In the Book of Mormon, Laman (BoM Arabic لامان Lāmān) was one of the rebellious sons of Lehi and lived around 600 BC. He and his brother Lemuel were ancestors of the Lamanites. Their brother Nephi was the ancestor of the Nephites. Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints edition) The Book of Mormon is a sacred text of Mormonism first published in Palmyra, New York, USA, in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. ... In Latter-day Saint theology, the Arabic language is believed to be one of the contributory source languages of the Book of Mormon, along with Hebrew, Egyptian and also what was described as Syriac and Chaldean, presumed to be contemporary Aramaic and/or Akkadian. ... In the Book of Mormon, Lehi (Hebrew לחי Léḥî / Lāḥî Jawbone; BoM Arabic لاحي Lāḥī) was an ancient prophet who lived around 600 B.C; like all Book of Mormon figures, his existence is not accepted by most non-Latter Day Saints. ... (7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC - other centuries) (600s BC - 590s BC - 580s BC - 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - other decades) (2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium AD) Events Cyrus the Great conquered many... In the Book of Mormon, Lemuel (Hebrew למואל Ləmûʾēl; BoM Arabic لموئيل Lamūīl) was one of the sons of Lehi, and the brother of Laman and Nephi. ... In The Book of Mormon, a Lamanite (BoM Arabic لاماني Lāmānī) is a member of one of three main tribes described in the book. ... According to the Book of Mormon, Nephi (Hebrew נפי Nəp̄î; BoM Arabic نافي Nāfī) was a great prophet and was the son of Lehi, so sometimes called Nephi, son of Lehi. ... In the Book of Mormon, the Nephites (BoM Arabic نافيين Nāfiyyīn) are a people descended from or associated with Nephi, a prophet who traveled with his family from Jerusalem to the Western Hemisphere circa 600 B.C. at the urging of God. ...

Laman was Lehi's first-born son. Despite his privileged status he was a bad example to his younger brothers, rejecting the teachings of his father (in particular his prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem in 600 BC. He and Lemuel persecuted and beat their brothers Sam and Nephi. Because God chose Nephi to lead Lehi's descendants after his death, Laman maintained that he had been robbed of his birthright and tought his children to hate the Nephites, resulting in constant wars between the two peoples for nearly 600 years. Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם Yerushalayim; Arabic: القدس al-Quds; see also names of Jerusalem) is an ancient Middle Eastern city of key importance to the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC - 600s BC - 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC Events and Trends Fall of the Assyrian Empire and Rise of Babylon 609 BC _ King Josiah... The term God is used to designate a Supreme Being; however, there are other definitions of God. ... Primogeniture is inheritance by the first-born of the entirety of a parents wealth, estate or office, or in the absence of children, by collateral relatives in order of seniority of the collateral line. ...

In the Maya language, "laman" means "herdsman." This shows that the Maya must have herded domestic animals, since otherwise they would not have had a word for the concept (and would have borrowed one from Spanish). It is also of interest in relation to the Book of Mormon, since the Lamanites are shown as a pastoral people, and the raising of flocks as their main economic activity. We are not told what animals they raised, but it is claimed that they often stole flocks from each other, even from the king himself (who was often named "Laman" after the founder of the nation).

Lehi tried to influence his son towards a more righteous attitude by naming a river in Arabia after him, and uttering a didactic couplet:

"Oh that thou mayest be like this river, Continually running towards the fountain of all righteousness!"

Unfortunately, rivers in the Arabian desert only flow with water a couple of months (January-February) in the year, during the rainy season. Lehi, from the Jerusalem area, did not know this. So, ironically, Laman proved to be just like the river named after him, but this was not a good thing.