When Moroni abridged the 24 gold plates Ether left behind after the last, great battle of the Jaredites, he used the names curelom and cumom to indicate two animals that were “useful unto man.” (Ether 9:19) While mentioning horses and asses, Moroni tells us that the more useful animals were the “elephants and cureloms and cumoms.” Obviously, then, these two animals that were unknown to Joseph Smith in 1830, were very useful to the Jaredites as either beasts of burden, a food supply, or for their hides or skins. And it stands to reason they would have also been known to, and used by, the Nephites.
While there are a lot of animals and birds that are unique to Central and South America, and not found in any of the northern latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, only a few could be considered of great worth to an ancient people. And when Moroni likens their worth to that of the elephant, it must be assumed that these two creatures were indeed of great value. However, while there are no such animals found in Mesoamerica, there are two very specific animals along the Andes in South America that meet these scriptural requirements, and they are the domesticated camelids called the Llama and Alpaca.
Typical inhabitants of the Andes, these camelid have for the past 5,000 years served as a source of food, clothing and as a beast of burden for the early Jaredites and later Nephites. Moreover, the animal is a quintessential part of the personality of the highlands, and has wielded a major influence as beasts of burden and transport which has caused the llama and the alpaca to be two of the dominant species in the Andean area at the time of the conquest. Today, neither the llama nor the alpaca exists in the wild, though their cousins, the guanaco and the vicuna do.
The larger of the two domesticated camelids, the llama, is primarily a beast of burden, while the shaggy alpaca is valuable for its wool. Neither animal is strong enough to pull a plough or drag a cart—but serve the more important role of providing food, transportation, and clothing.
Valuable post. While I have heard about the llama and alpaca, I had never thought of them in connection with the Jaredites. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteSurely there are other animals in the world that would have been unknown to Joseph Smith than ust the llama and alpaca.
ReplyDeleteLooks to me like more support for the book of mormon---words I've heard debated in classes and groups without success all my life are making sense now thanks to you.
ReplyDeleteDonald: After the flood, the only animals that existed anywhere were in the vicinity of the Ark's landing place. Eventually, animals moved outward and settled, some going quite a distance. The Jaredites, living in Mesopotamia, in present day Iraq, not far from the Ark's landing site, were commanded to "gather together thy flocks, both male and female, of every kind" Ether 1:41). These animals were eventually brought to the Western Hemisphere in the barges when the Jaredites crossed "the great deep" to the land of promise. It was because of the Jaredites, that animals were re-introduced to what is now the Western Hemisphere.
ReplyDeleteCurly: Of course there are animals in all parts of the world, some quite exotic, such as the kangaroo, wallaby and platypus. But we are dealing with three things here: 1) What existed in the Land of Promise, thus in the Western Hemisphere, 2) Animals that were unknown in Joseph Smith's day in the New England area, and 3) Animals that were of "great use to man." While different animals such as buffalo, some lizards, snakes and fowl were unique to some regions, these certainly were not "useful to man" other than as food. Only two animals in the entire Western Hemisphere, unknown in central and north America at the time of the Conquest, that were "useful to man," were the alpaca and llama---both extremely useful animals that have remained extremely useful for more than 4000 years in the Andean area.
ReplyDeleteI just learned that llamas can be used to herd and protect sheep, in addition to their uses that you already described, so that makes them a very useful animal indeed!
ReplyDeletewhy did you not mention anything about the most popular theory of them being mammoths and mastodons
ReplyDelete