Alma 2:29-38

29 And it came to pass that Alma fought with Amlici with the sword, face to face; and they did contend mightily, one with another.

30 And it came to pass that Alma, being a man of God, being exercised with much faith, cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people.

31 Now when Alma had said these words he contended again with Amlici; and he was strengthened, insomuch that he slew Amlici with the sword.

32 And he also contended with the king of the Lamanites; but the king of the Lamanites fled back from before Alma and sent his guards to contend with Alma.

33 But Alma, with his guards, contended with the guards of the king of the Lamanites until he slew and drove them back.

34 And thus he cleared the ground, or rather the bank, which was on the west of the river Sidon, throwing the bodies of the Lamanites who had been slain into the waters of Sidon, that thereby his people might have room to cross and contend with the Lamanites and the Amlicites on the west side of the river Sidon.

35 And it came to pass that when they had all crossed the river Sidon that the Lamanites and the Amlicites began to flee before them, notwithstanding they were so numerous that they could not be numbered.

36 And they fled before the Nephites towards the wilderness which was west and north, away beyond the borders of the land; and the Nephites did pursue them with their might, and did slay them.

37 Yea, they were met on every hand, and slain and driven, until they were scattered on the west, and on the north, until they had reached the wilderness, which was called Hermounts; and it was that part of the wilderness which was infested by wild and ravenous beasts.

38 And it came to pass that many died in the wilderness of their wounds, and were devoured by those beasts and also the vultures of the air; and their bones have been found, and have been heaped up on the earth.

Alma 2:29-38

The battle between Alma’s forces and Amlici’s forces continue.  It finally came down to a battle between Alma and Amlici.

We don’t know how the battle went, but at some point, Alma “cried, saying: O Lord, have mercy and spare my life, that I may be an instrument in thy hands to save and preserve this people.”  Alma was strengthened and defeated Amlici by killing him. 

When we later read that Alma fought with Amlici in hand-to-hand battle (see Alma 2:31), we could wonder what his thoughts might have been. Alma had once been like Amlici (compare Mosiah 27:8, 19 with Alma 2:1–2), and had Alma remained that way, Amlici might have rebelled even more successfully—since there might not have been a righteous man like Alma to stop him. Both men began life on a similar path, and they continued on it until they made a crucial choice to continue or change.[1] 

After killing Amlici, Alma began to battle the Lamanite king.  Alma was successful, and the king ran away, leaving his guards to contend with Alma and his guards.  The Lamanites were defeated and withdrew.

The bodies of the Lamanites were thrown into the river Sidon.  This gave the Nephites a path to pursue the fleeing Lamanite and Amlicite army.  Even though the enemy army “were so numerous that they could not be numbered,” when they saw the pursuing Nephite army, they ran away.

The Nephites caught up with the fleeing army and killed many of them.  They were chased to an area in the wilderness, called Hermounts.  This is a strange name.  Hugh Nibley explains:

We have always thought that the oddest and most disturbing name in the Book of Mormon was Hermounts, since there is nothing either Classical or Oriental about it. So we avoided it, until not long ago a student from Saudi Arabia asked point blank what the funny word was. Well, what does the Book of Mormon say it is? Hermounts in the Book of Mormon is the wild country of the borderlands, the hunting grounds … The equivalent of such a district in Egypt is Hermonthis, the land of Month, the Egyptian Pan—the god of wild places and things. Hermounts and Hermonthis are close enough to satisfy the most exacting philologist.[2]

This area was filled with wild beasts.  Those that died in the wilderness were consumed by the wild beasts.  Mormon tells us their bones were found “and heaped up on the earth.”

We can comfortably accept the historical information that the Nephites were victorious and drove the Lamanites out of their land. However, the final description is the interesting one. Mormon suggests that the Lamanites were lost in the wilderness and had been attacked by wild animals. His evidence is that “their bones have been found.” The fact that bones and not bodies were found is also probable history. However, that the bones were of those particular Lamanites is most likely simply a satisfying end to the story.[3]

Brant Gardner sums up this situation.

Another example from secular history makes this point: modern disruptive groups such as Communists and Nazis have a tendency to continue to linger, regroup, transform themselves, or reappear in various forms. So too in the Book of Mormon. Just when we think we have heard the last of the Amlicites in Alma 2:36–38 or of the Amulonites in Alma 25:4–9, we find out they are still around in Alma 21:2 and 43:13. Again, as regards the historicity of the Book of Mormon, this is how real history often seems to work.[4]

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[1] Alma's Enemies: The Case of the Lamanites, Amlicites, and Mysterious Amalekites, J. Christopher Conkling, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 21, 2015.

[2] Since Cumorah – Strange Things Strangely Told, Hugh Nibley, accessed January 21, 2015.

[3] Mormon's Editorial Method and Meta-Message, Brant A. Gardner, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 21, 2015.

[4] Alma's Enemies: The Case of the Lamanites, Amlicites, and Mysterious Amalekites, J. Christopher Conkling, Maxwell Institute, accessed January 21, 2015.