Answers to Reader Comments - Part X

Following are some of the comments or questions we have received from readers:

Comment #1: “The core locations and events detailed in the text of the Book of Mormon took place in Mesoamerica, but many Nephites and Lamanites migrated and established settlements far northward of the core area and are thus simply outside the scope of the text” Guy P.

Response: While it is true that Nephites and Lamanites moved or migrated northward from Mesoamerica since we know that they were in North America—a fact the story of Zelph and Onandagus bear out—which is all outside the area covered in the scriptural record. In addition, there is no reason to believe Mesoamericans also migrated southward where similar magnificent buildings are found—since those in western South America (Andean Ecuador, Peru and western Bolivia), are not only similar, but more defensive, including fortresses and resorts, or small forts (outposts)—and their earliest structures predate those of Mesoamerica. In fact, those in South America match the many descriptions in the Book of Mormon, whereas those in Mesoamerica do not.

Left: Mesoamerican pyramid that has no walls or any other defensive structures and typical of most other Mesoamerican structures; Right: Andean Peru city behind this defensive wall, typical of Andean structures

 

In addition, the buildings in Andean Peru are far more extensive in showing cultural differences of style and family structure than those found in Mesoamerica, especially Guatemala and the Yucatan, again consistent with the Book of Mormon. In fact, such things as metallurgy, fashion and textiles, including the development of numerous foods were all in use long before showing up in Mesoamerica—metallurgy in Mesoamerica did not take place until 900 AD, 500 years after the last of the Nephite Nation had been annihilated.

As an example, the Temple of the Murals, in Bonampak is located close to the Usumacinta River, in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The structures here were built by the Mayans sometime between 580 AD and 800 AD. Some of the most well-preserved Mayan murals can be found at this site—it is interesting that 580 AD is more than 100 years after the demise of the Nephites, yet the Maya are claimed to be the Nephites of the scriptural record. The same is true with Coba, a large ruined Mayan city in the Yucatan, with several pyramid structures and over 6500 structures spread over nearly built between 800 AD and 1100 AD, and stretched over 40 miles. The famed Chichen Itza was built between the 8^th and 12^th Centuries AD, 400 years after the end of the Nephite Nation and all its population.

Thought to be one of the most significant Mayan archaeological sites, Uxmal has some excellent examples of Mesoamerican structures built between 850 AD and 1100 AD. The Pyramid of the Magician, Governor's Palace, Grand Pyramid, Nunnery Quadrangle, House of Birds, House of the Doves, House of Turtles, a North Long Building, a South Temple, and a large ball court, are all notable structures found at the Uxmal site.

The point is, structures claimed to have been built by the Mayans (the Mesoamerican theorists’ Nephites), how is that possible when the last of the Nephites were no longer in existence after 385 AD, at least a century, and often many centuries later?

Comment #2: “I ran across your blog recently and found it fantastic and very well written and quite informative. I am currently reading past articles, trying to catch up. In doing so, I ran across the term urim and thummim and wanted to know what that was and is it strictly an LDS term?”

The Urim and the Thummim together form the translation/prophecy device of the Old Testament and the Nephites

 

Response: The term urim and thummim, תוּמִים וְ אוּרִיםare terms found in the Old Testament, whose meaning was traditionally understood as "light" and "perfection" or as "perfect light." The term could also simply be referred to alone by Urim (Numbers 27:21; 1 Samuel 28:6)

The Urim and Thummim were a means of revelation entrusted to the high priest. This prophetic oracular consisted of a material object or objects since it was physically stored in the breastpiece of the high priest (Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8), and are elements of the hoshen, the breastplate worn by the High Priest (Exodus 28:15-19)—it was a precious Priestly Breastplate that was primary worn by Aaron, brother of Moses, who was the High Priest and thereafter, by every High Priest ore the Breastplate during sacred religious ceremonies.

It was attached to the ephod, also spelled Efod—and was part of the ceremonial dress of the high priest of ancient Israel described in the Old Testament (Exodus 28:6–8; 39:2–5). It was connected with divination in general, and cleromancy in particular. The Urim and Thummim first appear in Exodus 28:30, where they are named for inclusion on the breastplate to be worn by Aaron in the holy place.

Sometimes the mention of the ephod (on which the breastpiece housing the Urim and Thummim were fastened) includes a reference to the Urim and Thummim (1 Samuel 23:9-12;30:7-8). Also the phrase “inquire of” followed by “the Lord” or “God,” when no means of revelation is specified refers to a usage of the Urim and Thummim.

A similar vestment, made of linen, was worn by persons other than the High Priest. Samuel wore the ephod when he served before the tabernacle at Shiloh (I Samuel 2:18), as did David when he danced before the Ark at its entry into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:14).

The Urim and Thummim were used at critical moments in the history of God's people when special divine guidance was needed. The civil leader was expected to make use of this means for all important matters for which he needed direction. Although referred to in Ezra 2:63 and Nehemiah 7:65, it is unknown if the Urim and Thummim were used in Israel after the time of David. However, we know it was in the stone box, along with the gold plates that Joseph Smith later translated.

Comment #3: “I ran into a person who was quite knowledgeable on the subject, who criticized the Book of Mormon for mentioning barley, when no barley was found then or later when the Europeans arrived” Bobb T.

Response: Barley, of course, is a grain mentioned in Mosiah andAlma that the Nephites possessed (Mosiah 7:22; 9:9; Alma 11:7,15). It is a grain similar to wheat that had been grown in the Middle East for centuries. It is also found in America; however, in the 1800s scholars believed that barley was brought to America by the Europeans and that it did not exist in America before Columbus. It was, they all claimed, brought to the Americas by the Eurpeans. People and critics wrote about the “error” in the Book of Mormon for years regarding this; however, in a 1983 science magazine (Science, vol.83, December 1983, it was reported that barley had been discovered on the American continent—barley that was dated to before the time of Christopher Columbus. So barley was in America before the Europeans came!

The article in the magazine Science reported the discovery by professional archaeologists of what they supposed to be pre-Columbian domesticated barley. This find is the first direct New World evidence for cultivated pre-Columbian barley in support of the Book of Mormon. Mosiah 9:9 lists barley among several crops that were cultivated by the Nephites in the land of Nephi, and Alma 11:7 singles out barley as the primary grain into which silver and gold were converted in the Nephite system of weights and measures. That there are copious samples of cultivated barley at pre-Columbian sites seemed a first for the Western Hemisphere, but Professor Howard C. Stutz of the BYU Department of Biology states that there were three types of wild barley that have long been known to be native to the Americas. Archaeologists have been analyzing the barley samples retrieved and say that they are associated with material and strata generally dated to around 900 AD. The same sort of naked hordeum pussilum was seen years ago in the Snaketown excavation of Dr. Emil Haury of the University of Arizona, with more recent samples from archaeological contexts that are said to be dated from 1 through 900 AD.

Additional discoveries of this hitherto unknown species of barley have been found in other parts of the Americas. Over time, more and more evidence for the domestication of little barley in the Americas has emerged over an increasingly wider span of both time and geography. Little barley may have diffused to other regions of the Americas which were known to connection with the southwest and eastern United States. In any case, evidence demonstrates that in at least some parts of the Americas, a type of barley was a highly important crop during Book of Mormon times.