Khirbet Beit Lei (The Lehi Cave) or not?





subterranean columbarium



 In 1961 Israeli Military Engineers while building a road exposed an ancient Judean tomb containing eight human skeletons in two burial cavaties. There were multiple drawings and etchings and inscriptions on the walls including the name Yahuweh (Jehovah) and the city name Yerushalem (Jerusalem).  The Israeli archeologists named it the Jerusalem Cave but a while later it became known as the Lehi Cave to the LDS community. A couple hundred meters from the Jerusalam Cave  was an abandoned village of ruins in an Arab village called Khirbet Beit Lei (pronounced "bait lay").  In Arabic the term lei means "twisting".  In the 1970's many of the LDS community attempted to connect Lehi to this village of ruins and it became known as Beit Lehi and the Lehi Cave.

It appears that the driving force behind the name change began with Joseph Ginat who is an Israeli anthropologist who studied for his doctorate at the University of Utah and also taught anthropology as a professor at the University of Haifa.  It seems as though it was Joseph Ginat who introduced Glenn Kimber and W. Cleon Skousen to the idea that this area may be the same area of Lehi in the Bible that was connected to Sampson. (Judges 15:8-19). 

According to beitlehi.org,

"Joseph Ginat's interest concerning the cave caused him to go back to Israel and investigate the site.  While doing so he was surprised to meet a Bedouin who told him that just above this cave, about 1\4 of a mile away, were the remains of an ancient oak tree. This was the place where , according to the traditions and the legends of the Bedouins, a Prophet named Lehi sat while he blessed and judged the people of Ishmael as well as the people of Judah.  The Bedouin said that Lehi lived many years before Muhammad.  The Arab people built a wall of large rocks around the remains of the tree to protect it as a sacred spot.  Upon return

ing to Salt Lake City, Joseph exitedly shared this information with W. Cleaon Skousen as well as others in the area."

Many of the scholars associated with the site speculated that the Arabic term "Lei" proundounced "lay" is the equivalent of the Hebrew term Lehi.  It was also assumed that the term had the same meaning as the Hebrew version meaning "cheek" or "jawbone" instead of "twisting" as noted above.  The term Khirbet Beit Lei means "ruin of Beit Lehi" according to their translation.  Jeffrey R. Chadwick in his Neal A. Maxwell Institute article entitled "Khirbet Beit Lei and the Book of Mormon: An Arcdhaeologist's Evaluation" has done a pretty thorough job of reviewing not only the archeological findings that have been found but also the names translation and the correlations of the ruin sites with possible locations in the story of Sampson in the Bible and later Lehi and his family in the Book of Mormon and states that the translations in Hebrew and Arabic are completely seperate and thus it would not be the "house of Lehi" but the "house of Lei".

Byzantine period ancient mosaic

At the ruin site there have been inscriptions exclaiming " Yahveh (is) the God of the whole earth; the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem" as well as what appears to be drawings of human like figures on the wall, ship etchings and a possible rough depiction of the layout of the city of Lachish.  Other findings were a Byzantine period church complex  featuring an amazing mosaic floor that included Greek inscriptions and an olive oil pressing and a subterranean columbarium (a man made dovecote or structure used to house pigeons) dating to the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In reviewing the dates of many of the findings Chadwick has also come to the conclusion that the burial tombs could not be the "cavity of a rock" in which Nephi and his brothers hid in.  This along with the fact that the site lays about 22 miles to the southwest of Jerusalem leads many LDSscholars to assume that it wouldn't lay within the best route leading out of Jerusalem which would have been used by Lehi and his group. Lehi and his family including Zoram along with Ishmael and his family would have used a nearly southern route which eventually lead to a southeast direction in fleeing Jerusalem and to assume that Khirbet Beit Lei was either the land of Lehi's inheritance or the cave in which Nephi and his brothers fled too would have required them to go out
of their way which was something that more than likely wouldn't have happened in the inital fleeing assuming Lehi's life was in trouble.

Excavation Site Map

Although Chadwick has come to the conclusion that Kirbet Bet Lei could not have been tied into the story of Lehi or the story of Sampson he admits that the site will "remain a site of interest to students of archaeology, historical geography, and the scriptures, since its inscriptions and drawings seem connected to the drama described in Isaiah 36-37, namely the Assyrian attack on Judah in 701 BC, and the subsequent salvation of Jerusalem."  I will leave it to the reader to do their own research and come to their own conclusions of the "Lehi Cave".

I really wanted to share this information since I found the original stories and videos that I had seen about the area to be amazing but then I didn't hear much more and it seemed as though progress on linking the site to Lehi had completely dropped off.  I still feel there is much historical information to be obtained form the site that can help us come to a better understanding of the scriptures.  I will include the link to Jeffrey R. Chadwicks above referenced article as well as links to beit lehi foundation for further research.  I will also include a link to the site panorama that was done by the Utah Valley University archaeology department.  This panorama view is litterally a vitrual tour of the every tomb and ruin and allows you to see these findings first hand.  I wish that every archaeology digging could inlcude a panorama view of their findings as well.  So enjoy.

Jeffrey Chadwicks "Khirbet Beit Lei and the Book of Mormon: An Archaeologist's Evaluation
https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/RelEd/article/viewFile/2355/2192

Beit Lehi Foundation
http://beitlehifoundation.org/

Beit Lehi Panorama virtual tour
http://virtual.uvu.edu/beit-lehi2010/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=k9NtYJxh9oM#!

The Book of Abraham

facsimilie 2 Book of Abraham

This link below is from the BYU.tv.  It is a group of BYU professors discussing the Book of Abraham which is found in the Pearl of Great Price and also discussing the facsimilies included in the book. I think that they do a great job covering some of the basics of the current topics that are being held in scholarly debait.  The roundtable discussion is about an hour long so please click the link and check it out. 


http://byutv.org/watch/cadcec25-f9d6-4451-b196-e2e32c8ea4d5#ooid=8xZGZyMjqGv1_ns9aHvw-ZhkMHlWGJnl


For a more indepth DVD fair.lds.org has put together a documentary on the Book of Abraham and the facsimilies.  For a quick preview of that video check out the following youtube link. 

A remnant of the garment of Joseph, Jasher, Captain Moroni and Pre-Islamic Prophet Stories

Joseph and his brothers at Pharoah's Court

The Bible presents us with an interesting view of the story of Joseph(son of Jacob) and his garment. From what we read in the Book of Genesis in the Bible chapter 37:3 we find: Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And later in verse 23 is says, And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren that they stript Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him. Later we read that after selling Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver that his brothers took Joseph’s coat and killed a goat and dipped it in the blood. They later sent the coat to their father Jacob who confirmed it was his sons coat and that he surely must have been killed by the beast (spelling incorrections all part of KJV of Bible).

In the Book of Mormon in Alma 46:24 we read, a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved and had not decayed. And he said—Even as this remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a remnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself. This is an interesting insight because nowhere in the Bible to we read that there was a portion of the coat or garment that was preserved. This version or addition of the story is only found in a few places most of which would be considered Apocryphal writings. The first place we find anything even near to this insight is in the 13th century document known as the Book of Jasher that mentions that Joseph’s brothers tore his garment. John A. Tvedtnes points out that this document was not published until 1840 after the publishing of the Book of Mormon this would lead us to believe that both renditions must be influenced from an earlier account.

The second account was pointed out by Hugh Nibley in his book “An Approach to the Book of Mormon” as a group of stories written by a tenth century compiler of legends concerning biblical and non-biblical pre-Islamic prophets. The compilers name was Al- Tha’labi and the compilation of these Jewish stories were called the Qisas al-anbiya or “Stories of the Prophets”. This is the way that Hugh Nibley explained the text of that document,

And when Joseph had made himself known unto them [his brethren] he asked them about his father, saying, "What did my father after [I left]?" They answered, "He lost his eyesight [from weeping]." Then he gave them his garment [qamis, long outer shirt]. According to ad-Dahak that garment was of the weave [pattern, design] of Paradise, and the breath [spirit, odor] of Paradise was in it, so that it never decayed or in any way deteriorated [and that was] a sign [omen]. And Joseph gave them that garment, and it was the very one that had belonged to Abraham, having already had a long history. He said to them, "Go, take this garment of mine
and place it upon the face of my father so he may have sight again . . . and when he brought the garment he laid it upon his face, so that his sight returned to him.

Jacob and the Garment of Joseph

The insights added by the “Stories of the Prophets” are also influenced by an earlier account. Jacob was able to feel by the weave and by the signs in the garment that it was the very garment that would have been passed down from Abraham and already had a long history and was surely that of his son Joseph. This would explain the jealousy of his brothers. The garment worn by Joseph was that of the priesthood.

The final example of the remnant of Joseph’s garment is found in the Book of Mormon as stated above in Alma 46:23,24 where we read,

23 Moroni said unto them: Behold, we are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; yea, we are a remnant of the
seed of Joseph, whose coat was rent by his brethren into many pieces; yea, and now behold, let us remember to keep the commandments of God, or our garments shall be rent by our brethren, and we be cast into prison, or be sold, or be slain.
24 Yea, let us preserve our liberty as a remnant of Joseph; yea, let us remember the words of Jacob, before his death, for behold, he saw that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved and had not decayed. And he said—Even as this remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a remnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of his garment.

So here we have brought together three accounts of the remnant of the garment of Joseph all of which have added additional insights. Because these accounts were not available to Joseph Smith during his time of translating the Book of Mormon each of these stands as an additional witness to its authenticity.  This is personally one of my favorite bits of evidence in favor of the Book of Mormon.

Josiah's Reform

Josiah reading the "Book of the Law"

Josiah was the King of Judah from 641-609 B.C.  It was during the 18th year of his rule that he used the collected taxes to renovate the Temple and ordered the High Priest Hilkiah to do so.  During this renovation process Hilkiah was clearing the room of treasures and discovered the Book of the Law or what was also called, "the Book of the Law of Yahweh by the hand of Moses".  Many scholars believe that this was either a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy or part of the text that later became the Book of Deuteronomy.  According to 2 Kings 23:2 which states,

"And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD."

Nephi and his brothers see an angel while
in the cavity of a rock

King Josiah ordered it to be read to all who were at Jerusalem and this became the basis for his reform.  It was during this time that Josiah ordered the destruction of all the pagan objects of Baal and Asherah and had passover re-instituted.  If we are to take the above scripture 2 Kings 23:2 at face value than this would have been during the days of Lehi in Jerusalem.  We know that Lehi dwelt in Jerusalem all of his days.  Lehi would have likely been present during the reading of the Book of the Law.  As pointed out in Terrence L. Szink's FARMS review entitled, "Jerusalem in Lehi's Day" Lehi would have been a young father and husband at this time and very well could have taken those reforms to heart and applied them to his daily life and taught them to his children.  This was considered a bright spot in the history of Judah.  This would explain a few things, for one this would explain Nephi's love for the teachings of Moses.  Nephi used these teachings in 1 Nephi 4:2 when Nephi beckons his brothers "to be strong like unto Moses" before slaying Laban and acquiring the brass plates.  This would also explain the use of alternate cursings and blessings based on faith.  The cursings and blessings are very common throughout the Book of Mormon and can also be found in Deuteronomy as well.

Although I usually post evidences on this blog I feel that the need for great insight is extremely important especially when trying to understand the political and religious situation that existed during the time of Nephi and Lehi in the beginning of the Book of Mormon.

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. 

Add caption

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.