mesoamerica and the book of mormon

Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon, Is This the Right Place?

El CastilloTulum, MxicoPaintings byFrederick Catherwood1839 - 18411Geographic Considerations:Prophetic and Angelic ConsiderationsConsiderations of a High SocietyDemographic and Climatic ConsiderationsGeological ConsiderationsHistorical ConsiderationsArchaeological Considerations

2State of Knowledge of Mesoamerica in 1830:Joseph Smith 24 years old with a 3rd grade education1830 - Year in which the LDM was publishedIt was believed that there had been no advanced society or civilization in Mesoamerica before the ConquestSpanish had destroyed or concealed evidence of Mesoamerican society1839 - 1841 The findings of Stephens and Catherwood

3Sites identified by the Prophet Jose Smith as the Book of Mormon sites:Where Lehi landedThe land of ZarahemlaThe narrow neckQuirigua and Palenque and BoM citiesOther ruins in MesoamericaLand Bountiful in MesoamericaSaid that Moroni walked from Mesoamerica to Palmyra, New York

4Relative and Plausible Geography

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Relative and Plausible GeographyIt will not be a bad plan to compare Mr. Stephens ruined cities with those in the Book of Mormon; light cleaves to light, and facts are supported by facts. (Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, October 1, 1842, p.927)6Relative and Plausible Geography"When we read in the Book of Mormon that Jared and his brother came on to this continent from the confusion and scattering at the Tower, and lived here more than a thousand years, and covered the whole continent from sea to sea, with towns and cities; and that Lehi went down by the Red Sea to the great Southern Ocean, and crossed over to this land, and landed a little south of the Isthmus of Darien [Isthmus of Panama]......" Times and Seasons, vol. 3 (November 1841-October 1842), Vol. 3 No. 22 September 15, 1842 927

7Relative and Plausible GeographyJoseph Smith recognized the location of the land of Zarahemla among Stephens' ruined cities. In Times and Seasons editorial (October 1, 19842), the Prophet Joseph stated "The city of Zarahemla, burnt at the crucifixion of Christ and rebuilt afterwards, stood upon this land." (Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons, October1, 1842)

8Relative and Plausible GeographyIn Joseph Smith's last editorial titled "Zarahemla," (Times and Seasons, October 1, 1842) he stated: "Since our last extract we have found a new fact." He then proceeded to draw a circle on Stephens' Central America map, designating the land between Panama and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico as the land southward nearly surrounded by water described in Alma 22:32. The prophet then concluded that "The city of Zarahemla, burnt at the crucifixion of Christ and rebuilt afterwards, stood upon this land," somewhere among Stephens' ruined cities.

9Relative and Plausible Geography" Mr. Stephens' great developments of antiquities are made bare to the eyes of all the people by reading the history of the Nephites in the Book of Mormon. They lived about the narrow neck of land, which now embraces Central America, with all the cities that can be found. Read the destruction of cities at the crucifixion of Christ, pages 459-60. Who could have dreamed that twelve years would have developed such incontrovertible testimony to the Book of Mormon? surely the Lord worketh and none can hinder." - Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons (November 1841 - October 1842)

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Palenque 1840"Let us turn our subject, however, to the Book of Mormon, wherethese wonderful ruins of Palenque are among the mighty works of the Nephites:and the mystery is solved... " - Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons (November 1841 - October 1842)

11Land of Bountiful and Moronis Travels:"H. Donl Peterson, a past professor of Church History at BYU, published two similar maps of Moroni's travel from Central America to Palmyra, New York with the information on the map coming from two credible contemporaries of Joseph Smith: Patriarch Wm. McBride and Brother Andrew H. Hamilton both of Richfield, Utah. These man credited Joseph Smith with teaching them that the Land of Bountiful mention in the Book of Mormon was in Central America. He also taught them that Moroni had traveled from Central America to Palmyra, New York dedicating future temple sites along the way." Dr. John L. Lund, Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place?, page 32

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Moronis Possible Routes:13

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Actual Archaeological Sites:16Qualifying Factors of a High Society:Written languageCity-statesPolitical SophisticationArchitectural AchievementsKnowledge of ScienceKnowledge of MathMedical KnowledgeKnowledge of the AstrosCalendar System

17Comparison of Ancient Glyphs with BoM Characters:

Egyptian Demotic Glyphs

Proto-Hebrew/Early Aramaic Characters 600BCE

Egyptian Hieratic or Priestly Script CharactersBoM Characters18Comparison of Ancient Glyphs with BoM Characters:Reformed Egyptian Meroitic-Demotic Script Characters

BoM Characters

195 Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Languages: Zapotec (Oto-Mangeo)Mixteca (Oto-Mangeo)Mexica (Uto-Aztec)Mayan (Macro-Mayan) Recently Discovered Olmec (Proto-Mixe in San Lorenzo and Proto-Zoqueo in La Venta or Mixe-Zoqueo)

20Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Languages:

Bloque de CascajalEncontrado en los 1990Hecho ~900 aC Veracruz, Mxico

21Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Languages:La Mojarra Stela 1Epi-Olmec PeriodAbout 200 BCVeracruz, Mexico

This manuscript reports the datesMay 21 and 143 AD13 July 156 AD.

22Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Languages:Stela CEpi-Olmec PeriodThree ZapotesVeracruz, MexicoDate Recorded:Sep. 3, 32 BC

San Andrs CylinderFabricated ~ 650 BCSan Andrs, Tabasco23Idiomas Jeroglficos de Mesoamrica:Stelae 12 and 13Fabricated ~ 500 BCMonte Alban, OaxacaZapotec GlyphsEarliest Recorded Date

24Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Languages:Mixtec Glyphs

25Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Languages:Mexica Glyphs

26Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Languages:

Mayan Glyphs

27The Siberian Land Bridge Only Scientific Doctrine:

Charles Mann said in February 1998 at a Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - ... In 1997, the theory suddenly collapsed. Some of his most ardent supporters, Haynes, among them, have publicly admittedan archaeological dig in southern Chile has presented convincing evidence of human habitation over twelve thousand years ago. Since these people lived seven thousand miles south of the Bering Strait, a distance that would have taken too long to travel, it is most likely they arrived before the ice corridor existed. (In any case, the new research had cast doubt on the existence of that corridor.) ... Or maybe the first Indians traveled by boat, and the land bridge was not necessary... "We are in a state of confusion," the archaeologist Stuart Fiedel said. "All we knew to be fact is now is a mistake."


Michael Coe in his book "The Maya" Sixth Edition 1999 finally admitted - "The presence or absence of the Siberian Land Bridge to Alaska, therefore, is not necessarily relevant to the problem, the first Americans may well have taken a sea route ..."

"It must be that ships were available to the peoples of Eurasia, as current evidence shows that Australia, which was never connected to Asia by a land bridge, was settled 50,000 years ago.


Smithsonian Institute 2007 - Now there is convincing evidence of human habitation sites dated before the Clovis culture ... A coastal migration route is gaining more acceptance, more than the old conception of the small bands that moved on footacross the land bridge between Siberia and Alaska ... The archaeological evidence in Australia, Melanesia, and Japan, indicates that the boats were in use some 25,000 to 40,000 years ago. The sea routes would have provided abundant food resources and easy movement,faster than over land routes ... Physical anthropologists see a similarity in these skulls to those of some Old World populations, such as the Polynesians, Europeans, and the Ainu of Japan ... At this time, scientistsdo not rule out the possibility of migration from Europe ... Recently, however, a fifth mtDNA lineage named "X" has emerged in living American Indians and prehistoric remains which seem to be of Asian origin.


Sweet Potato (Yam) - is native to and grows wild only in Central America and Peru.It was domesticated over 5000 years in these places.The Maori, who inhabited the island of New Zealand around 1300AD and natives of other Polynesian islands have grown sweet potatoes since 700AD even though this vegetable is not native to the islands and centuries before any European contact, who allegedly introduced the sweet potato to the restthe world.Christopher Columbus brought sweet potatoes to Europe after his fourth voyage to the New World.The Portuguese introduced it to Japan, China and the rest of the world between 1500 1600AD.The scientific world has created a theory to explain this phenomenon.They call it The Accidental Drift Theory.In other words, since they can not explain it scientifically, a lone sweet potato floated over 4000 miles from America to Polynesia on its own and planted itself on its own in these islands because primitive man was not capable to travel overseas.

A Maori elder in 1914 told Matthew Cowley, an Apostle - "We come from a place where the yam grows wild, where it is not sown, nor does it have to be cultivated." - There are only two places in world where this phenomenon happens. Central America and Peru.


Thor Heyerdahl - Norwegian Ethnographer - 1947 Crossed the Pacific Ocean from Peru to Polynesia on a primitive boat (Kon-Tiki) - 4300 miles in 101 days to prove that primitive man had transported the sweet potato anciently.

Olav Heyerdahl - Thor's grandson - April 2006 Crossed the Pacific Ocean in a primitive boat (Tangoroa) in 70 days.

32The Siberian Land Bridge Only Scientific Doctrine: Letter from Hernn Cortes to Emperor Charles 5 of Spain, sent October 30, 1520 which quotes the words of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin II.

"We have news of our ancestors that I and all that inhabit this land are not natives of her, but foreigners, who came to her from strange parts, and that a man brought our generation to these parts whose subjects we all were,that he returned to his native land, that he then returned after a long time, so much so that those who had remained were already married to the native women of the land and they had much offspring and made towns where they lived, that he wanted to take them back with him but they did not want to go, and much less receive him as their lord, and thus he returned, and we have always believed that his descendants would come to subdue this land and take ourselves to be their subjects, supposedly from the land that you say you have come,which is from where the sun rises, and the things you say about this great lord or king who sent you here, who we believe, is our natural lord, especially now that you tell us that many days he was aware ofus, and therefore we will certainly obey you and take you as our lord instead of that great lord of whom you speak, and all that are in my lordship, give your command, for it will be obeyed, and done;and all we have is for you to do as you desire.


"Those who possessed this new world in this third age were the Olmecs and Xicalanas, and as recounted in their stories, they came in ships or boats from the east from the land of Pontochan from where they began to settle."(Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alva, Obras Histricas)

"It's been many years since the first settlers came to these parts of New Spain, which is almost another world, and arrived in boats on the sea, and anchored in the harbor to the North."(Bernardino de Sahagn, General History of the Things of New Spain, SA Mexico, volume 3, 946, II, 306)


Photograph of stone bas-relief taken by the Mayan Scholar Teobert Maler in the late 19 century in an undisclosed location in the deep jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula.

35The Siberian Land Bridge Only Scientific Doctrine: CanvasofJucutcatoIn Search of Cumorah, David A. Palmer

36The Siberian Land Bridge Only Scientific Doctrine: CanvasofJucutcatoIn Search of Cumorah, David A. Palmer

The tapestry shows nine men emerging out of a cave and receiving a special sphere suspended by three chains.The men cross an expanse of water on the backs of nine turtles.The drawings indicate a migration through Mexico led by a man dressed in a coat of color, who controlled the special sphere.The migration ends in Michoacn where they find "a tree of life."They hold worship services, they build structures and make plates of metal.This is probably the starting point for future generations.They separate and go in different directions.

The group on the tapestry are referred to by the name "Chalchiuitlapazco."According to Moreno these were the Nonoalcanos, who could be the Mulekites.The identification of the group was first established, known by the name of "Nunuualco."The word Nonoalco [or nonohualca] means "place where there are many waters."37The Siberian Land Bridge Only Scientific Doctrine: CanvasofJucutcatoIn Search of Cumorah, David A. Palmer

The bird above them represents God which emphasizes the religious significance of the event.This special sphere played an important role in the migration to the tree of life.The concept of a sacred sphere was not unique to the Tarascan Indians.The Quich and Cakchiquel of Guatemala in their stories mention a sacred sphere or rock in their legends concerning their emigration across the sea.38The Siberian Land Bridge Only Scientific Doctrine: CanvasofJucutcatoIn Search of Cumorah, David A. Palmer

Including the emergence out of a cave [the Atlantic Ocean], they encounter a messenger who delivers the special sphere, a man riding an animal, men riding on turtles nine moving across the land along with a large aquatic plant, and then they begin their journeythrough Mexico.Apparently there was more than a single lineage involved in migration.There were nine key leaders, another group walking below and eight heads.The nine turtles can mean the tribal leaders who come in ships, which are represented by turtles.39DNA Study, School of Medicine, Emory University: October 6, 1998

Based on the overall RFLP analysis, it has been concluded that approximately 97% of mitochondrial DNA of Native Americans belong to one of four major founding mtDNA lineages, designated haplogroups "A" - "Da. It has been proposed that a fifth mitochondrial haplogroup (haplogroup X) represents a minor founding lineage in Native Americans ... supporting the conclusions that the peoples harboring haplogroup X were among the original founders of the native populations of America. To date, haplogroup X has not been clearly identified in Asia, raising the possibility that some Native American founders were of Caucasian decent.

"Haplogroup X was different. It was discovered by Torroni in a reduced number of the population of Europe. Thus the group of Emory began to explore the source of the marker. They analyzed blood samples from Native American, European and Asian populations and reviewedthe published studies. We expected to find it in Asia "as the other four Native American markers, says Professor Brown.""To his surprise, however, haplogroup X is confirmed only in the genes of a fist full of people living in Europe and Asia Minor (Middle East), including Italians, Finns, and some Israelis."40Gold discs taken from the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza 1904 - 1910 by Edward Herbert Thompson

41Gold discs taken from the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza 1904 - 1910 by Edward Herbert Thompson

42Utchi = And it came to pass, Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque Chiapas:

The noted Maya scholar, Eric Thompson, first observed and recorded two glyphs that followed a pattern of marking dates. He called one the Anterior Date Indicator (ADI), and the second he labeled the Posterior Date Indicator (PDI). 3 In 1985, a young Mayanist scholar, David Stuart, observed that the ADI and PDI functioned as a grammatical and literary feature in both colonial and modem Maya languages. He speculated correctly when he interpreted the sound of the glyph as "Ut" in the Chol language and Utchi in the Maya language, meaning "to happen, or to come to pass." (Schele 1987:26) Two years earlier, John Justeson and Will Norman found a consistency in an event indicator that appears as the word "IWAL," which means the action is ongoing at the time, such as "and" or "and then." Together, UT-IWAL in the PDI in Maya glyphs read "and then it came to pass" or "and now it came to pass." Kathryn Josserand and Nicholas Hopkins discovered that the ADI has basically the same meaning. It reads ut-ix, "it had come to pass." (lbid) 43Utchi = And it came to pass, Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque Chiapas:


u-ti(ut) (T513:59)>intr. v. "to happen," "to occur," "to come to pass."

u-ti(ut) (T738:59)>intr. v. "to happen," "to occur," "to come to pass."

u-ti-ji-ya(utiy) (T513v:59:126) 1>intr. com. v. "since it happened," "since it occurred," "since it came to pass"; the "Anterior Date Indicator" (ADI);used as a "background marker" with the meaning "since" 2>prep. phr. "it happened at"; used in place name sequences.

u-ti-ya(utiy) (T513.59:126) 1>intr. com. v. "since it happened," "since it occurred," "since it came to pass"; the "Anterior Date Indicator" (ADI);used as a "background marker" with the meaning "since" 2>prep. phr. "it happened at"; used in place name sequences.

u-ti-ya(utiy) (T738:59:126) 1>intr. com. v. "since it happened," "since it occurred," "since it came to pass"; the "Anterior Date Indicator" (ADI);used as a "background marker" with the meaning "since" 2>prep. phr. "it happened at"; used in place name sequences.

u-ti-ya(utiy) (T846[520].59:126v) 1>intr. com. v. "since it happened," "since it occurred," "since it came to pass"; the "Anterior Date Indicator" (ADI);used as a "background marker" with the meaning "since" 2>prep. phr. "it happened at"; used in place name sequences.

u-to-ma(utom) (T1:44:502)>intr. incom. v. "it will happen," "it will occur"; the "Future Date Indicator" (FDI); incorporates the rootut "to happen/occur" and the subjunctive aspect marker-om "will."


u-to-ma(utom) (T3.44:563:142)>intr. incom. v. "it will happen," "it will occur"; the "Future Date Indicator" (FDI); incorporates the root ut "to happen/occur" and the subjunctive aspect marker-om "will."

46Name Correlations:Laman-Lamanai - Ruins located on the New River in Belize.Possible city given to King Lamoni and his people.The name Laman which obviously has its roots in the Middle East, it was still in use in the Americas 1000 years later to describe a numerous group of people, so it may have had more of an impact on the surrounding cultures. It is also a Mayan word meaning submerged. A site in Belize is known as Lamanai, but that is actually a corruption of its true name, Lamaan Ayin, which means submerged crocodile.15 It is truly ancient, with habitation going back as far as 2000BC. Lamaan Ayin is one of the few examples of a site that has retained its pre-Columbian name. That name has survived since at least the Classic time period, but it is not known how much older it may be. - Daniel Johnson, Book of Mormon Comparisions, pg.6

47Name Correlations:

Kish - Palenque - Jaredite King of the BoM.Olmec King U-Kix-Kan of the city of Palenque.The name of U-Kix-Kan on the Tablet of the Cross in Palenque.U-Kish-Kan is identified as a royal ancestor of King Pacal Na.U-Kix-Kan was born on Wednesday March 8, 993 BC (Near the date of the existence of King Kish in the BoM).He was crowned king on Wednesday, March 25 967 BC.

U kixkan/chanhe, his stingray spine snake, captor48Name Correlations:Lib - 2 Kings of the Book of Mormon.One lived in the ninth century BC (son of King Kish).The other in the fourth century BC. The first King Lib built a city near the narrow neck.The name Lib was found in Palenque who lived around 800 BC. Palenque is located just south east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.The name Lib surfaces again around 709 AD at the ruins of Yaxchilan found a little southeast of Palenque along the Chiapas, Mexico/Guatemala border.The name is found on a lintel at the entrance to a palace.


Jaredite Names - The following diagram shows a sample of Jaredite names rendered in Classic Maya glyphs. The orthography has been simplified somewhat for readability. Because of the redundancy in some of the glyphs, these names could have been written using other combinations, but this should suffice. A few of these actually may have meanings in Mayan. Ah-ha means he of the water and is similar in meaning to the title ah-naab, which refers to artists. Similarly, ah-kish means he of the stingray spine. Kib is the sixteenth day of one of the Mayacalendars. Ma-ha can mean no water, and xul is the sixth month of a Maya calendar. Daniel Johnson, Book of Mormon Comparisions, page. 4


Nephite Names - We found over 30 Nephite names unique to the Book of Mormon that were compatible phonetically with a few of these names could also have Hebrew or Semitic origins, but it is interesting to see how they might look rendered as Maya glyphs. According to Mayan dictionaries, ah-mulek means he of Mulek and xib-lom could mean man of the staff. While not a perfect match to Teancum, a king named Tecum is mentioned by the Spanish historian Juarros in his records of the dynasties of the Quich empire in the Guatemalan Highlands Mayan. The table below shows some of the names that seemed to work well. Daniel Johnson, Book of Mormon Comparisions, pg. 5


Lamanite Names - Practically all unique Lamanite names are composed only of phonemesfound in Mayan languages. Ab-ix may mean year of the jaguar in Mayan. Tubaloth seems to be a word taken directly from Hebrew. Tubal is a name found several times in the Old Testament; the first is Tubal-cain in Genesis 4:22. The second is in Genesis 10:2 as Tubal, grandson of Noah through Japheth. This name was eventually applied to an entire nation or group of people. -oth can be a feminine plural ending in Hebrew. Even though it has a Hebrew etymology, Tubaloth was included because a Classic Maya site in the Guatemalan lowlands is named Tubal,14 so this appears to be a name that could have been passed down in one form or another among the Lamanites for millennia. Daniel Johnson, Book of Mormon Comparisions, pg. 6

52Name Correlations:Cintepec Hill - Located in the Tuxtla Mountains, Veracruz, MexicoCintepec - Nahuatl word - means Corn HillI-xim or X-im Hill - Word Maya - means Corn HillShim Hill - Hebrew Word of BoM- means Corn Hill

53Name Correlations:Viga Hill Located in the Tuxtla Mountains, Veracruz, MexicoPossible Hill Cumorah

54Name Correlations:Hermounts = TehuantepecHermounts:Now where does the word Hermounts come from? This is certainly not a Latin word. It's not a Greek word, a Hebrew word, or a Semitic word. Where was it? It was the land on the borders that was infested at times by wild beasts, at certain seasons of the year. It was way up in the borders. They went way up there. So it is the Egyptian wordhr-Mntw, obviously.MonthorMonthiswas the Egyptian Pan; he was the god of wild places, wild animals, and the wild country.Hr-Mntwwas the outmost part of Egypt where the land was sometimes visited by lions and crocodiles and things like that. It was under cultivation, but it was a place that was in danger from animals. They called ithr-Mntwbecause it wasMonth'scountry, wild animal country.(Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the Book of Mormon,lecture 44, p. 242)

Tehuantepec:The eastern edge of the passage through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is formed by an uninhabited mountain wilderness. This wilderness is sparsely inhabited even now. Meleseo Ortega Martinez, in hisResea Historico de Tehuantepec, recounts the origin of the wordTehuantepec. It is derived from the Nahuatl wordstecuanitepec.Tecuanihas the meaning of "wild beast," andtepectranslates as "hill." According to the Nahuatl dictionary,tecuanialso means "man-eating beast." The composite has the meaning "Hill of the Fierce Beasts."

55Name Correlations:Ripliancum= HueyapanRipliancum:Ether 15:8 - both Coriantumrand Shiz and his people pitch tents by waters ofRipliancum, which by interpretation is large, or to exceed all. www.lds.orgHueyapan: Its name arose from the Nahuatl language meaning "en el agua grande (on the bigwater).

56Stone Boxes:

Stone boxes found in 1932 at the Olmec archaeological site, Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico. Tres Zapotes was inhabited from about 1000 BC to 900 AD.

57Stone Boxes:

Stone box found off the coast of Veracruz, area of Tampico

58Stone Boxes:

Stone Boxes Found in Mexico TenochtitlanTenochtitln Mxico

This box was found in Templo Mayor full of the offerings that are around it.59Stone Boxes:

Stone box found at Palenque, Chiapas, Mxico

60Izapa Stela 5:

Found at Izapa, Chiapas around 1930Made between 300 BC - 50 BC

61Demography Millions of People?:

Mesoamerica is the only area in the Americas, that sustained the high population density mentioned in the Book of Mormon, and for the periods specified.- Dr. John E.ClarkEl Mirador, Guatemala Covers more space than downtown Los Angeles.The city was surrounded on three sides by walls.600BC 150AD

62Edward Herbert Thompson - The Landing of the Chanes 1932:

In the legends and folkloreof a race, the history of the race is written, if we could but read it. It is true that the grain of fact is generally hidden beneath a wealth of imaginative chaff, but it is there nevertheless. During my long career in Yucatan I was fortunately able to prove the truth of certain tales that had passed as legendary for generations and I will touch upon these matters later. But back of tales such as these are many ancient Maya traditions, none the less fascinating because they are as yet incapable to proof, and obviously containing the elements of history. Among these ancient legends none is more 'alluring' to the student, nor more baffling, than that which concerns the landing of theChanes.

In a previous chapter I referred to the fact that the Mayas had their Plymouth Rock as had the Puritans who followed them to the continent of America many centuries later. That is, the legends of the primitive races of Yucatan and of portions of Mexico tell of the coming in ships of a fair-skinned race of men who became the rulers and the leaders of the dark-skinned aborigines. To explain this occurrence as the arrival of some of the survivors of the catastrophe in which the storied 'Lost Atlantis' disappeared is unsatisfactory to the scientific mind, and this is putting the matter mildly. The Atlantis theory itself remains to be proved. But a tradition so widespread and a legend so persistent must have some basis in history, and it is legitimate for us to hold as probable that at some time in the remote past a group of people representing a civilization of which we have lost all trace made their influence felt upon the races indigenous to Mexico and Yucatan63Edward Herbert Thompson - The Landing of the Chanes 1932:

These traditions tell us, and carvings on ancient walls and stone columns sustain them, that unknown ages ago there appeared strange craft at the mouth of what is now known as the Panuco River in the State of Vera Cruz. The sides of these vessels shone like the scales of serpent' skins, and to the simple natives who saw them approaching they appeared to be great serpents coming swiftly toward them.

In these craft were light-skinned beings, and some of the traditions have it that they were tall of stature and blue-eyed. They were clad in strange garments and wore about their foreheads emblems like entwined serpents. The wondering natives who met them at the shore saw the manner of their coming with the symbol of the Sacred Serpent, which they worshipped, on their brows, and knew the strangers to be their gods come down from their home in the sun to teach and guide them.

Who were these fair-skinned people, tall of stature and strangely clad, sailing through unknown seas to an unknown land? The answer to this question has been lost in the passing of the ages and the destruction of the ancient records, and now we know only that they came and that until after the arrival of the Spaniards, the place where they landed was known asTamoanchan, which means, in the native language, the place where the People of the Serpent landed. It is near Tuxpan in the Tampico district.

The dark-skinned race too the light-skinned people to be their guides and teachers and all went well with them. Under the sage counsels and wise teachings of theChanes, the indigenous race was raised from an almost brutish, savage condition to the status of thinking, reasoning people.64Edward Herbert Thompson - The Landing of the Chanes 1932:

In the passing of time -- and much time must have passed to have brought all this about -- these wise men, the people of the Serpent, separated, probably in the furtherance of a concerted plan. Some went north and some went south, each with a band of dark-skinned followers. Those who went north were known as the Chichimecas and even more northerly peoples, the savage tribes among whom they worked and taught and whom they left enlightened, asTultecas-- 'teachers' or 'builders.

Those who went south, the tradition tell, forded rivers, lived under the shadows of great forests, and in cave darknesses suffered all things that man may suffer and live. Ever they moved onward, teaching and uplifting into the light the savage peoples among whom they tarried when the met them. They conquered, not by force and strange weapons, but by binding the primitive peoples to them by force of their power and wisdom. Among these races, they were known asUlmecas-- the Rubber People. It is known that they used rubber extensively and this is probably the derivation of the name. The leaders of theUlmecaswere known asChanes, or, among the Mayas, asCanob-- Serpents' Wise Men -- orAh Tzai- People of the Rattlesnake.65Edward Herbert Thompson - The Landing of the Chanes 1932:

It is impossible from any sources as yet available to reconstruct the details of that pilgrimage of the Ulmecas, drawn out over not man knows how long a span of time, but at last they came to a favored site by two great wells. There they rested finally and there they built Chichn Itz - the City of the Sacred Well.

Meanwhile a roving branch of theTultecas, lost brothers of theUlmecas, had turned southward and gone first to the ancient parting-place of the two groups of theChanes. Through the slow-growing centuries they had become near kin in manners, thoughts, and language to the peoples they had neighbored in the north. They drifted along the ancient trail of theUlmecas, down to the capital of the Ulmeca Mayas, Chichn Itz. This was the so-called Toltec invasion, which occurred but a few centuries before the coming of the Spaniards and when all the races of the region merged into one people under the name of Maya.

Thus, in barest outline, with many breaks and dubious places, runs the history of this ancient race of Chanes-- People of the Serpent -- and the peoples they led from darkness into light, from the landing at Tamoanchandown to the Conquest.66Skins of Colors:

Mayan Murals of San Bartolo, Petn, GuatemalaDiscovered 2003100BC - oldest Mayan Murals

Mayan Mural at Calakmul Mxico200 600AD

Ancient Maya Pottery67Skins of Colors:

Murals of the Battle of Caxcaxtla, Tlaxcala, Mxico

68Skins of Colors:

Murals of Las Higueras, Veracruz, Mxico

69Skins of Colors:

Murals of Bonampak, Chiapas, Mxico

70Cement in Mesoamrica:

The use of cement appears suddenly in Mesoamerican archeology around the first century like the cement in these buildings at Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico. The Book of Mormon decrees that some dissidents Nephites who moved to the land northward and "became exceedingly expert in the working of cementthat they might build many cities, both of wood and of cement from 46 BC (Helaman 3:7, 11)

71Sacbe (White Road):

And there were many highways cast up, and many roads made, which led from city to city, and from land to land, and from place to place."(3 Nephi 6:8)

Current evidence indicates that the Maya began to build Sacbe perhaps from about 1000BC and were still being built at the time of the Conquest.The Sacbe below are of Cob, Chichen Itza, and Labn respectively.

72Friar Diego de Landa: Relacin de las cosas de Yucatn 1566 AD

In his book mentioned above Friar Diego de Landa:

Talks about the practice of baptism among the Maya before the Conquest.

The Maya Prophecies for the arrival of a foreign power who would impose a single god on their people.

The teachings of the Maya elders who taught that their ancestors who inhabited this land had come from the east, that God had helped them, opening two roads across the sea.

73The historian and friar, Francisco Ximnez said about the ancient records among the ancient Maya Quich of Guatemala:"... They say that a book was written in the era of Christianity, but we can not be sure that a book existed.There was another book, which cannot be seen any more, in which was clearly seen the coming from the other side of the sea... We can reason that they conserved some things from Genesis and Exodus as well, because its stories deal primarily with what the Holy Scriptures tell usof these books and also a little concerning other books that tell of the Hebrews and the redemption of mankind. "

74Friar Domingo de Vico says in his book of history Teologa Indorum in chapter 101:"... These Indians are descended from the ten lost tribes of the Jews, who did not return to their land of inheritance, but kept all the events written in the sacred text through oral tradition as the devil had deceived them into many errors."

75Friar Francisco Gmez told the following of one of the well cured long red leather codices that were showed to him:In the Codex he saw ... the Virgin Mary depicted with her hair arranged in the manner of Indian women, gathered and tied in a knot behind, but a small cross stuck in her hair indicating that she was of the most holy,give birth to a great prophet who would come from heaven, and that she would conceive without any participation of men because she would remain a virgin. That prophet would be persecuted by his own people, that they would wish him evil and crucify Him. He was representedwith his hands and feet tied to a cross, but without nails. His resurrection was also shown as his life was restored and He ascended into heaven. The Dominicans said they found the leather codices in the possession of some Indians who live on the Pacific coast, who said their ancestors had left them this memorial.

76Father Diego de Mercado told and signed his name to a similar report:Once, while talking to an old Otomi Indian who was than 70 years old, about matters of faith, the Indian said that in years past they had a book, handed down from father to son ... who had dedicated themselves to preserving it and teaching from it.Doctrines were written in two columns on each page, and the image of the crucified Christ was painted between columns ... They would turn the pages with reverence, not with the hand, but with a stick made for that purpose, which was kept with that book? When Father Mercado asked about the content of the book and its doctrine, the Indian replied that only if the book was not lost, the priest would see that it contains the same doctrine that had been teaching and preaching to them, but the book had rotted under the earth, where its guardians had buried it when the Spaniards arrived. The old man also said they were aware of the destruction of the flood, when only seven people were saved in the ark... TheAchi Indians of Guatemala corroborated what others have said about the flood, saying that before they had it painted in their books along with other records of antiquity.But the monks, in their eagerness to destroy idolatry, considered them suspicious and burned them... There were also those, like the Totonacas, awaited the coming of the Son of the Great God, who was the Sun, and said he would renew allthings.

77Obras Histricas, Don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl:A Mexican historian, born in Texcoco in 1570 AD.He was the son of the last King of Texcoco and family of Cuitlahuac.His version of the history of the Olmec:

After the earth began again to be populated, they built a Zacualli very high and strong, whichmeans the very high tower, to protect themselves against the 2nd destruction of the world. s time elapsed, their language became confounded, such that they did not understand oneanother, and they were scattered to all parts of the world.The Tultecas, consisting of seven men and their wives, were able to understand one another, andthey came to this land, having first crossed many lands and waters, living in caves and passingthrough great tribulations. Having arrived here, they discovered that the land was fertile and good.

Ixtlilxchitl called the people who lived in the Golf Giants

In this land called New Spain, there were giants as demonstrated by their bones that have beendiscovered in many areas. The ancient Tulteca record keepers called them Quinametzn. Theybecame acquainted with them and had many wars and contentions with them, and in particular in allthe land that is now called Mexico. They were destroyed and their civilization came to an end as aresult of great calamities and punishments from heaven for some grave sins that they had committed.

78Obras Histricas, Don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl:"The ancestors of the natives of this land now called New Spain, the general opinion of all, as it appears in their paintings, came from the east.

(And all who are now called Tultecas, Aculhuas, and Mexicanas, as we as the other people in this landboast and affirm that they are descendants of the Chichimecas. The reason, according to their history,is that their first King, whose name was Chichimecatl, was the one who brought them to this new landwhere they settled. And he was, as can be deduced, which came from the great Tartary, and was part of those who came from the division of Babel

Those who possessed this new world in this third age were the Ulmecas and Xicalancas; and according to what is found in their histories, they came in ships or boats from the east to the land of Potonchan, and from there they began to populate the land.

79Los veintin libros rituales i monarchia Indiana con el origen y guerras de los Indios Occidentales, de sus poblaciones, descubrimientos, conquista, conversin y otras cosas maravillosas de la misma tierra, Monarchia Indiana, fraile Juan de Torquemada, 1723:"Some years after the origin of early Tulla, from the northern part of Mexico [Veracruz] came a certain group of people who landed near Pnuco.

Concerning this nation, no one knows where they came because there is no data regarding the subject, but at least the given data says the landed at Pnuco. "

80Book of Chilam Balaam of Chimayo:

The raised wood banner will come. Our Lord comes, Itz. Our elder brother comes. Oh men of Tantun! Receive your guests The bearded men, men from the east.Carriers of the sign from God, Lord!

Hunab Ku his Firstborn Son is the God Itzamna.Hun = One , Ab = Being, Ku = God = The One God!81Our ElderBrother:

Lacandon Maya:Father God is the sameHunab Ku - called K'akochEldest son is Sukunkyum Elder Brother, our Lord

The Lacandon Maya believe the same family structure will exist in the hereafter.

82Sukunkyum Kinich Ajaw:K'inich Ajaw (Ahau, Ahaw) - Sun God, Son of Itzamna or Hunab Ku.Very similar to Quetzalcoatl.Itzamna is the supreme god of all gods and the creator god.Hunab Ku = The One God, appears in the 16 century in the Dictionary of Motul, where "Hunab Ku" is identified as "the only true and living God, also the greatest of the gods of the peoples of Yucatan. The Lacandon Indians made pilgrimages through the jungle for over 500 years to Yaxchilan to worship the statue of the Emperor Escudo Jaguar I. They believed this statue was Sukunkyum.

83Lacandon Legend of the Rebellious Elder Brothers:

The first family of gods was involved in a conflict.The elder brothers Kaak Bakal ak Yum Chak Xib and Paal ak Yum Chak Xib rebelled against his father.The younger brother T'uup honored his father and was given the birthright of his older brothers.T'uup became the Master of Light.The older brothers were exiled to the desert.Kaak Bakal ak Yum Chak Xib = The Man who speaks with bitterness, Father of the red manPaal ak Yum Chak Xib = Lesser tongue, Father of the red man

84Lacandon Names Brother of Jared:

The Lacandon refer to each other in terms of kinship.U sukun Kayum Elder Brother of KayumU sukun Jared Elder brother of Jared

85Lacandon Degrees of Glory in Heaven:

U Kaani Chembel Kuh Heaven of the lesser gods.There is no sun at this level.U Kaani Kakoch Heaven of Kakoch Creator / Father of the gods.This level is heated by the sun.U Kaani Kuk Heaven that belongs to the God in Heaven.Man's universe where there is sun, moon and stars. Some will inherit the earth.There will be a mixture of gods and humans on the surface of the earth.They are called terrestrial gods. Luum Kuh God of the earth.Yalam Luum - Underworld or the spirit world.Kisin and Sukunkyum reside here. After death the souls of all humans go through the underworld and are judged by Sukunkyum, Elder Brother.If not penitent they will be punished by Kisin.Kisin is a child of God who is lost.

Chan K'in Viejo: Spiritual Leader of the Lacandon people.86Lacandon Belief in Sacrifice of Blood and the use of the Color Red:

Belief in blood sacrifice.Belief in Sacramento.Ceremonies Celebrating the future coming of the Son of God, Elder Brother.When Elder Brother he will use red clothing.K'uxu - Red dye made from the fruit of the annatto tree.The dye is used to color robes and crowns (chak hu'un) used for sacrificial ceremonies.

87Lacandon Maya

88A Culture of War Fortified Cities:


Dos Pilas, GuatemalaChunchucmil, Mxico


Becan, Mxico


Naachtun, Guatemala


Punta de Chimino, Guatemala

Ichmul, Mxico


Mayan Murals of War


Common Traditions of War in Mesoamerica and the BoMWar and Battle TacticsCaptains and Chief Captains Rituals of Human SacrificeKings fight against KingsConsumption of Human BloodBeheadingSlaveryMarriage AlliancesAmputation of ArmsCities destroyed in a single day

95Similarities Between The Popol Vuh and the Book of Ether:

Popol VuhLos Nefitas obtained the book (The 24 Plates).43 Men found it on an expedition.They descended from the mountains.It was found on the Atlantic Coast.The book contains the story of the creation of all things.It is a hieroglyphic book.The Maya Quiche obtained the book.It was found on an expedition.They descended from the mountains.It was found on the Atlantic Coast.The book contains the story of the creation of all things.It is a hieroglyphic book.Libro de ter

96Title of the Lords of Totonicapn 1554:

"The three great nations of the Quiche ... are descendants of the Ten Tribes of the Kingdom of Israel, who Shalmaneser reduced to captivity, finding themselves on the border of Assyria, they decided to emigrate

"These, then, were the three nations Quiches, the descendants of Israel, with the same language and the same customs and traditions .... They were sons of Abraham and Jacob ....

"Now on September 28, 1554 we signed this confirmation in writing that we have the tradition that our ancestors told us, who came from the other side of the sea, Civan-Tuln, which borders Babylon (Title of the Lords of Totonicapn, Dionisio Jos Chonay and Delia Goetz, Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953, pp. 167, 170, 194).

97Obras HistricasDon Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl:

The Tultecas had a knowledge of the creation of the world (before the Conquest) by Tloque Nahuaque, including the planets, mountains, animals, etc. They also knew about how God created a man and a woman from whence all mankind descended and multiplied. The records indicate that the world was created in the year Ce Tecpatl, and the period of time from the creation to the flood is called Atonatiuh, which means the age of the sun of water because the world was destroyed by the flood. And it is recorded in the Tulteca history that this period or first world, as they called it, lasted for 1,716 years, after which time great lightning and storms from the heavens destroyed mankind, and everything in the earth was covered by water including the highest mountain called Caxtolmolictli, which is 15 cubits high After the earth began again to be populated, they built a Zacualli very high and strong, which means the very high tower, to protect themselves against a second destruction of the world. As time elapsed, their language became confounded, such that they did not understand one another; and they were scattered to all parts of the world. The Tultecas, consisting of seven men and their wives, were able to understand one another, and they came to this land, having first crossed many lands and waters, living in caves and passing through great tribulations. Upon their arrival here, they discovered that it was a very good and fertile land.

98Climate of the Book of Mormon and Mesoamrica:

Warm Weather Clothing: Lamanite Loincloth s

Murals of Bonampak,Mxico580AD 800AD

Figures in Ek Balaam, Mxico

El Luchador (The Wrestler)Olmec StatueSan Lorenzo, VeracruzDiscovered 1933Made 1550BC 400BCStatues of Tula, Hidalgo980AD 1179AD99Pre-Columbian Horses of the Yucatn:

There is an engraving of a pre-Columbian horse at Chichn Itz.It is located near the observatory at El Templo del Tableros. There are other examples of Yucatec horses.In the 1950s excavations at the pre-Columbian site of Mayapan were reported. Horse bones were found in four different locations. Because two of the finds were close to the surface, they were summarily dismissed as being Spanish. The others could not be. They were found in two meters of unconsolidated earth almost six feet deep. Two partially mineralized horse teeth were found at the same stratum with Maya pottery. This means there was an association of horses with humans. This contradicted the science of the time and ran counter to the Siberian Land Bridge Only doctrine. The site was Chen Mul, a sinkhole referred to as a cenote or waterhole.

In 1895 American paleontologist Henry C. Mercer went to Yucatn hoping to find remains of Ice Age man. He visited 29 caves in the hill area the Puuc of the peninsula and tried stratigraphic excavations in 10 of them. But the results were confused, and he came away disillusioned. He did find horse bones in three caves (Actun sayab, Actun Lara, y Chektalen). In terms of their visible characteristics, those bones should have been classified as from the Pleistocene American horse species, then called Equus occidentalis L. However, Mercer decided that since the remains were near the surface, they must actually be from the modern horse, Equus equus, that the Spaniards had brought with them to the New World, and so he reported them as such.

In 1947 Robert T. Hatt repeated Mercers activities. He found within Actun Lara and one other cave more remains of the American horse (in his day it was called Equus conversidens), along with bones from other extinct animals. Hatt recommended that any future work concentrate on Loltun Cave, where abundant animal and cultural remains could be seen.

It took until 1977 before that recommendation bore fruit. Two Mexican archaeologists carried out a project that included a complete survey of the complex system of subterranean cavities (made by underground water that had dissolved the subsurface limestone). They also did stratigraphic excavation in areas in the Loltun complex not previously visited. The pits they excavated revealed a sequence of 16 layers, which they numbered from the surface downward. Bones of extinct animals (including mammoth) appear in the lowest layers.

Pottery and other cultural materials were found in the levels VII and above. But in some of the artifact-bearing strata there were horse bones, even in level II. A radiocarbon date for the beginning of VII turned out to be around 1800 BC. The pottery fragments above that would place some portions in the range of at least 900 to 400 BC and possibly later. The report on this work concludes with the observation that something went on here that is still difficult to explain. Some archaeologist have suggested that the horse bones were stirred upward from lower to higher levels by the action of tunneling rodents, but they admit that this explanation is not easy to accept. The statement has also been made that paleontologist will not be pleased at the idea that horses survived to such a late date as to be involved with civilized or near-civilized people whose remains are seen in the ceramic-using levels. Surprisingly, the Mexican researchers show no awareness of the horse teeth discovered in 1957 by Carnegie Institution scientist Pollock and Ray. Some uncomfortable scientific facts seem to need rediscovering time and time again. Dr. John L. Lund, Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon Is This the Place? Page 248100Pre-Columbian Horses:

El Templo del TablerosChichen ItzIt is by no means implied that pre-Columbian horses were known to the Mayans, but it seems likely that horses were present on the Yucatan Peninsula in pre-Mayan time. The tooth fragments reported here could have been transported in fossil condition as curios by the Mayans, but the more numerous horse remains reported by Hatt and Mercer (if truly pre-Columbian) could scarcely be explained in this manner. CLAYTON C. RAY, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. Received May 28,1956).It is clear that Loltun Cave is an important site because of the presence of lithic tools and Pleistocene fauna, though doubts still exist about the stratigraphic and temporal associations. The presence of Pleistocene Equus conversidens in ceramic layers has been interpreted as possible proof of the survival of the extinct horse into the Holocene (Schmidt 1988)

101Pre-Columbian Horses:

Petroglyphs of HorsesMonte Vista, Colorado

Stones of Ica, Ocucaje, PerDr. Javier Cabrera 1930 - 1970102Pre-Columbian Horses:

Petroglyph of HorsePicture Canyon, ColoradoIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Page 349 Gloria Farley 1994

Petroglyph of HorseOklahomaIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994

Petroglyph of HorseAnubis Cave #2, OklahomaIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994103Pre-Columbian Elephants:

Stela BCopan, HondurasMade Augusto 22, 731AD

Ancient PipeMississippi River DeltaFound 1880104Pre-Columbian Elephants:

Elephant MoundGrant County, Wisconsin Smithsonian Report, 1872

Elephant PetroglyphAnubis Cave #2, OklahomaIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994105They Arrived in Boats:

The Rebus Ship PetroglyphPicture Canyon, ColoradoIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994

Boat PetroglyphLeFlore County, OklahomaIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994

Gaelic Yawl PetroglyphOklahomaIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994

Boat PetroglyphOklahomaIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994106They Arrived in Boats:

Boat PetroglyphBaca County, ColoradoIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994Boat PetroglyphHicklin Springs, ColoradoIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994Boat PetroglyphMaba Refuge, OklahomaIn Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994

107Discovery of Barley:

Barley was discovered in Hohokam deposits in Phoenix, Arizona as a result of excavations carried out by the University of Arizona.The Hohokam Indians were present in the Phoenix area from about 300 BC to about 1450 AD. They possibly arrived from Mesoamerica, as many Mesoamerican characteristics were present in their culture, such as similar styles of figurines, the use of cotton, textile techniques, their ball game, platform mounds and copper bells. The Hohokam Culture is famous throughout the Southwest for a number of things, including the construction of a massive system of irrigation canals. More than 1000 miles of canals as large as 30 feet wide and seven feet deep were built by these ancient industrious people.

Adams affirms in the journal Science # 83: Perhaps the most surprising evidence of Hohokam agricultural sophistication occurred last year, when rescue archaeologist found preserved grains of what appears to be domesticated barley, the first to befound in the New World.Wild barley has a fibrous husk on each grain. Domesticated barley lacks this. The same is found in Hohokam barley. "It is debatable whether this is genetic or due to extreme skill in processing," says Vorsila Bohrer, a Ethno-Botanist from the University of Eastern New Mexico. Almost half of the samples from the site produced barley. (Page 32)108Gold Scroll Discovered: First evidence of Jewish inhabitants in Austria

Science Daily (March 18, 2008) - Archaeologists from the Institute of Prehistory and Early History of the University of Vienna have found an amulet inscribed with a Jewish prayer in a Roman childs grave dating back to the 3rd century CE at a burial ground in the Austrian town of Halbturn.

109Plates of Gold:

The Etruscans in Italy were familiar with the Phoenician alphabet, as shown in the Pyrgi gold plates. The plate on the left was written in Phoenician, and the other in Etruscan.

The world's oldest multi-page book in the lost Etruscan language.The National History Museum in Sofia Bulgaria.It is evident from the picture that this book was created on metal plates that are attached with metal rings, similar to the original documents that became the Book of Mormon.110Plates of Gold:

Gold plates decorated with exotic and beautiful animals, sixth century BC. Delphi Museum, GreeceThis plate of gold was found in Persia in 1961. The plate is dated to the time of Darius II in the fourth century BC.

111Plates of Gold:

The Louvre Museum in Paris has some old plates on display. Some are gold, while others are made from other metals. These were discovered during excavation of the palace of Sargon II, the Assyrian king from 721 to 705 BC. Thesite is known as Khorsabad, for the current nearby Iraqi city.This tablet of gold was found during an excavation in the city of Ashur, now Qual'at Serouat, Iraq, by a team of German archaeologists led by Walter Andrae. The tablet with inscriptions, which was discovered in the foundations of the Temple Ishta is actually a construction document. It dates from the reign of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-1207 BC), who expanded the Assyrian empire, but was later killed by his son.

112Plates of Gold:

Gold Plate from Perspolis, IranPersepolis fortification tablets: large collection of old administrative cuneiform texts, written between 506 and 497 BC. They are one of the most important sources for the study of the Achaemenid empire government. Persepolis was one of the capitals of the ancient Persian empire, founded by King Darius I the Great in 518 BC. It was excavated by the Oriental Institute of Chicago: Ernst Herzfeld and F. Schmidt who worked in Persepolis from 1931 to 1939. During the excavations, two archives of cuneiform texts were discovered. The smaller set is called the Persepolis Treasury Tablets. There are 139 of them, and describe the payments in silver between 492 and 458. The collection of greater number and larger tablets is known as the Persepolis Fortification Tabletsis: between 20,000 and 25,000 of them, belonging to about 15,000 to 18,000 documents. Not all tablets have been published, after decades of neglect,the project reinitiated in 2002. The Persepolis Fortification Tablets were written in Elamite, the language of the Persian Foreign Office, and dealt with financial transactions until 493 BC. Just a couple of them are in Aramaic, Phrygian, Old Persian, or Greek. The men in charge of them were Farnaces and his deputy Ziawi.

113Plates of Gold:

Gold Plates from Perspolis, Iran

114Beards in Mesoamerica:

Monument #13 La Venta, Tabasco, MxicoOlmec CivilizationShows a bearded man wearing a turban that looks more like a Phoenician than a Mexican. The pointy toed shoes that he wears were used in three Mediterranean civilizations: Etruscans, Hittites and Phoenicians. The native peoples of Central America were unable to grow facial hair.It also shows four glyphs, three in a linear arrangement and the fourth a footprint, the Mesoamerican common symbol for movement. The carved stone monument can be dated from 600 to 400 BC(Houston 2004b: 292)

Olmec Clay Head, Tres Zapotes, Veracruz Mxico. The realistic appearance suggests that this is the study of an artist from a real person and not the figment of an artists imagination.115Beards in Mesoamerica:

Bearded jadeite head of Quetzalcoatl. This head is in the Muse de l'Homme, Paris, France.

Mexica statue of Quetzalcoatl with a beard. Both photographs are from American Indians in the Pacific, Thor HyerdahlThis vase with a bearded Mayan face "Old Empire" (c.430 AD). This Mayan figure from Honduras could be Itzamn in his youth.


Itzamn, ancient bearded god of the Maya-Itz. Itzamn, the legend, arrived by boat from the east and founded the civilization Itz.Quirigua, Guatemala.Cal Ixtlahuacas head.This head of terracota,with his well trimmedmustache and beard, was excavated from anundisturbed and sealedancient tomb in the Cal Ixtlahuaca Pyramid, 35 Miles to the southeastOf Mxico City, in 1933.Many experts believe that it is Roman and from the second century AD, but it is officially classified as " colonial " .


Stela of a Bearded Man, La Venta, Tabasco, Mxico700 400 BC


Bearded Man of Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mxico200 1300 AD


Stela of Bonampak, Chiapas, Mxico580 800 AD


Bonampak, Chiapas, Mxico580 800 AD


Bearded Men in Palenque, Chiapas, Mxico1000 BC 800 AD


Bearded Men in Palenque, Chiapas, Mxico1000 BC 800 AD

123The Mystery at Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mxico: 200 1300 AD

The Olmec-Mayan ruins at Comalcalco, near the modern city of Villahermosa in Tabasco State, are more than a small mystery to archeologists and other researchers who are studying the unique architectural style of the ancient city. For one, other Meso-American ruins of the region, indeed all the ancient world of the Maya, were built using hand carved limestone blocks - not bricks.

But the mystery deepened when researchers discovered that when an oyster-base mortar used to bind the bricks was removed, it revealed various odd markings on the back of the bricks, including what is believed to be the brick makers fingerprints.

But it is the strange figures carved into the bricks that are most perplexingto archeologists. Pictured at the right is a comparative illustration thatcaptured the attention, and imagination, of researchers. The symbols in thefirst six columns(from left to right)in the illustration are mason symbols fromRoman bricks. The symbols in the six columns on the right were discovered behind the bricks excavated at Comalcalco. They appear to be almost identical. There are many additional similarities between the brick mason marks at Comalcalco and ancient Romano, Minoan, and Greek sites.

Further complicating the issue, whether by design or coincidence, the bricks have Roman-like architectural measurements and the building structures sport Roman-like architectural features. Further deepening the mystery is the discovery of what may well be a Roman figurine, leading some to speculate that there may have been a Roman-Christian presence in the Americas a thousand years before the arrival of Columbus.

There is an evolving theory that ancient man from the European and Asian continents may have made the Atlantic crossing long before Columbus, bringing with them artifacts and items for trade.

Theorists say elsewhere in the Maya region, Roman-style figurines have emerged, and pre-Columbian horse remains have been excavated. Old World parasites and DNA affinities, the blowgun, bark cloth, and paper manufacturing said to have been unearthed at or near Comalcalco add to the mystery according to supporters of the theory.

124The Mystery at Comalcalco, Tabasco, Mxico: 200 1300 AD

125Quetzalcatl the Descending God:

Temples of the Descending God in Tulum and Coba According to a personal conversation with a local Tulum guide (Mosiah Petlaclalco) the phenomenon seen below during the equinoxes at the Temple of the Descending Godis also seen on April 6 at 6am. He swore to me that he himself has lived the experience.

126Quetzalcatl La Venta, Tabasco, Mxico:

Monument 19 from La VentaOlmec CivilizationFirst known representation of a feathered serpent in Mesoamrica.127Temple of Kukulkan/Quetzalcatl Chichen Itz, Yucatn, Mxico:

Local researchers have found that the greatest illumination of the serpent is produced on April 6th for some unknown event (Vergara).Christ / Quetzalcatl was born on the 6 of April according to a revelation given to Joseph Smith (D&C 20:01)

128Similarities between Quetzalcatl & Christ:

Both were recognized as the creator of all things (Mosiah 4:2) (Senz 1962)Both were born of virgins (Alma 7:10) (Gamino)Both are described to be white and wearing a white robe (3 Nephi 11:8) (Torquemada)Both performed miracles (3 Nephi 26:15) (Sjourn)Both taught the ordinance of baptism (3 Nephi 11:23) (Irwin 1963)Both prophesied future events (Ixtlilxchitl)Both are universal, as opposed to being nothing more than recognized as local gods (3 Nephi 16:1) (Sjourn 1962)A great destruction was associated with both (3 Nephi 8:5) (Ixtlilxchitl)The cross was a symbol for both (3 Nephi 27:14) (Irwin 1963)Both Sent disciples to preach their word (3 Nephi 12:1) (Wirth)They promised to come a second time (2 Nephi 6:14) (Sahagn)A new star is associated with both (3 Nephi 1:21) (Annals of Cuautitln)The children of both are lords and heirs of the Earth (4 Nephi 17) (Ixtlilxchitl)

129Mesoamrica and the Number 7:

The Number 7 in Christianity:The number seven (7) in the seven days of Creation is typological and the number seven appears commonly elsewhere in the Bible. These include:1. Seven days of Creation (Genesis 1) e.g., God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Sabbath)2. Anyone who dares to kill Cain 'will suffer vengeance seven times over' (Genesis 4:15)3. Lamech in his "Song of the Sword" claims that 'if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold', he himself shall be 'seventy-sevenfold' (Genesis 4:24)4. Seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41)5. Seven days of the feast of Passover (Exodus 13:310)6. Seven day week and the pattern concerning distribution and use of manna (Exodus 16)7. Seven year cycle around the years of Jubilee (Leviticus 25)8. The fall of the walls of Jericho on the seventh day after marching around the city seven times (Joshua 6)9. Seven things that are detestable to the LORD (Proverbs 6:1619)10. Seven Pillars of the House of Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1)11. Seven loaves multiplied into seven baskets of surplus (Matthew 15:3237)12. The Seven last words (or seven last sayings) of Jesus on the cross13. Seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom (Acts 6:3)14. Seven Spirits of God are mentioned in the Book of Revelation15. Seven churches of Asia to which the "Book of Revelation" is addressed16. Seven churches, seven stars, seven seals, seven last plagues, seven vials or bowls, seven thunders in the Revelation, the last book of the Bible17. Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit18. The Seven Virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility19. The Seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride20. The seven terraces of Mount Purgatory (one per deadly sin)21. In the genealogy in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is 77th in a direct line22. The number of heads of the three beasts (7 10 7 + 7 10 10 + 7 10 = 1260) of the Book of Revelation, and of some other monsters, like the hydra and the number of seals23. In the New Testament, in Matthew 18:21, Jesus says to Peter to forgive 'seventy times seven times', remembering so the curse of Cain and the song of Lamech in Genesis 4.130Mesoamrica and the Number 7:

The Number 7 en Judaism:A highly symbolic number in the Torah, alluding to the infusion of spirituality and Godliness into the creation. For example:1.God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Shabbat). Genesis 2:3. "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars." Proverbs of Solomon son of David King of Israel 9:12. A seven-day purification period is required for one who has become tamei to become tahor.3. The Shmita (Sabbatical) year arrives every seventh year.4. The Jubilee (Yovel) year comes after 7 times 7 years.5. The Counting of the Omer leading up to the Giving of the Torah is expressed as "7 times 7 weeks."6. There are 7 days of Passover and Sukkot when celebrated in Israel.7. Shiv`a (another pronunciation of the Hebrew word for 7(Hebrew: ; "seven")), is the number of days of mourning. Hence, one sits Shiva. As in Shiva (Judaism)8. The weekly Torah portion is divided into seven aliyahs, and seven Jewish men (or boys over the age of 13 who are considered men; Bar Mitzvah) are called up for the reading of these aliyahs during Shabbat morning services.9. Seven blessings are recited under the chuppah during a Jewish wedding ceremony.10. A Jewish bride and groom are feted with seven days of festive meals after their wedding, known as Sheva Berachot ("Seven Blessings").The number of Ushpizzin (also known as the "Seven Shepherds") who visit the sukkah during the holiday of Sukkot: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David.11. The number of nations God told the Israelites they would displace when they entered the land of Israel (Deut. 7:1): the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.12. In Breslov tradition, the seven orifices of the face (2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 ears,and the mouth) are called "The Seven Candles."13. The Menorah (Hebrew: ), is a seven-branched candelabrum lit by oliveoil in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. The menorah is one of theoldest symbols of the Jewish people. It is said to symbolize the Burning bushas seen by Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25).14. The number of times Cain will be avenged by God if he is murdered(Gen 4:15).15. The Israelites circled Jericho for 7 days and then the wall tumbled down.


The Seven Primordial Tribes of MesoamericabyDiane E Wirth Seven tribes are described in the Book of Mormon as having evolved from the families who camefrom the land of Jerusalem to the New World. The first mention of these lineage groups is circa 544B.C., when the individual tribes were designated as Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites,Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites (Jacob 1:13).Almost 700 years later, these patriarchal tribal divisions were mentioned again, indicating theenduring nature of this tradition (4 Nephi 38). Over time, the order of the names remained the same; the lastreference appears in Mormon 1:8, shortly before the demise of the Nephite nation as a result ofwar. From these scriptures we know that the seven families were remembered over a span of 866 years in the Book of Mormon. The importance of these lineages cannot be diminished as they are even mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 3:17-18. Before and after the end of the Nephite nation in A.D. 385, genealogy continued to be extremely important to Mesoamerican cultures. Early traditions, passed orally from one generation to the next, spoke of seven primordial tribeswho were their ancestors. These Mesoamerican legends are recorded in murals,on Stelae, on monuments, and in codices, and were fortuitously recited to Spanish clergy who made awritten record of the various accounts.

Bernardo de Sahagn learned that the natives equated the cave symbolism of the seven tribes with that of boats, andsuggested that these tribes crossed the waters in search of a terrestrial paradise. He wrote:

Concerning the origin of these peoples, the report that old men [of central Mexico] give isthattheycameby sea . . .in some wooden boats. . . . But it is conjectured by a reportfoundamong all thesenatives that they came fromseven caves,andthat theseseven caves are the seven ships or galleys in which the first settlersof this land came.. .[Bernardino de Sahagn,Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana,Introduccion alPrimer Libro, Mexico, 1946),cited inArchaeology and the Book of Mormon, by Milton R. Hunter(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1972), 44].

Las Siete Cuevas Histrica Tolteca-ChichimecaLos Siete Tribus del Cdice Duran


Are the Hopi related to the Maya? According to Frank Waters, the Hopis first lived in sevenpuesivi, or caves. From there they migrated northward, establishing their people and villages in accordance with the names of the "caves or womb-caverns"[Frank Waters, Mexico Mystique(Chicago: Swallow Press, 1975), 168-170]. These events may refer to the Late Classic Period in Mesoamerica when many people were onthe move, as war, disease, and famine plagued much of Mesoamerica. But by the same token, themyth may be coupled with earlier times, with events going back to myths of early arrivals in the New World from across the sea. Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico, has many beautiful and interesting stelae. Stela 67 appears to portray a bearded man in a boat, riding an inverted ocean wave. The upside down wave gives the understanding of the watery Underworld where the dead enter and rebirth takes place.The numeral classifier for caves in Yucatec isak, which forms part of the wordaktun"cave." The classifierakis also used for words such as canoes, boats, houses, and containers [Andrea J. Stone,Images from the Underworld: Naj Tunich and the Tradition of Maya Cave Painting(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995), 35]. All these words are associated with things that hold people and objects in safe enclosures.Although the legend of the seven caves comes primarily from Mexican Nahuatl speaking peoples, there was a widespread adoption of this myth among other peoples, as is evidenced by the Quiche Maya. Tulan Zuyua, orvukub pek, vukub zivan"seven caves, seven canyons," is referred to inThe Popol Vuh. [Denis Tedlock,Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985), 360]. The High Priest's Grave at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan also supports a belief in this origin mythin an area of non-Nahuatl speaking peoples. Similar to the Quiche place of origin, the original namefor Chichen Itza may have beenUcil-Abnal, "Seven Bush Places or Hollows" [Ralph L. Roys, NativeEmpires in Yucatan, inRevista Mexicana de Estudios Antropologicos20: 153-177]. The Annals of the Cakchiquels, a Maya history, refers again and again to the seven primordial tribesas the original colonizers who came from across the sea [The Annals of the Cakchiquels, translated fromthe Cakchiquel Maya by Adrian Recinos and Delia Goetz (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1953), 59, n.59]. Does this account of the seven tribes, as well as the others mentioned here, refer to the same long-held concept of seven lineages in the Book of Mormon? We can only speculate that this is the case. What we do know is that after Book of Mormon times, this legend was part of oral tradition among the natives of Mesoamerica for many, many years. The Totonicapn record (of Guatemalan Indians) refers to the division into Seven Tribes: "The Xahila family, one of the royal lines of the Quiches of the highlands of Guatemala, left an account in the Maya tongue entitled Annals of Xahila. It is stated therein: "We were brought forth, coming we were begotten by our mothers and our father, as they say . . . They say that the seven tribes arrived first at Tullan." It is observed that the Xahila record likewise indicates a departure from an Old World Tulan (Bountiful) and the settlement of seven tribes in a principal homeland, Tullan (Bountiful), in the New World. [Milton R. Hunter and Thomas S. Ferguson, Ancient America and the Book of Mormon, p. 87] According to a Mexican tradition, "Here is the beginning of the accounts of the arrival of the Mexicans from the place named Aztlan ("tlan" means "Bountiful"). It was through the midst of the water that they made their way to this locality, being four tribes. According to the history of the Quiche Maya people written in the book Title of the Lords of Totonicapan, there were four great leaders who brought their people from the other side of the sea, from Pa-Tulan ("Tulan" means "Bountiful"). [Clate Mask, "And They Called the Place Tulan," p. 4]

Do these stories of the seven tribes, and the others mentioned here, refer to the same old concept of the seven lineages in the Book of Mormon? We can only speculate that this is the case. What we do know is that after the Book of Mormon time period, this legend was part of the oral tradition among the natives of Mesoamerica for many, many years.


The Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca portrays Chicomoztoc, or the Seven Caves of Aztln from which the first Chichimec tribes emerged before invading the Basin of Mxico to become the Aztecs. Bittman Simons (1968) wrote: "Chicomoztoc (or Culhuacatepec) is the legendary point of origin of many people of ancient Mesoamerica.It is depicted in paintings and manuscripts mentioned in chronicles.In addition to the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca we may also mention, the Tira de la Peregrinacin, Azcatitlan Codex, the Codex Rios, the Chimalpopoca Codex and the work of Tezozomoc, Muoz Camargo, Pomar and Zorita, Chimalpahin, Motolinia, Duran, Sahagn and Torquemadaas well as the Popol Vuh and the Annals of theCachiqueles.

The Book of Mormon states that Lehi's unified company divided into seven main lineage groups soon after arriving in the promised land (Jacob 1:13). Similarly, most major Meso-American cultural groups claim ancestry from seven major lineage groups. In the Popol Vuh, the K'iche' ancestors are said to have emerged from seven caves or canyons, representing the origin of the seven main royal families in highland Guatemala. Also, as was the case with the Mulekites, the people mentioned in the Popol Vuh changed their language after crossing the sea to establish a new homeland. - - The Popol Vuh and Mormon Studies, Insights Volume - 20, Issue - 7


The Templo Mayor of Tlatelolco has seven stages of construction.The director of the archaeological site remembered it is known that the Templo Mayor of Tlatelolco had been built seven times, the same as it was conquered.Tlatelolco, Distrito Federal, Mxico


Pyramid of the NichesEl Tajn, Veracruz, MxicoThe Pyramid has 7 Levels


The splendor of the city of Cholula started in the pre-Hispanic era, where they erected the tallest pyramid in Mesoamerica.This building has seven different superimposed construction phases.Cholula, Puebla, Mxico


The Pyramid of the Moon has seven stages of construction, the last being around the year 400 AD.This last stage is the stage that the visitor can see today in the archaeological site.Teotihuacn, Estado de Mxico, Mxico


The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan has seven stages of construction.The Temple was rebuilt seven times, expanded eleven, its construction began in the year 2-Rabbit (1390).Tenochtitlan, Distrito Federal, Mxico


For analogies identified through registration, classification and architectural analysis of the cities of Tenayuca, Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco, we can infer that beyond their almost identical measurements, their astronomical orientation, and the superimposed seven stages of construction on their respective TemploMayor, in the three pre-Hispanic sites there was a parallel and simultaneous development.So explains the archaeologist Salvador Guilliem Arroyo, in his study, Tlatelolco, mirror of Tenochtitlan.Tenayuca, Mxico

140Evidences and Faith:

The Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley said:

"The evidence of its truth and validity in a world that tends to demand evidence, lies not in archeology or anthropology, although knowledge of these sciences may be helpful for some, nor linguistic research nor historical analysis,although they may serve to confirm.The evidence of its truth and validity lies within the book itself.The proof of its truth lies in reading the book itself.It is a book of God. "(" Four Cornerstones of Faith Liahona, February, 2004) 141

mesoamerica and the book of mormon

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