“And I Did Teach My People…”

According to Clements Robert Markham, “To the Inca in the 16th-century, the builders of the ancient Peruvian ruins of Tiahuanaco adjacent to Lake Titicaca, were completely and entirely unknown. Anciently, the incredible city covered a large area, built by highly skilled masons, and with the use of enormous stones (one stone is 36 feet long by 7 feet, weight 170 tons, another 26 feet, by 16 feet by 6 feet.)

“Apart from the monoliths of ancient Egypt, there is nothing to equal this in any other part of the world. The movement and placement of such monoliths point to a dense population, to an organized government, and consequently to a large area under cultivation, with arrangements for the conveyance of supplies from various directions, denoting an organization combining skill and intelligence with power and administrative ability.

“Besides being enormous, the stone workmanship is excellent, with accurately straight lines, angles correctly drawn, and the surfaces level. The upright monoliths have mortices and projecting ledges to retain the horizontal slabs in their places, which completed the walls. The carvings are complicated, and at the same time well arranged, and the ornamentation accurately designed and executed. No less striking are the statues with heads adorned with curiously shaped headdresses. Flights of stone steps have recently been discovered, for the ancient city now several miles from the lake, was once upon its borders.

“Remarkable skill on the part of the masons is shown by every fragment now lying about. Such are the angle-joints of a stone conduit; a window frame of careful workmanship with nine apertures, all in one piece; and numerous niches and moldings. There is ample proof of the very advanced stage reached by the builders in architectural art.” (Clements Robert Markham, The Incas of Peru, Dutton, NY, 1910, p 23-24; R. Inwards, The Temple of the Andes, 1884; Comte de Crequi Montfort, leader of the “Mission Scientifique Francaise” 1904)

According to Nephi, “And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance” (2 Nephi 5:15). For more information on the enormous quantity and quality of ancient buildings, temples, and pyramids in the Andean area, see my book,” Lehi Never Saw Mesoamerica.”

This ancient first-century B.C structure along the border of Peru and Bolivia in South America, testifies to the advanced and marvelous work of the ancient Nephites.