The Book of Mormon explicitly says the Nephites used candles, torches, and wood for light
3 Nephi 8:21. Evidence of ancient American candles is not yet well-established, although wax was known. Metal smiths used the lost wax technique to cast intricate patterns in jewelry as in this exceptional piece from Monte Alban.
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| Gold Pectoral on Display in the Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca |
Torches are well-attested. This is an image of a lit torch atop a reptile eye symbol with a bar and two dots representing the number 7.
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| Drawing from Piedra Labrada (Veracruz) Stela 1 |
Piedra Labrada is 8 kilometers north of Cerro San Martin Pajapan, our proposal for Hill Ramah/Cumorah. See the blog article "
Ramah Cumorah."
In this roll-out photo by Justin Kerr, a Maya vase from Chama shows God L holding a torch. Chama we correlate with Nephite Manti. See the blog article "
Manti."
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| K702, Vase in the Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC |
Another Maya vase shows deities holding torches emitting stylized flames.
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| K5363, Vase in the Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, NC |
The Codex Mendoza (aka Mendocino) was painted ca. 1541. It depicts Aztec history and descriptions of daily life. This image shows bride's maids carrying split pine torches to an Aztec wedding.
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| Wedding Scene from Codex Mendoza in the Bodleian Library, Oxford |
Many other depictions of pre-Columbian torches fueled by pine resin and wooden split pine staves are known and could be shown. This small Book of Mormon detail is amply attested in Mesoamerican art and iconography.
