worth twice a senine
• Nephite Currency — Named pieces of gold and silver in the Nephite reckoning
• Senum — Base silver piece equal to a senine
• Senine — Base gold piece equal to a senum
• Bread — Ordinary prepared food served in a Nephite household
• Amnor — Silver piece worth two senums
• Villages — Small settlements distinguished from larger cities and towns
• Armor — Protective war gear worn or carried in armed conflict
• Thistles — Thorny weed in Abinadi's prophecy and Christ's fruit saying
• Insects — Crop-destroying pests in Abinadi’s warning to Noah’s people
• Pestilence — Widespread deadly affliction named among covenant judgments
• Dogs — Carrion animals and a proverb figure in Book of Mormon passages
• Vultures — Scavenging birds that consume the fallen after violence
• Breastwork — Defensive timber rampart of Nephite cities
• Royal Thrones — Literal seats and emblems of earthly kingship
• Fatlings — Fattened livestock among Nephite wealth
• Club — Bludgeon used by Lamanite herdsmen
• Sheum — An unidentified cultivated seed named in Zeniff’s colony
• Wheat — Old World cereal planted by Zeniffites
• Neas — An unidentified cultivated seed named in Zeniff’s colony
• Instruments of Translation — Prepared stones by which records of ancient date are read
• Rust — Corrosion on the recovered Jaredite sword blades
• Breastplate — Torso armor of Nephite and Jaredite armies
• Bones — Skeletal remains found after battle and ancient destruction
• Corn — Cereal staple of Nephite agriculture
• Barley — Cereal grain cultivated by Nephites
• Grain — Cultivated cereal crops measured, harvested, and paid as tribute
• Famine — Widespread want of food as historical crisis and covenant chastening
• Weapons — Implements made and carried for armed conflict
• Darts — Throwing weapon in Jarom’s Nephite arsenal
• Machinery — Nephite mechanical works alongside buildings and craftsmanship
• Javelin — Throwing spear in Jaredite craft and Teancum’s raids
• Cities — Built urban settlements, distinct from named geographic places
• Axe — Hafted blade in Lamanite weapon trio
• Cimeter — Curved sword of Nephite and Lamanite armies
• Lamanite Tents — Wilderness dwellings of Lamanite communities
• Fine Apparel — Costly clothing of Nephite pride
• Shield — Hand-held defense in Nephite warfare
• Sanctuary — Nephite worship house alongside temples and synagogues
• Synagogues — Nephite assembly houses built like Jewish synagogues
• Palaces — Royal residences of Book of Mormon kings
• Satyrs — Mythic dancing creatures in Isaiah’s oracle of desolation
• Owls — Nocturnal birds inhabiting Isaiah’s desolated city
• Roe — Fleeing deer in Isaiah's oracle against fallen Babylon
• Asp — Venomous serpent rendered harmless in Isaiah's peaceful-kingdom oracle
• Cockatrice — Venomous serpent in Isaiah prophecy
• Bear — Wild predator in Isaiah’s vision
• Wolves — Predators used in sheepfold and false-prophet figures
• Leopard — Predator reconciled with the kid in Isaiah’s peace vision
• Mattock — Digging and cultivating implement named in Isaiah’s hill-country image
• Cattle — Nephite wealth in domestic herds
• Valleys — Low landforms contrasted with mountains in prophecy and upheaval
• Pools — Pools of water in Isaiah’s desolation oracle
• Teil Tree — Tree named beside the oak in Isaiah's remnant oracle
• Tongs — Implement used to take the live coal from Isaiah’s altar
• Lions — Isaianic judgment and peaceful-kingdom lions
• Lambs — Literal and Isaiah-quoted sacrificial lambs
• Briers — Thorny scrub vegetation in Isaiah’s desolation imagery
• Thorns — Thorn-bearing vegetation in Isaiah and Jesus’s agricultural images
• Towers — Elevated structures for defense and proclamation
• Grapes — Vineyard fruit used in prophetic and moral comparisons
• Wine-Press — Grape press in the vineyard allegory
• Gates — Civic gates of Nephite and Zeniffite cities
• Girdle — Isaianic figure of readiness and virtue
• Bracelet — Ornamental wrist jewelry of pride
• Ornaments — Isaianic finery and Nephite pride
• Mole — Burrowing animal to which cast-off idols are given in Isaiah
• Bat — Creature to which cast-off idols are given in Isaiah's oracle
• Chariots — Horse-drawn conveyances in royal, Nephite, and prophetic settings
• Spear — Thrusting weapon of Nephite warriors
• Fortification — Nephite defensive works of earth and timber
• Idols — Idolatry of Lamanites and Nephite dissenters
• Dragon — Isaianic creature and Nephite simile
• Moths — Garment-corrupting moth in Christ’s treasure teaching
• Worms — Earth and decay creatures in Isaiah and the Jaredite final war
• Sackcloth — Garment of mourning and repentance
• Rivers — Flowing inland waters in travel, settlement, and prophetic imagery
• Fish — Water creatures used as food and in Christ’s teaching
• Temples — Nephite houses of God after Solomon’s temple
• Materials — Physical substances worked into Book of Mormon objects and buildings
• Buildings — Enclosed structures for dwelling, worship, governance, and work
• Herds — Managed aggregate livestock, distinguished from flocks
• Flocks — Herded livestock in Nephite and Jaredite economies
• Tents — Portable shelters for camps and gatherings
• Sheep — Flock animal in Nephite and Christ imagery
• Calves — Young cattle used in growth and deliverance figures
• Smoke — Atmospheric vapor accompanying fire and destruction
• Quiver — Arrow case in Isaiah’s Servant Song
• Furnace — Fire enclosure in affliction images and deliverance accounts
• Isles — Islands and sea-bound lands in scattering and gathering prophecy
• Plates — Metal tablets used for engraved records
• Forests — Wooded natural terrain used for hunting, concealment, and settlement
• Animals — Creatures kept, hunted, or encountered in the Book of Mormon
• Ores — Mineral-bearing rock extracted and refined for metalwork
• Wild Goat — Untamed goat in Nephite lands
• Horse — Chariot animal of Nephite and Lamanite courts
• Iron — Hard metal for tools and God’s word
• ox — Draft animal in Nephite and Jaredite herds
• Copper — Native metal for tools and armor
• Ass — Beast of burden among Nephite livestock
• Goat — Domestic herd animal raised by Nephites and Jaredites
• Cow — Domestic bovine in promised land
• Plants — Living vegetation used for food, medicine, timber, and cultivation
• Winds — Air that drives ships, calms, and contributes to storms
• Tempests — Violent storms of wind and water in travel, prophecy, and catastrophe
• Provisions — Stored and transported supplies of food for travel, settlement, and war
• Meat — Animal food used as wilderness provisions and household fare
• Timber — Construction wood for Nephite projects
• Fiery Flying Serpents — Judgment-plague serpents in Israelite scripture and Isaiah’s oracle
• Fire — Combustion used for heat, light, and metalwork
• Animal Skins and Leather — Processed hides used for bellows, protective garments, and girdles
• Bellows — Animal-skin bellows Nephi made for smelting
• Tools — Implements for construction, cultivation, and animal work
• Ship — General term for sea-going vessels
• Shores — Coastal margins used for landing, settlement, travel, and battle
• Sea — Great body of salt water encountered in migration and scripture
• Bees — Jaredite swarmed honey-producing insects
• Honey — Wild sweet substance at Bountiful
• Raw Meat — Uncooked flesh as sustenance and savagery
• Milk — Sustaining beverage and emblem of salvation
• Roots and Herbs — Wild plants for food and medicine
• Wild Beasts — Unspecified wild animals hunted, feared, or encountered in wildernesses
• Wood — Raw material for Nephite construction
• Stone Sling — Projectile weapon of hunters and armies
• Slings — Hand-held projectile weapons used with stones for hunting and combat
• Food — Nourishment gathered, prepared, shared, and supplied
• Arrow — Projectile for hunting and war
• Bow — Ranged weapon of hunters and warriors
• Silk — Silk as a symbol of wealth and pride
• Linen — Fine-twined linen in Nephite society
• Plains — Broad level ground used for travel, battle, and prophetic destruction
• Earthquakes — Quakings and rending of the earth in prophetic warning and catastrophe
• Mountains — High natural landforms in vision, refuge, and divine power imagery
• Sandals — Footwear with latchet unworthy to unloose
• White Robe — Luminous garment of celestial beings
• Seeds — Planting stock carried, preserved, and sown for subsistence
• Fruits — Literal harvest of Nephite records
• Cords — Ropes for binding and spiritual captivity
• Prisons — Confinement places across Nephite, Lamanite, and Jaredite eras
• Houses — Dwellings of Nephite and Lamanite families
• Records — Preserved written accounts, chiefly engraved on plates
• Apparel — Clothing and adornment worn for protection, status, and identity
• Steel — Hardened metal for weapons and tools
• Wine — Fermented drink in feasts, households, and military stratagems
• Walls — Enclosing barriers of ancient cities
• Caves — Natural rock shelters used as refuges
• Treasures — Valuable material goods, especially gold, silver, and precious things
• Brass — Copper-tin alloy for records and ornament
• Altar — Stone offering-place of Mosaic continuity
• Stone — Natural rock used in altars, tools, weapons, and construction
• Gold — Precious metal for coinage and ornament
• Silver — Precious metal for coinage and wealth
• Wilderness — Unsettled land of travel, testing, subsistence, and divine provision
• Swords — War blade of Nephite, Lamanite, and Jaredite armies
• Astronomy — Heavenly bodies and celestial events