HERMOUNTS

HERMOUNTS

Lehite GN		Wilderness, ca. ___ (Alma 2:37)

A Hebrew and an Egyptian etymology are possible. Biblical Mount Herman, if the -ts and the change in vowel quality can be accounted for, seems the most likely source. 
Nibley has suggested the Egyptian district Hermonthis, the land of Mont, the Egyptian Pan, god of wild places and things. The Book of Mormon land is the wild borderland 
country “infested by wild and ravenous beasts” (Alma 2:37) and thus fits the name (SC, 192). However, the name Hermonthis is the Greek rendering from the Coptic 
armant, which itself comes from the Egyptian pr-mnt, “house of Mont.” Since Lehi would not have had access to Greek renderings of Coptic GNs, and since the Egyptian 
GN could hardly have been the source for Hermounts, this Egyptian etymology is doubtful (RFS).

Cf. Manti.