Big Picture Thinking

A new book is coming out soon from the University of Pennsylvania Press. Entitled The Origin of Maya States, it looks at Maya city state polities in the preclassic, beginning at ca. 1,000 BC. Contributors include LDS archaeologists John E. Clark from BYU and Richard D. Hansen from the University of Utah. The book, following standard practice in the discipline, divides the Maya area into 3 distinct cultural areas:

• Pacific Coast
• Highlands
• Lowlands

If we assume that the dividing line between the Book of Mormon lands northward and southward is the Coatzacoalcos River (a boundary that many serious students of the text support) then the Maya area is roughly coterminous with the Book of Mormon land southward. And what do we find in the Book of Mormon during Nephite (preclassic) times? 3 distinct cultural areas:

• Land of First Inheritance
• Greater land of Nephi
• Greater land of Zarahemla sharing a fluid border with land Bountiful

Mapping everything out according to our Book of Mormon Lands Map January 2016 correlation, we find that the latest scholarship nicely validates our model.

Maya Area with Proposed Book of Mormon Correlations

More details are in the article "Test #3 Cultural Boundaries."

El Tigre

Jorge Merino just visited El Tigre on the Candelaria River in Campeche and was very impressed with the size and dramatic location of the site. It was well situated for defense and to control canoe traffic up and down the river.

El Tigre aka Itzamkanac, Campeche

This site was opened for visitors about three years ago. According to INAH, it was first settled between 600 and 300 BC and was continuously occupied until European contact. Hernan Cortes executed Cuauhtemoc at this place during his overland trip to Honduras. The site reached apogee in the Postclassic. The urban core extends over 380 hectares. and includes at least 60 major structures.

I believe this site could have been part of the area the Book of Mormon describes as "the most capital parts of the land" Helaman 1:27 situated between the lesser land of Zarahemla and land Bountiful.

El Tigre in Possible Book of Mormon Context

El Tigre was interconnected with Palenque in a number of ways. Palenque is in the area we identify as the lesser land of Zarahemla shown in red on the map above.

Joseph Smith's 211th Birthday

Joseph Smith was born on December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont. That was 211 years ago today. We celebrated Joseph Smith's birthday this evening with friends. I showed them the only authenticated photo of the Prophet.

Daguerreotype of Joseph Smith, Jr. Taken in Nauvoo
Shortly Before the Prophet's Martyrdom

My friend, Chad Fugate from Pocatello, Idaho, was part of the team (Reed Simonsen, Jim Fugate) that determined the authenticity of this image. They did historical research and compared facial features with Joseph's death mask, taking into account the fact that the Prophet's skull was badly fractured in the melee at Carthage. You can read their report here.

This evening I also showed my friends the new Joseph Smith Chronology published by BYU Studies. This remarkable database of nearly 1,500 entries goes through the Prophet's action-packed life day by day and details what happened on that day. References come from the many sources that were studied to compile the Joseph Smith Papers Project.

Book of Mormon News December 2016

Nice article in today's Deseret News about Book of Mormon Central. I am quite excited that we have begun publication in Spanish. Ramah/Cumorah Expedition 2017 will be in southern Veracruz February 19th to March 11th learning more about the likely setting for the final Jaredite and Nephite battles. 14th Annual Book of Mormon Lands Conference (BMAF) will be held in the Utah County Convention Center in downtown Provo on Saturday, March 18th, 2017. First Book of Mormon Central travel experience, a cruise, will be May 20th - 27th, 2017.

Prophecy Fulfilled 005

Nephi explained that his small plates were for recording religious ministry 1 Nephi 9:4, while his large plates were for recording:

1. the reign of the kings
2. wars
3. contentions

The word "king" appears over 400 times in the text. The word "war" appears over 160 times and "contention" more than 80 times. Nephite scribes clearly followed their founder's directives.

In the lavish 2015 book The Maya: Voices in Stone Harri Kettunen has an article entitled "Ancient Maya Warfare: Military Techniques, Tactics, and Strategies." He lists the main topics recorded in Maya epigraphy:

1. dynastic histories of kings and queens
2. armed conflicts
3. political battles

The affairs Maya scribes chose to write about mirror Nephi's prophetic instructions to his successors.

Panel 2 Piedras Negras, Peten, Guatemala Showing Royalty & Warriors

Other articles in the Prophecy Fulfilled series are 006, 007. 008, 009, and 010.

Article last updated December 10, 2018

Prophecy Fulfilled 004

After he had a chance to read the plates of brass retrieved from Laban in Jerusalem, Father Lehi prophesied that the information contained on them would go forth to multiple "nations, kindreds, tongues, and people who were of his seed" 1 Nephi 5:18. The Book of Mormon contains a great deal of information that was on the plates of brass. So, as the Book of Mormon goes forth to Lehi's descendants in their mother tongues, Lehi's prophecy is fulfilled. Lehi's descendants include native speakers of many languages. The date indicates when the Book of Mormon was first published in a significant language spoken by a large group of native Americans.

• English 1830 (US, Canada, Belize, Guyana)
• Spanish 1886 (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Dominican Republic)
• Portuguese 1931 (Brazil)
• Kaqchikel 1978 (Guatemala)
• Quechua - Peru 1979 (Peru)
• Quiche 1979 (Guatemala)
• Navajo 1980 (US)
• Kuna 1981 (Panama, Colombia)
• Quechua - Bolivia 1981 (Bolivia)
• Q'eqchi' (Kekchi) 1983 (Guatemala, Belize)
• Mam 1983 (Guatemala)
• Maya 1983 (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala)
• Aymara 1986 (Peru, Bolivia)
• Tzotzil 1993 (Mexico)
• Guarani 2009 (Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil)
• Quichua - Ecuador 2011 (Ecuador)

This map shows major places where native speakers of these 16 languages live today.

Sixteen Languages Spoken by Lehi's Seed
Who Have the Book of Mormon in Their Tongue

Lehi's prophecy has been fulfilled as the plates of brass have gone forth to his seed in many nations, kindreds, tongues, and people via the Book of Mormon.

Prophecy Fulfilled 003

At the end of the first day of His ministry to the Nephites, the risen Lord gathered his 12 New World disciples together, touched each of them individually, and spoke to them as He touched them. Jesus Christ gave each of his chosen disciples power to give the Holy Ghost 3 Nephi 18:36-37. Mormon then authored an editorial promise that at some point in his record he would show his readers that the Savior's ordinations were effective, that the 12 New World disciples did indeed possess the power to give the Holy Ghost 3 Nephi 18:37.

On the second day of the Savior's ministry, the 12 prayed to receive the Holy Ghost themselves 3 Nephi 19:9 and newly-baptized members had the Holy Ghost fall upon them 3 Nephi 19:13. The Holy Ghost was in rich abundance, but Mormon's prophetic promise was not explicitly fulfilled.

On the third day of the Savior's ministry, the 12 continued to baptize, and their converts were filled with the Holy Ghost 3 Nephi 26:17. Again, the Holy Ghost was present, but Mormon's prophetic promise was not explicitly fulfilled.

After the third day's ministry, the Savior's disciples continued baptizing and again their converts did receive the Holy Ghost 3 Nephi 28:18. Mormon's comments indicate he was citing the records at his disposal, but once again he did not explicitly fulfill his prophetic promise.

After approximately 1.5 years had elapsed, the Savior's disciples were still baptizing people who "did also receive the Holy Ghost" 4 Nephi 1:1. The baptism - Holy Ghost couplet was paramount, but the 12 possessing power were not mentioned - so yet again, Mormon did not explicitly fulfill his prophetic promise.

Mormon authored the historical book that bears his name and did not return to this theme of the 12 and their ministry. He then turned his plates over to his son, Moroni Mormon 6:6. After surviving his nation's holocaust, Moroni was alone and bereft with very little room left on his father's plates Mormon 8:5. Moroni authored Mormon chapters 8 & 9 without regard to his father's unfulfilled prophetic promise.

Then, something remarkable happened. Moroni lived for several more decades. He obtained ore and fashioned more plates. He had time to go over his father's abridgment in detail. He discovered his father's unfinished business. So, in his own book, after a short introduction, Moroni immediately recounted 3 Nephi 18:36-37 embellished with additional details, and then he explicitly fulfilled his father's prophetic promise Moroni 2:3. Moroni as faithful son completed what his father had begun.

Iconic Arnold Friberg Painting of Teutonic Mormon and Moroni