Nephi's Bow and Arrows a direct hit for the Book of Mormon

Nephi Hunting

This is a subject that I recently did a smaller post on in my other blog peculiar people illustrations but the whole idea behind it originated due to an article posted on the Neal A. Maxwell Institute by William J. Hamblin entitled, "Nephi's Bow's and Arrow's".  In this article William Hamblin points out that wording used by Nephi in 1Nephi 16:23, when he said, "I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow." gives added authenticity to the Book of Mormon.  The reason this works so well as evidence for authenticity is because we know that Nephi had a steel bow or at least a steel ribbed bow that would have required heavier and stiffer arrows.  Nephi mentions that his bow broke and that his brothers bows lost their spring but he never mentions anything in regards to breaking his arrows.  But in the above quoted scripture he makes a direct reference to the fact that he not only made a bow out of wood but an arrow out of a straight stick.  This is important because his heavier and stiffer arrows would not have worked well with his newly made wooden bow and would have either caused it to loose power just due to the weight or stray of course because of the stiffness.

The idea that a farmboy in the early 1800's would have had any idea about the weight and stiffness of bows and arrows and would have been keen enough to mention the need for new arrows without mentioning that the old one had ever been broke would seem to be unrealistic because archery as a sport as pointed out by Hamblin did not appear until the later half of the 19th century .  One more bullseye for the Book of Mormon.  Below I have included a direct link to the Neal A. Maxwell Institute article by William Hamblin.

http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=71&chapid=777

Ammon and the ancient practice of the cutting of arms

Mural by Diego Rivera

So this is just a quick post that was inspired by an article that I read on the Neal A. Maxwell Institute by Bruce H. Yerman (Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Volume - 8, Issue - 1, Pages: 44-47,Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 1999) entitled, "Ammon and the Mesoamerican Custom of Smiting Off Arms".  In this article Bruce explains that the custom of smiting off your opponents arms not only rendered him useless in battle  but also made for good trophies so to speak and later bragging rights.  This was a practice that was had among the Pre-Spanish Aztecs.  It was one of the ways that one could advance beyond social status and advancement of their own parents by showing their ability as a warrior and spirited fighter by displaying their opponents arms or other limbs as proof of this fighting accomplishments.

Bruce then points out that there are a few places where this practice is acknowledged in our time.  One of the places where this practice is displayed was on the wall murals painted in Mexico's National Palace by the skilled artist Diego Rivera.  In the mural it shows what looks to be a tattooed prostitute tempting many men whom are displaying gifts and other items in hopes of pleasing her.  One man whom is obviously a warrior is displaying the arm of a white man whom he more than likely defeated in battle.  Mr. Yerman states this gift was considered comparable to a piece of fine jewelry. 

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Other Aztec artwork goes as far as depicting people actually eating portions of the arms or hands and drinking the blood as some sort of ancient practice.  For similar incidents that date back even farther Bruce points to a traditional story told in the Popol Vuh which ironically is the sacred book of the Quiché Maya of highland Guatemala a place that many scholars take as the Land of Nephi from the Book of Mormon.  Bruce
points out that "At one point the Popol Vuh reports a fight between hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, and the god Seven Macaw. Hidden in a tree, Hunahpu shoots Seven Macaw with his blowgun. As the twin seeks to escape, Seven Macaw twists and tears an arm off Hunahpu's body. "And when Seven Macaw had taken the arm of Hunahpu, he went home . . . then he hung up the arm of Hunahpu,"7 most probably as a token of his victory."

Ammon defending the kings flocks

The practice of the cutting off of arms as a sign of accomplishment takes place in the Book of Mormon at the "waters of Sebus" where the Lamanites go to water their flocks.  As pointed out by Hugh Nibley apparently there were games of chivalry where other Lamanites would scatter each others flocks in a manner of looting also as a status symbol.  When Ammon a Nephite missionary was allowed to be a servant to King Lamoni and assist his other servants with watering his flocks a group of Lamanites scattered their flocks.  In seeing that the other servants feared for their lives he helped them gather up the flocks and defended them from the would be thieves by slaying 6 with stones and a sling and killing one with his sword.  During all this commotion any of the aggressors who attempted to attack him with their ceremonial clubs had their arms cut off.  As a token of this accomplishment the kings servants took the arms as evidence of Ammons power and displayed them before King Lamoni which eventually lead to his opportunity to teach the gospel to the king and his people and lead to the converting of thousands. 

As we can see this practice has been verified through ancient practice.  Bruce H. Yerman gave other examples in his excellent article which can be found on the this link.
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=8&num=1&id=183

Once again we find that instead of looking for the Book of Mormon in Mesoamerica when we look for Mesoamerica in the Book of Mormon these stories gain added validation. 

Chocolate Wine in the Book of Mormon?

Wicked King Noah the wine bibber

I think that some of my fascination in regards to the Book of Mormon began upon realizing there were numerous things that I read through multiple times that technically wouldn’t make sense happening in a Mesoamerican setting and somehow never seemed to set off any alarms to me.  Once I started hearing of a few of these and seeing how they actually do fit in with a Mesoamerican setting for the Book of Mormon I became “addicted” to this type of research, which I think is a perfect description in regards to this blog post

The Book of Mormon speaks of the use of wine in many instances, including in Mosiah when wicked King Noah built wine-presses to make wine in abundance and became a wine bibber and also his people (Mosiah 11:5).  Or in his son Limhi’s escape from the Lamanites when they paid their taxed tribute of wine in order for the Lamanite guards to become drunk allowing the people of Limhi to escape through a back route according to the plan of Gideon.  This use of paying tribute with wine was attempted many times including from the Lamanites to the Nephites without success according to Alma 55:30.

Now I have read the Book of Mormon more times than I have fingers and probably toes as well but for some reason it never struck me that it would be hard to produce wine in Mesoamerica due to the challenge of growing grapes or olives, but apparently this is the case and has been a key issue with the anti-Mormon crowd.  Dr. Michael Coe the famous Mesoamerican archeologist and anthropologist noted that in the Book of Mormon there was no mention of cacao or chocolate which raised a flag because of its known heavy use in ancient Mesoamerica.  At a first glance Dr. Coe would be right but when we actually take the time dig into the text we can see that this isn’t actually the case. 

Ripe cacao tree

In a somewhat recent study done by Cornell professor of anthropology John Henderson and his colleagues they found traces of caffeine and theobromine, an alkaloid similar to caffeine but specific to cacao, in 11 shards dated to 1100 B.C.  According to Patrick McGovern Scientific Director of Biomolecular Archeology at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia:

“We, and by we I’m also including fellow-scientist Jeff Hurst at Hershey Chocolate, analyzed pottery sherds belonging to long-necked jars. Such vessels from Honduras are among some of the earliest pottery yet found anywhere in Mesoamerica, dating back to around 1400 B.C. They preceded the first urban communities of the Olmecs, centered on the Gulf Coast of what are now Mexico’s Veracruz and Tabasco provinces.

Vessels of the long-necked jar type from Puerto Escondido tested positive for theobromine, which is the fingerprint compound for cacao since the compound only occurs in chocolate fruit and beans in Mesoamerica. The style of the vessel was another give-away or advertisement of its contents–it had the shape and characteristic ridges and indentations of the cacao fruit. What we propose, based on the chemical and archaeological evidence, is that the jar was once filled with a fermented chocolate beverage made from ripe chocolate fruit.”

drawing of ancient  cacao-wine
vessel used to add froth

The use of this cacao based chocolate wine was common in the Olmec and Mayan times and continued even to the Aztecs who knew this formula as the drink of the Gods.  As pointed out by Jeff Lindsay the Friar Diego de Landa when writing about his time in Mesoamerica during the conquest stated:

“The Indians are very dissolute in drinking and becoming intoxicated, and many ills follow their excesses this way. . . . Their wine they make of honey and water and the root of a certain tree they grow for the purpose. . . .”


Later McGovern noted:
“In later Mesoamerica, the Mayans and then the Aztecs increasingly turned to the beans, rather than the fruit, to make their cacao beverage. They also mixed in lots of additives–honey, chilis of all kinds, variously scented flowers, and achiote or annatto (Bixa orellana) which colors the beverage an intense red in keeping with its association with human sacrifice. If a victim atop one of the pyramids faltered, he was given a gourd of chocolate, mixed with blood which had been caked on the obsidian blades of earlier sacrifices.”


So as we can see wine was found in abundance throughout the history of Mesoamerica including during the same time periods mentioned during the Book of Mormon so the mentioning of it would make complete sense and also alleviate the question why chocolate or cacao was not mentioned.  So once again another criticism about the Book of Mormon only stands to solidify it’s authenticity.

LDS Prospective of the Hopi Nakwach and the True Pahana or Lost White Brother

Awanu (horned serpent) petroglyph

The true Pahana (or Bahana) is the Lost White Brother of the Hopi. Most versions have it that the Pahana or Elder Brother left for the east at the time that the Hopi entered the Fourth World and began their migrations. However, the Hopi say that he will return again and at his coming the wicked will be destroyed and a new age of peace, the Fifth World, will be ushered into the world.  He will bring with him a missing section of a sacred Hopi stone in the possession of the Fire Clan, and that he will come wearing red.Traditionally, Hopis are buried facing eastward in expectation of the Pahana who will come from that direction.  For more information on the Hopi stone see:

 (http://inthecavityofarock.blogspot.com/2011/08/hugh-nibley-and-sacred-hopi-stone.html)

The legend of the Pahana seems intimately connected with the Aztec story of Quetzalcoatl, and other legends of Central America. This similarity is furthered by the liberal representation of Awanyu, the horned or plumed serpent, in Hopi and other Puebloan art. This figure bears a striking resemblance to figures of Quetzacoatl, the feathered serpent, in Mexico. In the early 16th century, both the Hopis and the Aztecs believed that the coming of the Spanish conquistadors was the return of this lost white prophet. Unlike the Aztecs, upon first contact the Hopi put the Spanish through a series of tests in order to determine their divinity, and having failed, the Spanish were sent away from the Hopi mesas.


One account has it that the Hopi realized that the Spanish were not the Pahana based upon the destruction of a Hopi town by the Spanish. Thus when the Spanish arrived at the village of Awatovi, they drew a line of cornmeal as a sign for the Spanish not to enter the village, but this was ignored. While some Hopi wanted to fight the invaders, it was decided to try a peaceful approach in the hope that the Spanish would eventually leave. However, Spanish accounts record a short skirmish at Awatovi before the Hopis capitulated. Frank Waters records a Hopi tradition that the Spanish did ignore a cornmeal line drawn by the Hopis and a short battle followed.

Nakwach Sacred Hand Clasp

Tovar [the leader of the Spanish] and his men were conducted to Oraibi. They were met by all the clan chiefs at Tawtoma, as prescribed by prophecy, where four lines of sacred meal were drawn. The Bear Clan leader stepped up to the barrier and extended his hand, palm up, to the leader of the white men. If he was indeed the true Pahana, the Hopis knew he would extend his own hand, palm down, and clasp the Bear Clan leader's hand to form the nakwach, the ancient symbol of brotherhood (According to Hopi legend this sacred handshake will also be required to enter into the fifth world).  Tovar instead curtly commanded one of his men to drop a gift into the Bear chief's hand, believing that the Indian wanted a present of some kind. Instantly all the Hopi chiefs knew that Pahana had forgotten the ancient agreement made between their peoples at the time of their separation. Nevertheless, the Spaniards were escorted up to Oraibi, fed and quartered, and the agreement explained to them. It was understood that when the two were finally reconciled, each would correct the other's laws and faults; they would live side by side and share in common all the riches of the land and join their faiths in one religion that would establish the truth of life in a spirit of universal brotherhood. The Spaniards did not understand, and having found no gold, they soon departed.


Hugh Nibley interpreted this story in his own way:

Jesus Christ

In 1540 when Pedro de Tovar came up to Bear Chief, who was standing to greet him on the rise at Old Oraibi, the chief reached out his hand to establish the visitor’s identity by offering him the sacred handclasp, the nachwach-was he really the promised White Brother? Naturally, the Spaniard, who had come looking for gold and nothing else, thought he was asking for money and placed a gold coin in his hand. Have you any signs or tokens? asked the chief. Yes, I have money, replied the visitor. From that moment the Hopis knew it was not the one they were looking for, and to this day they have never been converted to Christianity. (Hugh Nibley. Brother Brigham Challenges the Saints. 98-99)

From what we have read above it seems to stand as evidence that the Hopi awaiting the return of the lost white brother would be in relation to the second coming of Jesus Christ and the use of the Nakwach hand clasp has a direct relation in purpose to some of the sacred signs that are found in the LDS temple ceremony.  This would also confirm that they may have obtained this knowledge as direct descendents of the People of Ammon or Nephite/Lamanite relatives of whom I have spoken of extensively in previous posts. This also attests to the ancient origin of the LDS temple ceremony. 

Zeno's Allegory of the Olive Tree serves as added evidence and insight!

Olive tree and vineyard

This post is focused on my recent reading of Jacob 5, Zenos's allegory of the olive tree.  This is the longest chapter in the Book of Mormon.  In this chapter an ancient Isrealite prophet named Zenos likens the history of  Israel to an olive tree and vineyard.  Zenos's allegory goes into great detail regarding the grafting, dunging, digging about and pruning process  involved in the olive tree culture thus proving that whoever Zenos was he had a great understanding of horticulture and botanical knowledge especially involving the olive tree and vineyard.

  Many of the ancient practices are still used today and wouldn't have been common knowledge in Joseph Smith's day especially in the upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont area.  As pointed out by Jeff Lindsay in his blog mormanity.blogspot.com there is an amazing comparison in Brant Gardners Multidimensional Commentary for Jacob 5 and Romans 11 which is commonly referred to when compared by those who do not accept the Book of Mormon but anyone who has taken the time to read them both will not only realize that Paul's comparison is the inferior of the two but  should also realize that Paul may actually be getting his information from the same source as Jacob...the one and only Zenos.

 Jeff also quotes from John Gee and Daniel C. Peterson,'s "Graft and Corruption: On Olives and Olive Culture in the Pre-Modern Mediterranean," in The Allegory of the Olive Tree. Peterson and Gee state that it is almost inconceivable to state that Joseph Smith would have had access to the information needed to put together Jacob 5.  The knowledge of olive horticulture was basically un-had in upstate New York.  They point out that in order for Smith to have obtained that knowledge in 1829 he would have needed to have had access to the writings of four classical authors and would have need to have read all four works because individually they do not cover all the knowledge needed to have composed such a work.  These authors and there works were

1.Cato, De Agri Cultura 2. Varro, Rerum Rusticarum 3. heophrastus, Historia Plantarum 4. Columella, Rei Rusticae.  This is what Peterson and Gee stated about the likely hood of Joseph having access to these writings:

Josesph Smith jr.

"Yet Joseph Smith probably did not have access to these works. And even if he had, he could not read Latin and Greek in 1829. Theophrastus's Historia Plantarum first published in English in 1916, [Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, trans. Arthur Hort (London: Heinemann, 1916)] and no part of his De Causis Plantarum was available in English until 1927 [Robert E. Dengler, ... Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1927]. While English translations of Cato, Varro, and Columella were available to the British in 1803, 1800, and 1745 respectively [Thomas Owen, M. Porcius Cato concerning Agriculture (London: White, 1803), ...], it is hardly likely that they were widely circulated in rural New York and Pennsylvania. Joseph Smith could have known nothing about olives from personal experience, as they do not grow in Vermont and New York. Can it reasonably be supposed that Joseph simply guessed right on so many details? And even if he somehow managed to get the details from classical authors, how did he know to put it into the proper Hebrew narrative form?"

Gee and Peterson then go on to point out the proper Hebrew narrative which I highly recommend reading.  In my eyes the wonderful readings of Jacob chapter 5 stand as one of the most powerful testimonies for the future of Israel and "gentile" nations as well but also as some of the most compelling evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and for the prophet Joseph Smith.

Native games of chivalry present in the Book of Mormon

Ammon at the waters of Sebus

With the numerous evidences and insights that have come to light regarding the practices of the indigenous cultures of Mesoamerica and Southwest United States and the similarities of those practiced in the Book of Mormon it makes one wonder how leading archeologists, and anthropologists have failed to give credit where credit is due or at least take the seriousness of what the Book of Mormon claims to be with sincerity. I say this in part because as I have been studying the Book of Mormon in preparation for this next years gospel doctrine class and I have been accompanying my studies with Hugh Nibley’s teachings of the Book of Mormon. It seems to me that every time I listen to his lectures he continues to amaze me with more of these correlations.

While reviewing one of my (and most 9 year old boys) favorite stories in the Book of Mormon, that of Ammon at the waters of Sebus cutting off the arms of the Lamanites who were gathered to scatter the flocks belonging to the king being watched by Ammon and some of the kings other servants, I couldn’t help but to ponder on the oddities of this story. Especially how it was common practice for Lamanites to scatter the kings’ flocks and then feel comfortable in the presence of the kings courtyard days later. We know this was common practice because the servants feared for their very lives because of their knowledge of what had happened to other servants of the past who had been sacrificed for allowing the exact same practice to transpire while on their clocks.

Percy Lomahquahu explaining the holes
along the cliff edge of ancient Pivanhonkiapi

Nibley likened this practice of sacrifice during ceremonial games of chivalry to many examples throughout
history. His parallels varied in “standard Nibley fashion” from Homeric duels like David and Goliath to modern day tag team wrestling. I choose to focus my attention to those examples that specifically took place mainly in areas considered to be Book of Mormon lands. These examples would include the infamous Mayan games played on the ball courts leading to a sacrifice of either one key player or worse case scenario a whole team. Other ceremonial games of death included those that have since been removed from practice by the modern day Pueblo including the Hopi wa-wa ceremony spoken of by Frank Waters in his book called “Book of the Hopi” but due to lack of space I’ll use Dr. Nibley’s description:

“Equally horrendous was the Wa-Wa rite of the Hopis and some of the other pueblos. It is still celebrated in Quatemala at the spring equinox. There is a tall pole, and they swing [people] around it head down. When the Hopis did it, up until 1900, the pole protruded over the edge of the mesa and the drop was 300–400 feet. The pole was cut half-way through and was supposed to break. Human sacrifice was expected, and that satisfied the necessary killing for the year.”

To this day although the ceremony itself is no longer practiced by the Hopi there are still holes in the ground where the tall poles used to be inserted. As noted by Nibley in Guatemala there is a similar tradition which no longer involves death or sacrifice but is known as Palo Volador. In Claire Boobbyer’s “Guatemala handbook: the travel guide” she states,

The Palo Volador

The only pre-Columbian dances are Palo Volador and the Rabinal Achi, which is a drama-dance. The Palo Volador originates from the k’iche’ Maya. Its origins stem from the pole being seen as the centre of the world. A pole is erected and two ropes that are long enough to reach the ground are fixed to the top. The aim is for two men to attach themselves to the rope and swing out from the top- as the rope unwinds the men swing further and further out until they reach the ground. This is performed in Chichicastenango, Cubulco, San Cristobal Verapaz and Joyabaj.

Nibley also noted that one way we as readers could tell that the game being played at Sebus was a ceremonial practice was because the Lamanites drew their clubs or as Nibley stated “their ceremonial clubs” rather than using swords except for the leader who upon seeing enough damage decided to draw his sword and was actually killed by Ammon. In any event it seems highly unlikely that Joseph Smith Jr. would have known of the use of these “Games of Chivalry” used to gain some sort of status through pillage or sacrifice, especially since sacrifice among the Maya was completely unheard of until the past 50 years when archeologists and come to the conclusion that sacrifice and war were both very integral parts of Mesoamerican society. So once again we see that the Book of Mormon stands the test of time and is actually a record of the ancient inhabitants of these American lands and not a mere fictional book made from the figments of Joseph’s imagination.

Is La Venta's Stela 3 actually depicting the initial meeting of the Mulekites and Olmecs/Jaredites?

Stela 3

I consider myself a student of the standard works (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price) but with greater emphasis on the Book of Mormon and as such I admit that I am late to John L. Sorenson’s “An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon”. Although through my previous reading and research I consider myself to be very familiar with Book of Mormon evidences and geography theories but I  still decided to get a copy of the book and give it a “good reading”. Even though I have not finished it I am enjoying it and have stumbled across many evidences that this book seems to give additional information on. One of the evidences claimed by Sorenson was the infamous Stela 3 of La Venta. This Stela is thought to date about 600 B.C. or later, basically during the end of the Olmec/Jaredite timeframe and the beginning of the Maya/Nephite timeframe. The issue surrounding the Stela is that it seems to show to two people meeting and one of them being a prominent bearded man which would be a rarity for the indigenous culture of Mesoamerican regions. The bearded figure is commonly referred to as the “Uncle Sam” figure. 



In 1946, the famous "Uncle Sam" figure on Stela 3 at La Venta, was described by Mexican archaeologist Miguel Covarrubias as a "fully bearded man with an enormous aquiline nose. . ., a personage with surprisingly pronounced Semitic features" (Covarrubias 1946: 90). Two decades later, art historian Tatiana Proskouriakoff of the Carnegie Institution of Washington referred to the same bearded figure on Stela 3 as a "visitor" and with related low relief carvings as representing a racially distinct group of "strangers." These foreigners ultimately gained ascendancy over another stocky racial type on carvings. These La Venta carvings are also described as "credibly realistic portraits and descriptions of historic scenes," from a highly developed religious society. (Proskouriakoff 1968: 121-122)

"Uncle Sam" Bearded
Figure (Stela 3)

If indeed the figure on the right is a “Semitic” figure or represented a “Semitic” person who could it have been? Those familiar with the Book of Mormon instantly think of Lehi and his party as being people of Semitic features who could be represented in the formal meeting taking place in the Stela. Dr. Sorenson has suggested that this may actually be the other group of people of a Semitic background spoken of in the Book of Mormon, known as the Mulekites, this is partially because La Venta as a location would suffice as an Olmec Jaredite territory. There are multiple theories for what city La Venta would have been called anciently such as the City of Mulek or the City of Lib but either way the location would suffice for a place where the story of the Mulekites meeting the Jaredites being inscribed on a large relief Stela would geographically make sense. This is what Dr. Sorenson had to say about the location of La Venta and Stela 3:



“A particularly interesting case of such external evidence involves a scene on a monument located at an archaeological site that I consider to be the prime candidate for the city of Mulek. As explained elsewhere, the site of La Venta in southern Mexico qualifies remarkably well as the city of Mulek. It was one of the great centers of Olmec civilization, whose distribution and dates remind us of Jaredite society. Stela 3 at La Venta is a basalt slab fourteen feet high and weighing fifty tons. It is thought to date to about 600 B.C., or a little later, at or just after the late Olmec (Jaredite?) inhabitants abandoned the site.

 Carved on the stone is a scene in which a person of obvious high social status, whose facial features look like those shown in some earlier Olmec art, confronts a prominent man who appears to a number of (non-Mormon) art historians like a Jew. This scene has been interpreted by archaeologists as a formal encounter between leaders of different ethnic groups. For instance, the late expert on Mesoamerican art, Tatiana Proskouriakoff, considered that Stela 3 shows "two racially distinct groups of people" and that "the group of the [Jewish-looking] bearded stranger ultimately gained ascendency." She concluded, thus, that "the culture of La Venta [thereafter] contained a strong foreign component." Latter-day Saints may wonder whether Mulek or some other person in his party might even be represented on Stela 3, considering the date and the location at a site very suitable to have been the "city of Mulek." At the least we see that ethnic and cultural variety existed in Mesoamerica where and when we would expect evidence of Mulek's group to show up.” 

So whether La Venta was the Ancient City of Lib or Mulek is still up for schoolyard debate but we still seem to have a very interesting piece of what may be considered Book of Mormon evidence in the scene depicted on Stela 3 and this seems to be somewhat confirmed by non-LDS art historians and archeologists whether they meant to or not.

Flame Ft V. Rose - Surrender - 2011 [ @ClearSightMusic @FLAME314 @Vrosem...

I love this song and think that alot of these Christian Hip-Hop artists are really doing a good thing when they dedicate their time and talents into making positive songs like this. I know that Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) like myself usually avoid the "cross" symbol because we prefer to focus on the fact that not only did he die for us but he more importantly was raised for us and overcame death. I know that main stream Christianity use the cross quite often and having served my mission among the Bible Belt. I don't wear one but I understand what it means to a main stream Christian so I don't take offense to it by any means either so I would hope that any Mormons who follow my blog and see me posting these hip-hop videos that do display these type of mainstream Christian symbols would not take offense to it either.

Ancient history of Mexico tapestry adds even more authenticity to the Book of Mormon

Giron-Gagal Tapestry

There is a tapestry in the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City that may in fact show some of the migrations of the seven tribes that make up the Nephites and Lamanites. I first came across this document when it was presented in Dr. Jerry Ainsworth's book "The Life and Travels of Mormon and Moroni". If any readers of my blog have not noticed yet I quote this book extensively and recommend it to anyone who is truly interested in learning more about the people and cultures and evidences of the Book of Mormon. On the tapestry in question, as noted by Ainsworth it shows a group of people coming out of the ocean in what appears to be a womb. Anyone familiar with any Native American traditional stories will know that the womb is very common among traditional stories representing the "Mother Culture".

Father Lehi and the Liahona

This tapestry appears to confirm Lehi's landing. The group of people exiting the womb appear to be following a leader who is holding a round object in front of them. The Quiche name for the object in the tapestry is the "Giron-Gagal" which means, "compass" or "director". As Dr. Ainsworth notes the Quiche Maya believe that whoever had the Giron-Gagal could not be defeated in battle because they had the blessings of the Gods. This is very similar to the Biblical story of the Ark of the Covenant that was carried with the Israelites to battle as a sign of bringing the God of Israel along with them to war in which they could not be defeated either. In the Book of Mormon father Lehi was also lead by a round curious object similar to a compass called the Liahona. The Liahona was more than just a compass because it lead according to the faith of those who had it.

The tapestry also shows a group of nine people on turtles leading the group as well. This may represent a few things but I tend to lean towards the real mother group of the ancestors of those who live in Mesoamerica. This would include the Maya and the Olmec civilizations. The group could actually represent the barges of the Jaredites whom many LDS scholars associate with the Olmec civilization. Not that the Jaredites are the Olmecs but that the Olmecs associated with the Jaredites or that the Jaredites may have been part of the Olmec civilization. This same thought process goes for the Nephite and Lamanite civilizations and the Maya. The Nephites and Lamanites are not the Maya but definitely associated with each other and more than likely they were part of the Mayan civilization. Anyway that it is looked upon one cannot ignore the uncanny resemblance of the history told in the tapestry and that of the Book of Mormon.

Ancient Mayan Markets and Highways another Bullseye for the Book of Mormon

 student collects soil samples at ancient bustling market site



I've been spending every spare second I've had recently reading my copy of John Sorenson's "An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon". Although this book has been in circulation for years it is still the best place to turn for Book of Mormon archaeology in my eyes. I have been re-reading many of his previous articles at the Maxwell Institute and continue to find insights that for some reason have slipped by me. The most recent piece of evidence and insight that caught my attention was the mention in Helaman 7:10 of both "highways" and "markets". It states:



"And behold it came to pass that it was upon a tower, which was in the garden of Nephi which was by the highway which lead to the chief market, which was in the city of Zarahemla; therefore, Nephi had bowed himself upon the tower which was in his garden, which tower was also near unto the garden gate by which led the highway."



As Sorenson notes, "No one knowledgeable of Pre-Columbian Mexico has had any doubt that markets were found in all sizable settlements. Cortez and his followers were amazed by the market in Tlatelolco in the valley of Mexico, by its diversity of goods, and by the complexity of its organization. Yet until recently, only little attention has been given to the fact that a number of these cities had multiple markets. It has been noted of markets in Monte Alban, Teotihuacan, El Tajin and the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Apparently Zarahemla was no different."



Avenue of the Dead Teotihuacan

One of the most notable highways that extend to the late pre classic period of the Mayan influence is found in Teotihuacan. It is commonly known as the "avenue of the dead". This city had one of the greatest influences on almost all major Maya cities. As I have noted in older posts there are many interesting points in the city of Teotihuacan that add insights and evidences to what we know of the ancient Nephite and Lamanite cultures. 



Both the markets and highways were once thought of as obvious errors of what Joseph Smith would have known about the ancient inhabitants of America when the Book of Mormon was brought to light. This can only be seen as evidence of its authenticity as everything it proclaims itself to be, especially an ancient record written by the prophets of old on the American continent.