Anachronisms in the Book of Mormon
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Book of Mormon |
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There are a number of words and phrases in the
Each of the anachronisms is a word, phrase, artifact, or other concept that did not exist in the Americas during the time period in which the Book of Mormon claims to have been written.
The list below summarizes the most prominent anachronisms, as well as perspectives of Latter Day Saint scholars and common apologetic rebuttals.
Background
According to Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon was originally engraved on golden plates, which he received in 1827 from an angel named Moroni,[1] whom Smith identified as a resurrected[2] former inhabitant of the American continent. Smith claimed to translate the original text of the plates into English; the book says that a portion of the text was written on the plates in "reformed Egyptian".
The Book of Mormon is said to have taken place somewhere in the Americas from c. 2500 BC to 420 AD, thus placing its events within the pre-Columbian era.
Mainstream scholarly consensus is that the book was created in the 19th century by Smith with the resources available to him, including the standard English translation of the Bible at the time, the King James Version (KJV).[3][4] No manuscripts in the claimed original language of the Book of Mormon exist. No manuscripts or plates containing text similar to Egyptian or Hebrew have ever been discovered. There is a wide consensus that the archaeological record does not support the historicity of the Book of Mormon, and rather directly contradicts it.[5][6]
Smith stated that "the Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on Earth", a claim repeated in modern introductions to the book.[7] Modern apologists affirm that "when Joseph Smith referred to the Book of Mormon as the 'most correct book' on earth, he was referring to the principles that it teaches, not the accuracy of its textual structure", and therefore readers should not expect it to be "without any errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity of phrasing, [or] other such ways."[8] Indeed, the original title page of the Book of Mormon claims that "if there are faults [in the book] they are the mistakes of men".[9]
Latter Day Saint scholars and apologists have dealt with these in multiple ways. Depending on the anachronism in question, apologists attempt to: establish parallels to currently known ancient cultures, technologies, plants or animals; reframe the usage of individual words in question; question assumptions that may lead to an apparent anachronism; or point out that it is not known exactly where the Book of Mormon actually took place (and so supporting evidence simply remains to be found - see Limited geography model).
Historical anachronisms
Quoting Isaiah
Book of Mormon prophets quote chapters 48 through 54[10] of the Book of Isaiah after having left Jerusalem around 600 BC. Since Isaiah died around 698 BC, under traditional biblical belief, there would be no conflict. However, the evidence indicates that these chapters were not written by Isaiah, but rather by one or more other people during the Babylonian captivity, sometime between 586 and 538 BC (between 14 and 82 years after it could have been known to the Book of Mormon prophets).[11] The few Mormons who know about this fact and still believe in the Book of Mormon has ancient provenance necessarily rely on the hold-out conservative Biblical scholars that still assert, contrary to the evidence, that Isaiah authored the entire book.[12]
Baptism
Baptism is mentioned as a ritual that is taught and performed among the
Both Christian and Rabbinic baptism is rooted in the washings in Leviticus,
Dating of known historical events
The Book of Mormon chronology accounts for 600 years from the time that Lehi "came out" of Jerusalem to the birth of Jesus Christ, reflecting an 1820s view of the timeline but which contradicts the timing of known historical events.
Flora and fauna anachronisms
Horses
There are several instances where horses are mentioned in the Book of Mormon, and are portrayed as being in the forest upon first arrival of the Nephites, "raise(d)", "fed", "prepared" (in conjunction with chariots), used for food, and being "useful unto man".
Others, such as John L. Sorenson, believe that the word "horse" in the Book of Mormon does not refer to members of the genus Equus but instead to other animals such as deer or tapirs.[34][35]
Elephants
Elephants are mentioned twice in a single verse in the
The main point of contention is how late these animals were present in the Americas before becoming extinct, with Mormon authors asserting that a population island of these animals continued to exist into Jaredite times.[43]
Cattle and cows
There are four separate instances of "cows" or "cattle" in the New World in the Book of Mormon, including verbiage that they were "raise(d)" and were "for the use of man" or "useful for the food of man."[44] There is no evidence that Old World cattle (members of the genus Bos) inhabited the New World prior to European contact in the 16th century AD.[45][46]
Goats
There are four mentions of the existence of goats in the Book of Mormon. The Jaredites noted goats "were useful for the food of man" (approximately 2300 BC), the Nephites did "find" "the goat and the wild goat" upon arrival (approximately 589 BC) and later "raise(d)" "goats and wild goats" (approximately 500 BC), and the goat was mentioned allegorically (approximately 80 BC).[47]
Domesticated goats are not native to the Americas, having been domesticated in prehistoric times on the Eurasian continent. Domesticated goats are believed to have been introduced on the American continent upon the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century,[citation needed] 1000 years after the conclusion of the Book of Mormon, and nearly 2000 years after they are last mentioned in the Book of Mormon. The mountain goat is indigenous to North America and has been hunted, and the fleece used for clothing.[48] However it has never been domesticated, and is known for being aggressive towards humans.[49]
Swine
"Swine" are referred to twice in the Book of Mormon,
Apologist perspective
Apologists note that peccaries (also known as javelinas), which bear a superficial resemblance to pigs and are in the same subfamily Suinae as swine, have been present in South America since prehistoric times.[53] Mormon authors advocating the mound-builder setting for the Book of Mormon have similarly suggested North American peccaries (also called "wild pigs")[54] as the "swine" of the Jaredites.[55]
Barley and wheat
Grains are mentioned 28 times in the Book of Mormon, including "barley" and "wheat".[56] The introduction of domesticated modern barley and wheat to the New World was made by Europeans sometime after 1492, many centuries after the time in which the Book of Mormon is set.
Apologist perspective
FARMS scholar Robert Bennett offered two possible explanations for this anachronism:
Research on this matter supports two possible explanations. First, the terms barley and wheat, as used in the Book of Mormon, may refer to certain other New World crop plants that were given Old World designations; and second, the terms may refer to genuine varieties of New World barley and wheat. For example, the Spanish called the fruit of the prickly pear cactus a "fig," and emigrants from England called maize "corn," an English term referring to grains in general. A similar practice may have been employed when Book of Mormon people encountered New World plant species for the first time.[57]
Bennett also postulates that references to "barley" could refer to Hordeum pusillum, also known as "little barley", a species of grass native to the Americas. The seeds are edible, and this plant was part of the pre-Columbian Eastern Agricultural Complex of cultivated plants used by Native Americans. Hordeum pusillum was unknown in Mesoamerica, where there is no evidence of pre-Columbian barley cultivation. Evidence exists that this plant was cultivated in North America in the Woodland periods contemporary with mound-builder societies (early centuries AD) and has been carbon-dated to 2,500 years ago, although it is questionable whether it was ever domesticated.[58][59][60] Little barley samples that date to 900 AD were also found in Phoenix, Arizona, and samples from Southern Illinois date between 1 and 900 AD.[61]
Technology anachronisms
Chariots
The Book of Mormon mentions the presence of "chariots" in three instances, in two instances (both around 90 BC at the same location) inferring them as a mode of transportation.
Apologist perspective
Wheels were used in a limited context in Mesoamerica for what were probably ritual objects, "small clay animal effigies mounted on wheels."[64] Richard Diehl and Margaret Mandeville have documented the archaeological discovery of wheeled toys in Teotihuacan, Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, and Panuco in Mesoamerica.[65] Some of these wheeled toys were referred to by Smithsonian archaeologist William Henry Holmes and archaeologist Désiré Charnay as "chariots".[66][67] While these items establish that the concept of the wheel was known in ancient Mesoamerica, lack of suitable draft animals and a terrain unsuitable for wheeled traffic are the probable reasons that wheeled transport was never developed."[68][69]
A comparison of the South American
One Mormon researcher responds to the lack of evidence with a comparison to biblical archaeology, suggesting that though there are no archaeological evidences that any of the numerous ancient American civilizations used wheeled transportation, few chariot fragments have been found in the Middle East dating to biblical times
Referencing the discovery of wheeled chariot "toys" in Mayan funerary settings, Mormon scholar William J. Hamblin has suggested that the "chariots" mentioned in the Book of Mormon might refer to mythic or cultic wheeled vehicles.[73]
Mormon scholar Brant Gardner has asserted that the Book of Mormon "chariot" may be a palanquin or litter vehicle, since the Book of Mormon makes no reference to the specific use of the wheel.[74]
Silk
The Book of Mormon mentions the use of "silk" in the New World four times.[75] Most modern day commercial silk comes from the cocoon of one of several Asian moths, predominantly Bombyx mori; this type of silk was unknown in pre-Columbian America.
Apologist perspective
Mormon scholar John L. Sorenson documents several materials which were used in Mesoamerica to make fine cloth equivalent to silk, some of which the Spanish actually called "silk" upon their arrival, including the fiber (kapok) from the seed pods of the ceiba tree, the cocoons of wild moths, the fibers of silkgrass (Achmea magdalenae), the leaves of the wild pineapple plant, and the fine hair of the underbelly of rabbits.[76] He alleges that the inhabitants of Mexico used the fiber spun by a wild silkworm to create a fabric.[77]
The
Compass
The Book of Mormon also states that a "compass" or "Liahona" was used by Nephi in the 6th-century BC. The compass is widely recognized to have been invented in China around 1100 AD, and remains of a compass have never been found in America. In the Book of Alma, Alma explains to his son that "our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass".[83]
Apologist perspective
Apologists counter that Liahona was, according to the narrative, created by God,[83] and not by the Nephites. Also, unlike a normal compass, the Book of Mormon says that there was also writing on the ball that displayed instructions from God,[84] and there was no mention of any part of it pointing to a geographic point. Recent speculation has raised the possibility of the Liahona being a form of astrolabe which are indicated to have existed during Lehi's time frame.[85]
Windows
The Book of Mormon describes that the Jaredite people were familiar with the concept of "windows" near the time of the biblical Tower of Babel, and that they specifically avoided crafting windows for lighting in their covered seagoing vessels, because of fears that "they would be dashed in pieces" during the ocean voyage.[86] Transparent window panes are a more recent invention, dating to the 11th century AD in Germany.[87]
Apologist perspective
Uses of metal
The Book of Mormon mentions a number of metals, and the use of metal.
"Dross"
The word "dross" appears twice in the Book of Alma, dross being a byproduct of smelting metals.
In the
Apologist perspective
Though Alma 34:29 specifically references dross as an item "which the refiners do cast out" apologists argue that it had taken on broader meaning than just a by-product of smelting. It can also mean "waste matter; refuse; any worthless matter separated from the better part; impure matter".[91]
Steel and iron
Three instances of "steel" in the New World are mentioned in the Book of Mormon, one early amongst the Jaredites after their arrival around 2400 BC, one immediately after the Lehi party's arrival in the New World discussing Nephi's knowledge of steel at approximately 580 BC, and one occurrence amongst the Nephites around 400 BC.[92] Four instances of "iron" in the New World are mentioned in the Book of Mormon, one amongst the Jaredites around 1000 BC, one immediately after the Lehi party's arrival in the New World discussing Nephi's knowledge of iron at approximately 580 BC, and two of occurrence amongst the Nephites, one around 400 BC and the other around 160 BC.[93]
Apologist perspective
Between 2004 and 2007, a Purdue University archaeologist, Kevin J. Vaughn, discovered a 2000-year-old iron ore mine near Nazca, Peru; however there is no evidence of smelting, and the hematite was apparently used to make pigments.[94] He noted:
Even though ancient Andean people smelted some metals, such as copper, they never smelted iron like they did in the Old World .... Metals were used for a variety of tools in the Old World, such as weapons, while in the Americas, metals were used as prestige goods for the wealthy elite.[95]
An Olmec mining colony has been identified in the Cintalapa valley in Mexico. Among items excavated were partially worked blocks of ilmenite (a form of iron oxide) and magnetite (a magnetic iron oxide) and a fragment of an iron mirror, together with tools and San Lorenzo-style ceramics. These remains date to around 950 BC. Among the products produced from this material were Olmec mirrors which were formed from polished iron, beads, and figurines[96] At the Olmec site of Las Bocas in Puebla, Mexico a particularly fine iron mosaic mirror was recovered and dated to around 1000 BC.[97]
In the Old World, there were two forms of ancient steeling of iron that did not involve smelting. The first is achieved through quenching and the second through carburizing iron by heating, hammering, and folding the iron in the presence of charcoal.[98]
Additionally, apologists counter that the word "steel" may be referring to another alloy of hardened metal such as the hardened copper alloy that is translated with the word "steel" in the KJV.[99][100] This alloy is in fact a hardened copper similar to bronze and not hardened iron.[101] In addition, the second incident of steel swords may actually be the original relic swords of Shule mentioned earlier in the book, as the copper breastplates are indicated to have no corrosion, [102]
Metal swords
The Book of Mormon makes numerous references to "swords" and their use in battle.[103] What the swords are made of is mostly ambiguous except for two instances involving the Jaredites. The first was an early battle (around 2400 BC) involving the king Shule which used "steel" swords.[104] When the remnants of the Jaredite's abandoned cities were discovered (around 120 BC),[105] the Book of Mormon narrative states that some swords were brought back "the hilts thereof have perished, and the blades thereof were cankered with rust", suggesting that these swords had metal blades.[106]
Apologist perspective
Though usually more resistant to oxidation than iron, copper alloys are susceptible to bronze disease in humid conditions[107] and hardened alloys of copper can oxidize[citation needed]. It is therefore not certain that the mention of "rust"[108] is a reference to iron oxide.
Some studies have shown that metallurgy did exist in a primitive state in Mesoamerica during the Preclassic/Formative and Classic periods (which corresponds to the time period in the Book of Mormon). These metals include brass, iron ore, copper, silver, and gold.[109] However, the metals were never used to make swords. The closest evidence to a pre-Columbian metal blade on Mesoamerica comes from the Maya, but those artifacts were not swords, but small copper axes used as tools.[110]
Cimeters
"Cimeters" are mentioned in eight instances in the Book of Mormon stretching from approximately 500 BC to 51 BC.[111] Critics argue this existed hundreds of years before the term "scimitar" was coined. The word "cimiter" is considered an anachronism since the word was never used by the Hebrews (from which some of the Book of Mormon peoples came) or any other civilization prior to 450 AD[112] and because metal swords are not found in the Americas in the Book of Mormon timeframe. The word 'cimeterre' is found in the 1661 English dictionary Glossographia and is defined as "a crooked sword" and was part of the English language at the time that the Book of Mormon was translated.[113] In the 7th century, scimitars generally first appeared among the Turko-Mongol nomads of Central Asia.
Apologist perspective
Apologists, including Michael R. Ash, and William Hamblin of
Also, a possible correlate to the scimitar may be the sickle sword of ancient Egypt known as the khopesh,[116] which was used from 3000 BC and is found on the Rosetta Stone dated to 196 BC. Eannatum, the king of Lagash, is shown on a Sumerian stele from 2500 BC equipped with a sickle sword.[117]
System of exchange based on measures of grain using precious metals as a standard
The Book of Mormon details a
Linguistic anachronisms
Knowledge of a modified Hebrew and reformed Egyptian languages
The Book of Mormon account refers to various groups of literate peoples, at least one of which is described as using a language and writing system with roots in
Linguistic studies on the evolution of the spoken languages of the Americas agree with the widely held model that the initial
Apologist perspective
"Christ" and "Messiah"
The words "Christ" and "Messiah" are used several hundred times throughout the Book of Mormon.[123] The first instance of the word "Christ" in the Book of Mormon dates to between 559 and 545 BC.[124] The first instance of the word "Messiah" dates to about 600 BC.[125]
"
The Book of Mormon uses both terms throughout the book. In the vast majority of cases, it uses the terms in an identical manner as the Bible, where it does not matter which word is used:
And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. (Helaman 5:12)
And after he had baptized the Messiah with water, he should behold and bear record that he had baptized the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world. (1 Nephi 10:10)
The Book of Mormon occasionally uses the word "Christ" in a way that is not interchangeable with "Messiah". For example, in 2 Nephi 10:3, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob says an angel informed him that the name of the Messiah would be Christ:
Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews (2 Nephi 10:3)
The word "Messiah" is used in the text before this point, but from this point on the word "Christ" is used almost exclusively.[citation needed]
Richard Packham argues that the Greek word "Christ" in the Book of Mormon challenges the authenticity of the work since Joseph Smith clearly stated that, "There was no Greek or Latin upon the plates from which I, through the grace of the Lord, translated the Book of Mormon."[129]
Apologist perspective
Hugh Nibley postulated that the word "Messiah" could have been derived from Arabic rather than Hebrew,[130] although Arabic is not mentioned as one of the languages in which the golden plates were written.
Greek names
Joseph Smith stated in a letter to the editor of Times and Seasons, "There was no Greek or Latin upon the plates from which I, through the grace of the Lord, translated the Book of Mormon."[131] The Book of Mormon contains some names which appear to be Greek, some of which are Hellenizations of Hebrew names (e.g. Antipas, Archeantus, Esrom, Ezias, Jonas, Judea, Lachoneus, and Zenos).
"Church" and "synagogue"
The word "church" first occurs in 1 Nephi 4:26, where a prophet named Nephi disguises himself as Laban, a prominent man in Jerusalem whom Nephi had slain:
And he [Laban's servant], supposing that I spake of the brethren of the church, and that I was truly that Laban whom I had slain, wherefore he did follow me (1 Nephi 4:26).
According to the Book of Mormon, this exchange happened in Jerusalem, around 600 BC. The meaning of the word "church" in the Book of Mormon is more comparable to usage in the KJV than modern English. Aside from its extensive use throughout the New Testament, the sense of a convocation of believers can be attached to certain wordings in the Old Testament For instance, Psalms 89:5 speaks of praising the Lord "in the congregation of the saints"; the Septuagint contains the Greek word "ecclesia" for "congregation", which is also translated as "church" in the New Testament.
A similar question regards the word "synagogue", found in Alma 16:13:
And Alma and Amulek went forth preaching repentance to the people in their temples, and in their sanctuaries, and also in their synagogues, which were built after the manner of the Jews (Alma 16:13).
Scholars note that synagogues did not exist in their modern form before the destruction of the temple and the Babylonian captivity. The oldest known synagogue is located in Delos, Greece, and has been dated to 150 BC.[132] References to synagogues have been found in Egypt as early as the 3rd Century BC.[133]
The name "Sam" as an anachronism
Critics Jerald and Sandra Tanner and Marvin W. Cowan contend that certain linguistic properties of the Book of Mormon provide evidence that the book was fabricated by Joseph Smith.[134][135] These critics cite as a linguistic anachronism the Americanized name "Sam" (1 Nephi 2:5,17).
Apologist perspective
Apologists assert that it is potentially a
The name "Isabel" as an anachronism
The name Isabel appears in the Book of Mormon at Alma 39:3. According to the Book of Mormon, Isabel lived about 74 BC. Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of Elisabeth (ultimately Hebrew Elisheva).[137][138] The name arose in the 12th century AD well after the Isabel in the Book of Mormon.
King James's translation
A significant portion of the Book of Mormon quotes from the
"All the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish"
Isaiah 2:16 is quoted in the Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 12:16, but includes a mistranslated line from the Septuagint, where the word Tarshish was mistaken for a similar Greek word for "sea" (THARSES and THALASSES).[139] Furthermore, the added line in the Book of Mormon disrupts the synonymous parallelisms in the poetic structure of the section.[140] As the error appeared in Septuagint the 3rd century BCE this is anachronistic to the 6th century BCE setting of 2 Nephi.[139][141]
Book of Mormon | King James Version | Septuagint |
---|---|---|
And upon all the ships of the sea, and upon all the ships of Tarshish and upon all pleasant pictures. |
And upon all the ships of Tarshish and upon all pleasant pictures. |
And upon every ship of the sea, and upon every display of fine ships. |
The Septuagint version of the verse was discussed in numerous readily available Bible commentaries in the 1820s, including ones by Adam Clarke and John Wesley.[141][140]
"Satyr"
In 2 Nephi 23:21, the Book of Mormon quotes Isaiah 13:21, which mentions a "satyr". Satyrs are creatures from Greek mythology, which are half-man, half-goat. The KJV translates Isaiah 34:14 thus:
- The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. ("וְרָבְצוּ־שָׁם צִיִּים וּמָלְאוּ בָתֵּיהֶם אֹחִים וְשָׁכְנוּ שָׁם בְּנֹות יַֽעֲנָה וּשְׂעִירִים יְרַקְּדוּ־")
Other English-language versions of the Bible, including the New International Version, translate the word שעיר (sa`iyr) as "wild goat"; other translations include "monkey" and "dancing devil".[142]
New Testament anachronisms
The Book of Mormon has 441 phrases that are seven words or longer that appear in the King James Version of the New Testament demonstrating that the Book of Mormon postdates the 1611 King James Translation of the Bible.[143] This is problematic both because the authors of the New Testament and Book of Mormon were geographically separate, and in instances where the portions of the New Testament were quoted hundreds of years earlier.[143] Extended quoted sections include portions of Mark 16, Acts 3, 1 Corinthians 12-13, and 1 John 3.[143] Specific derivative sections include:
- Moroni's discourse on faith (Ether 12) is derived from the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 11).[144][145]
- Alma chapter 7 and 13 discussion on Melchizedek shows reliance on Hebrews 7.[145][146]
- The longer ending of Mark is almost universally rejected by scholars as not being original to the text, but is quoted in the Book of Mormon (Ether 4:18, Mormon 9:22-24).[147]
Doctrinal anachronisms
Anti-Universalist rhetoric
Universalism, or the doctrine that all humanity would be saved, was a prominent theology that peaked in popularity in the northeastern United States in the 1820s and 1830s. The Book of Mormon contains a number of sermons and passages that use anti-Universalist religious arguments common to that time and place, not known to have occurred in any ancient American setting.[148][149] The existence of 19th century anti-Universalist arguments and rhetoric in the Book of Mormon has been pointed out as anachronistic by various scholars, including Fawn M. Brodie and Dan Vogel.[150]
Apologist perspective
Terryl Givens argues that because Book of Mormon prophets were miraculously shown the peoples of the 19th century, and the audience of the Book of Mormon was people in the 19th century, that Book of Mormon prophets would have been intimately familiar with anti-Universalist rhetoric and purposefully used it to convince modern-day readers.[150]
Satisfaction theory of atonement
The satisfaction theory of atonement was a medieval theological development, created to explain how God could be both merciful and just through an infinite atonement, and is not known to have appeared in any ancient American setting.[151]
See also
- Archaeology and the Book of Mormon
- Columbian Exchange
- Dené–Yeniseian languages
- Genetics and the Book of Mormon
- Historicity of the Book of Mormon
- Linguistics and the Book of Mormon
- List of pre-Columbian engineering projects in the Americas
- Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact
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- ^ S.v. "peccary", The New Columbia Encyclopedia.
- ^ Phyllis Carol Olive, Lost Lands of the Book of Mormon, 83
- ^ "Barley and Wheat in the Book Mormon". Featured Papers. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
- ^ Barley and Wheat in the Book Mormon, Robert R. Bennett Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.[1] Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Bennett cites, Nancy B. Asch and David L. Asch, "Archeobotany," in Deer Track: A Late Woodland Village in the Mississippi Valley, ed. Charles R. McGimsey and Michael D. Conner (Kampsville, Illinois, Center for American Archaeology, 1985), 44, p. 78
- ^ Robert R. Bennett, "Barley and Wheat in the Book Mormon", Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute.[2] Archived 2008-09-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Little Barley". Archived from the original on 2013-12-30.
- ^ "Fullscreen | Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship". Publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
- ^ Alma 18:9-10,12, Alma 20:6, 3 Nephi 3:22
- ^ Wissler, Clark. The American Indian. pp. 32–39 – as quoted by B. H. Roberts, Studies of the Book of Mormon, Second Edition, Signature Books, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1992, p. 99.
- ^ Phillips, Charles; Jones, David M (2005). Aztec & Maya: Life in an Ancient Civilization. London: Hermes House. p. 65.
- S2CID 163690190.
- ^ Charnay, Désiré (1888). The Ancient Cities of the New World, being Voyages and Explorations in Mexico and Central America from 1857–1882. New York, New York: Harper and Brothers. p. 171. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ Holmes, William Henry (1919). Handbook of Aboriginal American Antiquities – Bulletin 60, Part 1. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. p. 20. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ "Tula, and wheeled animal effigies in Mesoamerica" Archived 2012-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Wheeled Toys in Mexico. Gordon F. Ekholm, American Antiquity. Vol. 11, No. 4 (Apr. 1946)
- ^ Diamond, Jared (2005). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton. p. 370.
- ^ "Mesoweb Publications". www.mesoweb.com.
- ^ Sorenson [when?], p. 59.
- ^ See Pre-Columbian Contact with the Americas across the Oceans: An Annotated Bibliography Archived 2008-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-1589586659.
- ^ Alma 1:29, Alma 4:6, Ether 9:17, Ether 10:24.
- ^ Sorenson, John L. (2013). Mormon's Codex. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book. pp. 346–347.
- ^ Sorenson, John L (March 1995). "A New Evaluation of the Smithsonian Institution "Statement regarding the Book of Mormon"". Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship. Archived from the original on 2018-09-03. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
- ISSN 1046-2821.
...the silk was used by the Aztecs and by the two major indigenous peoples in the state of Oaxaca: the Mixtecs and Zapotecs... The silk was supposedly an article of commerce during the time of Moctezuma II, whose reign was 1502–1519.
- ^ Brown, Thomas (1832). The Book of Butterflies, Sphinxes, and Moths: Illustrated by Ninety-six Engravings Coloured After Nature. Whittaker, Treacher. pp. 65–66.
The manufacture of this silk was an object of much commercial interest among the ancient Mexicans, at least as far back as the time of Montezuma, king of Mexico
- ^ Borah, Woodrow Wilson (1943). Silk Raising in Colonial Mexico. University of California Press. p. 114.
- OCLC 25164105.
Silk swaths gathered from the large hammock-net cocoons of Gloveria psidii (= Sagana sapotoza) and pasted together to form a kind of hard cloth, or paper, were an important trade item in Mexico at the time of Moctezuma II
- ^ de Avila, Alejandro (1997). Klein, Kathryn (ed.). The Unbroken Thread: Conserving the Textile Traditions of Oaxaca (PDF). Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute. p. 125.
Borah (1943:102—14) proposed that indigenous weavers began to use wild silk only after sericulture, brought from Europe, began to wane. However, a document dating from 1777 describes the excavation of a Pre-columbian burial in which textiles of wild silk, cotton, and feathers were found
- ^ a b Alma 37:38
- ^ 1 Nephi 16:26-29
- ^ Gervais, Timothy; et al. (Sep 30, 2018). ""By Small Means": Rethinking the Liahona". Interpreter. 30: 207–232. Retrieved 2019-03-30.
- ^ Ether 2:22–23
- ^ "A Brief History of Glass". Archived from the original on 2011-10-24.
- ^ "Book of Mormon/Windows – FairMormon". www.fairmormon.org. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
- ^ "releases/2007/04/070423100437". sciencedaily.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
- ^
Eichler, A.; Gramlich, G.; Kellerhals, T.; Tobler, L.; Rehren, Th.; Schwikowski, M. (2017). "Ice-core evidence of earliest extensive copper metallurgy in the Andes 2700 years ago". Nature. 7: 41855. PMID 28139760.
- ^ Webster, Noah. "Dross". Webster's Dictionary 1828. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
- ^ Ether 7:9, 2 Nephi 5:15, Jarom 1:8,
- ^ Ether 10:23, 2 Nephi 5:15, Jarom 1:8, Mosiah 7:3, 8
- S2CID 2685990. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
- ^ "Archaeologist 'Strikes Gold' With Finds Of Ancient Nasca Iron Ore Mine In Peru". ScienceDaily. Purdue University. 29 January 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- ISBN 978-0500285039.
- ISBN 978-0884020981.
- .
- ^ "Steel in the Book of Mormon – FairMormon".
- ^ "STEEL". www.kingjamesbibleonline.org. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
- ^ Even in biblical verses where iron is paired with "steel" (Job 20:24, Jeremiah 15:12), "steel" nevertheless refers to hardened copper alloys. See נְחוּשָׁה and נְחֹשֶׁת in the Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius Hebrew / Aramaic Lexicon)
- ISBN 978-1609073992.
- ^ 2 Nephi 5:14
- FairMormon. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Mosiah 8:8
- ^ Mosiah 8:11
- ^ "e-conservation magazine – The Appearance of "Bronze Disease"". 2012-09-17. Archived from the original on 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
- ^ Mosiah 8:11
- ^
- "The first Andean evidence for metallurgy dates to around 1500 B.C." it is in the middle of the page.
- Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica Series: Cambridge World Archaeology Christopher Pool University of Kentucky
- Hosler, D.; Pean, G. Stresser (1992). "The Huastec Region: A Second Locus for the Production of Bronze Alloys in Ancient Mesoamerica". Science. 257 (5074): 1215–1220. S2CID 24957171.
- Hosler, D.; MacFarlane, Andrew (1996). "Copper Sources, Metal Production and Metals Trade in Late Post-Classic Mesoamerica". Science. 273 (5283): 1819–1824. S2CID 178633633.
- Brill, R.; Wampler, J. (1967). "Isotope Studies ofAncient Lead". American Journal of Archaeology. 71 (1): 63–77. S2CID 191395366.
- E. Pemika, Archaeometry, 35 (1993), p. 259
- A.F. MacFarlane (Paper presented at the Harvard Symposium on Ancient Metallurgy, September 1997)
- G.L. Cummings, S.E. Kessler, and D. Kristic, Economic Geology 74 (1979), p. 1395
- D. Hosler, "Six Metal Production Sites in the Tierra Caliente of Guerrero" (unpublished research).
- H. Ball and D. Brockinton, Mesoamerican Communication Routes and Cultural Contacts, Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, 40, pp. 75–106
- The Sounds and Colors of Power: The Sacred Metallurgical Technology of Ancient West Mexico by Dorothy Hosler
- ^ "The Maya Archaeometallurgy Project at Lamanai".
- ^ Enos 1:20, Mosiah 9:16, Mosiah 10:8, Alma 2:12, Alma 27:29, Alma 43:18, 20, 37, Alma 44:8, Alma 60:2, Helaman 1:14
- ^ B. H. Roberts noted: "The word [cimiter] is of oriental and uncertain origin and appears in various forms. How it came to be introduced into the speech and writings of the Nephites, and how not used in the other Hebrew literature at an earlier date, is so far as I know, unaccountable. The earliest use of the word I have found is in Gibbon, where referring to the alleged incident of finding the sword of Mars for Attila, he there calls that sword of Mars 'cimiter'; but that was about 450 A.D." – Roberts 1992, p. 112
- ^ Blount, Thomas (1661). Glossographia, or, A dictionary interpreting all such hard words of whatsoever language now used in our refined English tongue with etymologies, definitions and historical observations on the same : also the terms of divinity, law, physick, mathematicks and other arts and sciences explicated. London, England: Tho. Newcombe. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ Ash states: "there is enough Mesoamerican artwork and artifacts that display the basic characteristics of a scimitar that the Book of Mormon is vindicated for its usage."
- S2CID 254309120. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ Kamenir, Victor. "Scimitar: How One Sword Dominated Warfare for Centuries". nationalinterest.org. The National Interest, Warfare History Network. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ Yadin, Yigael (1963). The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands: In the Light of Archaeological Study Volume 1. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 134.
- ^ "Alma 11". churchofjesuschrist.org. 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
- ^ Coe 2002, p. 132 "[W]ell into Colonial times the beans served as a form of money in regional markets."
- ^ Macri, Martha J. (1996). "Maya and Other Mesoamerican Scripts," in The World's Writing Systems. England: Oxford. pp. 172–182.
- ^ Lyle Campbell, American Indian Languages, The Historical Linguistics of Native America (1997, Oxford)
- ^ "Hebrew and Native American languages".
- ^ The word "Christ" is used 99 times, and the word "Messiah" is used 13 times.
- ^ See 2 Nephi 10:3
- ^ 1 Nephi 1:19.
- ^ "Messiah". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
- ^ "BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 50 versions and 35 languages". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
- ^ Webster, Noah. "American Dictionary of the English Language". www.webstersdictionary1828.com. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- ^ Packham, Richard (April 20, 2003). "A Linguist Looks at Mormonism".
- ^ Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, pp. 167–68, discusses the origin, interchangeability, and translated use of the terms "Messiah" and "Christ" as they appear in scripture. Nibley points out that the Arabic word al-masih, for instance, could be translated using the Hebrew term "Messiah" or the New Testament term "Christ" depending on the context and translator. See also "Meshiach" (מָשִׁיחַ), "anointed", Hebrew-Aramaic Lexicon
- ^ Times and Seasons, vol.4, no.13, May 15, 1843, p. 194
- ^ The Oldest Original Synagogue Building in the Diaspora: The Delos Synagogue Reconsidered," Monika Trümper Hesperia, Vol. 73, No. 4 (Oct.–Dec., 2004), pp. 513–98
- ^ Donald D. Binder. "Egypt".
- ^
Beckwith, Francis (2002). The New Mormon Challenge. Zondervan. pp. 367–396. ISBN 978-0-310-23194-3.
- ^ Cowan, Marvin (1997). Mormon Claims Answered.
- ^ "Sam". The Book of Mormon Onomasticon. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
- ^ Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, Librairie Larousse 1980, édition revue et commentée par Marie-Thérèse Morlet, p. 337a.
- ISBN 978-2-03-583728-8
- ^ a b David P. Wright, "Joseph Smith's Interpretations of Isaiah in the Book of Mormon," Dialogue 31, no. 4 (Winter 1998): 182-206; and Wright, "Isaiah in the Book of Mormon," 157-234
- ^ a b c Pike, Dana M. and Seely, David R. (2005) "Upon All the Ships of the Sea, and Upon All the Ships of Tarshish": Revisiting 2 Nephi 12:16 and Isaiah 2:16," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Vol. 14: No. 2, Article 4.
- ^ a b Ronald V. Huggins; "Without a Cause" and "Ships of Tarshish": A Possible Contemporary Source for Two Unexplained Readings from Joseph Smith. Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 1 April 2003; 36 (1): 157–179. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/45226934
- ^ "Isaiah 13:21 But desert creatures will lie there, jackals will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and there the wild goats will leap about". Bible.cc. Retrieved 2012-06-11.
- ^ a b c Fenton, E. A., & Hickman, J. (2019). Americanist approaches to The Book of Mormon. Oxford University Press. pages 114-122
- ^ "There can be little doubt that Moroni's discourse on faith is, in some way, based on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Hardy, G. (2010). Understanding the book of mormon a reader’s guide. Oxford University Press. Page 257
- ^ a b Brent Metcalfe "New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology" Signature Books 1993. page 166
- ^ Metcalfe, B. L., & Vogel, D. (2002). American apocrypha: Essays on The book of mormon. Signature Books. page 286
- ^ "The Ending of Mark's Gospel | BYU New Testament Commentary". archive.ph. 2020-09-03. Archived from the original on 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
- ^ Metcalfe, B. L., & Vogel, D. (1993). New approaches to the Book of Mormon: Exploration in critical methodology
- ^ Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books. chapter 2 presented in lecture form
- ^ a b Givens, T. (2002). By the hand of Mormon: The American scripture that launched a new world religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 164–166
- ^ Blake T. Ostler, "The Book of Mormon as a Modern Expansion of an Ancient Source", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Spring 1987): p. 82
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- Diamond, Jared (1999). Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York, London: W. W. Norton and Company.
- Roberts, B. H. (1992). Brigham D. Madsen (ed.). Studies of the Book of Mormon (second ed.). Salt Lake City: Signature Books.
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