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and Empirical Findings that Support the Book of Mormon by Jeff Lindsay and David C. Coles 
This is a condensed and consolidated version of Jeff Lindsay's very thorough and scholarly web pages Book of Mormon Evidences and Book of Mormon Nuggets. This also includes a similar treatment of David C. Coles' excellent web page, Is the Book of Mormon Really an Ancient Book? 
There are extensive and impressive evidences for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon as an ancient document which deals with real people and places. Here is just a sampling of such evidence:
Index: 1. Preface 
2. Circumstantial Evidence
3. Witnesses of the Book of Mormon
4. Writing on Metal Plates
5. The Buried Plates: Evidence of Authenticity
6. The Lachish Letters
7. The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Writings
8. Mulek, Son of King Zedekiah?
9. Bountiful and Nahom in the Arabian Peninsula
10. Even More Evidence for the Ancient Place Nahom
11. The Valley of Lemuel: Another "Blunder" Becomes Evidence FOR the Book of Mormon
12. The Place Shazer in the Arabian Peninsula
13. Of Arrows and Sticks
14. Finding Ore Near Bountiful
15. What Could Joseph Smith Have Known About Mesoamerica?
16. The Great Catastrophe: Volcanism in Book of Mormon Lands
17. Mesoamerican Fortifications
18. The Use of Cement in Ancient America
19. Legends of Quetzalcoatl and Ties to the Book of Mormon
20. Wars in Winter?
21. Olive Culture
22. More from Mesoamerica
23. Writing in Reformed Egyptian?
24. Linguists Provide Possible Evidence Consistent with Book of Mormon Claims
25. Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon
26. Numerous Hebraic Language Structures
27. Names in the Book of Mormon
28. King Benjamin's Farewell Address: An Ancient Semitic Discourse
29. Abinadi's Use of Ancient Near Eastern Concepts in His Testimony of Christ
30. Mosiah and Ether: The Internal Consistancy of the Book of Mormon
31. "The Land of Jerusalem" - a Fatal Blunder??
32. Weights and Measures in the Book of Mormon
33. DNA Linking Eurasians and Native Americans
34. Friar Diego de Landa's Observations on the Yucatan - Possible Echoes from the Book of Mormon?
35. Ancient Book of Enoch Text Quoted in Book of Mormon
36. Statistical Analysis Gives 1000 to 1 Odds Against the "One Author Theory."
37. "A Billion to One Odds"
38. Hugh Nibley's Book of Mormon Challenge [index] "Though argument does not create conviction, lack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish."B.H. Roberts said: "The Holy Ghost must ever be the chief source of evidence for the truth of the Book of Mormon. All other evidence is secondary to this. No arrangement of evidence, however skillfully ordered, can ever take its place; for this witness of the Holy Spirit is God's evidence to the truth."While we know that intellectual evidences of the Book of Mormon do not change lives and bring souls to Christ, nevertheless, things in the Book of Mormon that critics considered laughable in 1830 have now become powerful evidence that the Book of Mormon is what it claims to be - an authentic ancient document that Joseph Smith DID NOT write. He translated it through the power of God. [index] Hugh Nibley makes an excellent observation about indirect, circumstantial evidence for Book of Mormon authenticity: 2-1 Entirely apart from the contents of the Book of Mormon and the external evidences that might support it, there are certain circumstances attending its production which cannot be explained on grounds other than those given by Joseph Smith. These may be listed briefly: [index] Three witnesses saw an angel and the plates; eight others handled the plates and bore formal witness. Thus eleven people, besides Joseph Smith, saw and handled the plates and remained loyal to that witness to the end of their lives, even though many of these witnesses became unhappy with Joseph or the Church. A handful of others were witnesses to the physical reality of the gold plates and the divinity of the Book of Mormon. The reliability and consistency of the witnesses to the Book of Mormon exceed every legal standard for reliable testimony. The witnesses were not rogues of ill repute in their communities, but were respected men 3-1 who risked and lost much by their support of the Book of Mormon. They all suffered great persecution, made no money and gained no power, but in spite of everything, never denied their witness. If it was all a hoax, how could the forger get his accomplices to keep repeating the lie - even after they had become angry and bitter with the source of the lie? What forger could afford to alienate his fellow conspirators, when, with abundant motivation to expose him, all they had to do was admit what everyone already suspected, that he was a fraud? That this could have been a fraud simply defies logic. [index] Absolutely laughable in 1830. Now, not only well established as an ancient practice, but as a particularly significant ancient practice in the Middle East in the era of 600 B.C. - especially for religious documents. Most significant, perhaps, is the ancient practice of "scriptorio" - putting the title page at the END of the book, something which is a hallmark of ancient writings on plates from the Middle East, and which is also strong evidence of authenticity for the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith could not have known of "scriptorio" when he translated the gold plates, but he noted that the title page was at the end, on the last page. "Is the Book of Mormon Really Ancient?" Gold Plates 4-1 It is hard for us to realize today that for many years the idea of writing a sacred record on gold plates was considered just too funny for words and that the mere mention of the "Golden Bible" was enough to shock and scandalize the world. Today at least a hundred examples of ancient writing on metal plates are available, the latest discoveries being three gold plaques found in 1964 near an ancient shrine on the coast of Italy; they are covered with Punic and Etruscan writing and date from about 500 B.C. Punic, it will be recalled, is Phoenician, a language and script that flourished in Lehi's day a few miles from Jerusalem. It was also in 1964 that the writing on a thin gold plate from Sicily was identified as Hebrew; though the plate has been known since 1876, Hebrew was the last thing anybody expected. The golden plates of Darius, discovered in 1938, which in their form and the manner of their preservation so strikingly resemble the plates described by Joseph Smith, were augmented by new findings in the 1950's; the contents of the latter plates, a pious mixture of religious declamation and history, are as suggestive of the Book of Mormon as their outward appearance is of its plates. We have already spoken of the Copper Scrolls, riveted metal sheets, and noted how the purpose and spirit as well as the method of their production and concealment matches the record-keeping practices of the Nephites in every particular. Evidence of Authenticity [index] The "ridiculous" things that critics of the Book of Mormon mock today seemed even more ridiculous in Joseph Smith's day. After all, when that young, unschooled farm boy on the American frontier announced to the world in the late 1820's that an angel had directed him to ancient golden plates, hidden in a stone box buried in a hill, and that he had translated the sacred record by the power of God, well, what could be more bizarre? For the typical person of that day, the story was simply outrageous. But what was "too funny for words" in 1830 has become much more plausible today, now that we know of numerous examples of ancient sacred records having been buried and preserved for future times, including records written on metal, and records buried in stone boxes. Of course, none of this proves that Joseph really did translate the gold plates by the power of God, but it certainly puts his account of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon on a solid foundation with other ancient practices. Almost everything about Joseph's claims for the Book of Mormon were utterly ridiculous in the context of his own time. But they are remarkably consistent with writings and practices from the ancient world that he could not have known about, and which have become much better known in our day. The whole idea of ancient preserving and hiding of sacred records for future times suddenly seemed a lot less ridiculous after the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. While there were some pre-1830 publications, including the Bible, that mentioned ancient writing on metal, 5-1 the learned response of a prominent anti-Mormon critic, Reverend Martin Thomas Lamb, in the late nineteenth century, is typical: "No such records were ever engraved upon golden plates, or any other plates, in the early ages." 5-2 But the nineteenth century void of knowledge regarding the ancient world has begun to be filled by modern discoveries. The community at Qumran took careful steps to "embalm" their records before they were buried, seeking to preserve hidden sacred records for future generations. One noteworthy example from Qumran is the Copper Scroll 3Q15, which provides a list of temple treasures. As William Hamblin points out, "it is a clear example of an attempt to preserve an important sacred record by writing on copper/bronze plates and then hiding the document." 5-3 H. Curtis Wright, in "Metal Documents in Stone Boxes," 5-4 documents the use of metals for writing in the ancient near East and among the Greeks. The Romans also had examples of writings preserved on metal tablets, such as those found in Pyrgi, north of Rome, where metal leaves of gold and a sheet of bronze with inscriptions were found in a rectangular niche between two temples, where the engravings had been carefully placed to preserve them. Further, Wright documents the repeated discoveries of ancient metal documents buried or sealed in stone boxes, such as the 1926 discovery of an inscription of Darius on gold and silver plates in a foundation between square hewn stones, or the 1933 discovery at Persepolis of stone boxes with square inscribed plates of gold and silver sunk into the bedrock beneath the corners of a building. Those plates were probably deposited in 516-515 B.C., and were in perfect condition when discovered 2,500 years later. One of the first examples of the ancient writing system of the Hittites was found on lead scrolls found at Assur. 5-5 Interestingly, versions of Hittite were written both in cuneiform and hieroglyphs. 5-6 Royal seals 5-7 were "written in hieroglyphs, sometimes accompanied by a cuneiform version." 5-8 It is important to note that an ancient language, appearing as this does, in two different written forms, including one using hieroglyphs, is analogous to the known later practice of writing Hebrew not only in its original alphabetic form, but also the "reformed Egyptian" version mentioned as a second system in the Book of Mormon. There is one source that I feel must be considered by anyone seeking to understand the relationship between the Book of Mormon and ancient practices of writing on metal and preserving sacred records. I refer to John A. Tvedtnes, The Book of Mormon and Other Hidden Books. 5-9 This 266-page book demonstrates thorough scholarship as it explores and documents numerous ancient practices that show Joseph Smith's account of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon to be on remarkably solid - if not sacred - ground. In his chapter, "Hiding Records in Stone Boxes," Tvedtnes discusses many examples, which include a granite box in Alexandria, Egypt, which held writings of a Greek author, a scroll found in a stone box in western Peloponnesus of Greece, a marble chest in Mesenia, Greece, that an archeologist suggested could have been "a library box," and documents in an unknown script from an ancient stone chest inside a tomb. 5-10 Ancient writing on metal is also mentioned in Arab lore. According to Tvedtnes: 5-11 Arab traditions also speak of documents written on metallic plates. The eleventh-century historian al-Tha'labi wrote of a book sent to David from heaven. The book was sealed with gold and contained thirteen questions to be asked Solomon. 5-12There are also hints in legends from Mesoamerican Indians regarding hidden sacred writings. In one case, an early Spanish friar learned from an Otami Indian about a sacred book that had been buried, which allegedly spoke of God and Christ. 5-15 The Mayan Indians also may have had a tradition about a "Golden Book" that has been hidden away, said to have been written on fifty-two gold plates. 5-16 Finally, here is one of many interesting excerpts from Tvedtnes, 5-17 providing a few more of many examples: Ancient metal records being buried in tombs is well attested.The parallels between the Book of Mormon and the ancient world in this area have not escaped at least a few raised eyebrows from non-LDS scholars. The eminent Jewish scholar, Raphael Patai, in discussing a reference to the Book of Abraham observes: The idea of sacred texts originally inscribed in metal tablets recurs in the Mormon belief that the Book of Mormon came down inscribed on gold plates.Could Joseph Smith have known in 1830 that his account of sealed sacred records on thin metal plates, stored in a stone box and buried, would one day be validated by many significant finds from the ancient world? Moreover, if he were a fraud, it's puzzling that the case for authenticity of the Book of Mormon would keep getting stronger over time. [index] In 1935, some of the most important documents ever found relating to Old Testament history were discovered. They are also star witnesses for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. These ancient Hebrew writings from the time of Jeremiah and Lehi reveal point after point about their historical time, points that are consistent with Nephi's writings. Hugh W. Nibley discusses many of these points in his article, "Two Shots in the Dark." 6-1 Many significant features of the Lachish letters that were important in Nibley's report were brought to light by the scholar Harry Torczyner. 6-2 Issues of interest include the practice of preserving ancient records, the tensions and intrigues associated with a transition in government in the days of Zedekiah, the adoption of Egyptian ways of writing documents in the days of Zedekiah, the presence of other prophets [such as Lehi] besides Jeremiah preaching unpopular messages, and so forth. and Other Ancient Writings [index] The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has had a major impact on Bible studies. It has changed many views about religion in ancient Palestine and has given credibility to many Book of Mormon claims. LDS scholars have been an important part of the academic community dealing with the texts. Fascinating insight into the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the Book of Mormon, and LDS religion in general, is offered by two non-LDS writers, Carl Mosser and Paul Owen, 7-1 who warned the evangelical community about the impressive efforts of LDS scholars. Their article, "Mormon Scholarship, Apologetics, and Evangelical Neglect: Losing the Battle and Not Knowing It?", 7-2 is one of the most intriguing non-LDS articles I've ever encountered from critics of the Church. It warns anti-LDS writers that they have ignored the significant work of respected LDS scholars who are providing "robust defenses" of the LDS faith. Mosser and Owen make note of the many evidences that LDS scholars have uncovered which give plausibility to the Book of Mormon as an ancient Semitic text. Speaking in particular of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient Jewish texts, they write the following: Hugh Nibley says: "Now with the discovery and acceptance that typical New Testament expressions, doctrines, and ordinances existed well before the time of Christ, the one otherwise effective argument against the Book of Mormon collapses." 7-3Mosser and Owen go on to discuss other Jewish writings (the pseudepigrapha) that have more specific similarities with LDS scriptures. These writings are used by LDS scholars to establish an ancient milieu for the Book of Mormon. Among several examples, they cite work of Stephen E. Robinson on the Narrative of Zosimus (or History of the Rechabites) "which contains an interesting tradition about Jews leaving Jerusalem in Jeremiah's time, and traveling across the ocean to a land of promise."There are impressive parallels between LDS scriptures and ancient Semitic writings that were generally unknown in Joseph Smith's day. Yale's Harold Bloom is perplexed as how to explain the many parallels between Joseph Smith's writings and ancient apocalyptic, pseudepigraphal, and kabbalistic literature. He writes, "Smith's religious genius always manifested itself though what might be termed his charismatic accuracy, his sure sense of relevance that governed biblical and Mormon parallels. [index] Re-exploring the Book of Mormon ed. John Welch, 8-1 presents the evidence - from non-LDS sources, yet - that tentatively confirms something which has long been attacked in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon indicates that Mulek was a surviving son of King Zedekiah (after the royal household was destroyed in the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem). Mulek somehow (perhaps using a boat from the Phoenicians?) made it to the American continent, where his people the "Mulekites" were later absorbed by the Nephites. The survival of a royal son at first glance seems to contradict the Biblical account and has long been attacked. But new evidence suggests that there was a survivor with a name similar to Mulek (MalkiYahu, which could be shortened to a form such as Mulek.) Here is an excerpt from Chapter 40 of Re-exploring the Book of Mormon, a section based on research primarily by Robert F. Smith, and supplemented by Benjamin Urrutia: Was this MalkiYahu the same person as Mulek? Study of these names tells us he may very well be.More recently, an ancient seal was discovered in Jerusalem bearing the title, "Malkiyahu the son of the king." This may very well be a seal from Mulek, the son of King Zedekiah. This is entirely plausible based on what we know of ancient Israel and the information in the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Details of this discovery are provided by Jeffrey R. Chadwick, "Has the Seal of Mulek Been Found?" 8-2 Though the entire article should be read carefully to appreciate the possible significance of the find, here are the concluding remarks of Chadwick: So was Mulek the "Malkiyahu the son of the king" mentioned in Jeremiah 38:6? Nothing in the Bible or the Book of Mormon negates this identification. And the evidence lends significant support to it.However, other possibilities remain open. Scholars now recognize the possibility that someone could be called "son of the king" in the Bible without necessarily being a real biological son. 8-3 It may be possible that Mulek's description as a "son" of King Zedekiah in Helaman 6:10 and 8:21 might not refer to a direct biological relationship. If so, the report of the execution of Zedekiah's sons in 2 Kings 25:7 could refer to his "blood sons," and not whatever kind of "son" Mulek was. Further, such a scenario might explain why the Mulekites were so willing to accept unification with the Nephites under the rule of King Mosiah even though they were apparently more numerous than the Nephites. If Mulek did not have a genuine claim to the throne of Judah, it might have been easier for his descendants to accept the rule of the impressive King Mosiah with all the trappings of real kingship (sacred relics like the Liahona, the plates of Nephi and Laban, the sword of Laban, and a high level of literacy and education that was missing among the Mulekites, who came to the New World without written records.) By the way, The Lachish Letters (cited above) also raise an intriguing possibility, discussed by Hugh W. Nibley. 8-4 One important aspect of the Lachish Letters involves the apparent use of a little boy, apparently a descendent of Zedekiah, to carry confidential letters. Nibley suggests that this little boy could have been the one that escaped and was named Mulek - "little king" in Hebrew. 8-5 And such a boy could have been a true biological son of the king, or a "son" in another sense. Regardless of this and other possibilities, one thing is clear: the Book of Mormon account is highly plausible, and offers details consistent with modern scholarship in ways that seem to make Joseph Smith either a miraculously lucky guesser, or a prophet who translated a genuine ancient record by the power of God. in the Arabian Peninsula [index] In the Footsteps of Lehi by Warren P. Aston and Michaela K. Aston.) 9-1 The Book of Mormon begins in Jerusalem, in 600 B.C. The book of 1 Nephi describes Lehi and his family leaving Jerusalem before its destruction and wandering through the wilderness for several years before embarking on a transoceanic voyage. The text provides information about the journey through the Arabian Peninsula which stands as powerful evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Following the exodus of Lehi and his group from Jerusalem, they passed near the Red Sea, traveled "south-southeast", 9-2 roughly parallel to the Red Sea or near its borders, 9-3 until they reached Nahom, 9-4 where Ishmael was buried. (Ishmael was the father of a family that fled Jerusalem with Lehi's family, whose daughters became wives to Lehi's sons.) There was considerable mourning at Nahom. After a while, they traveled eastward 9-5 until they reached a place they called Bountiful 9-6 on the coast of the Arabian peninsula, described as a rich, green garden spot with trees, abundant fruit, water, honey, and a mountain. At this wonderful site they stayed at least long enough to construct a ship from the abundant timber. Metal obtained from ore was also used to make tools. The description of Lehi's journey has long been attacked in anti-Mormon literature. Finding a garden spot on the coast of the Arabian peninsula was laughable and indeed was laughed at in the 1800s, because nobody knew of a place that could come anywhere close to being a candidate for Lehi's Bountiful. "The Arabian desert does not have luscious garden spots: Joseph Smith blew it. Case closed." But today, the many details in the story have gained solid intellectual plausibility based on modern discoveries. For example, an analysis of the ways and habits of desert Arabs shows remarkable consistency with the actions taken by Lehi's group and also with the language and metaphors used by Lehi as he spoke to his family. His general path along the Red Sea also corresponds with what are now known to be the ancient frankincense trails in Arabia, which were major trade routes. And an excellent candidate location for the Valley of Lemuel and the River of Laman has been found - so excellent and amazing, that critics will be straining to ignoring this issue for years to come. There is indeed an ancient site called Nehem that is south-southeast of Jerusalem which was on the frankincense trail and has an ancient tradition of being a place for burial and mourning. Ancient tombs are still abundant in that area. The name Nehem/Nahom (it is the consonants and not the vowels that carry the meaning in Semitic languages, including Hebrew and Arabic) is a rare place name - and it is with the only known site in the Arabian peninsula being in the right place to agree with the Book of Mormon description of Nahom. The existence of this site was not known to LDS scholars until a few years ago and certainly could not have been known to Joseph Smith. (By the way, the Semitic name Nahom can refer to mourning and consolation, and may also refer to groaning and complaining, giving it special significance in Nephi's account.) 9-7 As one travels south-southeast from Jerusalem along the major trunk of the ancient Arabian trade route, the route branches east toward the southeastern coast at only one point: in the Jawf valley (Wadi Jawf) just a few miles from Nehem. From there the eastern branch of the trade route goes toward the ancient port of Qana - modern Bir Ali - on the Hadhramaut coast, where most of the incense was shipped. This eastern branch was the major route - the pathways to the south were less used. Now if Nehem is the Book of Mormon site Nahom, then is there a Bountiful to the east of it on the coast? Amazingly, we have an excellent candidate site that lies roughly due east of Nehem on the Oman coast. Wadi Sayq is a most unusual seashore site which appears to offer marvelous, even stunning evidence in favor of the Book of Mormon - meeting virtually every criterion for the site Bountiful. Among other Book of Mormon criteria for the place Bountiful, the Astons list the following: The journey from Nahom must have provided reasonable access from the interior to the coast (not a trivial requirement given the difficult obstacles posed by mountains along much of the coast). Wadi Sayq appears to be a most compelling fit. The mountain at Wadi Sayq, for example, is close enough to overlook the depths of the sea as required in 1 Nephi. Ore which would be suitable for use as described in the Book of Mormon has been found there, though it had not been found when the Astons published their findings in 1994. Furthermore, abundant and usable iron ore has also since been found at nearby Dhofar. Incidentally, the recent discovery of the unusual type of iron ore suitable for tool making using lower temperature wood-fired furnaces in the region of Bountiful is a far more impressive find than one might realize, for there are very few places in the Arabian Peninsula that have such ore. Wadi Sayq offers the largest body of coastal fresh water on the Arabian peninsula, with a beautiful freshwater lagoon. Wadi Sayq has dates, honey, and several species of trees, such as the sycamore fig and tamarind, that may be suitable for ship building. The site has coastal areas ideal for an encampment on the seashore, and it is accessible from the interior desert. The very existence of anything even close to a plausible candidate flies in the face of what critics of the Book of Mormon claim. For the Ancient Place Nahom [index] Critics could still ask if this ancient burial place was actually known in 600 B.C. by the name Nahom or an equivalent. Well, there was a report of an ancient altar from that time and place with an inscription about the tribe NIHM. (Only the consonants NHM would have been written in Arabic or Hebrew, so a word written NHM could be pronounced as Nahom, Nihm, Nehhem, etc.) Critics could still nitpick over even this, saying that a tribal name does not necessarily give support for an ancient place name. But now even this fragment of an argument against Nahom crumbles away in the light of further evidence reported in 2003 by Dr. S. Kent Brown: 10-1 The recent finding of inscriptions on three limestone altars in the ancient temple of Bar'an in Marib, Yemen, demonstrates as firmly as is possible by archaeological means the existence of the tribal name NHM in that part of Arabia in the seventh-sixth centuries B.C. Those are the general dates assigned to the carving of the altars by the excavators and other scholars. 10-2 Have Made All of This Up? Here is a brief quote from the Astons' book, page 29: By describing in such precise detail a fertile Arabian coastal location, as well as the route to get there from Jerusalem (complete with directions and even a place-name en route), Joseph Smith put his prophetic credibility very much on the line. If I asked you to write about a journey across Tasmania or through Bhutan or some other place about which you knew little, could you possibly describe a journey and its course in a way that would gain credibility with time? Is there any chance that you could even describe a reasonable general direction to travel? Could you pick a route that would later comply with routes used by others in the area? Could you name a site, and more than a century later have others find a map with a similar name for that place? Could you describe a very unlikely place that seems entirely out of line with what little you and others knew about the area, only to have others later discover an excellent candidate for that location in a place entirely consistent with the course you describe? I have asked many critics of the Book of Mormon to explain how Joseph Smith could have fabricated something so "laughable" yet so amazingly accurate as the place Bountiful and the burial place Nahom. No one so far has attempted a serious explanation. These details could not have been fabricated based on what was known in 1830 - even today, a typically educated writer with "general knowledge" of the Arabian peninsula would not think or dare to include such specific geographic details as these in the Book of Mormon. The only plausible explanation is that the author of 1 Nephi, which gives the account of the ancient Arabian trek, actually made that trek. That would be Nephi, not Joseph Smith. Becomes Evidence FOR the Book of Mormon [index] While the once-frequent jabs at Nephi's tale of finding Bountiful in the Arabian Peninsula have lost their punch with these new discoveries in Oman, other aspects of Nephi's story continue to draw anti-Mormon fire. One of the most prominent targets is the Valley of Lemuel and the River of Laman. Anti-Mormons proclaim that no such river exists - a "slam-dunk" argument against the entire Book of Mormon. 1 Nephi 2:The critics chuckle that there are NO RIVERS flowing into the Red Sea, at least not anything that could be said to be "continually" flowing. Sure, a few wadis might get a momentary trickle during a rainstorm, but nothing that could be the basis for Lehi's lecture to his son Laman. Yet the Book of Mormon has Lehi and his family stopping in an impressive valley with a river that continually (year round?) flows into the Red Sea. Slam dunk for the antis? Absolutely not! An excellent candidate for the River of Laman and the Valley of Lemuel has been found in an entirely plausible location. Photographic evidence and other documentation is provided in George D. Potter's article, "A New Candidate in Arabia for the Valley of Lemuel." 11-1 Potter reports that in looking for a well in Arabia, about 8 miles north of Maqna on the Gulf of Aqaba, he stumbled across a magnificent narrow canyon that ended in a palm-lined cove on the coast of the Red Sea. The canyon actually has a small stream that flows continually, throughout the entire year, and is surrounded by very tall mountain walls. This valley is known as Wadi Tayyib al-Ism ("Valley of the Good Name"). Potter shows, for example, that following Nephi's directions almost inevitably would lead one to encounter the oasis and the spring that is the source of the "River Laman" at the beginning of the Valley of Lemuel, and that this is just where the Book of Mormon says it is. It is there - and no one in the Americas knew of it in Joseph Smith's day. Few experts know of it in this day. But there it is, an incredibly rare perennial stream in Arabia. One can understand why Lehi would have been impressed with the setting and would have referred to the valley as a symbol of strength and firmness. There are also grains, dates, and other edible plants available in the area, along with clear evidence that the stream flows all year round. Potter also shows pottery fragments and remnants of possible altars dating to the first millennium B.C. that have been found there, adding to the plausibility of the Book of Mormon account. Could Potter's small stream, shallow and just a few feet wide, at most, qualify as a river? In the article, Potter notes that there are several Hebrew words which could qualify as the "river" of 1 Nephi 2, most of which refer to any running stream. The small stream which he found keeps vegetation green and healthy even when there has been no rain for months. It flows continuously, in spite of being reduced in volume by pumping upstream for use at a coast guard post and by many motor-driven pumps in the area tapping into the aquifer that is the source of the spring. In fact, it appears that the stream once had much greater flow, for there is heavy erosion of the lower canyon walls and water-laid calcite deposits on the valley floor that can be as wide as 15 to 20 feet, much wider than the stream. The river currently descends into rocky rubble as it approaches the Red Sea. According to Dr. Wes Garner, a retired geologist from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia, movement of the continental plates has caused the canyon to rise significantly since Lehi's time - the rocky place where the stream disappears as it approaches the Red Sea was previously submerged. Lehi probably would have faced a larger river that visibly flowed into the Red Sea. The shady canyon and the stream of fresh water, originating from a spring, would have provided welcome relief to the travelers and undoubtedly would have been a place where the voyagers would camp and recharge. They may have stayed here long enough to learn that the river really does flow continuously, though they may have inferred that based on the green vegetation supported by the river. And how about the location? The Book of Mormon says that Lehi and his family traveled for three days in the wilderness after they reached the Red Sea. So is the candidate for the Valley of Lemuel in a reasonable location to match the text? Yes - it is 70 miles south of Aqaba - that's the land distance that must be traveled by foot (or by camel), not the distance along a straight line. That's a plausible but challenging distance on foot for three days travel, and a piece of cake by camel. Potter provides photos, a map, and detailed directions on how to get there. This amazing site must be regarded as another powerful and verifiable piece of evidence supporting the plausibility of the Book of Mormon. An anti-Mormon laughingstock has again become one more piece of evidence for them to ignore. Most of the arguments against the Book of Mormon are arguments of silence. According to the critics, if something in the Book of Mormon has not (yet) been found, it must not exist, making the book false. But these arguments of silence keep crumbling before the voices of emerging data. Old ignorance about remote places and ancient peoples continues to erode, leaving the foundation of the Book of Mormon exposed as a solid fortress rising above the plains of doubt. [index] Much attention has been called to the finding of an ancient burial place, Nahom, in the only region where it could be, according to the description in 1 Nephi. Much attention has also been directed to the existence of an excellent candidate for the place Bountiful on the coast of Oman, "nearly due east" of Nahom, as the Book of Mormon indicates. More recently, many Latter-day Saints have rejoiced over the discovery of an ideal candidate for the Valley of Lemuel and the River Laman near the Red Sea, in an entirely plausible location. But all these finds are only part of the surprising evidence that is coming from the Arabian Peninsula. Some of the most impressive evidences were just published in 2003 by George Potter and Richard Wellington in their book, Lehi in the Wilderness. 12-1 One significant issue is their discovery of an excellent candidate for another place in the Arabian Peninsula mentioned by Nephi, the place Shazer. Shazer is introduced in 1 Nephi 16:12-14, as Nephi's group departs from the hospitable Valley of Lemuel: 12 ... we did take our tents and depart into the wilderness, across the river Laman. Regarding the place name Shazer, Nigel Groom's Dictionary of Arabic Topography and Placenames 12-2 contains an entry for a similar word, "shajir," giving the meaning: "A valley or area abounding with trees and shrubs." Regarding the name "Shazer," Hugh Nibley wrote: The first important stop after Lehi's party had left their base camp was at a place they called Shazer. The name is intriguing.Again, the Book of Mormon text provides a highly plausible name that accurately corresponds to the place described. But is there such a place in the area as required by the Book of Mormon? Before going any further, let us note that Shazer is introduced in the Book of Mormon within a classic Hebraism: "we did call the name of the place Shazer". In normal English we would say that we called the place Shazer or named the place Shazer, but in Hebrew one would say that he called the name of the place, for it is the name that is called, not the place itself. 12-4 But, again, what of the place itself? It turns out that there is a perfect fit for Shazer, a large, extensive oasis region with what is said to be the best hunting in all of Arabia, and it is in the right location to have been a four-days' journey south-southeast of the established location for the Valley of Lemuel, near a branch of the ancient frankincense trail and in the region of Arabia near the Red Sea called the Hijaz. This oasis is in the wadi Agharr. In Lehi in the Wilderness, Potter and Wellington explain that they started out thinking Shazer would be easy to find, knowing that Nephi's group traveled 75 miles from the Gulf of Aqaba to the now-located Valley of Lemuel in three days. 12-5 They concluded that the four-day journey from the Valley of Lemuel to Shazer required simply finding an oasis within 100 miles south-southeast of the Valley of Lemuel. However, many challenges stood in their way, and it would require three more field trips in their spare time over the next two years before they knew for sure that they had found Shazer. The following excerpt from Potter and Wellington describes the process of locating Shazer: 12-6 Our first attempts at finding Shazer took us to places that turned out not to fit the description of a valley with trees. In fact, they were downright inhospitable.Potter and Wellington offer much more as they retrace Nephi's journey. For example, after Shazer, Nephi writes that they traveled through the "most fertile parts" and then subsequently through "more fertile parts" that can be understood to be less fertile than the "most fertile" parts. These fertile regions were encountered before they turned due east, which began the most difficult part of their journey. Along the ancient incense trail, continuing just after Shazer until Medina, one encounters a region described by Arabs as the "fertile parts" of the land. It is the part of the trail with the highest concentration of farms and rest stops for caravans, and truly fits the Book of Mormon description. After Medina, there are fewer farms, but still enough fertile places to be called "the more fertile parts." 12-8 Knowledge of these many fertile regions in the midst of the barren Arabian Peninsula was largely hidden from the west until recently. These are rare and unusual places in the Arabian Peninsula. Just consider what we have here, with the finding of a plausible candidate for Shazer, and the many other "direct hits" the Book of Mormon provides regarding the Arabian Peninsula. There is no way Joseph Smith could have made up this kind of thing. Nothing in the information available to him in 1829 could have guided him in providing so many correct details of Nephi's voyage to the sea through the Arabian Peninsula. Nothing would have enabled him to describe the Valley of Lemuel, the River of Laman, or the place Shazer, a four-day journey (by camel) south-southeast of the Valley of Lemuel, with the best hunting in the entire area and an abundance of trees, corresponding well with the Semitic meaning of the name Shazer. Joseph knew nothing of Hebrew or Arabic at the time, and the western world knew precious little about the Arabian Peninsula. Attempting to describe details of the voyage would have been foolhardy in the extreme. If Joseph or anyone else had made up the story, it would have been important to be as vague as possible, not giving specific directions, distances, and descriptions. The only way such an account could be done with any hope of being plausible would be if the account were written by someone who actually made the trip. And that's exactly what happened: Nephi was real, his voyage through Arabia was real, and Joseph translated his words through the power of God. Frankly, that's the most plausible explanation for the Book of Mormon. [index] The Book of Mormon is filled with many small, subtle details that suggest its authenticity. The passing treatment of arrows is one example. During the journey out of Jerusalem toward Bountiful, three times Nephi writes that he had broken his bow, but never says that any of his arrows were damaged. Yet in 1 Nephi 16:23, Nephi says that he "did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow." Why would he need to make a new arrow this time if his old ones were still intact? Those familiar with archery understand that arrows must be suited for a particular bow in terms of length, weight, and stiffness. The difference between a powerful steel bow (in v.18) and Nephi's replacement wooden bow (in v.23) would certainly require different arrows. Was this part of Joseph Smith's knowledge bank as a farm boy in the 1820s? Here's a quote from "Nephi's Bows and Arrows," Reexploring the Book of Mormon, edited by John Welch: 13-1 One doubts that such information was known to Joseph Smith or to many, if any, of his contemporaries. Archery, for self-defense, hunting or warfare went out of vogue among Europeans many years before the time of Joseph Smith. [index] In the online Meridian Magazine article, "Geologists Discover Iron Ore in the Region of Nephi's Bountiful," 14-1 geologist Ron Harris of BYU describes the fascinating confirmation of a very specific Book of Mormon claim about the presence of iron ore near the place Bountiful on the western shore of the Arabian Peninsula. I knew that iron ore had been found there, but in my geological ignorance I thought that this was not an especially unusual or impressive find. After all, isn't iron present just about everywhere? Yes, but not actual iron ore, which is rare in Arabia. Even rarer is the type of iron ore that can be processed using a wood-fired furnace. Many ores require higher temperatures than that. There are very few places in the Arabian Peninsula that provide suitable iron ore, and one of them was just recently discovered near what appears to be the site of Nephi's Bountiful. This is another impressive confirmation of a very specific "prediction" made in the Book of Mormon. About Mesoamerica? [index] Mesoamerica has become the focal point for understanding the Book of Mormon. John Sorenson's landmark work, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, 15-1 ably demonstrates that there is a plausible geographic and cultural setting that can accommodate the Book of Mormon text - though not many of the critics' misconceptions about the scope of the Book of Mormon. While the Book of Mormon makes sense in the light of modern knowledge about ancient Mesoamerican patterns of society, warfare, trade, literacy, temple building, and numerous other elements, and while the only plausible geographical setting for the Book of Mormon is centered in Mesoamerica, around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, it is important to understand that Joseph Smith did not have access to this knowledge. He translated the book, but apparently did not know the scope of its geography. Many early leaders of the Church simply assumed that the Book of Mormon dealt with all of North and South America and all of the ancestors of the Indians. When information about Mesoamerica became available in the 1840s, more than ten years AFTER publication of the Book of Mormon, there was keen interest in that area as its possible location, but this interest faded as the Church faced more serious issues: the martyrdom of Joseph, crossing the plains, struggling for survival against pressures from the US government, etc. Only well into the twentieth-century did many scholars and thinkers see that a careful reading of the text demands a more limited geography, with Mesoamerica as the prime candidate. The civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon are a world apart from the Indian tribes Joseph might have known of in New York. In fact, when the Book of Mormon was published, the idea of ancient advanced civilizations anywhere on this continent was utterly foreign and the subject of much ridicule. So how can critics explain the many parallels between the Book of Mormon and Mesoamerica - the cities, temples, markets, highways, classes of society, literacy, patterns of warfare (including guerilla warfare), the existence of secret societies, the evil of human sacrifice, and so forth - that are so untypical of the Native Americans known anywhere in 1830? in Book of Mormon Lands [index] The Book of Mormon records a number of unusual and dramatic events that occurred in the New World at the time when Christ was crucified in the Old World. The description of the destruction is detailed, mentioning great storms, earthquakes, and risings and sinkings of the land. A terrible storm brought violent wind and whirlwinds, accompanied by unprecedented lightning and thunder. The violent activity lasted about three hours, though it seemed longer to some. Afterwards, a "thick darkness" was present which could be "felt." "Vapor of smoke and darkness" choked or suffocated some, and thick "mists of darkness" prevented fires being lit for three days. Many cities had been destroyed by burning, by sinking into the ocean, by being covered with earth, or by being covered with rising "waters". (Some cities remained, and basic geographical reference points were unchanged, so the great deformation of the land was largely superficial.) The details about the destruction make excellent sense if volcanic activity was involved. Volcanic ash and fumes can result in thick, tangible, moist mists which can kill people, shut out light for days, and prevent the lighting of fires. (Those who experienced the Mount St. Helens eruption in the United States know about some of this.) Strong volcanic activity can also be accompanied by seismic activity and the shifting of earth from lava flows, ash deposits, mudslides or landslides, from the raising and lowering of portions of the land and by changes in the water levels of nearby lakes. Joseph Smith never experienced a volcano, but the Book of Mormon description is remarkably consistent with modern knowledge of volcanic activity. Given that the Book of Mormon appears to be describing volcanic activity around 33 A.D. or so, we have an important and readily verifiable physical detail of great value in assessing the merits of any proposed geography for the Book of Mormon: if it is true history, it took place in a region where major volcanic activity occurred around 33 A.D. So, is there any place on this continent where something like this destruction could have occurred? The answer is YES. When Christ Died: Consistent with the Book of Mormon Not only is there a location in the Americas where significant volcanic and seismic activity occurred near the time specified in the Book of Mormon, but it occurred in the only plausible location for the Book of Mormon based on many other considerations - Mesoamerica. Major lava flows in that area have been dated to about 75 A.D. plus or minus 50 years (one non-LDS scholar, Payson Sheets, said it was at "about the time of Christ"), making the Book of Mormon account entirely plausible. Some of the lava flows from this time buried Mesoamerican cities, such as the city at Cuicuilco in the Valley of Mexico. In the area of Chiapas, which may be the land of Zarahemla according to John Sorenson, 16-1 important buildings in the major centers there, Santa Rosa and Chiapa de Corzo, were burned around 50 A.D. plus or minus a few decades. 16-2 Sorenson writes about the plausibility of the great catastrophe in terms of a proposed Mesoamerican setting: 16-3 The same types of natural destructive forces at work in 3 Nephi should be familiar in southern Mexico and thereabouts. After all, it was the intensity of nature's rampage that impressed the Nephite recorder, not the novelty of the phenomena. 16-4Sorenson goes on to explain, with ample documentation, how some more recent historical accounts of volcanic activity in Central America and southern Mexico are also consistent with Book of Mormon descriptions of great thunderings and storms that are triggered by or accompany volcanism, associated mudflows or ash deposits, etc. Of special interest is the reported fate of the city of Jerusalem (the New World Nephite city), which Sorenson's analysis of Book of Mormon geography places in Guatemala on the shore of Lake Atitlan. Sorensen writes: The level of this lake has fluctuated as much as 40 feet due to subterranean shifts in the volcanic material that plugs its exit, according to geologists.Sorenson concludes: 16-10 Unquestionably, the kinds of natural forces that produced the devastation reported in 3 Nephi are thoroughly characteristic of Mesoamerica.Another good review of the volcanic evidence related to the Book of Mormon is available online at the FARMS Website in an article by Matthew Roper, "Unanswered Mormon Scholars." 16-11 The section of this lengthy article relating to volcanoes is found on pages 112-114, from which the following excerpt is taken: M. T. Lamb, a prominent anti-Mormon, called the disaster described in 3 Nephi one of the most "foolish and physically impossible" stories ever written. 16-12Benjamin R. Jordan, in completing a Ph.D. at the University of Rhode Island involving research on volcanic ash layers in Central America, published an article 16-18 examining evidence for ancient volcanic activity around the time of the death of Christ. Examining reputable, peer-reviewed publications of ice core data from Greenland and Antarctica, Jordan shows that there are spikes in sulfate content that are consistent with significant volcanic activity around the time of the death of Christ. "There is evidence for large eruptions, within the margin of error, for the period of A.D. 30 to 40." [index] There are many aspects of ancient warfare in the Book of Mormon that show strong evidences of authenticity. For example, the several types of fortifications described in the Book of Mormon have been found in Mesoamerica dating to Book of Mormon times. Especially interesting is the recently discovered use of earthen mounds or walls coupled with timber work on top, much as described in Alma 50: 1-6. (This topic is discussed more fully in John Sorenson's article, "Fortifications in the Book of Mormon Account Compared with Mesoamerican Fortifications" in Warfare in the Book of Mormon, 17-1 - a book that abounds with other fascinating evidences. Other insights in this volume deal with the nature of guerrilla warfare and the Gadianton robbers, the use of weapons in the Book of Mormon and Mesoamerica, military organization and strategy in the ancient world, legal aspects of war, and more.) "Is the Book of Mormon Really Ancient?" Book of Mormon anticipates modern Mesoamerican archeology 17-2 Until recently, the prevailing picture of Mesoamerica was that only peaceful societies existed in the the climatic Classic era, exemplified by the spectacular Maya and Teotihuacan ruins dating from about AD 300 to 800. Mayan leaders were supposed to have spent their time peacefully contemplating and worshipping a complex set of gods, gazing at notable art, playing philosophical games with their calendar, and otherwise acting like "the Greeks of the New Worlds." Only after AD 1000 was militarism supposed to have played a role in Mesoamerican history. In the 1950's and 1960's, a few voices - Armilles, Rands, Palerm - urged that this picture must be revised, but nobody listened. The big shift came with the 1970 work by Tulane University at Becan in the Yucatan Peninsula. The center of the site is surrounded by a ditch almost two kilometers in circumference and averaging 16 meters across. The makers had piled the earth to form a ridge on the inner side of the ditch. David Webster described the military effect of this fortification: "To throw anything 'uphill' from the outside is almost impossible. Defenders, possibly screened by a palisade, could have rained long-distance missiles on approaching enemies using spearthrowers and slings."From the Book of Mormon, Alma 49, we read: 18 Now behold, the Lamanites could not get into their forts of security by any other way save by the entrance, because of the highness of the bank which had been thrown up, and the depth of the ditch which had been dug round about, save it were by the entrance. [index] A long-ridiculed "anachronism" in Book of Mormon is the reference in Helaman 3:9-11 to cement work among some of the people in the 1st century B.C. At this time, many Nephite people moved into the north lands (probably southern Mexico). Trees were very scarce there, apparently because of environmental irresponsibility among a previous, fallen civilization (I refer to the "Jaredites," probably correlated with the Olmecs). While taking care to protect and nurture trees for the future, the Nephites used other materials to build their cities. Buildings made from cement are specifically mentioned. For decades, this seemed like a mistake. But today, tourists in Mesoamerica can find an abundance of cement work which dates to about the time when the Book of Mormon reports its development (46 B.C.). John Welch provides further data in his article, "A Steady Stream of Significant Recognitions": 18-1 No one in the nineteenth century could have known that cement, in fact, was extensively used in Mesoamerica beginning largely at this time, the middle of the first century B.C.As to the possible importance of Teotihuacan itself, consider the following tentative suggestion from Michael J. Preece: 18-2 The Book of Mormon text often speaks of a mysterious land. It may be referred to as the "land which was northward" 18-3 or simply the "land northward." 18-4 In another place it is referred to as the "northernmost part of the land." 18-5On a related note, the Book of Mormon speaks of highways and roads. 18-8 Some LDS people have pointed to the discovery of cement roads among the Incas as supporting evidence, but the Inca empire was too far south to fit into a modern understanding of Book of Mormon geography. However, lime-surfaced causeways (called sacbes) have been discovered in Central America, some dating to Book of Mormon times. Researchers at Tulane University found one from near 300 B.C. Another in Belize was used between 50 B.C. and 150 A.D. South of Mexico City are about two miles of ancient paved roads, while one roadway in Yucatan is over 50 miles long. 18-9 The mention of cement work and roadways in the Book of Mormon appears highly plausible today, but was implausible to experts of the past. By the way, the ancient adobe pueblos that existed in Mexico as well as the US Southwest could also qualify as "cement" houses. The word "adobe" was not commonly used in Joseph Smith's day, was not in the 1830 Webster's Dictionary, and did not appear in print in English until 1834. 18-10 If Joseph did not have that word in his vocabulary, the word "cement" in the Book of Mormon could also include adobe. Perhaps the adobe builders were linked to Book of Mormon peoples. and Ties to the Book of Mormon [index] I still remember the excitement I felt in fifth grade when we were shown a documentary film about Cortes and the Aztecs, describing how Cortes was greeted as the Great White God of legend who had once visited the Americas and promised to return. I immediately saw the "obvious" connections to the Book of Mormon. Years later, I would read that these legends did not necessarily have any ties to the Book of Mormon, for some of them had been twisted by the Spaniards for their own purposes and may not have been reliable. Further, I would read that some Native Americans may have made their own claims of Christ-like legends to impress their new lords. And so, when critics would charge, "Why isn't there a scrap of evidence to support the Book of Mormon?", I would turn to the Arabian Peninsula evidence or other issues, rather than start with what once seemed like the most important issue of all: the visit by Christ to the Americas as preserved in the legends of Mesoamerica, the land of the Book of Mormon. Yet while some legends have undoubtedly been given a Spanish-spin, there still is plenty of reason to believe that pre-Columbian Mesoamericans actually did have legends consistent with some key ideas in the Book of Mormon. Most of the earliest documentation has been destroyed. It is tragic that only four Mesoamerican books survived out of the many thousands that the Mayans and others had when the Spaniards arrived. The wanton destruction of so many records by the superstitious Spaniards was a terrible loss. But while great caution must be used, I think it's time to revisit those legends and traditions of Mesoamerica as tentative witnesses for a visit from Christ and the existence of the Gospel among the ancient inhabitants of Mesoamerica. Diane E. Wirth in "The Bearded, White God Is Everywhere - or Is He?" 19-1 writes (citing pages 12-13): Nonetheless, some who support the various accounts speak of the "return" of Quetzalcoatl, and although the original legend does have a late Spanish spin, the "return" myth may still have been derived from an older original and authentic belief among the natives.In fact, on the basis of numerous legends among native peoples, one non-LDS writer, L. Taylor Hansen, became convinced that Christ was once in the Americas and compiled these accounts in a book, He Walked the Americas. 19-3 Hansen apparently had Masters Degrees in Archaeology, Anthropology and Geology from Stanford University and had spent significant time with Native Americans to better understand their traditions and legends. Other students of Mesoamerica see an association between Quetzalcoatl and resurrection themes, as John Sorenson explains in Images of Ancient America: Visualizing Book of Mormon Life: 19-4 Michel Graulich in his "Afterlife in Ancient Mexican Thought" 19-5 insists that elements in Mexican myth that have been thought to be products of Spanish Christian influence nevertheless represent native, pre-Columbian beliefs.Wallace E. Hunt, Jr., in "Moses' Brazen Serpent as It Relates To Serpent Worship in Mesoamerica" 19-6 notes the evidence linking Quetzalcoatl with a Christlike-being. According to Hunt, Although Quetzalcoatl's origin is clouded in obscurity, the legends, the few pre-Columbian writings extant today, and the early post-Conquest writings contain an abundance of material on this ancient and revered god.And if the legends among the Aztecs, Mayans, and others really do refer to a visit from Jesus Christ, might we not expect traces of Christian rituals to have persisted, in spite of the great apostasy and persecution of Christians reported in the Book of Mormon from about 300 A.D. to 400 A.D.? One such trace may be the practice of baptism, not of infants, but of older children. The Mayan rituals encountered by the Spanish included concepts of being reborn, purified, and prepared for the next life, repenting of sins, confession to a priest, white cloth as a symbol, and a name that meant "the descent of the god." These remarkable parallels with teachings in the Book of Mormon may be due to the teachings on baptism that Christ gave to his people in the Americas when he ministered to them after His Resurrection. 19-12 Others, finding the intriguing parallels between Mesoamerican traditions and Jesus Christ, are quick to dismiss the possible "Mormon" connection, but it's interesting that this is one issue they have to at least acknowledge. One example is Bruce Lane's article, "The Making of 'The Tree Of Life,'" in Quaker Theology, 19-13 in which he notes interesting parallels between Mesoamerican traditions and Jesus Christ. These were encountered in his work of making a film about the highly symbolic Mesoamerican ritual of the "Voladores" involving men who hang from a large tree of life as they spin in a circle. Bruce Lane says: The Spanish priests brought with them statues of a white bearded god. They told the Totonacs that this god had sacrificed himself so that no further human sacrifice would be needed, and that they should accept him as their god, in place of all others. [index] A fascinating issue on climate is the seasons of war described in the Book of Mormon, mostly between Alma 9 and Alma 47. In over 30 places, war action is described as taking place near the end or beginning of the year. Sorenson has compiled information from the Book of Mormon text about the month of the year various military skirmishes are mentioned. Almost all occur between the 11th and 3rd months, with a small number reported in the 4th, 5th, and 10th months, and none mentioned in the 6th through 9th months. Why this pattern? Well, the text also makes reference to cultivation of food a number of times in the 4th through 9th months. The problem of getting food to the troops is mentioned as a concern mainly in the twelfth through 2nd months. Thus it seems that the harvest may have been in months 10 through 12. (Summary: Nephite cultivation of fields: months 4-9; main harvest: months 10-12; time of warfare: mainly months 11-3). Now several insights arise: since the armies were largely made of ordinary citizens (like reservists) who were mostly farmers, they were not available for warfare except after the harvest; 20-1But how do Nephite months correspond to ours? In Mesoamerica, May though September is the best time for growing crops (heat and moisture available). October through April is fairly dry. We also know that before Columbus, military campaigns in Central America occurred mainly between late October and February (again, farmers were then free of agricultural duties and food could be gathered - or captured). Likewise, soggy land from heavy rains was now drier and more passable (and made living in tents easier). These considerations lead Sorenson and others to conclude that the Nephites may have begun their year in late December, perhaps with the winter solstice (Dec. 21/22), as did many other ancient peoples. Now here comes an intriguing insight which bodes poorly for the critics' theory that Joseph Smith made the Book of Mormon up. A significant battle scene (one in which the long-term survival of the Nephite nation might have been at stake) is described in Alma 51 at the end of the year - around December. After heavy fighting and major marches, both sides were very tired because of their "labors and heat of the day." This takes place on the east coast, "in the borders on the beach by the seashore." 20-2 At this season, the rain-swollen rivers have subsided, but the east region (Isthmus of Tehuantepec area) is still rather wet, low, and hot. The hottest weather was still months away, but down on the coast it was hot and muggy enough to contribute to the fatigue of the rapidly traveling troops. Alma 51 shows that the land of the Book of Mormon peoples was not a cold, snow-covered place in winter, as upstate New York was for young Joseph Smith. If he made up the book based on what he knew, he would have had fighting occur in the summer, not during winter. The internal consistency of many passages dealing with war during the proper season of war for Mesoamerica is most remarkable. Though it is treated as a minor point in the text, the geographic and climatic information fits and makes surprisingly perfect sense. It has to be considered as one of the many "mundane" but powerful evidences for authenticity. a peaceful, tranquil place? Exciting and fairly recent discoveries in Mesoamerica have caused another complete paradigm shift in the thinking of scholars. Until recently, experts believed ancient Central America and southern Mexico (Mesoamerica) to have been a peaceful, tranquil place during the times that the Book of Mormon speaks of frequent, large-scale wars. But in recent years that view has been radically altered. As Michael Coe now explains, "The Maya were obsessed with war. The Annals of the Cakchiquels and the Popol Vuh speak of little but intertribal conflict among the highlanders, while the sixteen states of Yucatan were constantly battling with each other over boundaries and lineage honor." 20-3 [index] While the Book of Mormon does not say that the Nephites raised olive trees, Jacob 5 offers a detailed description of practices in the cultivation of olive trees, taken from a Jewish text that was on the brass plates that Lehi brought with him from Jerusalem. These descriptions agree well with what is known of ancient olive cultivation in ways that were far beyond what Joseph Smith could have known. The details in Jacob 5 appear to be a masterful and accurate representation of ancient horticultural practices regarding olive trees, including the art of grafting branches from one tree to another, which is still common for those caring for olive trees. Below is an excerpt from John Gee and Daniel C. Peterson, "Graft and Corruption: On Olives and Olive Culture in the Pre-Modern Mediterranean": 21-1 Almost every detail in Jacob 5 about olive culture can be confirmed in four ancient classical authors [Theophrastus, Varro, Columella and Cato] whose authority on the subject can be traced back to Syro-Palestine. [index] While critics continue to chant their mantra, "No evidence, no evidence . . .", faithfully ignoring the impressive Book of Mormon evidence from the Old World, there are quite a few things from the New World that merit attention. The best work on geography of the Book of Mormon puts its setting in a small area in Mesoamerica (southern Mexico, Guatemala), and that is where we can expect to find the most relevant evidence. Beyond the long list of evidences I've already mentioned above, look at the many other things 22-1 that we know about this region that fit in with the Book of Mormon. It's the only place in the New World with a long tradition of written language, as the Book of Mormon would require. It's a place where significant cities did suddenly spring up, consistent with the concept of an immigration of city-building people and roughly consistent with the times of the Jaredite and Nephite/Lamanite eras. It's a place that anciently was filled with kings and kingdoms, wars and politics, trade and merchants, religious disputes and philosophical inquiry, all consistent with the cultural milieu presented in the Book of Mormon. Consider, for example, the cultural implications of 3 Nephi 6:10-12: 10 But it came to pass in the twenty and ninth year there began to be some disputings among the people; and some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions;If Joseph Smith were describing what he knew of Native American culture in the frontier of upstate New York, why would he introduce such foreign ideas into his text? Attributing merchants, officers, lawyers, costly learning, and so forth to ancient Americans was outlandish if he were using his own knowledge of the natives in the land. But these verses accurately describe aspects of Mesoamerican society that he couldn't have known about in his place and time. Just another example of many, the political systems described in the Book of Mormon point to a hierarchy of cities as the organizing factor in Nephite and Lamanite government. 22-2 We even see Lamanite kings in cities being subject to higher kings. As Gardner suggests, if Joseph Smith fabricated the Book of Mormon using what he knew, one might expect to see a federal system of government or divisions between city, county, state. Instead, we encounter a system foreign to Joseph Smith, a system based on a hierarchy of cities - just as we find in ancient Mesoamerica. Mesoamerica is also a place with persistent legends of a Great White God who visited the people anciently and promised to return, just as the Book of Mormon reports. And it's a place that had legends of ancient emigrations by boat. For example, a native American prince in the 1500s named Ixtlilxochitl wrote: Those who possessed this new world in this third age were the Ulmecas and Xicalanas; and according to what is found in their histories, they came in ships or barques from the east to the land of Pontochan from which they began to settle." 22-3That fits reasonably well with the Book of Mormon description of the Jaredites, who came from the old world in enclosed barges or boats, at a time that fits in well with the rise of the Olmec civilization. Though one must be cautious to sort the authentic from the questionable when it comes to reports of ancient legends, there are numerous accounts that appear to have derived from the ancient visit of Christ to the Americas, as reported in the Book of Mormon. The Mayan practice of baptism encountered by the Spaniards, for example, has numerous parallels with baptism as taught by Christ and His prophets in the Book of Mormon. 22-4 Combine that with early legends of the Great White God or related figures who were said to have visited peoples in Mesoamerica, and we've got something worth pondering. In fact, on the basis of numerous legends among native peoples, one non-LDS writer became convinced that Christ was once in the Americas and compiled these accounts in a book, He Walked the Americas. 22-5 Though remnants of some inspired practices such as baptism may have persisted in Mesoamerica, there were also many forms of evil among the ancient Book of Mormon peoples whose Mesoamerican remnants are more easily discovered. For example, the Book of Mormon describes human sacrifice as practiced by some of the most corrupt groups - an evil which is widely attested in ancient Mesoamerica. "Secret combinations" - particularly secret mafia-like societies for gaining power and wealth - are described in detail in the Book of Mormon, and are also attested in Mesoamerican culture. Cultural practices, the structure of society, the types of buildings and cities, patterns of warfare, roads and cement, patterns of trade, gardens and markets, etc., mentioned in the Book of Mormon can be found in ancient Mesoamerica, a place that must have been largely unknown to Joseph Smith when the Book of Mormon was translated. Further, Joseph Smith and his peers almost certainly did not know about the great civilizations of ancient Mesoamerica when the Book of Mormon was published. In fact, the idea of ancient advanced civilizations on this continent was so utterly foreign at the time that the witnesses of the Book of Mormon worried that it would be rejected for that reason. David Whitmer, in an 1883 interview with James H. Hart, said: When we [the Witnesses] were first told to publish our statement, we felt sure that the people would not believe it, for the Book told of a people who were refined and dwelt in large cities; but the Lord told us that He would make it known to the people, and people should [in time] discover evidence of the truth of what is written in the Book. 22-6 [index] One of the most common attacks against the Book of Mormon focuses on the use of "Reformed Egyptian" as the writing system for the golden plates. 23-1 It is alleged that the no self-respecting Israelite would ever use Egyptian to write sacred scripture, and it is alleged that no such language as "Reformed Egyptian" has ever existed. These arguments are typified in the anti-Mormon book, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Mormonism by "Dr." John Ankerberg and "Dr. Dr." John Weldon (neither one of which appears to have a legitimate Ph.D.): Mormonism has never explained how godly Jews [sic] of A.D. 400 allegedly knew Egyptian, nor why they would have written their sacred records entirely in the language of their pagan, idolatrous enemies. 23-2Ankerberg and Weldon are wrong on several counts - grossly wrong, as shown by Daniel C. Peterson in a noteworthy book review. 23-5 Several modified or "reformed" Egyptian scripts are well known, including forms called Demotic and Hieratic. "Reformed Egyptian" is clearly an appropriate generic term for those writing systems. However, the "Reformed Egyptian" used by the Nephites is described as a language system unique to them, 23-6 having evolved with their culture over a 1,000-year period. It was apparently used for sacred writings, and should have been almost wholly lost with the destruction of Nephite civilization. How can we expect Egyptologists, with typically no training in Central American matters, to know whether such a language ever existed there? Daniel Peterson gives further analysis: 23-7 Who says that the Nephites wrote in Egyptian?The FARMS publication, Insights, 23-8 reported on presentations at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature, held Nov. 1997 in San Francisco. Non-LDS scholar Nili S. Fox discussed the development of Egyptian elements used in Hebrew texts by Israelites during the ninth through seventh centuries B.C. Fox noted that the Israelite scribes were acquainted with the Egyptian writing system and that there was a longer history of ties between Egypt and both Judah and Israel than previously thought. Hebrews using an Egyptian writing system? The idea is a lot more plausible today that it was in Joseph Smith's time. The anti-Mormon critics who dismiss the possibility ("Jews hated the Egyptians, their former slavemasters, and would never think of using anything from Egyptian culture!") continue to stand on a foundation of sand, and the sand is shifting again. Consistent with Book of Mormon Claims [index] Non-LDS scholar Dr. Mary Ritchie Key is a Professor Emeritus of Linguistics from the University of California at Irvine, and the author of 17 books during her five decades of linguistic research in more than a dozen languages. In her article, "American Indian Languages before Columbus," 24-1 she proposed the idea that ancient Hittite and Sumerian from the Middle East found its way into some Native American (esp. South American) languages. A recent contribution to the topic of Hebraic influence in the Book of Mormon is the work of Brian D. Stubbs, one of the few linguists working with Uto-Aztecan languages (covering the US Southwest down to southern Mexico). He wrote a ground-breaking article, "Looking Over vs. Overlooking Native American Languages: Let's Void the Void," 24-2 which makes serious, systematic comparisons of ancient Hebrew words and forms to those of Uto-Aztecan languages. Stubbs is among a small handful of people who know both Semitic languages and Uto-Aztecan languages. Most linguists dealing with the Book of Mormon have approached it with backgrounds rich in Semitic languages but lacking in New World languages. Stubbs' pioneering work opens the door for further studies, pointing to some interesting possibilities. Among his tentative conclusions, Stubbs finds that "Uto-Aztecan, as a language family, exhibits more similarities with Hebrew than could be attributed to coincidence; nevertheless, that Hebrew element is obviously mixed with other language elements very different from Hebrew."While no UA [Uto-Aztecan] language shows the same level of derivation from Hebrew as Spanish does from Latin, there are still many traces of similarity suggesting some degree of contact or derivation. Over 1,000 similarities have been derived, enough to merit further investigation. Examples of similarities include the plural suffix "-im" in Northwest Semitic (the branch to which Hebrew belongs), and "-ima" in many UA languages; the passive prefix "ni-" in Northwest Semitic and the prefix "na-" in UA; Northwest Semitic "yasab" as the perfect form of the verb to sit or to dwell, compared to "yasipa" in UA; "adam" meaning man in Hebrew compared to "otam" in UA; Hebrew "katpa" for shoulder, compared to "kotpa" in UA; ya-'amin for "he believes" in Hebrew compared to "yawamin" in a northern UA language; etc. Stubbs' article delves into 100 of the over 1,000 areas of similarity. It is technical but worth the read. Stubbs shows that additional research has identified hundreds of possible links between Uto-Aztecan languages with the ancient Hebrew language. 24-3 Stubbs work has received the attention of other non-LDS scholars. For example, Roger Williams Westcott, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Linguistics at Drew University, New Jersey, 24-4 speaks positively of Stubbs' work in his article, "Early Eurasian Linguistic Links with North America." 24-5 Dr. Westcott writes: Perhaps the most surprising of all Eurasian-American linguistic connections, at least in geographic terms, is that proposed by Brian Stubbs: a strong link between the Uto-Aztecan and Hamito-Semitic (or Afro-Asiatic) languages.The evidence for past linguistic contact between the Old World and the New is consistent with the Book of Mormon, particularly if we note the textual and external evidence pointing to other peoples and languages already being on the continent when Lehi and his family arrived. [index] A recent discovery is that ancient Middle Eastern poetry - including the Bible - often used a poetical form called chiasmus, a form of parallelism in which key ideas are structured in a mirror image reflective form such as A,B,C,C',B',A'. Some of the most powerful and beautiful examples of this ancient form are found in the Book of Mormon (first discovered in 1967 by John Welch). The importance of chiasmus in ancient Semitic writings has only been recognized in this century, and still today very few educated people have ever heard of it. Its strong presence in the Book of Mormon is evidence that its writers possessed an ancient Semitic literary tradition, as the Book of Mormon claims, and (in my opinion) it single-handedly refutes the claim that the Book of Mormon is the product of a 19th century writer (though there are many other factors that refute such a claim). Alma 36 is a classic example. "Is the Book of Mormon Really Ancient?" Biblical literary structure, undiscovered until 1900s, found in Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon contains chiasmus, an ancient Hebrew literary construction discovered in this [the 20th] century. In chiasmus, the first and last phrases of a section of text contain identical or closely related terms, as do the second and next-to-last phrases, and the third and third-to-last phrases, etc. The "Popul Vuh" writings of the Mayas of Central America were recently found to also contain chiastic structures. In the Bible 25-2 we read this chiasm from a direct Herbrew translation: {1} SAVE me {2} O my GOD {3} For thou hast SMITTEN {4} All my ENEMIES {5} On the CHEEKBONE. -------- {5} The TEETH {4} Of the WICKED {3} Thou hast BROKEN. {2} To YAHWEH {1} The SALVATION. And in the Book of Mormon 25-3 we read this chiasm: (Men will drink damnation to their souls unless) {1} They HUMBLE themselves {2} and become as little CHILDREN {3} believing that salvation is in the ATONING BLOOD OF CHRIST; {4} for the NATURAL MAN {5} is an enemy of GOD {6} and HAS BEEN from the fall of Adam -------- {6} and WILL BE forever and ever {5} unless he yieldeth to the HOLY SPIRIT {4} and putteth off the NATURAL MAN {3} and becometh a saint through the ATONEMENT OF CHRIST {2} and becometh as a CHILD {1} submissive, meek and HUMBLE. And in the Popul Vuh of the Mayans we read this chiasm: {1} Oh HEART OF HEAVEN {2} and once it had been CREATE {3} the EARTH {4} the MOUNTAINS and valleys {5} the paths of the waters were DIVIDED {6} and they proceded to twist along among the hills. {5} So the rivers then became more DIVIDED {4} as the great MOUNTAINS were appearing. {3} And thus was the creation of the EARTH {2} when it was CREATED by him {1} who is the HEART OF HEAVEN. There are many such chiastic structures in the Book of Mormon. Only an ancient author would have known to include them. The transmission of the ancient Hebrew form to the Maya may even be explained by the migrations documented in the Book of Mormon. [index] Critics continue to mock the awkward grammar of the Book of Mormon and the many changes that had to be made in later editions to fix problems of punctuation and grammar. But in so doing, they call attention to what are actually strong signs of authenticity. Yes, punctuation was a problem in the original manuscript because it was dictated (translated) without punctuation. Punctuation had to be added and then further corrected. That sounds crazy for anyone composing an English document - but ancient Hebrew and other Semitic languages were written without punctuation, and a relatively direct translation would likewise not have punctuation in it. As for the grammar, there certainly were many strange and awkward structures in the original manuscript that needed improvement. For example, instead of the normal "if ... then ..." construction, the Book of Mormon had multiple phrases with "if ... and ...." such as "if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, and he shall manifest the truth of it unto you." 26-1 That's completely unacceptable English - but it's very good Hebrew, known as the Hebraic conditional. 26-2 Another example is 1 Nephi 17:50, which Joseph Smith initially translated as "if he should command me that I should say unto this water be thou earth, and it shall be earth." When Oliver Cowdery prepared the printer's manuscript from the original manuscript, he deleted the word and to improve the English. Thirteen other examples printed in the 1830 edition were later changed by Joseph Smith for the 1837 edition, including Moroni 10:4. 26-3 Examination of the text and the original and printer's manuscripts suggests that this was no simple scribal error, and Joseph's own dialect of English did not include this awkward construction, nor does the King James Bible provide language that would motivate a forger to include Hebraic conditionals. So why do they occur in the original Book of Mormon? Is any explanation more plausible than a somewhat literal translation of the Hebraic conditional from a Semitic text? There are dozens of examples of other expressions and grammatical structures in the 1830 Book of Mormon, many of which survive in the current printing, that are unusual or awkward in English yet are natural and proper in Hebrew. Again, the simplest explanation is that the text was dictated as a translation from an ancient Semitic document. Critics have been unable to explain away these and many other signs of authenticity. It's much easier to just mock the poor grammar and punctuation, or scream about the many minor changes that were needed to make the Book of Mormon text more properly comply with basic standards of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. An outstanding article on the topic of Semitic influence in the Book of Mormon text is John A. Tvedtnes, "Hebraisms in the Book of Mormon: A Preliminary Survey". 26-4 There are several others, as well. Tvedtnes demonstrates that strong evidences of Hebraic language show through Joseph Smith's translation. It makes no sense if the book were a fraud. The language of the Book of Mormon cannot be explained as the English of Joseph Smith or the King James English of the Bible. It's more Semitic than either. 26-5 In addition to examining Uto-Aztecan languages, 26-6 Stubbs has another worthwhile article from the perspective of a linguist in "A Lengthier Treatment of Length". 26-7 He responds to attacks on the Book of Mormon which claim the long, awkward sentences found in so many Book of Mormon verses are much different from the short, concise sentences found in the Old Testament, supposedly showing that the Book of Mormon was not derived from Hebrew. Stubbs shows that the short sentences alleged to be characteristic of Biblical Hebrew may be characteristic of the King James translation of the Old Testament, but are certainly not characteristic of the actual Hebrew. In fact, numerous sentence structures in the Book of Mormon show much more in common with genuine Hebraic sentences than with the English of the King James Bible or with the English of Joseph Smith's day. Many Book of Mormon verses have series of verbals introducing clauses, such as: "Zeniff . . . he being over-zealous, . . . therefore being deceived by . . . King Laman, who having entered into a treaty . . . and having yielded up [various cities], . . . ." 26-8 This type of structure is an ideal way of translating the typical Hebrew or circumstantial clause, which Stubbs discusses in detail. Many English sentences in the Book of Mormon that an English editor would tear apart are perfectly acceptable Hebrew structures, appearing to be fairly literal translations. The King James translation loses much of the literal flavor of such passages, but they are present in the original Hebrew. Thus, we have the interesting situation of the Book of Mormon being more Hebraic in its use of complex sentences than the King James Bible - which not only strengthens the claim the Book of Mormon was derived from a Semitic text, but further undermines the long untenable claim that the Book of Mormon can be explained away as a derivative of the King James text. The complex sentence structures of the Book of Mormon not only correspond with those of Hebrew, Arabic, and Egyptian, but also resonate with the structures of many Native American languages. [index] The Book of Mormon introduces roughly 200 new names not found in the Bible. Many of these have been found to have genuine Semitic parallels in ancient times. Take, for example, the name "Alma". Alma was the name of two male prophets in the Book of Mormon (a father and a son). This name has been one of the most commonly attacked features of the Book of Mormon, for Alma is a female Latin name. Critics have assumed that Joseph simply borrowed Alma from the term "alma mater," ignorant of its gender. The Tanners suggest that Joseph borrowed it from the name Shalmaneser in the Old Testament. As usual, they overlook an important fact that has been discussed in LDS writings for decades. In 1961, a prominent scholar in Israel, Professor Yigael Yadin, discovered an ancient document that proved to be a land deed from the time of the Bar Kokhba rebellion in Palestine, placing it in the general era of Lehi and Nephi. Prof. Yadin translated one of the names as "Alma the son of Judah." 27-1 Alma proves to not only be a genuine Semitic name, but is a name of a Hebraic man. Finding the male name Alma in a record about descendants of 6th century B.C. Hebrews now must be viewed not as a reason for mocking the Book of Mormon, but as a reason to take it seriously, in spite of the Tanners and other professional critics. Another novel Book of Mormon name is "Sariah", the wife of Lehi who lived in Jerusalem in 600 B.C. Scholars did not know that Sariah was an authentic ancient Hebrew name for a woman until long after the time of Joseph Smith. A small colony of Jews lived anciently on the island of Elephantine (also known as Yeb) in the Nile river, perhaps as early as the 8th century B.C. In 1925, a considerable number of private and public ancient papyrus documents were discovered there. The Elephantine Papyri provide interesting information about Jewish names around the time of Nephi and Lehi, showing that the ending -iah was very popular, confirming a pattern seen in Book of Mormon names - and also specifically confirming that the name Sariah was in fact an authentic Jewish female name in ancient times. Consider also the prominent name "Mosiah", which is the name of a book within the Book of Mormon and the name of two great kings, a father and his grandson. This name does not occur in English translations of the Bible. The Tanners suggest that Joseph Smith made it up by combining Moses + Isaiah. But a much better explanation exists! And this explanation gives profound insights into the Book of Mormon. John Sawyer, a non-LDS biblical scholar, published an article in 1965 called "What Was a Mosi'a?" 27-2 It has important implications for the Book of . "Mosi'a" does occur in the Hebrew scriptures, but is never transliterated as such in modern English translations of the Bible. Sawyer found that the word is used in a characteristic manner to describe a "victor" or "savior" or "deliverer" appointed by God, to deliver oppressed people from injustice by nonviolent means. There are fascinating parallels between Sawyer's description of a Mosi'a and the Book of Mormon accounts of both men called King Mosiah. The Book of Mosiah is about deliverance of oppressed people by mighty rulers appointed by God, often achieving deliverance by nonviolent means. These heroes in the Book of Mormon include Benjamin, Zeniff, Alma, Gideon, Ammon, Mosiah II, and the sons of Mosiah. Nowhere else are there so many accounts of deliverance in the classical manner of the ancient "mosi'a". Many of the deliverers are kings or chief priests. The sons of Mosiah would later go on to help save (deliver) many thousands of Lamanites. The basic message of the book is not that humans can deliver oppressed and afflicted peoples, but that the Lord God is the true deliverer. One may well wonder if the name Mosiah is really more of a title that was given to two great kings who delivered their people. In any case, it is hard to believe that such an appropriate ancient name/title could have been guessed by chance. More information on names is found in a paper accepted for presentation to an international body of scholars at the Thirteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies, held in Jerusalem, August 2001. The paper by John A. Tvedtnes is entitled "Hebrew Names in the Book of Mormon," which I recommend. Extensive evidence is offered from ancient Hebraic sources to support Book of Mormon names that critics have long criticized. Tvedtnes shows that ancient Hebrew inscriptions provide support for the authenticity and Hebraic origin of the following Book of Mormon names: Aha, Ammonihah, Chemish, Hagoth, Himni, Isabel, Jarom, Josh, Luram, Mathoni, Mathonihah, Muloki, and Sam, none of which are found in English Bibles. Further support for the name "Aha" comes from a recent discovery. The May/June 1999 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review 27-3 has an article by P. Kyle McCarter, Jr. of Johns Hopkins University that reports the discovery of three bronze arrowheads from the eleventh century B.C. bearing Hebrew inscriptions, one of which was inscribed with a steel instrument (yes, critics, steel was in use there long before Laban got his steel sword!). This is according to Dr. R. Thomas Chase of the Freer Gallery of Art, a division of the Smithsonian Institution and an authority on ancient bronze artifacts. He discovered that "the inscription had been incised with a steel [emphasized in the original] engraving tool." The name Aha occurs in one of the inscriptions, which McCarter translates as "The arrowhead of Aha son of Ashtart." This appears to be the same as the name mentioned in the Book of Mormon in Alma 16:5, where we read of two sons of Zoram, chief captain of the Nephite army, whose names were Lehi and Aha. Thus we have evidence authenticating another ancient Hebrew name found in the Book of Mormon but not the Bible. There was also an early Egyptian king named Aha. 27-4 The name "sheum" appears in Mosiah 9:9 as a foodstuff in a list of grains. Matthew Roper explains that sheum "is a perfectly good Akkadian cereal name . . . dating to the third millennium B.C., which in ancient Assyria referred to wheat, but in other regions of the Near East could be applied to other grains." 27-5Roper notes that this word was not known to scholars until at least 1857, long after the book of Mormon had been published. How did Joseph Smith make up this ancient word from the Near East and properly treat it as a grain? Roper also notes that the Book of Mormon name "Jershon" is linked to a Hebrew root meaning "to inherit." In Alma 27:22, the land of Jershon is given to converted Lamanites "for an inheritance." At the time the Book of Mormon was translated, Joseph would not have known that Jershon is associated with "inheritance" in Hebrew. Dozens of other Book of Mormon names have been treated by Nibley 27-6 and other authors. The name "Irreantum," said to mean many waters, 27-7 was the name the Nephites called the ocean when they arrived at the shores of southeastern Arabia, apparently at Wadi Sayq. Interestingly, the ancient Greeks called this very same ocean Errythraen. That name can be found in the Apocrypha, but if that was the source of the idea, why the great difference in spelling? Based on pre-Islamic South Semitic, a reasonable (though uncertain) hypothesis for its origin is "irre-an" (meaning "watering") plus the root "-tm" or "-tum," adding the sense of "wholeness" or "completeness." The combination "irre-an-tum" can convey the meaning of "watering of abundance" or, as the Book of Mormon puts it, "many waters." Such a South Semitic construction from the region which Lehi's group traversed makes sense as a foreign word introduced in the Hebrew text. The authenticity of Book of Mormon names has begun to make a serious impression on non-LDS scholars. As far back as 1966, before many of the most exciting discoveries about Book of Mormon names were made, Near Eastern scholar William F. Albright, though not a believer in the Book of Mormon, wrote a letter in response to an anti-Mormon critic, noting that Joseph Smith probably could not have learned Egyptian from scholars of his day, yet included some authentic Egyptian names in the Book of Mormon. It is all the more surprising that there are two Egyptian names, Paanch[i] and Pahor[an] which appear in the Book of Mormon in close connection with a reference to the original language being 'Reformed Egyptian.' 27-8He then implied that Joseph Smith might have been some kind of "religious genius." But given today's impressive and growing list of proven authentic Semitic names in the Book of Mormon, it's doubtful that the "religious genius" theory can survive. Joseph Smith was not a religious Einstein - he was a largely unschooled Prophet of God. "Is the Book of Mormon Really Ancient?" Authentication of dozens of non-Biblical Book of Mormon names NOTE: Critics have zinged Joseph Smith for years for naming a male Nephite "Alma" with a female 'a' ending. Any 1800s forger would have known better. But the ancient author of the Book of Mormon didn't know about that. And guess what the Judean desert turned up a few years ago.... 27-9 The more exotic proper names of the Book of Mormon have been matched up extensively with real Egyptian and Semitic names (which is what they claim to be). Such an odd monicker as Paanchi (who ever heard of a double "a" in English?) not only turned up in the Egyptian records a generation after the Book of Mormon came out, but it turns out to be a rather prominent and important name in the bargain. And such a very un-Egyptian, un-Oriental, indeed un-anything name as Hermounts was applied by the Book of Mormon Nephites to a region on the extremity of the land where wild animals abounded, a territory whose description perfectly matches that part of the world to which the Egyptians gave the name of Hermonthis. But strangely enough, the name in the Book of Mormon that has brought the most derision on that book, and caused the greatest embarrassment to the Latter-day Saints, especially among those holders of the priesthood who have borne it among the children of men, is the simple and unpretentious Alma. Roman priests have found in this obviously Latin and obviously feminine name - (who does not know that Alma Mater means "fostering mother"?) - gratifying evidence of the ignorance and naiveté of the youthful Joseph Smith - how could he have been simple enough to let such a thing get by? At least his more sophisticated followers should have known better! It is therefore pleasing to announce that at the extreme end of the Cave of Letters, on the north side of the Nahal Hever, between three and four o'clock on the afternoon of 15 March 1961, Professor Yadin put his hand into a crevice in the floor of the cave and lifted out a goat-skin bag containing a woman's materials for mending her family's clothes on their sad and enforced vacation; and hidden away under the stuff, at the very bottom of the bag, was a bundle of papyrus rolls wrapped in a cloth. And among them was a deed to some land near En-Gedi (the nearest town to the cave) owned by four men, one of whom signed himself, or rather dictated his name since he was illiterate, as "Alma the son of Judah." The deed is reproduced in color on page 177 of the book 27-10 and there at the end of the fourth line from the top, as large as life, is A-l-m-a ben Yehudah, which Professor Yadin sensibly renders "Alma" withno reservations. 27-11 There is a remarkable association between the names of Lehi and Ishmael which ties them both to the southern desert, where the legendary birthplace and central shrine of Ishmael was at a place called Be'er Lehai-ro'i. Wellhausen rendered the name "spring of the wild-ox jaw-bone," but Paul Haupt showed that Lehi (for so he reads the name) does not mean "jaw" but "cheek," which leaves the meaning of the strange compound still unclear. One thing is certain, however: that Lehi is a personal name. Until recently this name was entirely unknown save as a place name, but now it has turned up at Elath and elsewhere in the south in a form that has been identified by Nelson Glueck with the name Lahai, which "occurs quite frequently either as a part of a compound, or as a separate name of a deity or a person, particularly in Minaean, Thamudic, and Arabic texts." If the least be said of it, the name Lehi is thoroughly at home among the people of the desert and, so far as we know, nowhere else. The stamp of Egypt on Lehi's people may be clearly discerned in the names of those people and their descendants. Hebrew and Egyptian names together make up the overwhelming majority of them and occur in about equal strength, which is exactly what one would expect from Mormon's claim that both languages were used among them (and which would certainly not be the case were Hebrew the only spoken language). First, consider just a few Egyptian names, setting off the Book of Mormon names (BM) against their Old World equivalents (OW). Aha (BM), son of the Nephite commander in chief. Aha (OW), a name of the first Pharaoh; it means "warrior" and is a common word. Aminadab (BM), Nephite missionary in the time of the judges. Amanathabi (OW), chief of a Canaanite city under Egyptian domination. The name is "reformed" Egyptian. Ammon (BM), the commonest name in the Book of Mormon. Ammon (Amon, Amun) (OW), the commonest name in the Egyptian Empire: the great universal God of the Empire. Ammoni-hah (BM), name of a country and city. Ammuni-ra (OW), prince of Beyrut under Egyptian rule. Cameni-hah (BM), a Nephite general Khamuni-ra (OW), Amarna personal name, perhaps equivalent of Ammuni-ra. Cezoram (BM), Nephite chief judge. Chiziri (OW), Egyptian governor of a Syrian city. Gimgim-no (BM), city of Gimgim, compare Biblical No-Amon, "City of Amon." Kenkeme (OW), Egyptian city, cf. Kipkip, seat of the Egyptian dynasty in Nubia. Hem (BM), brother of the earlier Ammon. Hem (OW), means "servant," specifically of Ammon, as in the title Hem tp n'Imn, "chief servant of Ammon" held by the high priest of Thebes. Helaman (BM), great Nephite prophet. Her-amon (OW), "in the presence of Amon," as in the Egyptian proper name Heri-i-her-imn. Semitic "l" is always written "r" in Egyptian, which has no "l." Conversely, the Egyptian "r" is often written "l" in Semitic languages. Himni (BM), a son of King Mosiah. Hmn (OW), a name of the Egyptian hawk-god, symbol of the emperor. Korihor (BM), a political agitator who was seized by the people of Ammon. Kherihor (also written Khurhor, etc.) (OW), great high priest of Ammon who seized the throne of Egypt at Thebes, cir. 1085 b.c. Manti (BM), the name of a Nephite soldier, a land, a city, and a hill. Manti (OW), Semitic form of an Egyptian proper name, e.g., Manti-mankhi, a prince in Upper Egypt cir. 650 b.c. It is a late form of Month, god of Hermonthis. Mathoni (BM), a Nephite disciple. Maitena, Mattenos, etc. (OW), two judges of Tyre, who at different times made themselves king, possibly under the Egyptian auspices. Morianton (BM), the name of a Nephite city and its founder, cf. the Nephite province Moriantum. Meriaton and Meriamon (OW), names of Egyptian princes, "Beloved of Aton" and "Beloved of Amon" respectively. Nephi (BM), founder of the Nephite nation. Nehi, Nehri (OW), famous Egyptian noblemen. Nfy was the name of an Egyptian captain. Since BM insists on "ph," Nephi is closer to Nihpi, original name of the god Pa-nepi, which may even have been Nephi. Paanchi (BM), son of Pahoran, Sr., and pretender to the chief-judgeship. Paanchi (OW), son of Kherihor, a) chief high priest of Amon, b) ruler of the south who conquered all of Egypt and was high priest of Amon at Thebes. Pahoran (BM), a) great chief judge, b) son of the same. Pa-her-an (OW), ambassador of Egypt in Palestine, where his name has the "reformed" reading Pahura; in Egyptian as Pa-her-y it means "the Syrian" or Asiatic. Pacumeni (BM), son of Pahoran. Pakamen (OW), Egyptian proper name meaning "blind man"; also Pamenches (Gk. Pachomios), commander of the south and high priest of Horus. Pachus (BM), revolutionary leader and usurper of the throne. Pa-ks and Pach-qs (OW), Egyptian proper name. Compare Pa-ches-i, "he is praised." Sam (BM), brother of Nephi. Sam Tawi (OW), Egyptian "uniter of the lands," title taken by the brother of Nehri upon mounting the throne. Seezor-am and Zeezr-om (BM), a depraved judge, and a lawyer, resp., the latter also the name of a city. Zoser, Zeser, etc. (OW), Third Dynasty ruler, one of the greatest Pharaohs. Zemna-ri-hah (BM), robber chief. Zmn-ha-re (OW), Egyptian proper name: the same elements as the above in different order--a common Egyptian practice. Zeniff (BM), ruler of Nephite colony. Znb, Snb (OW), very common elements in Egyptian proper names, cf. Senep-ta. Zenoch (BM), according to various Nephite writers, an ancient Hebrew prophet. Zenekh (OW), Egyptian proper name; once a serpent-god. An Ancient Semitic Discourse [index] Prior to 90 B.C., when a remarkable system of elected judges was established, the Nephites were led by kings who were descendants of Nephi. One of the last of the Nephite kings was King Benjamin, who worked with his own hands lest he be a burden on his people and was beloved of his people for his kindness and fairness. This king was also a prophet who knew of the future coming of the Messiah, even Jesus Christ. In 124 B.C., according to date estimates printed in the Book of Mormon, as King Benjamin was becoming too old to function effectively as king, he called his people together - apparently as part of their annual New Year festival. 28-1 King Benjamin desired to give a farewell address to the people and to declare that his son Mosiah would now be king. The event follows some classic aspects of ancient Middle Eastern coronations occurring at New Year festivals. His farewell address revealed his own great spiritual insights. His address was accompanied with a powerful outpouring of the Spirit of God upon those who heard, resulting in greatly increased peace throughout the land. I want to discuss some of the evidence indicating that Benjamin's speech is a classic example of ancient Semitic rhetorical forms that only recently have been appreciated and published. In fact, it is so well rooted in ancient traditions and literary forms that it is difficult to imagine how anyone in the nineteenth century could have fabricated it. An excellent source of information on these evidences is the book King Benjamin's Speech, edited by John W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks. 28-2 The book is an impressive collection of essays with extensive references and documentation. Non-LDS scholar William S. Kurz has examined numerous ancient farewell speeches and identified 20 elements that appear commonly (no one speech has all 20). Sixteen of the elements are directly present in Benjamin's speech, and two others are implied. No other ancient farewell speech has a greater number of these elements. Further, Benjamin's speech is well focused on the most important elements typical of Old Testament traditions. 28-3 According to Kurz, as summarized by Welch and Ricks, 28-4 the 20 common elements from ancient farewell addresses are: 1. Summons. The speaker calls people together to hear his last instructions.More of these elements are present in King Benjamin's speech than in any other Biblical farewell address, making it arguably the best example on record of an ancient farewell speech in the ancient Jewish style. Welch and Hague also point out that Benjamin's speech is soundly aligned with the most important aspects of ancient biblical farewell speeches as opposed to the Greco-Roman tradition: (1) the speaker's assertion of innocence and fulfillment of mission,Other farewell speeches in the Book of Mormon were given by Lehi, Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Mosiah, Mormon, and Moroni. Adding King Benjamin's makes seven total. Each of them have over half of the 20 elements identified by Kurz. Ancient Near Eastern Concepts in His Testimony of Christ [index] An outstanding book on the Book of Mormon is Testaments: Links between the Book of Mormon and the Hebrew Bible. 29-1 Chapter 14 is "The Personification of Death and Hell." The authors discuss the ancient Near Eastern patterns in treating death and hell that have strong parallels to the Book of Mormon. In the ancient Near East, hell, or Sheol in Hebrew, was often personified with a demonic deity, the power behind death. Death also was often personified. The forces or monsters of death and hell often had to be overcome in battle. This concept is found in the Book of Mormon. For example, Jacob calls death and hell a "monster" three times. 29-2 The use of the word "swallow" is especially interesting, for in ancient Canaanite mythology, death was depicted as the "swallower" - a monster with a limitless appetite. This very concept, resonating with ancient Semitic concepts, is found in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah 16:7-8: 7 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.Similar language is used in Alma 22:14, which summarizes the basic teachings of Nephite missionaries teaching Lamanites: 14 . . . and that he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory; and Aaron did expound all these things unto the king.The same concept is repeated in Mormon 7:5: 5 . . . and by the power of the Father he hath risen again, whereby he hath gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.In the short passage of Mosiah 16:7-8, Abinadi employs several ancient Near Eastern concepts: personification of death, a battle of death to give victory, the imagery of swallowing death, and the concept of "the bands of death." Reference to the "bands of death" occurs in several parts of Abinadi's discourse 29-3 and in other parts of the Book of Mormon. 29-4 However, this phrase does not occur in the King James Version, but is found in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. For one example, in Psalm 18:4-5, the King James Version has: 4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.The Hebrew word, hevel has been translated as "sorrows" in these verses, but it also has the meanings of "cord" or "band." Thus, the "sorrows of death" might more clearly be translated as the "bands of death" or "cords of death" - phrases used in many modern translations. As another example of Book of Mormon passages dealing with the bands of death, consider Abinadi's teachings in Mosiah 15:8,9: 8 And thus God breaketh the bands of death, having gained the victory over death; . . .Again we see the themes of a victorious conquest, breaking the bands of death, and delivering fallen man. Summarizing, I find it interesting that Abinadi would introduce the phrase "bands of death" which appears to be translated from an authentic Hebrew phrase yet never made it into the King James Version of the Bible. And he uses this phrase in the context of a battle of deliverance between a divine hero, Jehovah, who would conquer the personified monster of death and thus "swallow up" death in victory. These concepts are solidly grounded in ancient Near Eastern concepts. Bokovoy and Tvedtnes offer these remarks in conclusion: 29-5 The personification of Death and Hell, together with motifs such as bands of death, preparing an escape route, and swallowing up one's adversary, demonstrate an authentic core to the Book of Mormon's claims for ties with the ancient Near East. of the Book of Mormon [index] The Book of Mormon has an extremely high degree of internal consistency in ways that would be most unexpected if Joseph Smith were the author. For example, in the Book of Mosiah, 30-1 less than halfway through the Book of Mormon, we read that King Mosiah translated the ancient record of the Jaredites written by Ether, but it is not until near the end of the Book of Mormon that we encounter the Book of Ether that gives a condensed account of the Jaredites. But in Mosiah 29, as King Mosiah does away with the monarchy, he makes a variety of statements that show he has carefully studied and learned from the story of the Jaredites. For example, Mosiah notes that his eldest son had declined the kingdom, and that there was the risk of contention in selecting a new king: "And now, if there should be another appointed in his stead, behold I fear that there would rise contentions among you. And who knoweth but what my son, to whom the kingdom doth belong, should turn to be angry and draw away a part of this people after him, which would cause wars and contentions among you." 30-2John Tvedtnes explains the significance of this statement: 30-3 Such a situation had never occurred among the Nephites, but it was common among the Jaredites for brother to rebel against brother or father and draw away part of the people to wage war. 30-4 Indeed, the idea in Mosiah [29:7] of "drawing away" supporters is known in the Book of Mormon only from the Jaredite record. 30-5Mosiah also warned that the wickedness of King Noah had brought bondage to the people, 30-6 a common theme in the Book of Ether. 30-7 King Mosiah implemented a form of government responsive to the voice of the people, but warned that destruction would come if the people should ever fall into a state where the majority chose evil: 30-8 "...if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land."Tvedtnes explains that "since the Nephites had not experienced such 'great destruction' on 'this land,' Mosiah must have had the destruction of the Jaredites in mind." Since the Book of Ether was not dictated until long after the Book of Mosiah, the high level of agreement between the two books argues against the idea that Joseph Smith just made it all up. - A fatal blunder?? [index] With 500 pages of detailed text to work with, it is surprising to see that critics of the Book of Mormon tend to focus their attacks on only a few tiny spots of the text. I think no spot has received more vigorous attacks than Alma 7:10, which contains a prophecy about the birth of Christ. This passage makes the enormous "blunder" of placing Christ's birth in the land of Jerusalem, rather than in Bethlehem. Not only does everybody know that Christ was born in Bethlehem, but everybody knows that Jerusalem is a city, not a land. In fact, the phrase "land of Jerusalem," which is used dozens of times in the Book of Mormon, is never used in the Bible. Critics have long concluded that referring to Jerusalem as a land is proof that Joseph Smith was making things up. They further conclude that the blunder about Jerusalem instead of Bethlehem as the birth place of Christ is further evidence for fraud. But as with most attacks on the Book of Mormon, an apparent weakness has become tremendous evidence for authenticity as advances mount in scholarship about the ancient world. The Dead Sea Scrolls and other recently discovered ancient documents from Israel confirm that the phrase "land of Jerusalem" was an authentic term used to describe the area around Jerusalem - an area that includes nearby Bethlehem. The documentation for this fascinating finding is provided in a F.A.R.M.S. update entitled "Revisiting the Land of Jerusalem via the Dead Sea Scrolls". That page was updated in 2001 with even more Dead Sea Scroll evidence. Furthermore, two non-LDS scholars, Robert Eisenman and Michael Wise, discuss the phrase "land of Jerusalem" being found in the Dead Sea Scrolls in a passage discussing the time of the prophet Jeremiah. 31-1 Jeremiah lived at the same time as Lehi, and in that time, what was called Judah, or the land of Judah, could appropriately be called "the land of Jerusalem," a term of especially great interest when found in a seperate document linked to Jeremiah's time. There is no problem with the Book of Mormon saying that Lehi and his people left "the land of Jerusalem," in Jeremiah's day. And now the Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that it would be perfectly logical for them to also refer to the place where Christ would be born as "the land of Jerusalem." But it is important to note that the use of that term was utterly illogical for Joseph Smith, who published the Book of Mormon over a century before the Dead Sea Scrolls were even discovered. Certainly Joseph Smith knew that Christ was born in Bethlehem. So, if he were making the Book of Mormon up, why on earth would he make such a terrible blunder, placing Christ's birth in Jerusalem? The answer is that, far from a blunder, the use of the term "land of Jerusalem" in the Book of Mormon is consistent with usage in the Dead Sea Scrolls and can now be viewed as powerful evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. But in spite of the heavy evidence for authenticity provided by the phrase "land of Jerusalem," the absurd attack on Alma 7:10 remains as one of the most used weapons in the anti-Mormon arsenal against the Book of Mormon. "Is the Book of Mormon Really Ancient?" Ancient Non-Biblical Hebrew Idiom Used in Book of Mormon - Critics Humiliated! Alma 7: 9 But behold, . . . the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth. 10 And he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers . . .NOTE: While I claimed earlier that it can be proven that the Book of Mormon repeatedly flies in the face of the best knowledge and belief of the 1800s, only to be proven exactly right by subsequent discoveries, this is another prime example. Any (Sunday) school child knows that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And certainly anybody forging a prophetic book in the early 1800s is going to name Bethlehem. But an ancient author might well use the ancient Hebrew idiom "the land of Jerusalem" (a geographic region encompassing Bethlehem) and never know that the English translation was going to fuel anti-Mormon scorn for more than a hundred years. When we speak of Jerusalem, it is important to notice Nephi's preference for a non-Biblical expression, "the land of Jerusalem", 31-3 in designating his homeland. While he and his brothers always regard "the land of Jerusalem" as their home, it is perfectly clear from a number of passages that "the land of our father's inheritance" 31-4 cannot possibly be within, or even very near, the city, even though Lehi had "dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days". 31-5 The terms seem confused, but they correctly reflect actual conditions, for in the Amarna letters we read of "the land of Jerusalem" as an area larger than the city itself, and even learn in one instance that "a city of the land of Jerusalem, Bet-Ninib, has been captured." It was the rule in Palestine and Syria, as the same letters show, for a large area around a city and all the inhabitants of that area to bear the name of the city. This was a holdover from the times when the city and the land were a single political unit, comprising a city-state; when this was absorbed into a larger empire, the original identity was preserved, though it had lost its original political significance. The same thing made it possible for Socrates to be an Athenian, and nothing else, even though he came from the village of Alopeke, at some distance from the city of Athens. This arrangement deserves mention because many have pointed to the statement of Alma 7:10 that the Savior would be born "at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers," as sure proof of fraud. But it is rather the opposite, faithfully preserving the ancient terminology to describe a system which has only been recently rediscovered. Though he "dwelt at Jerusalem," Lehi did not live in the city, for it was after they had failed to get the plates in Jerusalem that his sons decided to "go down to the land of our father's inheritance," 31-6 and gather enough wealth to buy the plates from Laban. Loaded with the stuff, they "went up again unto the house of Laban" in Jerusalem. 31-7 The Book of Mormon employs the expressions "to go down" and "to go up" exactly as the Hebrews and Egyptians did with reference to the location of Jerusalem, and thus clearly establishes that Lehi's property lay somewhere in the country and not within the walls of Jerusalem. in the Book of Mormon [index] In case after case, we watch once-laughable "errors" in the Book of Mormon become entirely plausible, or even become impressive "bull's eyes" in light of modern scholarship. The issue of "coins" in the Book of Mormon is such a case. Alma 11 in the Book of Mormon has long been attacked by critics for discussing Nephite coins, when there is no evidence that coins were used in the New World before Columbus. But the actual text does not mention coins or even imply their use; it speaks of various measures - apparently weights - of gold and silver and their equivalents in grain. (The modern chapter heading for Alma 11 in the 1981 printing of the Book of Mormon refers to Nephite "coinage," but that is an unjustified assumption.) In a surprising development, it has been shown that the sophisticated system of weights mentioned in Alma 11, a system that was standardized under King Mosiah around 100 B.C., precisely fits an Egyptian system that Nephi and Lehi could have brought with them into the New World. John Welch presents the evidence in "Weighing and Measuring in the Worlds of the Book of Mormon." 32-1 He finds several parallels with ancient systems of weights and measures from the Old World that put the Book of Mormon system squarely in an ancient context: Ancient kings typically implemented their economic progress by means of official decrees.There are also relationships between some Old World names and Book of Mormon names for units. But the parallel I found most intriguing involves the relative values of Nephite measures and those of an ancient Egyptian system: Although the Egyptian system bears certain similarities to that of the Nephites - both are binary, both have six defined measures, and both feature an additional whole amount which is the sum of lesser parts - the two systems were not absolutely identical.Welch, in his typical style, provides extensive references to scholarly literature for his findings. Eurasians and Native Americans? [index] Contrary to wishful anti-Mormon claims, DNA evidence does not refute the Book of Mormon. Even without all the discoveries made of positive evidence, a proper understanding of what the Book of Mormon actually says and what the scientific data actually say rapidly leads one to the conclusion that the DNA-based attacks on the Book of Mormon are without merit. The scientific data may challenge some popular misinterpretations of the Book of Mormon, but they do not challenge the text itself. Since the Book of Mormon allows for, and even implies, the presence of many others in the land when Lehi's small boat load of people landed in the Americas, we should not expect that genes from Lehi and Sariah should dominate the genetic makeup of Native Americans. But even if the peoples mentioned in the Book of Mormon did happen to be the sole ancestors of the Native Americans, the Book of Mormon does not identify their genetic makeup. It does not even say whether all or even most of the settlers had Jewish ancestry. A useful post on this topic was offered by Woody Brison on Dec. 13, 2002 on the USENET group alt.religion.mormon, which is quoted in part below: To test the Book of Mormon's claim that Israelite colonists arrived in America and their descendants survived as the Indians or native Americans, critics propose that we could just check the DNA of some of the local tribes and compare them to samples of DNA from modern Jews, and see if the Book is true or not. Simple, eh? There is no scientifically acceptable standard for Jewish DNA. Dr. Robert Pollack, a professor of biological sciences and director of the Center for the Study of Science and Religion at Columbia University, after offering a lengthy technical explanation, makes the following important conclusion in his online article, "The Fallacy of Biological Judaism": 33-7 There are no DNA sequences common to all Jews and absent from all non-Jews. There is nothing in the human genome that makes or diagnoses a person as a Jew.If there is no genetic marker that can identify a person as a Jew, I would ask Thomas Murphy and other critics of the Book of Mormon exactly what DNA evidence we should be looking for to test the hypothesis that a tiny handful of Hebrew people entered the Americas in 600 B.C.? Observations on the Yucatan - Possible Echoes from the Book of Mormon? [index] A famous early account of life in Mesoamerica just after the Spanish Conquest is the 1566 record of Friar Diego de Landa about his observations in the Yucatan. At a used book sale, I recently acquired an English translation of his work, Yucatan Before and After the Conquest, translated by William Gates. 34-1 No English translation was available for study in Joseph Smith's time. Much of what we know about Mayan culture - which is still precious little - derives from the writings of this friar, who, I'm sorry to report, persecuted the inhabitants of the Yucatan and burned many of their records that could have told us much more. But from his descriptions, we do see a number of things that might make some sense as possible remnants from contact with ancient Book of Mormon peoples. One of the most striking things is the existence of Mayan rites with close connections to the Book of Mormon concept of baptism. Here is an excerpt from pages 42 to 45 of the English translation: Sec. XXVI. Method of baptism in Yucatan; How it was celebratedFascinating! A major Mayan ritual associated with being born again, purification, cleansing from sin, confession of sins to a priest, changing one's nature to be a better person, and gaining salvation in the afterlife - all very LDS and Christian concepts (at least early Christianity - some of these concepts have been lost in some parts of modern Christianity). The fact the de Landa heard a legend from the natives hinting at a transoceanic voyage from the east should not be dismissed lightly. On pages 47-49, de Landa describes the horror of Mesoamerican human sacrifice, something that is, unfortunately, consistent with the practices of the Lamanites at the end of the Book of Mormon. On pages 49-50, de Landa describes weaponry and some military practices. He also refers to defensive fortifications that bring to mind the structures described in Alma 50:1-4. Their beliefs about the afterlife resonate strongly with teachings in the Book of Mormon, and not just about the afterlife, but also in the use of a tree as a central symbol, much like the tree of life in Lehi's vision. 34-2 Mesoamerica - the best candidate for the setting of the Book of Mormon - was a very pagan and wicked place in the sixteenth century, with no help from the terrible cruelty of the Spanish conquerors. But the native practices reflect many elements that could very well have derived from knowledge of ancient Christian ceremonies, though in a pagan and corrupt form. If the Book of Mormon account is pure fiction, how do we explain that in the one region that can be a plausible candidate for Book of Mormon geography, we also find a culture that had baptism, legends of a Great White God who visited them and promised to return, the presence of sacred writing systems in a continent otherwise devoid of writing, elaborate temples, and many other elements consistent with the Book of Mormon? Quoted in Book of Mormon 35-1 [index] A quotation from an Enoch text occurs in the thirteenth chapter of Helaman. "Ye have trusted in your riches," Enoch tells the people. "Ye have not remembered the Lord in the day he gave you your riches." (Cf. Helaman 13:33) This is Samuel the Lamanite speaking, an expert in the scriptures; he knew all about these things. He had access to the plates of brass and other records. And here Enoch is quoted in a writing not discovered by the world until 1888: "Ye have not remembered the Lord in the day he gave you your riches; ye have gone astray that your riches shall not remain, because you have done evil in everything. Cursed are you and cursed are your riches." NOTE: Nibley's citation, above, raises three interesting issues: 1. The Enoch text was discovered in 1888. The Book of Mormon quotes that text in 1830. If the author of the Book of Mormon was not an ancient historian, how did he know this? 2. The Book of Mormon has long been criticized for using New Testament language before New Testament times. Yet the New Testament abounds with quotations from Enoch and other ancient writers. When the New Testament and the Book of Mormon both quote from lost, ancient writings, (as they do without attribution, in the ancient style) of course it's going to look like the Book of Mormon is (to quote mark Twain) "smouched from the New Testament, and no credit given." 3. I claimed earlier that it can be proven that the Book of Mormon repeatedly flies in the face of the best knowledge and belief of the 1800s, only to be proven exactly right by subsequent discoveries. This is a prime example. No one would be so dumb in an 1800's forgery as to expect a Bible-reading public not to recognize Bible phrases. But the ancient author of the Book of Mormon blythly quotes his ancient sources (as Enoch, above) without attribution, thus ignorantly putting Joseph Smith's reputation in jeopardy. Against the "One Author Theory." [index] I've spoken frequently of the "author" of the Book of Mormon. In fact, Mormon was the editor and compiler of the book, as Joseph Smith was the translator. Many different ancient prophets and seers recorded the different parts of the Book of Mormon. As the Bible has different authors for different books and epistles within it, so does the Book of Mormon. John L. Hilton and his group have done detailed stylometic analyses of parts of the Book of Mormon "based on the somewhat surprising fact that every author studied thus far subconsciously uses sixty-five identifiable patterns, involving words like "and," "the," "of," and "that," at statistically significant different rates from others." 36-1 This statistical analysis estimates the odds of one person writing both the "Nephi" and "Alma" sections to be one in one thousand. Neither Joseph Smith nor any other single person could have written the Book of Mormon. [index] The whole mission of the Book of Mormon is to stand as a testament of Jesus Christ, the proof of which is based on one's faith and the life-changing witness of the Holy Ghost. Yet the book is neither allegory nor any other kind of fantasy, but an epic account of real-world places, people and events. When first published in 1830, the only available testimony of its truthfulness was faith-based and spiritual because its worldly details appeared to be historically absurd. But now, in the progress of time and technology, so much substantiating information is being discovered and brought to light that we must remind ourselves that a merely intellectual embrace of the Book of Mormon is not sufficient for the spiritual conversion it was written for. Nevertheless, since it is a real-world history, we cannot just ignore what is being learned about the real world in which the story was set. By the same token, we should consider what was being put on the line by Joseph Smith when he presented the Book of Mormon to the world's hostile scrutiny. If you were producing, as completely true, a book of complex history covering over 2,000 years in a time and place about which hardly anything was known when you wrote it, vast amounts of internal detail would form a sound basis for future generations to empirically assess whether your history was really true or simply made up. Such exposure to the tests of time, and the easy discovery of whatever fraud you might have purpetrated, would surely have made the challenge paralyzingly daunting to anyone but a complete fool. Joseph Smith has been called many things, but never a fool. We have presented here just a sampling from the ever-growing list of findings that actually support the Book of Mormon. We have: 41 Dead Sea Scrolls/Book of Mormon parallels73 really good guesses in total, and this is just a sampling! Some of the above items are so obscure and so exact that 50/50 odds of Joseph Smith getting them right are far too high. But still, lets just say that Joseph had a 50/50 chance of guessing each of these items correctly. What then are the odds against 73 good guesses? 1 consecutive guess at 50/50 oddsWe might as well stop here, just below the half-way point, where the odds are shown as a billion to one. Book of Mormon Challenge 38-1 [index] It appears that it only took some 63 to 70 working days, April through July, 1829, to complete the entire translation of the Book of Mormon, a complex religious history covering 2,000 years and more than five hundred pages. To demonstrate how astounding this is, Hugh Nibley once asked his Book of Mormon class at Brigham Young University, "Since Joseph was younger than most of you and not nearly so experienced or well-educated as any of you at the time he copyrighted the Book of Mormon, it should not be too much to ask you to hand in by the end of the semester (which will give you more time than he had) a paper of, say, five to six hundred pages in length. FOOTNOTES: 3-1. "Golden Bible," Rochester Advertiser and Telegraph, August 31, 1829, reprinting an article published in the Palmyra Freeman. Leonard J. Arrington, "James Gordon Bennett's 1831 Report on 'The Mormonites," BYU Studies 10 (Spring 1970):355, 358 and Hillsborough Gazette (Ohio), October, 29, 1831. Wayne Sentinel, May 27, 1831. Tucker, Origin, Rise and Progress of Mormonism, pp. 69-71. For additional references that Martin Harris was "considered an honest, industrious citizen by his neighbors," see E. D. Howe, Mormonism Unvailed, p. 13 and the Palmyra Courier, May 24, 1872. Rochester Daily Democrat, June 23, 1841. Wayne Sentinel, May 27, 1831. O. Turner, History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase (Rochester, 1852), p. 215, as cited by R.L. Anderson, "Martin Harris: The Honorable New York Farmer," Improvement Era, Vol. 72, No. 2 (Feb. 1969), pp. 18-21. Samuel Murdock to Editor of Dubuque Daily Times, April 13, 1893, cited in R. Etzenhouser, From Palmyra, New York, 1830, to Independence, Missouri, 1894 (Independence, Mo.: Ensign Publishing House, 1894), pp. 338-41. W. Lang, History of Seneca County (Springfield, Ohio: Transcript Printing Co., 1880), pp. 364-65. The Seneca Advertiser (Tiffin, Ohio), May 5, 1848, p. 2 Circuit Court Journal, Ray County, Missouri, March 5, 1850. For additional character references on Oliver Cowdery and his activities after he left the Church, see Richard L. Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981), pp. 38-44. The Seneca Advertiser (Tiffin, Ohio), November 1, 1850, p. 2. Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, pp. 72-76, 131-33. The statement regarding the character of David Whitmer signed by twenty-two leading citizens of Richmond, Missouri, was published in the Richmond Conservator, March 25, 1881, and in a pamphlet written by David Whitmer, Address to All Believers in Christ, pp. 9-10. A photocopy of the document is located in the Church Archives and in Ebbie L. V. Richardson, "David Whitmer: A Witness to the Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon" (Master's thesis, Brigham Young University, 1952.) See also Appendix F of Backman. Richmond Democrat, January 26, 1888, and reprinted February 2, 1888, in the same newspaper. See also Richmond Conservator, January 26, 1888. The Richmond Conservator reported that David Whitmer had lived in Richmond for forty-six years "without stain or blemish." He enjoys the "confidence and esteem of his fellow men," this report added and is considered "a good citizen." Richmond Conservator, August 22, 1881. Anderson, Investigating the Book of Mormon Witnesses, p. 79. Chicago Tribune Correspondent, 23 January 1888, quoted in Lyndon W. Cook, David Whitmer Interviews: A Restoration Witness (Grandin Book Co., 1993), p. 220. Richmond Conservator Report, 26 January 1888, quoted in Cook, p. 226; see also Andrew Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 4 vols, (Salt Lake City), p. 269. For further impressive details, please see the following pages: Book of Mormon Witnesses by Richard L. Anderson. Mike Ash's page on The Three Witnesses. Comments on the Book of Mormon Witnesses: A Response to Jerald and Sandra Tanner by Matt Roper. [back] 4-1. From the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.7. [back] 5-1. see my 2009 post on Mormanity, Those Implausible Plates and, for some additional information, see Book of Mormon Nugget #25. [back] 5-2. M.T. Lamb, The Golden Bible, or, the Book of Mormon: Is It from God? (New York: Ward & Drummond, 1887), p. 11. [back] 5-3. "Sacred Writing on Bronze Plates in the Ancient Mediterranean," FARMS Paper HAM-94, FARMS, Provo, Utah, 1994. [back] 5-4. in John M. Lundquist and Stephen R. Ricks, eds., By Study and Also by Faith, Vol. 1 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1990), pp. 273-334. [back] 5-5. Cyrus H. Gordon, Forgotten Scripts, New York: Basic Books, 1968, p. 88. [back] 5-6. Gordon, p. 95. [back] 5-7. ca. 1400-1200 B.C. [back] 5-8. Gordon, p. 95. [back] 5-9. Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000. [back] 5-10. The documents were acquired by the Jordanian government in 1970. (see Tvedtnes, pp. 38-39). [back] 5-11. p.150. [back] 5-12. See al-Tha'labi, Qisas 'al-'Anbiya' (Cairo: Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi wa-Awladuhu, A. H., 1340), p. 202. [back] 5-13. The story is reported in Ernest A. Wallis Budge, The Book of the Dead (New Hyde Park, N.Y: University Books, 1960), 15 n. 5. [back] 5-14. See Franklin S. Harris Jr., "Others Kept Records on Metal Plates, Too," Instructor, October 1957, 318-21. The list was later reprinted in a pamphlet entitled "Gold Plates Used Anciently" (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1963); and in Mark E. Petersen, Those Gold Plates! (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1979), 4-5. See also Paul R. Cheesman, Ancient Writing on Metal Plates (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon, 1985); and his "Ancient Writing on Metal Plates," Ensign, October 1979, pp. 42-47. [back] 5-15. see Peter De Roo, America Before Columbus (New York: Lippincott, 1900) pp. 224-225, as cited by Paul R. Cheesman, Ancient Writing on Metal Plates: Archaeological Findings Support Mormon Claims (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon, 1985), p. 52, as cited by Tvedtnes. p. 22. [back] 5-16. see Hyatt Verril, America's Ancient Civilizations (New York: B.P. Putnam's Sons, 1953), pp. 23,42, as cited by Cheesman, p. 53, in Tvedtnes, p. 22. [back] 5-17. pp. 23-24. [back] 5-18. The finds were reported by Gabriel Barkay, "The Divine Name Found in Jerusalem," Biblical Archaeology Review 9/2 (1983): 14-19, and "Priestly Blessings on Silver Plates" (in Hebrew), Cathedra 52 (1989): 46-59. The discoveries are discussed by William J. Adams Jr., "Lehi's Jerusalem and Writing on Metal Plates," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 3/1 (1994): 204-6, and "More on the Silver Plates from Lehi's Jerusalem," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 4/2 (1995): 136-37. See the discussion in John Gee and John A. Tvedtnes, "Ancient Manuscripts Fit Book of Mormon Pattern," Insights, February 1999. Also see the related online article, Oldest Scrolls Ever Found from ChristianNewsToday.com. [back] 5-19. Raphael Patai, The Jewish Alchemists (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994), p. 573 n. 19, as cited by Tvedtnes, op. cit., p. 19. [back] 6-1. Book of Mormon Authorship (Noel B. Reynolds, ed., Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1982), pp. 103-141. [back] 6-2. Lachish I (Tell ed Duweir): The Lachish Letters (Oxford University Press, 1938). [back] 7-1. They presented a paper at the 1997 Evangelical Theological Society Far West Annual Meeting, April 25, 1997. [back] 7-2. later published in Trinity Journal, Fall 1998, pp. 179-205 and available on the Web at ComeToZarahemla.org or Ben Spackman's Website. [back] 7-3. Nibley, "More Voices," p. 242. [back] 7-4. see Stephen E. Robinson, "Background for the Testaments," The Ensign (December 1982). [back] 7-5. Harold Bloom, The American Religion(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992), p. 101. [back] 8-1. Deseret Book Comp., (Salt Lake City, UT, 1992). [back] 8-2. Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2003, pp. 72-83. [back] 8-3. H. Shanks, Jerusalem: An Archeaological Biography, 1995, pp. 107-108, as cited in the article "Was Mulek a 'Blood Son' of King Zedekiah?" in the FARMS publication Insights, Feb. 1999, p. 2. [back] 8-4. "Two Shots in the Dark" in Book of Mormon Authorship, Noel B. Reynolds, ed., (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1982), pp. 103-141. [back] 8-5. pp. 117-119. [back] 9-1. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Comp.), 1994. [back] 9-2. 1 Nephi 16:13. [back] 9-3. 1 Nephi 2:5; 1 Nephi 16:14. [back] 9-4. 1 Nephi 16:34. [back] 9-5. 1 Nephi 17:1. [back] 9-6. 1 Nephi 17:5. [back] 9-7. See 1 Nephi 16:35. [back] 9-8. 1 Nephi 17:5,6. [back] 9-9. 1 Nephi 18:8. [back] 9-10. 1 Nephi 17:5,6; 1 Nephi 18:6. [back] 9-11. 1 Nephi 18:1,2,6. [back] 9-12. 1 Nephi 17:7; 18:3. [back] 9-13. 1 Nephi 17:48. [back] 9-14. 1 Nephi 17:9-11,16. [back] 10-1. S. Kent Brown, NAHOM/NIHM/NHM TODAY, 2003 http://pub26.ezboard.com/fpacumenispagesfrm63.showMessage?topicID=201.topic [back] 10-2. see the summaries by S. Kent Brown, "'The Place That was Called Nahom': New Light from Ancient Yemen," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8/1 (1999): 66-68; and Warren P. Aston, "Newly Found Altars from Nahom," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/2 (2001): p. 56-61. [back] 10-3. All of this material is reviewed in S. Kent Brown, "New Light from Arabia on Lehi's Trail," in Donald W. Parry et al., eds., Evidences and Echoes of the Book of Mormon (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), pp. 55-12 5. [back] 10-4. see 1 Nephi 17:1. [back] 10-5. On the location of the first camp, consult George D. Potter, "A New Candidate in Arabia for the Valley of Lemuel," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8/1 [1999]: pp. 54-63. [back] 10-6. see 1 Nephi 16:7. [back] 10-7. see 1 Nephi 17:1. [back] 10-8. see Strabo, Geography 16.4.23-24; consult Michael L. Ingraham et al., "Saudi Arabian Comprehensive Survey Program: C. Preliminary Report on a Reconnaissance Survey of the Northwestern Province," ATLAL. The Journal of Saudi Arabian Archaeology 5 [1401 a.h. - 1981 a.d.]: pp. 59-84, especially 76-78. [back] 11-1. Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1999, pp. 54-63. [back] 12-1. Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort, Inc., 2003. [back] 12-2. Beirut: Libraire du Liban; London: Longman, 1983; as cited by Potter and Wellington, p. 73. [back] 12-3. Lehi in the Desert (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft, 1952), p. 90. [back] 12-4. This point is made by John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne, eds., Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), p. 89. [back] 12-5. p. 73. [back] 12-6. pp. 74,76-78. [back] 12-7. 1 Ne. 16:13. [back] 12-8. See pages 82-92 of Potter and Wellington, including excellent photos and a satellite map. [back] 13-1. (Salt Lake: Deseret Book, 1992), pp. 41-43. [back] 14-1. meridianmagazine.com [back] 15-1. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985). [back] 16-1 An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon. [back] 16-2. Sorenson, p. 128. [back] 16-3. Sorenson, pp. 320-322. [back] 16-4. 3 Nephi 8:5,7. [back] 16-5. Felix W. McBryde, "Cultural and Historical Geography of Southwest Guatemala," Smithsonian Institution, Institute of Social Anthropology, Publications, Vol. 4, 1947, p. 6. [back] 16-6. Payson D. Sheets, "An Ancient Natural Disaster," Expedition, 13 (Fall 1971) p. 27. [back] 16-7. 3 Nephi 9:7. [back] 16-8. Maldonado-Koerdell, Geohistory, pp. 25-26. [back] 16-9. Robert C. West and John P. Augelli, Middle America: Its Lands and Peoples, 2nd ed. (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1976), p. 35. [back] 16-10. p. 323 [back] 16-11. FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1997, pp. 87-145. [back] 16-12. M. T. Lamb, The Golden Bible, or, the Book of Mormon: Is It from God? (New York: Ward & Drummond, 1887), p. 83. [back] 16-13. [ John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, op. cit., pp. 318-23; Russell H. Ball, "An Hypothesis Concerning the Three Days of Darkness among the Nephites," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 2/1 (1993), pp. 107-23; John A. Tvedtnes, "Historical Parallels to the Destruction at the Time of the Crucifixion," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 3/1 (1994), pp. 170-86; James L. Baer, "The Third Nephi Disaster: A Geological View," Dialogue 19/1 (1986), pp. 129-32; Bart J. Kowallis, "In the Thirty and Fourth Year: A Geologist's View of the Great Destruction in Third Nephi," forthcoming in BYU Studies. [back] 16-14. Byron Cummings, "Cuicuilco and the Archaic Culture of Mexico," University of Arizona Bulletin (Social Science) 4/8 (15 November 1933), pp. 8-12. [back] 16-15. Copilco-Cuicuilco: Official Guide del Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (Mexico: Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, 1959), pp. 8, 11-12. [back] 16-16. Ibid., 12, 18. See also Paul B. Sears, "Pollen Profiles and Culture Horizons in the Basin of Mexico," in The Civilizations of Ancient America: Selected Papers of the XXIXth International Congress of Americanists, ed. Sol Tax (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1949), p 57. [back] 16-17. René Millon and James Bennyhoff, "A Long Architectural Sequence at Teotihuacan," American Antiquity 26/4 (April 1961): p. 519. [back] 16-18. "Volcanic Destruction in the Book of Mormon: Possible Evidence from Ice Cores," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2003, pp. 78-87. [back] 17-1. Deseret Book, (SLC, UT, 1990). [back] 17-2. From "The Ensign" magazine, September, 1984, pg. 33. [back] 18-1. Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, ed. D.W. Parry, D.C. Peterson, and J.W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), pp. 372-374. [back] 18-2. Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Vol.3, 1991, p. 38. [back] 18-3. Alma 63:4. [back] 18-4. Alma 63:5-8, 10; Helaman 3:3-4, 7, 10-11. [back] 18-5. 3 Nephi 7:12. [back] 18-6. 3 Nephi 9:9. [back] 18-7. Helaman 3:7, 10-11. [back] 18-8. 3 Nephi 6:8; 8:13. [back] 18-9. cited by J. Sorenson, Ensign, Oct. 1984, pp. 18, 23. [back] 18-10. B. Stubbs, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1996, p. 39. [back] 19-1. FARMS Review of Books, vol. 12, no. 1, 2000, pp. 9-22. [back] 19-2. David Carrasco, Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), p. 192. [back] 19-3. (Amherst, Wisconsin: Amherst Press, 1963). [back] 19-4. (Provo, Utah: Research Press, 1998) p. 230. [back] 19-5. Circumpacifica, Band I: Mittel- und Südamerika, Festschrift für Thomas S. Bartel, ed. Bruno Ilius and Matthias Laubscher (Frankfurt, Peter Lang, 1990), pp. 165-88. [back] 19-6. FARMS Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, 1993, p. 122. [back] 19-7. Roberta H. Markman and Peter Markman, The Flayed God: The Mesoamerican Mythological Tradition (San Francisco: Harper, 1992), p. 32; see also Delia Goetz and Sylvanus G. Morley, trans., Popol Vuh (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1975), p. 83. [back] 19-8. Charles Gallenkamp, The Riddle and Rediscovery of a Lost Civilization: Maya, 3d ed. (New York: Penguin, 1987), p. 166. [back] 19-9. David Carrasco, Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), p. 43. [back] 19-10. T. A. Willard, Kukulcan: The Bearded Conqueror (Los Angeles: Murray and Gee, 1941), p. 159. [back] 19-11. Bernal Diaz, The Conquest of New Spain, trans. J. M. Cohen (London: Penguin, 1963); see also Carrasco, Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire, p. 48; and Brian M. Fagan, Kingdoms of Gold: Kingdoms of Jade (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1991), p. 37; and Adrian Recinos and Delia Goetz, The Annals of the Cakchizuels (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 1953), p. 40. [back] 19-12. see 3 Nephi 11. [back] 19-13. Vol. 4, No. 2, Issue 7, Autumn 2002. [back] 20-1. see Alma 53:7. [back] 20-2. Alma 51:32. [back] 20-3. Michael D. Coe, The Maya, (London: Thames and Hudson, 4th ed., 1987), p. 160. [back] 21-1.The Allegory of the Olive Tree, pp. 186-247, taken from pages 223-224. [back] 21-2. Columella, Rei Rusticae I, pp. 5,7. [back] 21-3. Jacob 5:15, 29, 38. [back] 21-4. (cf. Jacob 5:7, 10-11, 15-16, 20-21, 25-30, 33-35, 38, 41, 48-50, 57, 61-62, 70-72, 75) Cato, De Agri Cultura 10; Varro, Rerum Rusticarum I, p. 18. [back] 21-5. Jacob 5:23-25, 52, 54. [back] 21-6. Jacob 5:11, 47, 76; 6:2. [back] 21-7. Jacob 5:8, 9-10, 17-18, 30, 34, 52, 54-57, 60, 63-65, 67-68. [back] 21-8. Jacob 5:4, 27, 63-64. [back] 21-9. Jacob 5:4, 12, 27, 28, 58, 71; 6:2. [back] 21-10. Jacob 5:47, 64, 76. [back] 21-11. cf. Jacob 5:6. [back] 21-12. (New York: Basic Books, 1981). [back] 22-1. some of which are discussed in An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon by John L. Sorenson, Deseret Book Comp., Salt Lake City, UT, 1985). [back] 22-2. (see Brant A. Gardner, FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2001, pp. 44-45, reviewing John L. Sorenson, Nephite Culture and Society, (Salt Lake City: New Sage Books, 1997). [back] 22-3. Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de Alva "Obras Historicas," Editora Nacional, S.A. Mexico, 2 vols., 1950, p. 19, as cited by John K. Wise, "Clouds Without Water, Zeal Without Knowledge," Journal of Mormon Apologetics, Vol. 1, 1999, pp. 116-140. [back] 22-4. See Diego de Landa, Relación de las cosas de Yucatan, 1566, translated by William Gates and published as Yucatan Before and After the Conquest, (New York: Dover Books, 1978), pp. 42-45. [back] 22-5. Amherst, Wisconsin: Amherst Press, 1963. L. Taylor Hansen apparently had Masters Degrees in Archaeology, Anthropology and Geology from Stanford University and spent significant time with Native Americans to better understand their traditions and legends. The book is still in print and maybe available at your local library. [back] 22-6. Interview with James H. Hart, Richmond, Mo., Aug. 21, 1883, as recorded in Hart's notebook, reprinted in Lyndon W. Cook, David Whitmer Interviews: A restoration Witness (Orem, Utah: Grandin Book, 1991), p. 76, as cited by Daniel C. Peterson, FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1997, p. xxvi. [back] 23-1. Mormon 9:32-34. [back] 23-2. p. 284. [back] 23-3. pp. 294-95. [back] 23-4. p. 294. [back] 23-5. Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 5, 1993, pp. 43-45 (available online). [back] 23-6. Mormon 9:32-34. [back] 23-7. Peterson, pp. 44-45. [back] 23-8. Feb. 1998. [back] 24-1. Across Before Columbus?, ed. by Donald Y. Gilmore and Linda S. McElroy, Laconia, New Hampshire: New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA), 1998. [back] 24-2. Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1, Spring 1996, pp. 1-49. [back] 24-3. Brian Stubbs, "Elements of Hebrew in Uto-Aztecan: A Summary of the Data," F.A.R.M.S. paper, 1988. [back] 24-4. Ph.D. in linguistics from Princeton, a Rhodes scholar, founder of Drew's anthropology program and author of 500 publications, including 40 books, and past president of the Linguistic Association of Canada and the United States. [back] 24-5. Across Before Columbus?, ed. by Donald Y. Gilmore and Linda S. McElroy, Laconia, New Hampshire: New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA), 1998, pp. 193-197. [back] 25-1. See "Reexploring the Book of Mormon" John W. Welch, ed. Chapters 66 & 67 [back] 25-2. Psalms 3:7-8 in Hebrew transliteration [back] 25-3. Mosiah 3:18-19 [back] 26-1. Moroni 10:4, 1830 edition. [back] 26-2. see "Hebraic Conditionals in the Book of Mormon," in Pressing Forward with the Book of Mormon, edited by John W. Welch and Melvin J. Thorne (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1999), pp. 201-203. [back] 26-3. ibid., p. 202. [back] 26-4. BYU Studies, Vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 50-61. [back] 26-5. see also "Book of Mormon Authorship," by D. Brent Anderson, in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. [back] 26-6. see "Linguists Provide Possible Evidence Consistent with Book of Mormon Claims" in this paper. [back] 26-7. Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1996, pp. 82-97. [back] 26-8. Mosiah 7:21-22. [back] 27-1. see Bar Kokhba by Yigael Yadin, Random House, New York, 1971, p. 176. [back] 27-2. (Vetus Testamentum, 15: 475-86, (1965). [back] 27-3. pp. 42-43. [back] 27-4. See the April 2005 issue of National Geographic. [back] 27-5. FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1997, p. 120. [back] 27-6. See his book Since Cumorah, for example. [back] 27-7. 1 Nephi 17:5. [back] 27-8. William F. Albright to Grant S. Heward, Baltimore, Maryland, July 25, 1966, as cited by Tvedtnes, 2001. [back] 27-9. From the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.8, Ch.15. [back] 27-10. From the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.5, Part.1, Ch.2. [back] 27-11. Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.8. [back] 28-1. In pre-exilic Israel, this festival may have been grouped with the Day of Atonement and the Festival of Booths as part of an autumn complex of festivals, and elements from all parts of this complex are evident in King Benjamin's speech. [back] 28-2. Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1998, 661 pages. [back] 28-3. For details, see William S. Kurz, "Luke 22:14-38 and Greco-Roman Biblical Farewell Traditions," Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 104: 251-268 (1985); also see William S. Kurz, Farewell Addresses in the New Testament (Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1990), both as cited by Welch and Ricks, p. 115. [back] 28-4. pp. 91-94. [back] 28-5. e.g., Christ in Luke 22 and Mattathias in 1 Maccabees 2. [back] 28-6. For Benjamin's assertion of innocence, see Mos. 2:15 (cf. Mos. 2:12-14 and 2:27-28). For tasks for successors, see Mos. 1:15-16, 2:31, and 6:3. A theological review of history is found in Benjamin's review of his administration (Mos. 2, such as verses 11, 20, 31, 34, 35) and his references to Moses and the Israelites (Mos. 3:13-15). Future events are prophesied in Mos. 3: 1,2,5-11, where the coming of Christ is foretold. [back] 29-1. by David E. Bokovoy and John A. Tvedtnes (Tooele, Utah: Heritage Press, 2003), 232 pages. [back] 29-2. 2 Nephi 9: 10, 19, 26. [back] 29-3. Mosiah 15:8-9, 20, 23, 16:7 [back] 29-4. Alma 4:14, 5:7, 9-10; 7:12; 11:41-42; 22:14. [back] 29-5. p. 87. [back] 30-1. Mosiah 28:11. [back] 30-2. Mosiah 29:6-7. [back] 30-3. "King Mosiah and the Judgeship," Insight, Nov. 2000 (FARMS), p. 2. [back] 30-4. Ether 7:4-5, 15-17; 8:2-3; 9:11-12; 10:3, 8-10, 14, 32; 11:4, 15-18. [back] 30-5. Ether 7:4, 15; 9:11; 10:32. [back] 30-6. Mosiah 29:18-19. [back] 30-7. see Ether 6:22-23, as well as the examples of kings conquered by family members to serve in captivity in Ether 7:5, 7, 17; 8:3-4; 10:14-15, 30-31; 11:9, 18-19, 23; 13:23. [back] 30-8. Mosiah 29:26, 27. [back] 31-1. The Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered, New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1992, p. 57, referring to a passage translated on p. 58. [back] 31-2. From the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.5, Part.1, Ch.1 [back] 31-3. 1 Nephi 3:10 [back] 31-4. 1 Nephi 3:16 [back] 31-5. 1 Nephi 1:4 [back] 31-6. 1 Nephi 3:16 [back] 31-7. 1 Nephi 3:23 [back] 32-1. Journal of Book of Mormon Studioes, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 37-47 (1999). [back] 32-2. Alma 11:3, 7 [back] 32-3. Alma 11:4. [back] 33-1. Ether 6:16. [back] 33-2. Ether 15. [back] 33-3. Jacob 7. [back] 33-4. Alma 30. [back] 33-5. for example Ezekiel 47:21-23. [back] 33-6. Mos. 25:2. [back] 33-7. Pollack, 2003. [back] 34-1. (New York: Dover Books, 1978), originally published as Relacion de las cosas de Yucatan, 1566, first published in English in 1937 as Publication No. 20 of the Maya Society, Baltimore. [back] 34-2. 1 Nephi 8, 11. [back] 35-1. From the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, Vol.2, Ch.1 [back] 36-1. Welch, "Reexploring the Book of Mormon" pg. 221. [back] 38-1. from Hugh Nibley, "The Prophetic Book of Mormon" (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,1989) pp. 220-21. [back] Home / For Latter-day Saints |