Chapter I - Coriantumr the Renegade
And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust; for I know their faith. – Joseph in Egypt
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In the year 51 BC Coriantumr led an army into the heart of Zarahemla. He was in the service of the Lamanite king, Tubaloth. The Nephite armies were deployed at the frontiers. So by driving into the heart of the country and moving with great speed, Coriantumr met little opposition. He took possession of the capital, the city of Zarahemla, and killed everyone that opposed him. The city he conquered was well known to Coriantumr. He was born in Zarahemla. He was a dissenter; a renegade who fought with the Lamanites against his own people. He also had a royal lineage. He was descended from the last Mulekite king, Zarahemla, for whom the region was named.
This connection was probably through one of Zarahemla’s daughters. There is no mention of the last Mulekite king having sons. If he had, they probably would have inherited leadership of his kingdom instead of the prophet Mosiah. Through Zarahemla, Coriantumr was descended from Zedikiah, the King of Judah and though Zedikiah from David, the King of Israel.
Coriantumr was also named after the last king of the once powerful Jaredite nation. Centuries later, scholars would wonder if Coriantumr the renegade and Coriantumr the king had more in common than a name. It was suggested that Coriantumr, the last Jaredite king, may have taken wives and fathered children while he lived with the Mulekites; the ancestors of the people of Zarahemla. This opinion was shared by at least one prominent historian.
Coriantumr did not pause long in the city of Zarahemla before marching northward against the region of Bountiful. Nevertheless, on the way north, Coriantumr’s army was surrounded by Nephite soldiers, who had returned from the frontier under the leadership of Moronihah. In a bloody battle the Lamanites were defeated and Coriantumr was killed. The war ended and the surviving Lamanites were allowed to depart in peace to their own country.
Coriantumr’s death was a blow to Tubaloth. He had held the Nephite renegade in high regard. It was rare for a Nephite to be given command of a Lamanite army and was a tribute to Coriantumr’s ability. Before he died, Coriantumr would have had ample opportunity to take Lamanite wives and sire children with them. If he really was a descendant of the last Jaredite king through a direct paternal line, his sons would perpetuate a Y-chromosome that had once come close to extinction. Furthermore, this ancient American lineage would provide an important link between the Jaredites and Lehi’s descendents.
In 1996 AD a group of Stanford researchers led by Peter Underhill, PhD calculated the age of a Native American Y chromosome mutation. The mutation was a CàT transition at nucleotide position 181 of the DYS199 locus. It defined the male lineage group known today as Q1a3a or Q-M3. This lineage group is important because a majority of American Indians belong to it. Furthermore, it is virtually unique to Native Americans. Using a generation length of 27 years and an observed mutation rate of 21 per 10,000, the age of this lineage group was calculated at 2147 years before present (BP). This indicated that most American Indians are descended from a single male ancestor who lived 2147 years before 1996; about 151 BC.
‘Now hold on just a minute’, Angelo said; interrupting his uncle. ‘I have never heard this before. If Scientists discovered that most American Indians descended from a guy who lived in 151 BC, that would be big, big news. It would be huge. I would surely have caught it on the nightly news or the discovery channel or something.’
Girard smiled.
