Helaman 7:10–14 (between 23 and 20 B.C.)

In about 23 B.C., Nephi, son of Helaman, mourned and lamented “upon a tower, which was in the garden of Nephi, which was by the highway which led to the chief market, which was in the city of Zarahemla” (Hel. 7:10). We assume that Nephi was not unlike king Benjamin who had “not sought gold nor silver nor any manner of riches” (Mosiah 2:12) to provide for his substance. If Nephi did not tax his people for his income, we believe the tower he had built would have been simple and probably made of wood, whereas an ostentatious stone tower would have been built at great expense of labor and material. Nephi’s tower, probably a defense structure, could not have been extremely tall because “there were certain men passing by and saw Nephi as he was pouring out his soul unto God upon the tower; and they ran and told the people” that they had seen Nephi bowing “himself upon the tower which was in his garden” (Hel. 7:10–11). Nephi then preaches to the people on the ground from “upon the tower,” implying that the structure was not too tall (Hel. 7:13–29).