Sherrizah is referenced in the context of the terminal stage of the Nephite-Lamanite wars documented in the Book of Mormon. Described only briefly in a letter from Mormon to his son Moroni, Sherrizah is associated with a ‘tower,’ although the nature of the tower, whether a structural edifice or a geographical feature, is not disclosed. It is mentioned that during this late phase of conflict, the Lamanites captured many Nephite men, women, and children at the tower of Sherrizah, subjecting them to unspeakable atrocities (Moroni 9:7).
The grim details recounted by Mormon include the men being slain, and the surviving women and children being forced into cannibalism, having to consume the flesh of their husbands and fathers. Additionally, it is conveyed that numerous widows and their daughters remained in Sherrizah, struggling to find sustenance after the invading Lamanites, followed by a Nephite army led by Zenephi, had carried away what little provisions remained (Moroni 9:16-17). This dire account is compounded by the revelation that Mormon’s own army was both diminished and hindered from providing aid, as the Lamanite forces were interposed between Sherrizah and his position. These passages encapsulate a bleak scene of warfare, suffering, and the breakdown of societal structures within the Nephite nation, symptomatic of the broader decline and eventual downfall of Nephite civilization.