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| Study of Place Names in Ancient Maya Texts |
Place p. 7 mentions the common Maya phrase uhtiiy translated as "it happened." LDS and Restoration Branch (formerly Community of Christ) scholars have compared this phrase with the ubiquitous Book of Mormon "it came to pass" 1 Nephi 1:4-7 (and more than 1,300 other instances).
Place p. 7 references lakam ha' as one of the ancient Maya names for Palenque. The ha' suffix denoting "water" is a component in many ancient Maya place names such as sak ha'. We find a similar suffix in the Book of Mormon place names Ammonihah Alma 8:6-9, Moronihah 3 Nephi 8:10, Nephihah Alma 50:14, and Onihah 3 Nephi 9:7.
Place p. 8 says Maya toponyms often reference mountains, rocks, lakes, rivers, and springs. We find similar referents among Book of Mormon place names:
- Irreantum many waters 1 Nephi 17:5
- hill north of the land of Shilom Mosiah 7:5,16
- waters of Mormon Mosiah 18:5,8
- Helam land of pure water Mosiah 23:4,19
- hill Manti Alma 1:15
- hill Amnihu Alma 2:15
- river Sidon Alma 2:34
- water of Sebus Alma 17:26
- hill Onidah Alma 32:4
- hill Riplah Alma 43:31,35
- mount Antipas Alma 47:7
- Moronihah became a mountain 3 Nephi 8:10
- hill Shim Mormon 1:3
- hill Cumorah Mormon 6:2,4
- Cumorah land of many waters, rivers, and fountains Mormon 6:4
- mount Shelem Ether 3:1
- hill Ephraim Ether 7:9
- mountain Zerin Ether 12:30
- hill Comnor Ether 14:28
- waters of Ripliancum Ether 15:8
- hill Ramah Ether 15:11
Place p. 9 mentions corn (maize) as an important component of Maya toponyms. Corn is attested in the text Mosiah 7:22, 9:9,14.
Place pp. 10, 43 describes the Maya notion of kaaj ordered, settled space versus k'a'ax "chaotic wilderness or forest." The Book of Mormon demarcates settlements from adjacent wilderness Alma 16:2, Alma 58:13-14.
Place p. 10 says the Maya used the term ti' (edge/mouth of) in a similar way the Book of Mormon uses the term "borders" Alma 8:3,5, Alma 50:14. The component "ti" is attested in Book of Mormon place names: Manti Alma 16:6,7, Ani-Anti Alma 21:11. Manti is one of the places the Book of Mormon text explicitly correlates with borders Alma 22:27, Alma 43:32.
Place p. 11 mentions the term te' (tree) as a component of Maya toponyms. The Book of Mormon city name Teancum Mormon 4:3, 6-7 contains a similar element.
Place p. 11 says many Maya place names incorporate the component naah (buildings). One Book of Mormon place has "nah" in its name: city of Gadiomnah 3 Nephi 9:8
Place p. 13 identifies one of the mountains towering over Palenque with the Maya Yehmal K'uk' Lakam Witz, a place where the king performed rituals. V. Garth Norman identifies 588 meter Mirador hill which towers over Palenque with hill Manti Alma 1:15, the place where Nehor was executed for murder. As with all images on this blog, click to enlarge.
Place p. 13 says the Maya occasionally used double place names. The Book of Mormon peoples occasionally used double place names such as Lehi-Nephi Mosiah 7:1-2, 4 and Ani-Anti Alma 21:11.
Place p. 11 mentions the term te' (tree) as a component of Maya toponyms. The Book of Mormon city name Teancum Mormon 4:3, 6-7 contains a similar element.
Place p. 11 says many Maya place names incorporate the component naah (buildings). One Book of Mormon place has "nah" in its name: city of Gadiomnah 3 Nephi 9:8
Place p. 13 identifies one of the mountains towering over Palenque with the Maya Yehmal K'uk' Lakam Witz, a place where the king performed rituals. V. Garth Norman identifies 588 meter Mirador hill which towers over Palenque with hill Manti Alma 1:15, the place where Nehor was executed for murder. As with all images on this blog, click to enlarge.
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| Palenque and Proposed Hill Manti (Mirador Hill) |
Place p. 14 reports that two stelae from the site of Dos Pilas talk of "binding" carved monuments containing writing. The Book of Mormon talks of "sealing up" written records Ether 4:5, Moroni 10:2.
A major problem in Book of Mormon geography right now is the relative scale of distance we should expect between sites. Some mapmakers interpret the text to mean the Nephite saga played out on a small, intimate landscape such as a single region within modern Costa Rica. Others imagine a vast, sprawling landscape such as North America from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. The classic Maya world gives us a very useful model of demonstrable relationships from which we can calculate accurate distances. Maya city states in the AD 300 to AD 900 time frame operated in a world where 20 to 250 air kilometers was a routine distance but 1,000 air kilometers was an exceptional distance traveled by elites perhaps once in a lifetime. Place in dozens of instances mentions pairs of archaeological sites with an association of some kind that got memorialized in a hieroglyphic text. Summarizing some of these associations gives us a firm idea of the distances between sites that were typical in the classic era.
Place on the other hand directly contradicts Sorenson's much-maligned system of skewed directionality. The phrase "cardinal directions" appears perhaps twenty times in Tokovinine with several maps and illustrations showing precisely what the Maya meant when they used the terms "east," "north," "west," and "south." Tikal (pp. 95-97) offers a clear example. From the perspective of Tikal at the center of its dominion, Altun Ha was east, Edzna north, Palenque west and Copan south. All four vectors radiating out from Tikal to these places are within a few degrees of the astronomically-derived cardinal directions.
Teotihuacan is referenced in several early classic Maya inscriptions. It is always described as west of the Maya lowland sites of Tikal, Ucanal, Pusilha, Machaquila, Dos Pilas, and Yaxchilan (Place p. 95).
This mainstream understanding of ancient solar-based Mesoamerican directionality is further documented in the articles "Water Fight on the River - Round Ten," "Test #5 North South East and West," "Quichean Directionality," and "Light from L.A."
I am convinced the interpretation of "narrow neck of land" as "isthmus" causes much of the confusion that currently dominates Book of Mormon geography thinking. See the article "Red Herrings." Place p. 24 adds another data point to the discussion. It says the Maya word "neck" in spatial context connotes "edge" or limit. This fits well with our correlation of the narrow neck of land as Barra San Marcos running along the edge of the Chiapas coast.
Place p. 25 examines a term found frequently in ancient Maya toponyms: ch'e'n meaning "cave, opening, hole, hollow, or cavity." One is reminded of the Book of Mormon phrase "cavity of a rock" describing the hiding places of Nephi and his brothers 1 Nephi 3:27 and the prophet Ether Ether 13:13-14, 18, 22.
Place p. 16 mentions the Maya place name Haluum (the archaeological site Cancuen) ending in "um." The Book of Mormon contains several place names ending in "um:" Antionum Alma 31:3, Antum Mormon 1:3, Irreantum 1 Nephi 17:5, Mocum 3 Nephi 9:7, Moriantum Moroni 9:9, Ripliancum Ether 15:8, Teancum Mormon 4:3, 6-7.
Place p. 16 mentions a precious and powerful royal hierloom passed down from king to king. The Nephite crown jewels (plates of brass, sword of Laban, Liahona) were precious royal hierlooms passed down from king to king Mosiah 1:16.
Place p. 16 identifies Chi'k Nahb and Huxte' Tuun as ancient Maya names for Calakmul and the surrounding area. The Book of Mormon mentions cities with adjacent "land round about:" Shilom Mosiah 7:21, Helam Mosiah 23:25.
Place p. 16 indicates that the wall of the Calakmul North Acropolis was prominent enough to have its own name: Chi'k Nahb Kot. The Book of Mormon describes cities with prominent walls: Nephihah Alma 62:20-24, Zarahemla Helaman 16:1-2.
Place p. 17 mentions a Maya place name incorporating the element ton. The Book of Mormon has a place name incorporating the element "ton:" Morianton Alma 50:25-26.
Place p. 19 says the Maya had different words for city (kaj) and land (kab). Cities and lands are fundamental polities in the Book of Mormon Alma 58:10, 33.
Place p. 28 lists sites whose dynasties had remote origins: Palenque, Bonampak, Piedras Negras, Calakmul, Dos Pilas, Aguateca, and Cancuen. Mosiah1 founded a non-local dynasty at Zarahemla Omni 1:19.
Place p. 29 indicates one Maya name for temple, uwitzil uk' uhuul, was related to the name for hill or mountain, witz, and meant "the mountain of the god." The Book of Mormon, quoting Isaiah, relates mountains with temples as houses of the Lord 2 Nephi 12:2-3.
Place p. 33 says common Maya words for warfare were the verbs burning pul and chopping ch'ak. Burning was a major part of warfare in the Book of Mormon Mormon 5:5, Ether 14:17.
Place p. 39 references Kerry M. Hull, a Ch'orti' specialist on the BYU Religion faculty. I am becoming increasingly impressed with Hull's contributions to the scholarly Mayanist literature.
Place p. 43 explains the Maya word for agricultural lands, luum, associated with urban areas, kaaj, and wilderness, k'a'ax. Kab was a more general term referring to property, lands, or the earth in general. The Book of Mormon has all four landscape classifications: fields Alma 34:20, 24-25, villages and cities Alma 23:14, wilderness Alma 43:22-24, and the generic possessions Alma 58:3. The Book of Mormon also uses the term "earth" in a general sense Alma 5:16,17.
Place p. 47 describes the couplets kab, earth, and chan, sky, which when paired connote the totality of the whole earth. The common Book of Mormon variant is "heaven and earth" Alma 11:39.
Place p. 48 talks about sky, earth, and water bands as pictorial conventions in Maya iconography. This same tripartite division of the world is attested in the Book of Mormon Mosiah 13:12.
Noted BYU archaeologist John E. Clark believes the Book of Mormon idea that trees can grow from humans Alma 32:28, 37, 41 is one of the strongest evidences of the book's authenticity. The idea is relatively unique and highly arbitrary. This man-tree notion is well-attested in Mesoamerican iconography. See the article "Anthropomorphic Trees." Place p. 48 describes images on the side of K'inich Janaab' Pakal's sarcophagus in the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque depicting ancestors of the entombed king sprouting as fruit trees.
Place p. 52 indicates the Maya associated wilderness with mountains. The Book of Mormon explicitly associates wilderness and mountains Helaman 11:28,31.
Place p. 53 reproduces a wall painting with mountain and cave imagery from Rio Azul Tomb 1. The style and some of the motifs are similar to those on Kaminaljuyú (KJ) Stela 10.
The trefoil eye, aka "death eye," is generally interpreted to mean the represented figure is deceased.
A major problem in Book of Mormon geography right now is the relative scale of distance we should expect between sites. Some mapmakers interpret the text to mean the Nephite saga played out on a small, intimate landscape such as a single region within modern Costa Rica. Others imagine a vast, sprawling landscape such as North America from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. The classic Maya world gives us a very useful model of demonstrable relationships from which we can calculate accurate distances. Maya city states in the AD 300 to AD 900 time frame operated in a world where 20 to 250 air kilometers was a routine distance but 1,000 air kilometers was an exceptional distance traveled by elites perhaps once in a lifetime. Place in dozens of instances mentions pairs of archaeological sites with an association of some kind that got memorialized in a hieroglyphic text. Summarizing some of these associations gives us a firm idea of the distances between sites that were typical in the classic era.
- p. 16 Dos Pilas and Cancuen 55 air kilometers
- p. 16 Calakmul and Oxpemul 20 air kilometers
- p. 17 Dos Pilas and Oxpemul 212 air kilometers
- p. 17 Rio Azul and Los Alacranes 23 air kilometers
- p. 54 La Sufricaya and Teotihuacan 1,042 air kilometers
- p. 71 Moral-Reforma and Palenque 88 air kilometers
- p. 71 Palenque and Tortuguero 47 air kilometers
- p. 71 Dzibanche and Calakmul 126 air kilometers
- pp. 81, 111 Calakmul and Cancuen 233 air kilometers
- p. 105 Dos Pilas and Naranjo 136 air kilometers
- p. 113 Naranjo and Machaquila 129 air kilometers
- p. 116 Tikal and Dos Pilas 146 air kilometers
Place on the other hand directly contradicts Sorenson's much-maligned system of skewed directionality. The phrase "cardinal directions" appears perhaps twenty times in Tokovinine with several maps and illustrations showing precisely what the Maya meant when they used the terms "east," "north," "west," and "south." Tikal (pp. 95-97) offers a clear example. From the perspective of Tikal at the center of its dominion, Altun Ha was east, Edzna north, Palenque west and Copan south. All four vectors radiating out from Tikal to these places are within a few degrees of the astronomically-derived cardinal directions.
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| Tikal at the Center of its Quadripartite World Aligned to the Four Cardinal Directions |
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| Teotihuacan West of Maya Lowland Sites |
I am convinced the interpretation of "narrow neck of land" as "isthmus" causes much of the confusion that currently dominates Book of Mormon geography thinking. See the article "Red Herrings." Place p. 24 adds another data point to the discussion. It says the Maya word "neck" in spatial context connotes "edge" or limit. This fits well with our correlation of the narrow neck of land as Barra San Marcos running along the edge of the Chiapas coast.
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| Proposed Narrow (Small) Neck of Land |
Place p. 16 mentions the Maya place name Haluum (the archaeological site Cancuen) ending in "um." The Book of Mormon contains several place names ending in "um:" Antionum Alma 31:3, Antum Mormon 1:3, Irreantum 1 Nephi 17:5, Mocum 3 Nephi 9:7, Moriantum Moroni 9:9, Ripliancum Ether 15:8, Teancum Mormon 4:3, 6-7.
Place p. 16 mentions a precious and powerful royal hierloom passed down from king to king. The Nephite crown jewels (plates of brass, sword of Laban, Liahona) were precious royal hierlooms passed down from king to king Mosiah 1:16.
Place p. 16 identifies Chi'k Nahb and Huxte' Tuun as ancient Maya names for Calakmul and the surrounding area. The Book of Mormon mentions cities with adjacent "land round about:" Shilom Mosiah 7:21, Helam Mosiah 23:25.
Place p. 16 indicates that the wall of the Calakmul North Acropolis was prominent enough to have its own name: Chi'k Nahb Kot. The Book of Mormon describes cities with prominent walls: Nephihah Alma 62:20-24, Zarahemla Helaman 16:1-2.
Place p. 17 mentions a Maya place name incorporating the element ton. The Book of Mormon has a place name incorporating the element "ton:" Morianton Alma 50:25-26.
Place p. 19 says the Maya had different words for city (kaj) and land (kab). Cities and lands are fundamental polities in the Book of Mormon Alma 58:10, 33.
Place p. 28 lists sites whose dynasties had remote origins: Palenque, Bonampak, Piedras Negras, Calakmul, Dos Pilas, Aguateca, and Cancuen. Mosiah1 founded a non-local dynasty at Zarahemla Omni 1:19.
Place p. 29 indicates one Maya name for temple, uwitzil uk' uhuul, was related to the name for hill or mountain, witz, and meant "the mountain of the god." The Book of Mormon, quoting Isaiah, relates mountains with temples as houses of the Lord 2 Nephi 12:2-3.
Place p. 33 says common Maya words for warfare were the verbs burning pul and chopping ch'ak. Burning was a major part of warfare in the Book of Mormon Mormon 5:5, Ether 14:17.
Place p. 39 references Kerry M. Hull, a Ch'orti' specialist on the BYU Religion faculty. I am becoming increasingly impressed with Hull's contributions to the scholarly Mayanist literature.
Place p. 43 explains the Maya word for agricultural lands, luum, associated with urban areas, kaaj, and wilderness, k'a'ax. Kab was a more general term referring to property, lands, or the earth in general. The Book of Mormon has all four landscape classifications: fields Alma 34:20, 24-25, villages and cities Alma 23:14, wilderness Alma 43:22-24, and the generic possessions Alma 58:3. The Book of Mormon also uses the term "earth" in a general sense Alma 5:16,17.
Place p. 47 describes the couplets kab, earth, and chan, sky, which when paired connote the totality of the whole earth. The common Book of Mormon variant is "heaven and earth" Alma 11:39.
Place p. 48 talks about sky, earth, and water bands as pictorial conventions in Maya iconography. This same tripartite division of the world is attested in the Book of Mormon Mosiah 13:12.
Noted BYU archaeologist John E. Clark believes the Book of Mormon idea that trees can grow from humans Alma 32:28, 37, 41 is one of the strongest evidences of the book's authenticity. The idea is relatively unique and highly arbitrary. This man-tree notion is well-attested in Mesoamerican iconography. See the article "Anthropomorphic Trees." Place p. 48 describes images on the side of K'inich Janaab' Pakal's sarcophagus in the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque depicting ancestors of the entombed king sprouting as fruit trees.
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| Female Ancestor of Pakal as Fruit Tree Drawing by Merle Greene Robertson |
Place p. 53 reproduces a wall painting with mountain and cave imagery from Rio Azul Tomb 1. The style and some of the motifs are similar to those on Kaminaljuyú (KJ) Stela 10.
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| Rio Azul Tomb 1 Wall Painting |
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| Kaminaljuyú Stela 10, Drawing by Lucia Henderson |
Henderson in her superb 2013 PhD dissertation mentions strong stylistic relationships between KJ and the lowland Maya centers San Bartolo and Rio Azul.
This is of interest because KJ is a leading candidate for the city of Nephi. See the article "Kaminaljuyu."
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| KJ Influence in the Maya Lowlands |
Place p. 54 interprets a late pre-classic facade from Holmul as a feathered serpent being exhaled from a mountain cave. Tokovinine says this image shows the idea of wind emanating from a mountain. Flying serpents are attested in the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 17:41. Nephi's Jesus Christ is represented by both avian and serpentine symbols 2 Nephi 25:13, 20. The feathered serpent deity in Mesoamerica was associated with wind. Quetzalcoatl in Aztec times was represented wearing a wind breastplate or wind jewel. The Book of Mormon explicitly attributes the source of wind to deity Ether 2:24.
Place p. 55 discusses the "map" depicted on the monograph cover at the top of this article. It was painted as part of a mural at La Sufricaya in AD 378 or 379. A similar scene was painted at Copan about this same time. In both cases, the scenes show Maya lords travelling to Teotihuacan, probably on a pilgrimage to receive an investiture of authority. What were the Nephites doing in AD 378 - 379 when these emissaries were traveling to Central Mexico? They were in the land northward, regrouping at Jordan and environs after being routed out of Boaz. Mormon had re-taken command of the Nephite military. Mormon had moved the Nephite record repository from hill Shim to hill Cumorah because the security situation around hill Shim had become unstable. In AD 379 the Nephites were a mere six years from annihilation at hill Cumorah.
A great deal of land was devoted to agriculture in the Maya world, but Place p. 55 says luum, the Maya term for cultivated fields, seldom appears in hieroglyphic inscriptions. Maya lords and scribes were simply interested in other things such as lineage, ritual, and conquest, and took humble agricultural pursuits for granted. We see the same under-representation of agriculture in the Book of Mormon. This is the number of times certain words appear in the text:
Place p. 55 discusses the "map" depicted on the monograph cover at the top of this article. It was painted as part of a mural at La Sufricaya in AD 378 or 379. A similar scene was painted at Copan about this same time. In both cases, the scenes show Maya lords travelling to Teotihuacan, probably on a pilgrimage to receive an investiture of authority. What were the Nephites doing in AD 378 - 379 when these emissaries were traveling to Central Mexico? They were in the land northward, regrouping at Jordan and environs after being routed out of Boaz. Mormon had re-taken command of the Nephite military. Mormon had moved the Nephite record repository from hill Shim to hill Cumorah because the security situation around hill Shim had become unstable. In AD 379 the Nephites were a mere six years from annihilation at hill Cumorah.
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| Known and Proposed Locations of Historical Events AD 375 - 379 |
- crop 1
- wheat 2
- plow 2
- corn 3
- seed (not referring to human posterity) 14
- grain 25
- field (not all instances pertain to agriculture) 27
- weapon 52
- contention 81
- battle 125
- war 167
- faith 222
- king 426
Place p. 58 describes the Maya system of including place names in personal titles. This is similar to the Book of Mormon convention of naming places after the founder Alma 8:7.
Place p. 59 adds Quirigua and Yaxchilan to the list of sites where fourth-century invasions and pilgrimages to Teotihuacan are documented.
Place p. 61 analyzes inscriptions from Copan and Quirigua, sites that self-identified with the southern quadrant of the Maya world.
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| Sites that Considered Themselves Southern |
Place pp. 72-73 identifies Kanu'l from Calakmul, Matwiil from Palenque, and Tulan from the Popol Vuh as watery origin locations from the distant past that may be overseas. The Book of Mormon describes watery origin locations from the distant past that were overseas such as Nephi's Bountiful 1 Nephi 17:5, and the Jaredites' Mount Shelem seacoast Ether 6:2-4.
Place p. 76 analyzes hieroglyphic texts from Pomona (Pakbuul in ancient Mayan) that describe historical events in AD 179 and AD 297 at a place called Pipa'. It is not known where Pipa' was, just that is was associated in some way with Pomona. We associate Pomona with the lesser land of Zarahemla. Pomona is the major Maya site nearest Boca del Cerro which we correlate with the point described in the Book of Mormon where settled lands gave way to upland wilderness Omni 1:27-28. What was going on in the Book of Mormon in AD 179? After generations of peace and unity 4 Nephi 1:17, the old ethnic labels returned and there began to be Lamanites again in the land 4 Nephi 1:20. By AD 297 the Gadianton Robbers were re-constituted and wicked materialism prevailed among both the Nephites and Lamanites 4 Nephi 1:42-43.
Place p. 77 talks about Copan inscriptions that link it with Quirigua (49 air kilometers), Caracol (213 air kilometers), and Teotihuacan (1,163 air kilometers). See the article "Origins of K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' " for additional interesting details.
Place p. 76 analyzes hieroglyphic texts from Pomona (Pakbuul in ancient Mayan) that describe historical events in AD 179 and AD 297 at a place called Pipa'. It is not known where Pipa' was, just that is was associated in some way with Pomona. We associate Pomona with the lesser land of Zarahemla. Pomona is the major Maya site nearest Boca del Cerro which we correlate with the point described in the Book of Mormon where settled lands gave way to upland wilderness Omni 1:27-28. What was going on in the Book of Mormon in AD 179? After generations of peace and unity 4 Nephi 1:17, the old ethnic labels returned and there began to be Lamanites again in the land 4 Nephi 1:20. By AD 297 the Gadianton Robbers were re-constituted and wicked materialism prevailed among both the Nephites and Lamanites 4 Nephi 1:42-43.
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| Pomona Inscriptions Reference Events in AD 179, 297 |
Place p. 79 mentions the last known pilgrimage of a lowland Maya king to Teotihuacan to receive an investiture of authority. Yat Ahk, ruler of Piedras Negras, traveled to Teotihuacan in AD 510 and received a helmet as a symbol of power. His journey was similar to the one depicted on the image from La Sufricaya illustrated above. Teotihuacan began to decline in population in the 6th century AD and was in full collapse by the 7th century AD.
Place p. 81 Some Maya inscriptions describing travel from one place to another use verbs interpreted as "ascend" and "descend." Some Book of Mormon passages describing travel from one place to another use the adverbs "up" Mosiah 7:1-4 and "down" Alma 51:11-14.
Place pp. 81-82 A number of dynasties among the ancient Maya established themselves at multiple sites within and across regions. The Mutal dynasty is primarily associated with Tikal, but it was also present at Dos Pilas, Aguateca, and La Amelia in Guatemala's Petexbatun. The Baakal dynasty is primarily associated with Palenque, but it also established itself at Tortuguero and then Comalcalco. A dynasty whose name is not yet completely deciphered established itself at Arroyo de Piedra, Tamarindito, and the as yet unidentified site the Maya named Chak Ha'. The Xukal/Tz'ikal Naah dynasty was associated with at least five different places. The name appears on inscriptions from Lacanha, Bonampak, Yaxchilan, and Piedras Negras.
Place p. 84 Ancient Maya inscriptions use the words ajaw (lord or king) and kaloomte' (high king). The Book of Mormon mentions kings Alma 17:21 and high kings Alma 20:8,26.
Place p. 85 describes the deep social class distinctions that existed anciently in Maya society. One's status as an ajaw (lord, king, ruler) was an all-important membership that conveyed significant benefits such as the right to receive tribute. Nephite social climbers throughout Book of Mormon history tried to become kings Alma 51:5,8 and were in continual opposition to the freemen Alma 51:6,7 who supported a more egalitarian form of government.
Place p. 90 traces the evolution of thinking about ancient Maya polities. Specialists no longer view them as small independent city states. Tikal and Calakmul were powerful superstates exercising influence, even hegemony over sites hundreds of kilometers distant. The Book of Mormon describes two powerful superstates: Nephi, the Lamanite capital, and Zarahemla, the Nephite capital Alma 27:14, exercising influence and sometimes hegemony over distant lands.
Place p. 90 describes feuds lasting for generations between Maya dynasties. The Book of Mormon describes a feud lasting for generations between the Lamanites and Nephites Alma 20:10,13.
Place p. 90-91 itemizes seven cultural traits that were shared by elites throughout the classic Maya world: 1) writing system, 2) language, 3) rituals, 4) deities, 5) mythology, 6) dances, 7) political offices. We see similar standardization across different locales in the Book of Mormon as when Alma1 regulated Mosiah 26:37 and Alma2 established the order Alma 8:1 of the church.
Place p. 92 introduces the Maya word tzuk meaning "quarter" of the land. The Book of Mormon has several instances of the land being divided into quarters Mosiah 27:6, Alma 43:26.
Place p. 92 describes a hieroglyphic stairway at Sabana Piletas, Campeche, memorializing military conquests against people on the south, east, north, and west. Helaman 1:31 describes military action using similar terms for the four cardinal directions.
Place p. 93 makes the obvious but sometimes overlooked point that when location B is described as east of location A, the ancient Maya considered this a relative direction from location A's point of view. Thus, people at Yaxchilan considered Motul de San Jose to be east of their city just as we would today.
Place p. 81 Some Maya inscriptions describing travel from one place to another use verbs interpreted as "ascend" and "descend." Some Book of Mormon passages describing travel from one place to another use the adverbs "up" Mosiah 7:1-4 and "down" Alma 51:11-14.
Place pp. 81-82 A number of dynasties among the ancient Maya established themselves at multiple sites within and across regions. The Mutal dynasty is primarily associated with Tikal, but it was also present at Dos Pilas, Aguateca, and La Amelia in Guatemala's Petexbatun. The Baakal dynasty is primarily associated with Palenque, but it also established itself at Tortuguero and then Comalcalco. A dynasty whose name is not yet completely deciphered established itself at Arroyo de Piedra, Tamarindito, and the as yet unidentified site the Maya named Chak Ha'. The Xukal/Tz'ikal Naah dynasty was associated with at least five different places. The name appears on inscriptions from Lacanha, Bonampak, Yaxchilan, and Piedras Negras.
Place p. 84 Ancient Maya inscriptions use the words ajaw (lord or king) and kaloomte' (high king). The Book of Mormon mentions kings Alma 17:21 and high kings Alma 20:8,26.
Place p. 85 describes the deep social class distinctions that existed anciently in Maya society. One's status as an ajaw (lord, king, ruler) was an all-important membership that conveyed significant benefits such as the right to receive tribute. Nephite social climbers throughout Book of Mormon history tried to become kings Alma 51:5,8 and were in continual opposition to the freemen Alma 51:6,7 who supported a more egalitarian form of government.
Place p. 90 traces the evolution of thinking about ancient Maya polities. Specialists no longer view them as small independent city states. Tikal and Calakmul were powerful superstates exercising influence, even hegemony over sites hundreds of kilometers distant. The Book of Mormon describes two powerful superstates: Nephi, the Lamanite capital, and Zarahemla, the Nephite capital Alma 27:14, exercising influence and sometimes hegemony over distant lands.
Place p. 90 describes feuds lasting for generations between Maya dynasties. The Book of Mormon describes a feud lasting for generations between the Lamanites and Nephites Alma 20:10,13.
Place p. 90-91 itemizes seven cultural traits that were shared by elites throughout the classic Maya world: 1) writing system, 2) language, 3) rituals, 4) deities, 5) mythology, 6) dances, 7) political offices. We see similar standardization across different locales in the Book of Mormon as when Alma1 regulated Mosiah 26:37 and Alma2 established the order Alma 8:1 of the church.
Place p. 92 introduces the Maya word tzuk meaning "quarter" of the land. The Book of Mormon has several instances of the land being divided into quarters Mosiah 27:6, Alma 43:26.
Place p. 92 describes a hieroglyphic stairway at Sabana Piletas, Campeche, memorializing military conquests against people on the south, east, north, and west. Helaman 1:31 describes military action using similar terms for the four cardinal directions.
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| Location of Sabana Piletas, Campeche |
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| Motul de San Jose East of Yaxchilan |
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| Classic Maya Sites in the North, East, and South |
Place p. 97 describes the Maya term tz'ul meaning foreigners from outside the classic Maya world. The Book of Mormon describes settlers who emigrated from Zarahemla to lands unknown Alma 63:8 and others who traveled unusually long distances Helaman 3:4 into the land northward.
Place pp. 98-102 goes into detail about names of geo-political collectives. Two of the most prominent are the names Huxlajuun Tzuk, "thirteen divisions," and Huk Tzuk, "seven divisions." The names are applied to groups of people and individuals rather than places. The term "seven divisions" is attested at Motul de San Jose, Yaxha, Holmul, Naranjo, and Buenavista.
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| Sites where the term "Seven Divisions" Appears in Maya Texts |
Place p. 108 explores the idea that space and time were related in ancient Maya thought. The k'atun wheel visually depicting cyclical time aligns to the four cardinal directions. We illustrated this same point in the 2011 article "Water Fight on the River - Round Ten."
Place p. 119-120 describes a ritual period-end event in AD 159 at an as yet unidentified location. This event figures into the foundation narratives of the Mutal dynasty from Tikal and the Kanu'l dynasty from Dzibanche/Calakmul. This may be significant. AD 159 is about the time the Lamanites were re-formed as a political entity according to the Nephite record 4 Nephi 1:20.
Place p. 122 mentions the death/resurrection cycle tied to maize agriculture that was a major theme in Mesomaerican cultic practices. The article "Art and Iconography 3" shows how often resurrection is mentioned in the Nephite text and illustrates some very interesting iconographic representations of life after death.
Place p. 123 draws the conclusion from Tokovinine's thorough analysis of geo-political collective terminology that the eastern part of the Maya world was politically more stable than the western part. This is of interest because Mormon's description of the Nephite demise begins on the river Sidon Mormon 1:10 in the center of traditional Nephite lands and moves progressively westward Mormon 2:6. We correlate the Sidon with the Usumacinta, the quintessential Maya river.
Place p. 123 makes the broad observation that in the ancient Maya world, people were associated with "lands." The word "land" is the predominant geo-political unit in the Book of Mormon, where the term occurs nearly a thousand times. "Land" occurs 25 times in the single chapter Alma 62.
Place p. 130 note 8 River confluences were prime locations for settlement. This phenomenon happens in every geography on the planet. See point #1 in both sections of the article "French Connection."
Place p. 131 note 12 Mountain tops were special places in the Maya worldview. Mountain tops were significant in the Nephite and Jaredite worldviews 1 Nephi 18:3, Mosiah 13:5, Ether 3:1.
There is a great deal more linguistic information in Tokovinine's exceptional monograph that may have some relevance to the Nephite text, but I lack the expertise to deal with it. John L. Sorenson in his important The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (Provo: FARMS, 1992) stresses in his "report card" that Book of Mormon geographic models cannot be based on "naive linguistic comparisons." Tokovinine is as good as it gets. The world's expert on Maya place names, he is a superb linguist/epigrapher. The Book of Mormon is as good as it gets. It is the world's earliest and most comprehensive ancient American text. Some of my attempts at comparison between the two corpora are surely naive. Others may have value. In any event, it is exciting that Maya decipherment has progressed to the point that so many comparisons are possible.
This article last updated April 29, 2019.
Place p. 119-120 describes a ritual period-end event in AD 159 at an as yet unidentified location. This event figures into the foundation narratives of the Mutal dynasty from Tikal and the Kanu'l dynasty from Dzibanche/Calakmul. This may be significant. AD 159 is about the time the Lamanites were re-formed as a political entity according to the Nephite record 4 Nephi 1:20.
Place p. 122 mentions the death/resurrection cycle tied to maize agriculture that was a major theme in Mesomaerican cultic practices. The article "Art and Iconography 3" shows how often resurrection is mentioned in the Nephite text and illustrates some very interesting iconographic representations of life after death.
Place p. 123 draws the conclusion from Tokovinine's thorough analysis of geo-political collective terminology that the eastern part of the Maya world was politically more stable than the western part. This is of interest because Mormon's description of the Nephite demise begins on the river Sidon Mormon 1:10 in the center of traditional Nephite lands and moves progressively westward Mormon 2:6. We correlate the Sidon with the Usumacinta, the quintessential Maya river.
Place p. 123 makes the broad observation that in the ancient Maya world, people were associated with "lands." The word "land" is the predominant geo-political unit in the Book of Mormon, where the term occurs nearly a thousand times. "Land" occurs 25 times in the single chapter Alma 62.
Place p. 130 note 8 River confluences were prime locations for settlement. This phenomenon happens in every geography on the planet. See point #1 in both sections of the article "French Connection."
Place p. 131 note 12 Mountain tops were special places in the Maya worldview. Mountain tops were significant in the Nephite and Jaredite worldviews 1 Nephi 18:3, Mosiah 13:5, Ether 3:1.
There is a great deal more linguistic information in Tokovinine's exceptional monograph that may have some relevance to the Nephite text, but I lack the expertise to deal with it. John L. Sorenson in his important The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (Provo: FARMS, 1992) stresses in his "report card" that Book of Mormon geographic models cannot be based on "naive linguistic comparisons." Tokovinine is as good as it gets. The world's expert on Maya place names, he is a superb linguist/epigrapher. The Book of Mormon is as good as it gets. It is the world's earliest and most comprehensive ancient American text. Some of my attempts at comparison between the two corpora are surely naive. Others may have value. In any event, it is exciting that Maya decipherment has progressed to the point that so many comparisons are possible.
This article last updated April 29, 2019.
