CORIANTON

Lehite PN

Son of Alma II, ca. 74 BC (Alma 31:7; 63:10)

Because of the -nt- consonant cluster, it would be difficult to propose a West Semitic etymology. There are, however, plenty of final yod stems in the Semitic languages to allow for the root, “cori,” for instance, Old Akkadian gārium, “opponent, enemy” (Gelb, 119), in PN Gari’, Ga-ri’-um from the time of Sargon and Ur III (JAT). Also a middle weak stem g/k/qūr could fit. Because the name appears exclusively in the Nephite record and was given by Alma the Elder to his son, I think the name must be Nephite, even though it could be related to the exclusively Jaredite PNs Coriantum, Coriantor, and the Jaredite/Nephite name Coriantumr. There is also the question of whether or not Alma would have been conversant enough with the Jaredite onomasticon to give one of his sons a Jaredite name (See the discussion in the introduction about Jaredite names entering the Nephite onomasticon.).

It has been suggested that the name may have something to do with lion cub, cf. Hebrew gūr, and would parallel his brother’s name, “Shiblon,” from Arabic šibl, “lion cub.” But “Shiblon” is also a Jaredite PN. This suggestion would make Alma the Elder, who in his youth was “a very wicked and an idolatrous man” (Mosiah 27:8), worshipping the lion (jaguar) god (BU in NPSEHA 150.0 [Aug. 1982], also Ensign, Mar. 1978, p. 76. and New Era, June 1983, pp. 40–41). If true, this would imply that Alma’s conversion took place after the birth of his sons. The same author believes that feline names such as Coriantor/ Corianton/ Coriantum/ Coriantumr, Shiblom/n, and Moriancumer, indicate worship of the jaguar by the Jaredites and by the priests of Noah, of whom Alma the Elder was one. Arlene Robinson prefers to believe that the feline names refer to Jesus Christ, the “Lion of Judah.” One fact mitigates against this position of feline worship, i.e., the name of the brother of Jared—hardly a pagan–was Mahonri Moriancumer, thus containing the element (Moriancumer) which according to the theory translates as “beloved of the life of the leopard” (JAT). A second problem is that the priests of Noah claim to teach the law of Moses (Mosiah 12:28), which would also mitigate against any worship of a feline God, unless the feline somehow represented the God of the Old Testament.

Cf. Book of Mormon CORIANTUM, CORIANTUMR, CORIHOR, MORIANTUM, CORIANTOR, MORIANCUMER, et al. (?)