El Castillo Tulum, México Paintings by Frederick Catherwood 1839 - 1841

1. Prophetic and Angelic

Considerations

2. Considerations of a High

Society

3. Demographic and Climatic

Considerations

4. Geological Considerations

5. Historical Considerations

6. Archaeological

Considerations

1. Joseph Smith 24 years old

with a 3rd grade education

2. 1830 - Year in which the LDM

was published

3. It was believed that there had

been no advanced society or

civilization in Mesoamerica

before the Conquest

4. Spanish had destroyed or

concealed evidence of

Mesoamerican society

5. 1839 - 1841 The findings of

Stephens and Catherwood

1. Where Lehi landed

2. The land of Zarahemla

3. The narrow neck

4. Quirigua and Palenque and

BoM cities

5. Other ruins in Mesoamerica

6. Land Bountiful in

Mesoamerica

7. Said that Moroni walked from

Mesoamerica to Palmyra,

New York

―It will not be a bad plan to compare Mr. Stephen‘s ruined cities with those in the

Book of Mormon; light cleaves to light, and facts are supported by facts.‖ (Joseph

Smith, Times and Seasons, October 1, 1842, p.927)

"When we read in the Book of Mormon that Jared and his brother came on to this continent

from the confusion and scattering at the Tower, and lived here more than a thousand years,

and covered the whole continent from sea to sea, with towns and cities; and that Lehi went

down by the Red Sea to the great Southern Ocean, and crossed over to this land, and landed

a little south of the Isthmus of Darien [Isthmus of Panama]......" Times and Seasons, vol. 3

(November 1841-October 1842), Vol. 3 No. 22 September 15, 1842 927

Joseph Smith recognized the location of the land of Zarahemla among Stephens' ruined cities. In Times

and Seasons editorial (October 1, 19842), the Prophet Joseph stated "The city of Zarahemla, burnt at the

crucifixion of Christ and rebuilt afterwards, stood upon this land." (Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons,

October1, 1842)

In Joseph Smith's last editorial titled "Zarahemla," (Times and Seasons, October 1, 1842) he stated: "Since our last extract

we have found a new fact." He then proceeded to draw a circle on Stephens' Central America map, designating the land

between Panama and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico as the land southward nearly surrounded by water described

in Alma 22:32. The prophet then concluded that "The city of Zarahemla, burnt at the crucifixion of Christ and rebuilt

afterwards, stood upon this land," somewhere among Stephens' ruined cities.

" Mr. Stephens' great developments of antiquities are made bare to the eyes of all the people by reading the history of the

Nephites in the Book of Mormon. They lived about the narrow neck of land, which now embraces Central America, with all

the cities that can be found. Read the destruction of cities at the crucifixion of Christ, pages 459-60. Who could have

dreamed that twelve years would have developed such incontrovertible testimony to the Book of Mormon? surely the Lord

worketh and none can hinder." - Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons (November 1841 - October 1842)

"Let us turn our subject, however, to the Book of Mormon, where these wonderful ruins of

Palenque are among the mighty works of the Nephites:—and the mystery is solved... " -

Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons (November 1841 - October 1842)

"H. Donl Peterson, a past professor of Church History at BYU, published two similar maps of Moroni's

travel from Central America to Palmyra, New York with the information on the map coming from two

credible contemporaries of Joseph Smith: Patriarch Wm. McBride and Brother Andrew H. Hamilton both

of Richfield, Utah. These man credited Joseph Smith with teaching them that the Land of Bountiful

mention in the Book of Mormon was in Central America. He also taught them that Moroni had traveled

from Central America to Palmyra, New York dedicating future temple sites along the way." Dr. John L.

Lund, Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place?, page 32

Moroni‘s Possible

Routes:

1. Written language

2. City-states

3. Political Sophistication

4. Architectural Achievements

5. Knowledge of Science

6. Knowledge of Math

7. Medical Knowledge

8. Knowledge of the Astros

9. Calendar System

Egyptian Demotic Glyphs

Proto-Hebrew/Early Aramaic

Characters 600BCE

Egyptian Hieratic or Priestly Script

Characters BoM Characters

Reformed Egyptian Meroitic-

Demotic Script Characters

BoM Characters

1. Zapotec (Oto-Mangeo)

2. Mixteca (Oto-Mangeo)

3. Mexica (Uto-Aztec)

4. Mayan (Macro-Mayan)

5. Recently Discovered Olmec

(Proto-Mixe in San Lorenzo

and Proto-Zoqueo in La Venta

or Mixe-Zoqueo)

Bloque de Cascajal

Encontrado en los 1990

Hecho ~900 aC

Veracruz, México

La Mojarra Stela 1

Epi-Olmec Period

About 200 BC

Veracruz, Mexico

This manuscript reports the dates

May 21 and 143 AD

13 July 156 AD.

Stela C Epi-Olmec Period Three Zapotes Veracruz, Mexico Date Recorded: Sep. 3, 32 BC

San Andrés Cylinder

Fabricated ~ 650 BC

San Andrés, Tabasco

Stelae 12 and 13 Fabricated ~ 500 BC Monte Alban, Oaxaca Zapotec Glyphs Earliest Recorded Date

Mixtec Glyphs

Mexica Glyphs

Mayan Glyphs

Charles Mann said in February 1998 at a Meeting of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science

(AAAS) - ... In 1997, the theory suddenly collapsed.

Some of his most ardent supporters, Haynes, among

them, have publicly admitted an archaeological dig in

southern Chile has presented convincing evidence of

human habitation over twelve thousand years ago.

Since these people lived seven thousand miles south of

the Bering Strait, a distance that would have taken too

long to travel, it is most likely they arrived before the

ice corridor existed. (In any case, the new research had

cast doubt on the existence of that corridor.) ... Or

maybe the first Indians traveled by boat, and the land

bridge was not necessary... "We are in a state of

confusion," the archaeologist Stuart Fiedel said. "All we

knew to be fact is now is a mistake."

Michael Coe in his book "The Maya" Sixth

Edition 1999 finally admitted - "The

presence or absence of the Siberian Land

Bridge to Alaska, therefore, is not

necessarily relevant to the problem, the

first Americans may well have taken a sea

route ..."

"It must be that ships were available to the

peoples of Eurasia, as current evidence

shows that Australia, which was never

connected to Asia by a land bridge, was

settled 50,000 years ago.

Smithsonian Institute 2007 - Now there is convincing

evidence of human habitation sites dated before the Clovis

culture ... A coastal migration route is gaining more

acceptance, more than the old conception of the small

bands that moved on foot across the land bridge between

Siberia and Alaska ... The archaeological evidence in

Australia, Melanesia, and Japan, indicates that the boats

were in use some 25,000 to 40,000 years ago. The sea

routes would have provided abundant food resources and

easy movement, faster than over land routes ... Physical

anthropologists see a similarity in these skulls to those of

some Old World populations, such as the Polynesians,

Europeans, and the Ainu of Japan ... At this time,

scientists do not rule out the possibility of migration from

Europe ... Recently, however, a fifth mtDNA lineage named

"X" has emerged in living American Indians and

prehistoric remains which seem to be of Asian origin.

Sweet Potato (Yam) - is native to and grows wild only in Central

America and Peru. It was domesticated over 5000 years in these

places. The Maori, who inhabited the island of New Zealand around

1300AD and natives of other Polynesian islands have grown sweet

potatoes since 700AD even though this vegetable is not native to

the islands and centuries before any European contact, who

allegedly introduced the sweet potato to the rest the

world. Christopher Columbus brought sweet potatoes to Europe

after his fourth voyage to the New World. The Portuguese

introduced it to Japan, China and the rest of the world between 1500

– 1600AD. The scientific world has created a theory to explain this

phenomenon. They call it The Accidental Drift Theory. In other

words, since they can not explain it scientifically, a lone sweet

potato floated over 4000 miles from America to Polynesia on its own

and planted itself on its own in these islands because primitive man

was not capable to travel overseas.

A Maori elder in 1914 told Matthew Cowley, an Apostle - "We come

from a place where the yam grows wild, where it is not sown, nor

does it have to be cultivated." - There are only two places in world

where this phenomenon happens. Central America and Peru.

Thor Heyerdahl - Norwegian

Ethnographer - 1947 – Crossed the

Pacific Ocean from Peru to Polynesia

on a primitive boat (Kon-Tiki) - 4300

miles in 101 days to prove that

primitive man had transported the

sweet potato anciently.

Olav Heyerdahl - Thor's grandson -

April 2006 – Crossed the Pacific

Ocean in a primitive boat (Tangoroa)

in 70 days.

"We have news of our ancestors that I and all that inhabit this land are

not natives of her, but foreigners, who came to her from strange parts,

and that a man brought our generation to these parts whose subjects

we all were, that he returned to his native land, that he then returned

after a long time, so much so that those who had remained were

already married to the native women of the land and they had much

offspring and made towns where they lived, that he wanted to take

them back with him but they did not want to go, and much less receive

him as their lord, and thus he returned, and we have always believed

that his descendants would come to subdue this land and take

ourselves to be their subjects, supposedly from the land that you say

you have come, which is from where the sun rises, and the things you

say about this great lord or king who sent you here, who we believe, is

our natural lord, especially now that you tell us that many days he was

aware of us, and therefore we will certainly obey you and take you as

our lord instead of that great lord of whom you speak, and all that are

in my lordship, give your command, for it will be obeyed, and

done; and all we have is for you to do as you desire.

"Those who possessed this new world in this

third age were the Olmecs and Xicalanas, and as

recounted in their stories, they came in ships or

boats from the east from the land of Pontochan

from where they began to settle." (Ixtlilxochitl,

Fernando de Alva, Obras Históricas)

"It's been many years since the first settlers

came to these parts of New Spain, which is

almost another world, and arrived in boats on

the sea, and anchored in the harbor to the

North." (Bernardino de Sahagún, General

History of the Things of New Spain, SA Mexico,

volume 3, 946, II, 306)

Photograph of stone bas-relief taken by the Mayan Scholar Teobert Maler in the late 19

century in an undisclosed location in the deep jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula.

The tapestry shows nine men emerging out of a cave and receiving a special sphere suspended by three chains. The men cross an expanse of water on the backs of nine turtles. The drawings indicate a migration through Mexico led by a man dressed in a coat of color, who controlled the special sphere. The migration ends in Michoacán where they find "a tree of life." They hold worship services, they build structures and make plates of metal. This is probably the starting point for future generations. They separate and go in different directions.

The group on the tapestry are referred to by the name "Chalchiuitlapazco." According to Moreno these were the Nonoalcanos, who could be the Mulekites. The identification of the group was first established, known by the name of "Nunuualco." The word Nonoalco [or nonohualca] means "place where there are many waters."

The bird above them represents God which emphasizes the religious significance of the event. This special sphere played an important role in the migration to the tree of life. The concept of a sacred sphere was not unique to the Tarascan Indians. The Quiché and Cakchiquel of Guatemala in their stories mention a sacred sphere or rock in their legends concerning their emigration across the sea.

Including the emergence out of a cave [the Atlantic Ocean], they encounter a messenger who delivers the special sphere, a man riding an animal, men riding on turtles nine moving across the land along with a large aquatic plant, and then they begin their journey through Mexico. Apparently there was more than a single lineage involved in migration. There were nine key leaders, another group walking below and eight heads. The nine turtles can mean the tribal leaders who come in ships, which are represented by turtles.

Based on the overall RFLP analysis, it has been concluded that approximately 97% of mitochondrial DNA of

Native Americans belong to one of four major founding mtDNA lineages, designated haplogroups "A" - "Da‖.

It has been proposed that a fifth mitochondrial haplogroup (haplogroup X) represents a minor founding

lineage in Native Americans ... supporting the conclusions that the peoples harboring haplogroup X were

among the original founders of the native populations of America. To date, haplogroup X has not been

clearly identified in Asia, raising the possibility that some Native American founders were of Caucasian

decent.

"Haplogroup X was different. It was discovered by Torroni in a reduced number of the population of Europe.

Thus the group of Emory began to explore the source of the marker. They analyzed blood samples from

Native American, European and Asian populations and reviewed the published studies. We expected to find

it in Asia "as the other four Native American markers, says Professor Brown." "To his surprise, however,

haplogroup X is confirmed only in the genes of a fist full of people living in Europe and Asia Minor (Middle

East), including Italians, Finns, and some Israelis."

The noted Maya scholar, Eric Thompson, first

observed and recorded two glyphs that followed a

pattern of marking dates. He called one the Anterior

Date Indicator (ADI), and the second he labeled the

Posterior Date Indicator (PDI). 3

In 1985, a young Mayanist scholar, David Stuart,

observed that the ADI and PDI functioned as a

grammatical and literary feature in both colonial

and modem Maya languages. He speculated

correctly when he interpreted the sound of the

glyph as "Ut" in the Chol language and Utchi in the

Maya language, meaning "to happen, or to come to

pass." (Schele 1987:26)

Two years earlier, John Justeson and Will Norman

found a consistency in an event indicator that

appears as the word "IWAL," which means the

action is ongoing at the time, such as "and" or "and

then." Together, UT-IWAL in the PDI in Maya glyphs

read "and then it came to pass" or "and now it came

to pass."

Kathryn Josserand and Nicholas Hopkins discovered

that the ADI has basically the same meaning. It

reads ut-ix, "it had come to pass." (lbid)

u-ti (ut) (T513:59) > intr. v. "to happen," "to

occur," "to come to pass."

u-ti (ut) (T738:59) > intr. v. "to happen," "to

occur," "to come to pass."

u-ti-ji-ya (utiy) (T513v:59:126) 1> intr. com.

v. "since it happened," "since it occurred,"

"since it came to pass"; the "Anterior Date

Indicator" (ADI); used as a "background

marker" with the meaning "since" 2> prep.

phr. "it happened at"; used in place name

sequences.

u-ti-ya (utiy) (T513.59:126) 1> intr. com. v.

"since it happened," "since it occurred,"

"since it came to pass"; the "Anterior Date

Indicator" (ADI); used as a "background

marker" with the meaning "since" 2> prep.

phr. "it happened at"; used in place name

sequences.

u-ti-ya (utiy) (T738:59:126) 1> intr. com.

v. "since it happened," "since it occurred,"

"since it came to pass"; the "Anterior Date

Indicator" (ADI); used as a "background

marker" with the meaning "since" 2> prep.

phr. "it happened at"; used in place name

sequences.

u-ti-ya (utiy) (T846[520].59:126v) 1> intr.

com. v. "since it happened," "since it

occurred," "since it came to pass"; the

"Anterior Date Indicator" (ADI); used as a

"background marker" with the meaning

"since" 2> prep. phr. "it happened at";

used in place name sequences.

u-to-ma (utom) (T1:44:502) > intr. incom.

v. "it will happen," "it will occur"; the

"Future Date Indicator" (FDI); incorporates

the root ut "to happen/occur" and the

subjunctive aspect marker -om "will."

u-to-ma (utom) (T3.44:563:142) > intr. incom. v. "it

will happen," "it will occur"; the "Future Date

Indicator" (FDI); incorporates the root ut "to

happen/occur" and the subjunctive aspect

marker -om "will."

Laman-Lamanai - Ruins located on the New River in Belize. Possible city given to King Lamoni and his people. The

name Laman which obviously has its roots in the Middle East, it was still in use in the Americas 1000 years later to

describe a numerous group of people, so it may have had more of an impact on the surrounding cultures. It is also a

Mayan word meaning ―submerged.‖ A site in Belize is known as Lamanai, but that is actually a corruption of its true

name, Lama’an Ayin, which means ―submerged crocodile.‖15 It is truly ancient, with habitation going back as far as

2000BC. Lama‘an Ayin is one of the few examples of a site that has retained its pre-Columbian name. That name has

survived since at least the Classic time period, but it is not known how much older it may be. - Daniel Johnson, Book

of Mormon Comparisions, pg. 6

Kish - Palenque - Jaredite King of the BoM. Olmec King U-Kix-Kan of the city of Palenque. The name of

U-Kix-Kan on the Tablet of the Cross in Palenque. U-Kish-Kan is identified as a royal ancestor of

King Pacal Na. U-Kix-Kan was born on Wednesday March 8, 993 BC (Near the date of the

existence of King Kish in the BoM). He was crowned king on Wednesday, March 25 967 BC.

U kix kan/chan

he, his stingray spine snake, captor

Lib - 2 Kings of the Book of Mormon.

One lived in the ninth century BC (son of King Kish). The other in the

fourth century BC. The first King Lib built a city near the narrow

neck. The name Lib was found in Palenque who lived around 800

BC. Palenque is located just south east of the Isthmus of

Tehuantepec. The name Lib surfaces again around 709 AD at the

ruins of Yaxchilan found a little southeast of Palenque along the

Chiapas, Mexico/Guatemala border. The name is found on a lintel at

the entrance to a palace.

Jaredite Names - The following diagram shows a sample of Jaredite names rendered in Classic Maya

glyphs. The orthography has been simplified somewhat for readability. Because of the

redundancy in some of the glyphs, these names could have been written using other

combinations, but this should suffice. A few of these actually may have meanings in Mayan. Ah-ha

means ―he of the water‖ and is similar in meaning to the title ah-naab, which refers to artists.

Similarly, ah-kish means ―he of the stingray spine.‖ Kib is the sixteenth day of one of the Maya

calendars. Ma-ha can mean ―no water,‖ and xul is the sixth month of a Maya calendar. – Daniel

Johnson, Book of Mormon Comparisions, page. 4

Nephite Names - We found over 30 Nephite names unique to the Book of Mormon that were compatible

phonetically with a few of these names could also have Hebrew or Semitic origins, but it is interesting

to see how they might look rendered as Maya glyphs. According to Mayan dictionaries, ah-mulek

means ―he of Mulek‖ and xib-lom could mean ―man of the staff.‖ While not a perfect match to Teancum,

a king named Tecum is mentioned by the Spanish historian Juarros in his records of the dynasties of the

Quiché empire in the Guatemalan Highlands Mayan. The table below shows some of the names that

seemed to work well. – Daniel Johnson, Book of Mormon Comparisions, pág. 5

Lamanite Names - Practically all unique Lamanite names are composed only of phonemes

found in Mayan languages. Ab-ix may mean ―year of the jaguar‖ in Mayan. Tubaloth seems to be a

word taken directly from Hebrew. Tubal is a name found several times in the Old Testament; the first is

Tubal-cain in Genesis 4:22. The second is in Genesis 10:2 as Tubal, grandson of Noah through Japheth.

This name was eventually applied to an entire nation or group of people. -oth can be a feminine plural

ending in Hebrew. Even though it has a Hebrew etymology, Tubaloth was included because a Classic

Maya site in the Guatemalan lowlands is named Tub‘al,14 so this appears to be a name that could have

been passed down in one form or another among the Lamanites for millennia. – Daniel Johnson, Book of

Mormon Comparisions, pág. 6

Cintepec Hill - Located in the Tuxtla Mountains, Veracruz, Mexico

Cintepec - Nahuatl word - means Corn Hill

I-xim or X-im Hill - Word Maya - means Corn Hill

Shim Hill - Hebrew Word of BoM- means Corn Hill

Vigía Hill –Located in the Tuxtla Mountains, Veracruz, Mexico

Possible Hill Cumorah

Hermounts = Tehuantepec

Hermounts:

―Now where does the word Hermounts come from? This is certainly not a Latin word. It's not a

Greek word, a Hebrew word, or a Semitic word. Where was it? It was the land on the borders that

was infested at times by wild beasts, at certain seasons of the year. It was way up in the borders.

They went way up there. So it is the Egyptian word hr-Mntw, obviously. Month or Monthis was the

Egyptian Pan; he was the god of wild places, wild animals, and the wild country. Hr-Mntw was the

outmost part of Egypt where the land was sometimes visited by lions and crocodiles and things

like that. It was under cultivation, but it was a place that was in danger from animals. They called

it hr-Mntw because it was Month's country, wild animal country.‖ (Hugh Nibley, Teachings of the

Book of Mormon, lecture 44, p. 242)

Tehuantepec:

The eastern edge of the passage through the Isthmus of Tehuantepec is formed by an uninhabited

mountain wilderness. This wilderness is sparsely inhabited even now. Meleseo Ortega Martinez,

in his Reseña Historico de Tehuantepec, recounts the origin of the word Tehuantepec. It is derived

from the Nahuatl words tecuanitepec. Tecuani has the meaning of "wild beast,"

and tepec translates as "hill." According to the Nahuatl dictionary, tecuani also means "man-eating

beast." The composite has the meaning "Hill of the Fierce Beasts."

Ripliancum= Hueyapan

Ripliancum:

Ether 15:8 - both Coriantumr and Shiz and his people pitch tents by waters of Ripliancum,

which by interpretation is large, or to exceed all.– www.lds.org

Hueyapan:

Its name arose from the Nahuatl language meaning "en el agua grande‖ (on the big

water).

Stone boxes found in 1932 at

the Olmec archaeological

site, Tres Zapotes, Veracruz,

Mexico. Tres Zapotes was

inhabited from about 1000 BC

to 900 AD.

Stone box found off the coast

of Veracruz, area of Tampico

Stone Boxes Found in Mexico

TenochtitlanTenochtitlán

México

This box was found in Templo

Mayor full of the offerings that

are around it.

Stone box found at Palenque,

Chiapas, México

Found at Izapa, Chiapas

around 1930

Made between 300 BC -

50 BC

Mesoamerica is the only area in the Americas, that sustained the

high population density mentioned in the Book of Mormon, and

for the periods specified. - Dr. John E. Clark

El Mirador, Guatemala – Covers more space than downtown Los Angeles. The

city was surrounded on three sides by walls. 600BC – 150AD

In the legends and folklore of a race, the history of the race is written, if we could but read

it. It is true that the grain of fact is generally hidden beneath a wealth of imaginative chaff,

but it is there nevertheless. During my long career in Yucatan I was fortunately able to

prove the truth of certain tales that had passed as legendary for generations and I will

touch upon these matters later. But back of tales such as these are many ancient Maya

traditions, none the less fascinating because they are as yet incapable to proof, and

obviously containing the elements of history. Among these ancient legends none is more

'alluring' to the student, nor more baffling, than that which concerns the landing of

the Chanes.

In a previous chapter I referred to the fact that the Mayas had their Plymouth Rock as had

the Puritans who followed them to the continent of America many centuries later. That is,

the legends of the primitive races of Yucatan and of portions of Mexico tell of the coming

in ships of a fair-skinned race of men who became the rulers and the leaders of the dark-

skinned aborigines. To explain this occurrence as the arrival of some of the survivors of

the catastrophe in which the storied 'Lost Atlantis' disappeared is unsatisfactory to the

scientific mind, and this is putting the matter mildly. The Atlantis theory itself remains to

be proved. But a tradition so widespread and a legend so persistent must have some basis

in history, and it is legitimate for us to hold as probable that at some time in the remote

past a group of people representing a civilization of which we have lost all trace made

their influence felt upon the races indigenous to Mexico and Yucatan…

These traditions tell us, and carvings on ancient walls and stone columns sustain them, that unknown ages ago there appeared strange craft at the mouth of what is now known as the Panuco River in the State of Vera Cruz. The sides of these vessels shone like the scales of serpent' skins, and to the simple natives who saw them approaching they appeared to be great serpents coming swiftly toward them. In these craft were light-skinned beings, and some of the traditions have it that they were tall of stature and blue-eyed. They were clad in strange garments and wore about their foreheads emblems like entwined serpents. The wondering natives who met them at the shore saw the manner of their coming with the symbol of the Sacred Serpent, which they worshipped, on their brows, and knew the strangers to be their gods come down from their home in the sun to teach and guide them. Who were these fair-skinned people, tall of stature and strangely clad, sailing through unknown seas to an unknown land? The answer to this question has been lost in the passing of the ages and the destruction of the ancient records, and now we know only that they came and that until after the arrival of the Spaniards, the place where they landed was known as Tamoanchan, which means, in the native language, the place where the People of the Serpent landed. It is near Tuxpan in the Tampico district. The dark-skinned race too the light-skinned people to be their guides and teachers and all went well with them. Under the sage counsels and wise teachings of the Chanes, the indigenous race was raised from an almost brutish, savage condition to the status of thinking, reasoning people.

In the passing of time -- and much time must have passed to have brought all this

about -- these wise men, the people of the Serpent, separated, probably in the

furtherance of a concerted plan. Some went north and some went south, each

with a band of dark-skinned followers. Those who went north were known as the

Chichimecas and even more northerly peoples, the savage tribes among whom

they worked and taught and whom they left enlightened, as Tultecas -- 'teachers'

or 'builders.‗

Those who went south, the tradition tell, forded rivers, lived under the shadows

of great forests, and in cave darknesses suffered all things that man may suffer

and live. Ever they moved onward, teaching and uplifting into the light the

savage peoples among whom they tarried when the met them. They conquered,

not by force and strange weapons, but by binding the primitive peoples to them

by force of their power and wisdom. Among these races, they were known

as Ulmecas -- the Rubber People. It is known that they used rubber extensively

and this is probably the derivation of the name. The leaders of the Ulmecas were

known as Chanes, or, among the Mayas, as Canob -- Serpents' Wise Men -- or Ah

Tzai - People of the Rattlesnake.

It is impossible from any sources as yet available to reconstruct the details of

that pilgrimage of the Ulmecas, drawn out over not man knows how long a span

of time, but at last they came to a favored site by two great wells. There they

rested finally and there they built Chichén Itzá - the City of the Sacred Well.

Meanwhile a roving branch of the Tultecas, lost brothers of the Ulmecas, had

turned southward and gone first to the ancient parting-place of the two groups

of the Chanes. Through the slow-growing centuries they had become near kin in

manners, thoughts, and language to the peoples they had neighbored in the

north. They drifted along the ancient trail of the Ulmecas, down to the capital of

the Ulmeca Mayas, Chichén Itzá. This was the so-called Toltec invasion, which

occurred but a few centuries before the coming of the Spaniards and when all

the races of the region merged into one people under the name of Maya.

Thus, in barest outline, with many breaks and dubious places, runs the history of

this ancient race of Chanes -- People of the Serpent -- and the peoples they led

from darkness into light, from the landing at Tamoanchan down to the Conquest.

Mayan Murals of San Bartolo, Petén, Guatemala

Discovered 2003

100BC - oldest Mayan Murals

Mayan Mural at Calakmul México

200 – 600AD

Ancient Maya Pottery

Murals of the Battle of Caxcaxtla, Tlaxcala, México

Murals of Las Higueras, Veracruz, México

Murals of Bonampak, Chiapas, México

The use of cement

appears suddenly in

Mesoamerican

archeology around the

first century like the

cement in these

buildings at Teotihuacan

in the Valley of Mexico.

The Book of Mormon

decrees that some

dissidents Nephites who

moved to the land

northward and "became

exceedingly expert in

the working of

cement…that they might

build many cities, both of

wood and of cement―

from 46 BC (Helaman 3:7,

11)

―And there were many highways cast up, and many roads made, which led from

city to city, and from land to land, and from place to place."

(3 Nephi 6:8)

Current evidence indicates that the Maya began to build Sacbe perhaps from about

1000BC and were still being built at the time of the Conquest. The Sacbe below are

of Cobá, Chichen Itza, and Labná respectively.

In his book mentioned above Friar Diego de Landa: Talks about the practice of baptism among the Maya before the Conquest. The Maya Prophecies for the arrival of a foreign power who would impose a single god on their people. The teachings of the Maya elders who taught that their ancestors who inhabited this land had come from the east, that God had helped them, opening two roads across the sea.

"... They say that a book was written in the era of Christianity, but we can not be sure that a book existed. There was another book, which cannot be seen any more, in which was clearly seen the coming from the other side of the sea... We can reason that they conserved some things from Genesis and Exodus as well, because its stories deal primarily with what the Holy Scriptures tell us of these books and also a little concerning other books that tell of the Hebrews and the redemption of mankind. "

"... These Indians are

descended from the ten lost

tribes of the Jews, who did not

return to their land of

inheritance, but kept all the

events written in the sacred

text through oral tradition as

the devil had deceived them

into many errors."

In the Codex he saw ... the Virgin Mary

depicted with her hair arranged in the manner

of Indian women, gathered and tied in a knot

behind, but a small cross stuck in her hair

indicating that she was of the most holy, give

birth to a great prophet who would come from

heaven, and that she would conceive without

any participation of men because she would

remain a virgin. That prophet would be

persecuted by his own people, that they would

wish him evil and crucify Him. He was

represented with his hands and feet tied to a

cross, but without nails. His resurrection was

also shown as his life was restored and He

ascended into heaven. The Dominicans said

they found the leather codices in the

possession of some Indians who live on the

Pacific coast , who said their ancestors had left

them this memorial.

Once, while talking to an old Otomi Indian who was than 70 years

old, about matters of faith, the Indian said that in years past they

had a book, handed down from father to son ... who had dedicated

themselves to preserving it and teaching from it. Doctrines were

written in two columns on each page, and the image of the

crucified Christ was painted between columns ... They would turn

the pages with reverence, not with the hand, but with a stick made

for that purpose, which was kept with that book? When Father

Mercado asked about the content of the book and its doctrine, the

Indian replied that only if the book was not lost, the priest would

see that it contains the same doctrine that had been teaching and

preaching to them, but the book had rotted under the earth, where

its guardians had buried it when the Spaniards arrived. The old

man also said they were aware of the destruction of the flood,

when only seven people were saved in the ark... The Achi Indians

of Guatemala corroborated what others have said about the flood,

saying that before they had it painted in their books along with

other records of antiquity. But the monks, in their eagerness to

destroy idolatry, considered them suspicious and burned them...

There were also those, like the Totonacas, awaited the coming of

the Son of the Great God, who was the Sun, and said he would

renew all things.

A Mexican historian, born in Texcoco in 1570 AD. He was the son of

the last King of Texcoco and family of Cuitlahuac. His version of the

history of the Olmec:

―… After the earth began again to be populated, they built a Zacualli

very high and strong, which means the very high tower, to protect

themselves against the 2nd destruction of the world. s time elapsed,

their language became confounded, such that they did not

understand one another, and they were scattered to all parts of the

world.‖

―The Tultecas, consisting of seven men and their wives, were able to

understand one another, and

they came to this land, having first crossed many lands and waters,

living in caves and passing

through great tribulations. Having arrived here, they discovered that

the land was fertile and good. ―

Ixtlilxóchitl called the people who lived in the Golf ―Giants‖ ―In this land called New Spain, there were giants as demonstrated by their bones that have been discovered in many areas. The ancient Tulteca record keepers called them Quinametzín. They became acquainted with them and had many wars and contentions with them, and in particular in all the land that is now called Mexico. They were destroyed and their civilization came to an end as a result of great calamities and punishments from heaven for some grave sins that they had committed.‖

"The ancestors of the natives of this land now called New Spain, the general opinion of all, as it appears in their paintings, came from the east. … (And all who are now called Tultecas, Aculhuas, and Mexicanas, as we as the other people in this land boast and affirm that they are descendants of the Chichimecas. The reason, according to their history, is that their first King, whose name was Chichimecatl, was the one who brought them to this new land where they settled. And he was, as can be deduced, which came from the great Tartary, and was part of those who came from the division of Babel …‖ ―Those who possessed this new world in this third age were the Ulmecas and Xicalancas; and according to what is found in their histories, they came in ships or boats from the east to the land of Potonchan, and from there they began to populate the land.‖

"Some years after the origin of early Tulla,

from the northern part of Mexico [Veracruz]

came a certain group of people who landed

near Pánuco.

Concerning this nation, no one knows where

they came because there is no data regarding

the subject, but at least the given data says the

landed at Pánuco. "

The raised wood banner will

come.

Our Lord comes, Itzá.

Our elder brother comes.

Oh men of Tantun!

Receive your guests

The bearded men,

men from the east.

Carriers of the sign from God,

Lord!

Hunab Ku – his Firstborn Son is the

God Itzamna.

Hun = One , Ab = Being,

Ku = God = The One God!

Lacandon Maya:

Father God is the same

Hunab Ku - called K'akoch

Eldest son is Sukunkyum –

Elder Brother, our Lord

The Lacandon Maya believe

the same family structure

will exist in the hereafter.

K'inich Ajaw (Ahau, Ahaw) - Sun God, Son of Itzamna or Hunab Ku. Very similar to Quetzalcoatl. Itzamna is the supreme god of all gods and the creator god. Hunab Ku = The One God, appears in the 16 century in the Dictionary of Motul, where "Hunab Ku" is identified as "the only true and living God, also the greatest of the gods of the peoples of Yucatan. The Lacandon Indians made pilgrimages through the jungle for over 500 years to Yaxchilan to worship the statue of the Emperor Escudo Jaguar I. They believed this statue was Sukunkyum.

1. The first family of gods was involved

in a conflict.

2. The elder brothers K‘aak‘ Bakal ak

Yum Chak Xib and Paal ak Yum Chak

Xib rebelled against his father.

3. The younger brother T'uup honored

his father and was given the

birthright of his older brothers.

4. T'uup became the Master of Light.

5. The older brothers were exiled to the

desert.

6. K‘aak‘ Bakal ak Yum Chak Xib = The

Man who speaks with bitterness,

Father of the red man

7. Paal ak Yum Chak Xib = Lesser

tongue, Father of the red man

1. The Lacandon refer to each

other in terms of kinship.

2. U sukun Kayum – Elder

Brother of Kayum

3. U sukun Jared – Elder

brother of Jared

1. U Ka‘ani Chembel K‘uh – Heaven of the

lesser gods. There is no sun at this level. 2. U Ka‘ani K‘akoch – Heaven of K‘akoch –

Creator / Father of the gods. This level is

heated by the sun.

3. U Ka‘ani K‘uk – Heaven that belongs to the

God in Heaven. Man's universe where

there is sun, moon and stars. Some will

inherit the earth. There will be a mixture

of gods and humans on the surface of the

earth. They are called terrestrial gods. Lu‘um K‘uh – God of the earth.

4. Yalam Lu‘um - Underworld or the spirit

world. Kisin and Sukunkyum reside here.

After death the souls of all humans go

through the underworld and are judged

by Sukunkyum, Elder Brother. If not

penitent they will be punished by

Kisin. Kisin is a child of God who is lost.

Chan K'in Viejo: Spiritual Leader of the

Lacandon people.

1. Belief in blood sacrifice.

2. Belief in Sacramento.

3. Ceremonies Celebrating the

future coming of the Son of

God, Elder Brother.

4. When Elder Brother he will use

red clothing.

5. K'uxu - Red dye made from the

fruit of the annatto tree. The dye

is used to color robes and

crowns (chak hu'un) used for

sacrificial ceremonies.

Dos Pilas, Guatemala

Chunchucmil, México

Becan, México

Naachtun, Guatemala

Punta de Chimino, Guatemala

Ichmul, México

Mayan Murals of War

Common Traditions of War in Mesoamerica and the BoM

1. War and Battle Tactics

2. Captains and Chief Captains

3. Rituals of Human Sacrifice

4. Kings fight against Kings

5. Consumption of Human Blood

6. Beheading

7. Slavery

8. Marriage Alliances

9. Amputation of Arms

10. Cities destroyed in a single day

Popol Vuh

1. Los Nefitas obtained the book

(The 24 Plates).

2. 43 Men found it on an expedition.

3. They descended from the

mountains.

4. It was found on the Atlantic Coast.

5. The book contains the story of the

creation of all things.

6. It is a hieroglyphic book.

1. The Maya Quiche obtained the

book.

2. It was found on an expedition.

3. They descended from the

mountains.

4. It was found on the Atlantic Coast.

5. The book contains the story of the

creation of all things.

6. It is a hieroglyphic book.

Libro de Éter

"The three great nations of the Quiche ... are descendants of the Ten Tribes of the Kingdom of Israel, who

Shalmaneser reduced to captivity, finding themselves on the border of Assyria, they decided to

emigrate…

"These, then, were the three nations Quiches, the descendants of Israel, with the same language and the

same customs and traditions .... They were sons of Abraham and Jacob ....

"Now on September 28, 1554 we signed this confirmation in writing that we have the tradition that our

ancestors told us, who came from the other side of the sea, Civan-Tulán, which borders Babylon (Title of

the Lords of Totonicapán, Dionisio José Chonay and Delia Goetz, Norman, Oklahoma: University of

Oklahoma Press, 1953, pp. 167, 170, 194).

The Tultecas had a knowledge of the creation of the world

(before the Conquest) by Tloque Nahuaque, including the

planets, mountains, animals, etc. They also knew about how

God created a man and a woman from whence all mankind

descended and multiplied. … The records indicate that the

world was created in the year Ce Tecpatl, and the period of

time from the creation to the flood is called Atonatiuh, which

means the age of the sun of water because the world was

destroyed by the flood. And it is recorded in the Tulteca

history that this period or first world, as they called it, lasted

for 1,716 years, after which time great lightning and storms

from the heavens destroyed mankind, and everything in the

earth was covered by water including the highest mountain

called Caxtolmolictli, which is 15 cubits high … After the

earth began again to be populated, they built a Zacualli very

high and strong, which means the very high tower, to protect

themselves against a second destruction of the world. As

time elapsed, their language became confounded, such that

they did not understand one another; and they were

scattered to all parts of the world. The Tultecas, consisting of

seven men and their wives, were able to understand one

another, and they came to this land, having first crossed

many lands and waters, living in caves and passing through

great tribulations. Upon their arrival here, they discovered

that it was a very good and fertile land.

Warm Weather Clothing: Lamanite Loincloth s

Murals of Bonampak,

México

580AD – 800AD

Figures in Ek‘ Balaam, México

El Luchador (The Wrestler)

Olmec Statue

San Lorenzo, Veracruz

Discovered 1933

Made 1550BC – 400BC

Statues of Tula, Hidalgo

980AD – 1179AD

There is an engraving of a pre-Columbian horse at Chichén Itzá. It is located near the observatory at El Templo del Tableros. There are

other examples of Yucatec horses. In the 1950s excavations at the pre-Columbian site of Mayapan were reported. Horse bones were

found in four different locations. Because two of the finds were close to the surface, they were ―summarily dismissed‖ as being Spanish.

The others could not be. They were found in two meters of unconsolidated earth almost six feet deep. Two partially mineralized horse

teeth were found at the same stratum with Maya pottery. This means there was an association of horses with humans. This contradicted

the science of the time and ran counter to the ―Siberian Land Bridge Only‖ doctrine. The site was Ch‘en Mul, a sinkhole referred to as a

―cenote‖ or waterhole.

In 1895 – American paleontologist Henry C. Mercer went to Yucatán hoping to find remains of Ice Age man. He visited 29 caves in the

hill area – the Puuc – of the peninsula and tried stratigraphic excavations in 10 of them. But the results were confused, and he came away

disillusioned. He did find horse bones in three caves (Actun sayab, Actun Lara, y Chektalen). In terms of their visible characteristics,

those bones should have been classified as from the Pleistocene American horse species, then called Equus occidentalis L. However,

Mercer decided that since the remains were near the surface, they must actually be from the modern horse, Equus equus, that the

Spaniards had brought with them to the New World, and so he reported them as such.

In 1947 Robert T. Hatt repeated Mercer‘s activities. He found within Actun Lara and one other cave more remains of the American horse

(in his day it was called Equus conversidens), along with bones from other extinct animals. Hatt recommended that any future work

concentrate on Loltun Cave, where abundant animal and cultural remains could be seen.

It took until 1977 before that recommendation bore fruit. Two Mexican archaeologists carried out a project that included a complete

survey of the complex system of subterranean cavities (made by underground water that had dissolved the subsurface limestone). They

also did stratigraphic excavation in areas in the Loltun complex not previously visited. The pits they excavated revealed a sequence of

16 layers, which they numbered from the surface downward. Bones of extinct animals (including mammoth) appear in the lowest layers.

Pottery and other cultural materials were found in the levels VII and above. But in some of the artifact-bearing strata there were horse

bones, even in level II. A radiocarbon date for the beginning of VII turned out to be around 1800 BC. The pottery fragments above that

would place some portions in the range of at least 900 to 400 BC and possibly later. The report on this work concludes with the

observation that ―something went on here that is still difficult to explain.‖ Some archaeologist have suggested that the horse bones were

stirred upward from lower to higher levels by the action of tunneling rodents, but they admit that this explanation is not easy to accept.

The statement has also been made that paleontologist will not be pleased at the idea that horses survived to such a late date as to be

involved with civilized or near-civilized people whose remains are seen in the ceramic-using levels. Surprisingly, the Mexican

researchers show no awareness of the horse teeth discovered in 1957 by Carnegie Institution scientist Pollock and Ray. Some

uncomfortable scientific facts seem to need rediscovering time and time again. – Dr. John L. Lund, Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon

– Is This the Place? Page 248

El Templo del Tableros

Chichen Itzá

It is by no means implied that pre-Columbian

horses were known to the Mayans, but it seems

likely that horses were present on the Yucatan

Peninsula in pre-Mayan time. The tooth

fragments reported here could have been

transported in fossil condition as curios by the

Mayans, but the more numerous horse remains

reported by Hatt and Mercer (if truly pre-

Columbian) could scarcely be explained in

this manner. CLAYTON C. RAY, Museum of

Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.

Received May 28,1956).

It is clear that Loltun Cave is an important site because of the presence of lithic tools

and Pleistocene fauna, though doubts still exist about the stratigraphic and temporal

associations. The presence of Pleistocene Equus conversidens in ceramic layers has

been interpreted as possible proof of the survival of the extinct horse into the

Holocene (Schmidt 1988)

Petroglyphs of Horses

Monte Vista, Colorado

Stones of Ica, Ocucaje, Perú

Dr. Javier Cabrera 1930 - 1970

Petroglyph of Horse

Picture Canyon, Colorado

In Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient America

Page 349 Gloria Farley 1994

Petroglyph of Horse

Oklahoma

In Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient

America Gloria Farley 1994

Petroglyph of Horse

Anubis Cave #2, Oklahoma

In Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient

America Gloria Farley 1994

Stela B

Copan, Honduras

Made Augusto 22, 731AD

Ancient Pipe

Mississippi River Delta

Found 1880

Elephant Mound

Grant County, Wisconsin

Smithsonian Report, 1872

Elephant Petroglyph

Anubis Cave #2, Oklahoma

In Plain Sight Old World

Records in Ancient America

Gloria Farley 1994

The Rebus Ship Petroglyph

Picture Canyon, Colorado

In Plain Sight Old World Records in

Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994

Boat Petroglyph

LeFlore County, Oklahoma

In Plain Sight Old World

Records in Ancient America

Gloria Farley 1994

Gaelic Yawl Petroglyph

Oklahoma

In Plain Sight Old World Records in Ancient

America Gloria Farley 1994

Boat Petroglyph

Oklahoma

In Plain Sight Old World

Records in Ancient America

Gloria Farley 1994

Boat Petroglyph

Baca County, Colorado

In Plain Sight Old World Records in

Ancient America Gloria Farley 1994

Boat Petroglyph

Hicklin Springs, Colorado

In Plain Sight Old World

Records in Ancient America

Gloria Farley 1994

Boat Petroglyph

Maba Refuge, Oklahoma

In Plain Sight Old World

Records in Ancient America

Gloria Farley 1994

Barley was discovered in Hohokam deposits in Phoenix, Arizona as a result of

excavations carried out by the University of Arizona. The Hohokam Indians were

present in the Phoenix area from about 300 BC to about 1450 AD. They possibly

arrived from Mesoamerica, as many Mesoamerican characteristics were present

in their culture, such as similar styles of figurines, the use of cotton, textile

techniques, their ball game, platform mounds and copper bells. The Hohokam

Culture is famous throughout the Southwest for a number of things, including the

construction of a massive system of irrigation canals. More than 1000 miles of

canals as large as 30 feet wide and seven feet deep were built by these ancient

industrious people.

Adams affirms in the journal Science # 83:

Perhaps the most surprising evidence of Hohokam agricultural sophistication

occurred last year, when rescue archaeologist found preserved grains of what

appears to be domesticated barley, the first to be found in the New World. Wild

barley has a fibrous husk on each grain. Domesticated barley lacks this. The

same is found in Hohokam barley. "It is debatable whether this is genetic or due

to extreme skill in processing," says Vorsila Bohrer, a Ethno-Botanist from the

University of Eastern New Mexico. Almost half of the samples from the site

produced barley. (Page 32)

Science Daily (March 18,

2008) - Archaeologists from

the Institute of Prehistory and

Early History of the University

of Vienna have found an

amulet inscribed with a

Jewish prayer in a Roman

child‘s grave dating back to

the 3rd century CE at a burial

ground in the Austrian town of

Halbturn.

The Etruscans in Italy were

familiar with the Phoenician

alphabet, as shown in the Pyrgi

gold plates. The plate on the left

was written in Phoenician, and the

other in Etruscan.

The world's oldest multi-page book in the lost

Etruscan language. The National History Museum

in Sofia Bulgaria. It is evident from the picture that

this book was created on metal plates that are

attached with metal rings, similar to the original

documents that became the Book of Mormon.

Gold plates decorated with exotic

and beautiful animals, sixth

century BC. Delphi Museum,

Greece

This plate of gold was found in Persia in

1961. The plate is dated to the time of

Darius II in the fourth century BC.

The Louvre Museum in Paris has some old plates on

display. Some are gold, while others are made from

other metals. These were discovered during excavation

of the palace of Sargon II, the Assyrian king from 721 to

705 BC. The site is known as Khorsabad, for the current

nearby Iraqi city.

This tablet of gold was found during an excavation in the

city of Ashur, now Qual'at Serouat, Iraq, by a team of

German archaeologists led by Walter Andrae. The tablet

with inscriptions, which was discovered in the

foundations of the Temple Ishta is actually a construction

document. It dates from the reign of the Assyrian king

Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-1207 BC), who expanded the

Assyrian empire, but was later killed by his son.

Gold Plate from Persépolis, Iran

Persepolis fortification tablets: large collection of

old administrative cuneiform texts, written

between 506 and 497 BC. They are one of the

most important sources for the study of the

Achaemenid empire government. Persepolis was

one of the capitals of the ancient Persian empire,

founded by King Darius I the Great in 518 BC. It

was excavated by the Oriental Institute of

Chicago: Ernst Herzfeld and F. Schmidt who

worked in Persepolis from 1931 to 1939. During

the excavations, two archives of cuneiform texts

were discovered. The smaller set is called the

Persepolis Treasury Tablets. There are 139 of

them, and describe the payments in silver

between 492 and 458. The collection of greater

number and larger tablets is known as the

Persepolis Fortification Tabletsis: between 20,000

and 25,000 of them, belonging to about 15,000 to

18,000 documents. Not all tablets have been

published, after decades of neglect, the project

reinitiated in 2002. The Persepolis Fortification

Tablets were written in Elamite, the language of

the Persian Foreign Office, and dealt with

financial transactions until 493 BC. Just a couple

of them are in Aramaic , Phrygian, Old Persian, or

Greek. The men in charge of them were Farnaces

and his deputy Ziššawiš.

Gold Plates from Persépolis, Iran

Monument #13 La Venta, Tabasco, México

Olmec Civilization

Shows a bearded man wearing a turban that looks

more like a Phoenician than a Mexican. The pointy

toed shoes that he wears were used in three

Mediterranean civilizations: Etruscans, Hittites and

Phoenicians. The native peoples of Central America

were unable to grow facial hair. It also shows four

glyphs, three in a linear arrangement and the fourth a

footprint, the Mesoamerican common symbol for

movement. The carved stone monument can be dated

from 600 to 400 BC(Houston 2004b: 292)

Olmec Clay Head, Tres Zapotes, Veracruz

México. The realistic appearance suggests that

this is the study of an artist from a real person

and not the figment of an artists imagination.

Bearded jadeite head of Quetzalcoatl. This head is in

the Musée de l'Homme, Paris, France.

Mexica statue of Quetzalcoatl with a beard. Both

photographs are from American Indians in the Pacific,

Thor Hyerdahl

This vase with a bearded Mayan face "Old

Empire" (c.430 AD). This Mayan figure from

Honduras could be Itzamná in his youth.

Itzamná, ancient bearded god of the Maya-Itzá.

Itzamná, the legend, arrived by boat from the east

and founded the civilization Itzá.

Quirigua, Guatemala.

Cal Ixtlahuaca‘s head.

This head of terracota,

with his well trimmed

mustache and beard,

was excavated from an

undisturbed and sealed

ancient tomb in the

Cal Ixtlahuaca Pyramid, 35

Miles to the southeast

Of México City, in 1933.

Many experts believe that it is Roman and from

the second century AD, but it is officially

classified as " colonial " .

Stela of a Bearded Man, La Venta, Tabasco, México

700 – 400 BC

Bearded Man of Comalcalco, Tabasco, México

200 – 1300 AD

Stela of Bonampak, Chiapas, México

580 – 800 AD

Bonampak, Chiapas, México

580 – 800 AD

Bearded Men in Palenque, Chiapas, México

1000 BC – 800 AD

Bearded Men in Palenque, Chiapas, México

1000 BC – 800 AD

The Olmec-Mayan ruins at Comalcalco, near the modern city of Villahermosa in Tabasco State, are more than a small

mystery to archeologists and other researchers who are studying the unique architectural style of the ancient city. For one,

other Meso-American ruins of the region, indeed all the ancient world of the Maya, were built using hand carved limestone

blocks - not bricks.

But the mystery deepened when researchers discovered that when an oyster-base mortar used to bind the bricks was

removed, it revealed various odd markings on the back of the bricks, including what is believed to be the brick makers

fingerprints.

But it is the strange figures carved into the bricks that are most perplexing

to archeologists. Pictured at the right is a comparative illustration that

captured the attention, and imagination, of researchers. The symbols in the

first six columns(from left to right) in the illustration are mason symbols from

Roman bricks. The symbols in the six columns on the right were discovered behind the bricks excavated at Comalcalco.

They appear to be almost identical. There are many additional similarities between the brick mason marks at Comalcalco

and ancient Romano, Minoan, and Greek sites.

Further complicating the issue, whether by design or coincidence, the bricks have Roman-like architectural measurements

and the building structures sport Roman-like architectural features. Further deepening the mystery is the discovery of what

may well be a Roman figurine, leading some to speculate that there may have been a Roman-Christian presence in the

Americas a thousand years before the arrival of Columbus.

There is an evolving theory that ancient man from the European and Asian continents may have made the Atlantic crossing

long before Columbus, bringing with them artifacts and items for trade.

Theorists say elsewhere in the Maya region, Roman-style figurines have emerged, and pre-Columbian horse remains have

been excavated. Old World parasites and DNA affinities, the blowgun, bark cloth, and paper manufacturing said to have

been unearthed at or near Comalcalco add to the mystery according to supporters of the theory.

Temples of the Descending God in Tulum and Coba – According to a personal conversation with a local Tulum guide

(Mosiah Petlaclalco) the phenomenon seen below during the equinoxes at the Temple of the Descending God

is also seen on April 6 at 6am. He swore to me that he himself has lived the experience.

Monument 19 from La Venta

Olmec Civilization

First known representation of a feathered serpent in

Mesoamérica.

Local researchers have found that the greatest illumination of the serpent is

produced on April 6th

for some unknown event (Vergara). Christ / Quetzalcóatl

was born on the 6 of April according to a revelation given to Joseph Smith (D&C

20:01)

1. Both were recognized as the creator of all things (Mosiah 4:2) (Sáenz 1962)

2. Both were born of virgins (Alma 7:10) (Gamino)

3. Both are described to be white and wearing a white robe (3 Nephi 11:8)

(Torquemada)

4. Both performed miracles (3 Nephi 26:15) (Séjourné)

5. Both taught the ordinance of baptism (3 Nephi 11:23) (Irwin 1963)

6. Both prophesied future events (Ixtlilxóchitl)

7. Both are universal, as opposed to being nothing more than recognized as local

gods (3 Nephi 16:1) (Séjourné 1962)

8. A great destruction was associated with both (3 Nephi 8:5) (Ixtlilxóchitl)

9. The cross was a symbol for both (3 Nephi 27:14) (Irwin 1963)

10. Both Sent disciples to preach their word (3 Nephi 12:1) (Wirth)

11. They promised to come a second time (2 Nephi 6:14) (Sahagún)

12. A new star is associated with both (3 Nephi 1:21) (Annals of Cuautitlán)

13. The children of both are lords and heirs of the Earth (4 Nephi 17) (Ixtlilxóchitl)

The Number 7 in Christianity:

The number seven (7) in the seven days of Creation is typological and the number seven appears commonly elsewhere in

the Bible. These include:

1. Seven days of Creation (Genesis 1) e.g., God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Sabbath)

2. Anyone who dares to kill Cain 'will suffer vengeance seven times over' (Genesis 4:15)

3. Lamech in his "Song of the Sword" claims that 'if Cain shall be avenged sevenfold', he himself shall be 'seventy-sevenfold'

(Genesis 4:24)

4. Seven years of plenty and seven years of famine in Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41)

5. Seven days of the feast of Passover (Exodus 13:3–10)

6. Seven day week and the pattern concerning distribution and use of manna (Exodus 16)

7. Seven year cycle around the years of Jubilee (Leviticus 25)

8. The fall of the walls of Jericho on the seventh day after marching around the city seven times (Joshua 6)

9. Seven things that are detestable to the LORD (Proverbs 6:16–19)

10. Seven Pillars of the House of Wisdom (Proverbs 9:1)

11. Seven loaves multiplied into seven baskets of surplus (Matthew 15:32–37)

12. The Seven last words (or seven last sayings) of Jesus on the cross

13. Seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom (Acts 6:3)

14. Seven Spirits of God are mentioned in the Book of Revelation

15. Seven churches of Asia to which the "Book of Revelation" is addressed

16. Seven churches, seven stars, seven seals, seven last plagues, seven vials or bowls, seven thunders in the Revelation, the

last book of the Bible

17. Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

18. The Seven Virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience, and humility

19. The Seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride

20. The seven terraces of Mount Purgatory (one per deadly sin)

21. In the genealogy in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is 77th in a direct line

22. The number of heads of the three beasts (7 × 10 × 7 + 7 × 10 × 10 + 7 × 10 = 1260) of the Book of Revelation, and of some

other monsters, like the hydra and the number of seals

23. In the New Testament, in Matthew 18:21, Jesus says to Peter to forgive 'seventy times seven times', remembering so the

curse of Cain and the song of Lamech in Genesis 4.

The Number 7 en Judaism:

A highly symbolic number in the Torah, alluding to the infusion of spirituality and Godliness into the creation. For example:

1.God rested on and sanctified the seventh day (Shabbat). – Genesis 2:3. "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her

seven pillars." – Proverbs of Solomon son of David King of Israel 9:1

2. A seven-day purification period is required for one who has become tamei to become tahor.

3. The Shmita (Sabbatical) year arrives every seventh year.

4. The Jubilee (Yovel) year comes after 7 times 7 years.

5. The Counting of the Omer leading up to the Giving of the Torah is expressed as "7 times 7 weeks."

6. There are 7 days of Passover and Sukkot when celebrated in Israel. 7. Shiv`a (another pronunciation of the Hebrew word for 7—(Hebrew: שבעה ;" seven")), is the number of days of mourning.

Hence, one sits Shiva. As in Shiva (Judaism)

8. The weekly Torah portion is divided into seven aliyahs, and seven Jewish men (or boys over the age of 13 who are

considered men; Bar Mitzvah) are called up for the reading of these aliyahs during Shabbat morning services.

9. Seven blessings are recited under the chuppah during a Jewish wedding ceremony.

10. A Jewish bride and groom are feted with seven days of festive meals after their wedding, known as Sheva Berachot

("Seven Blessings").

The number of Ushpizzin (also known as the "Seven Shepherds") who visit the sukkah during the holiday of Sukkot:

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, and David.

11. The number of nations God told the Israelites they would displace when they entered the land of Israel (Deut. 7:1): the

Hittite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

12. In Breslov tradition, the seven orifices of the face (2 eyes, 2 nostrils, 2 ears,

and the mouth) are called "The Seven Candles." 13. The Menorah (Hebrew: מנורה) , is a seven-branched candelabrum lit by olive

oil in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. The menorah is one of the

oldest symbols of the Jewish people. It is said to symbolize the Burning bush

as seen by Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25).

14. The number of times Cain will be avenged by God if he is murdered

(Gen 4:15).

15. The Israelites circled Jericho for 7 days and then the wall tumbled down.

The Seven Primordial Tribes of Mesoamerica

by Diane E Wirth

Seven tribes are described in the Book of Mormon as having evolved from the families who came from the land of Jerusalem to the New

World. The first mention of these lineage groups is circa 544 B.C., when the individual tribes were designated as Nephites, Jacobites,

Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites (Jacob 1:13). Almost 700 years later, these patriarchal tribal divisions were

mentioned again, indicating the enduring nature of this tradition (4 Nephi 38). Over time, the order of the names remained the same; the

last reference appears in Mormon 1:8, shortly before the demise of the Nephite nation as a result of war. From these scriptures we know that

the seven families were remembered over a span of 866 years in the Book of Mormon. The importance of these lineages cannot be

diminished as they are even mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants 3:17-18.

Before and after the end of the Nephite nation in A.D. 385, genealogy continued to be extremely important to Mesoamerican cultures.

Early traditions, passed orally from one generation to the next, spoke of seven primordial tribes who were their ancestors. These

Mesoamerican legends are recorded in murals, on Stelae, on monuments, and in codices, and were fortuitously recited to Spanish clergy

who made a written record of the various accounts.

Bernardo de Sahagún learned that the natives equated the cave symbolism of the seven tribes with that of boats, and suggested that

these tribes crossed the waters in search of a terrestrial paradise. He wrote:

Concerning the origin of these peoples, the report that old men [of central Mexico] give is that they came by sea . . . in some wooden

boats. . . . But it is conjectured by a report found among all these natives that they came from seven caves, and that these

seven caves are the seven ships or galleys in which the first settlers of this land came.. .

[Bernardino de Sahagún, Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana, Introduccion al Primer Libro, Mexico, 1946), cited in Archaeology

and the Book of Mormon, by Milton R. Hunter (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1972), 44].

Las Siete Cuevas Histórica Tolteca-Chichimeca Los Siete Tribus del Códice Duran

Are the Hopi related to the Maya? According to Frank Waters, the ―Hopis first lived in seven puesivi, or caves‖. From there they migrated

northward, establishing their people and villages in accordance with the names of the "caves or womb-caverns" [Frank Waters, Mexico

Mystique (Chicago: Swallow Press, 1975), 168-170]. These events may refer to the Late Classic Period in Mesoamerica when many people were

on the move, as war, disease, and famine plagued much of Mesoamerica. But by the same token, the myth may be coupled with earlier times, with

events going back to myths of early arrivals in the New World from across the sea.

Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico, has many beautiful and interesting stelae. Stela 67 appears to portray a bearded man in a boat, riding an inverted ocean

wave. The upside down wave gives the understanding of the watery Underworld where the dead enter and rebirth takes place.

The numeral classifier for caves in Yucatec is ak, which forms part of the word aktun "cave." The classifier ak is also used for words such as canoes,

boats, houses, and containers [Andrea J. Stone, Images from the Underworld: Naj Tunich and the Tradition of Maya Cave Painting (Austin: University of

Texas Press, 1995), 35]. All these words are associated with things that hold people and objects in safe enclosures.

Although the legend of the seven caves comes primarily from Mexican Nahuatl speaking peoples, there was a widespread adoption of this myth

among other peoples, as is evidenced by the Quiche Maya. Tulan Zuyua, or vukub pek, vukub zivan "seven caves, seven canyons," is referred to

in The Popol Vuh. [Denis Tedlock, Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings (New York:

Simon and Schuster, 1985), 360].

The High Priest's Grave at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan also supports a belief in this origin myth

in an area of non-Nahuatl speaking peoples. Similar to the Quiche place of origin, the original name

for Chichen Itza may have been Ucil-Abnal, "Seven Bush Places or Hollows" [Ralph L. Roys, ―Native

Empires in Yucatan,‖ in Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropologicos 20: 153-177].

The Annals of the Cakchiquels, a Maya history, refers again and again to the seven primordial tribes

as the original colonizers who came from across the sea [The Annals of the Cakchiquels, translated from

the Cakchiquel Maya by Adrian Recinos and Delia Goetz (Norman: University of Oklahoma, 1953), 59, n.59].

Does this account of the seven tribes, as well as the others mentioned here, refer to the same long-held concept of seven lineages in the Book of

Mormon? We can only speculate that this is the case. What we do know is that after Book of Mormon times, this legend was part of oral tradition

among the natives of Mesoamerica for many, many years.

The Totonicapán record (of Guatemalan Indians) refers to the division into Seven Tribes: "The Xahila family, one of the royal lines of the Quiches

of the highlands of Guatemala, left an account in the Maya tongue entitled Annals of Xahila. It is stated therein: "We were brought forth, coming we

were begotten by our mothers and our father, as they say . . . They say that the seven tribes arrived first at Tullan." It is observed that the Xahila

record likewise indicates a departure from an Old World Tulan (Bountiful) and the settlement of seven tribes in a principal homeland, Tullan

(Bountiful), in the New World. [Milton R. Hunter and Thomas S. Ferguson, Ancient America and the Book of Mormon, p. 87]

According to a Mexican tradition, "Here is the beginning of the accounts of the arrival of the Mexicans from the place named Aztlan ("tlan" means

"Bountiful"). It was through the midst of the water that they made their way to this locality, being four tribes.

According to the history of the Quiche Maya people written in the book Title of the Lords of Totonicapan, there were four great leaders who

brought their people from the other side of the sea, from Pa-Tulan ("Tulan" means "Bountiful"). [Clate Mask, "And They Called the Place Tulan," p. 4]

Do these stories of the seven tribes, and the others mentioned here, refer to the same old concept of the seven lineages in the Book of Mormon?

We can only speculate that this is the case. What we do know is that after the Book of Mormon time period, this legend was part of the oral tradition

among the natives of Mesoamerica for many, many years.

The Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca portrays Chicomoztoc, or the

Seven Caves of Aztlán from which the first Chichimec tribes

emerged before invading the Basin of México to become the

Aztecs.

Bittman Simons (1968) wrote: "Chicomoztoc (or

Culhuacatepec) is the legendary point of origin of many

people of ancient Mesoamerica. It is depicted in paintings and

manuscripts mentioned in chronicles. In addition to the

Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca we may also mention, the Tira de

la Peregrinación, Azcatitlan Codex, the Codex Rios, the

Chimalpopoca Codex and the work of Tezozomoc, Muñoz

Camargo, Pomar and Zorita, Chimalpahin, Motolinia, Duran,

Sahagún and Torquemada as well as the Popol Vuh and the

Annals of the

Cachiqueles.

The Book of Mormon states that Lehi's unified company divided into seven main lineage groups soon after arriving in the

promised land (Jacob 1:13). Similarly, most major Meso-American cultural groups claim ancestry from seven major lineage

groups. In the Popol Vuh, the K'iche' ancestors are said to have emerged from seven caves or canyons, representing the

origin of the seven main royal families in highland Guatemala. Also, as was the case with the Mulekites, the people

mentioned in the Popol Vuh changed their language after crossing the sea to establish a new homeland. - - The Popol Vuh

and Mormon Studies, Insights Volume - 20, Issue - 7

The Templo Mayor of Tlatelolco has seven stages of construction. The director of the archaeological site remembered it is

known that the Templo Mayor of Tlatelolco had been built seven times, the same as it was conquered.

Tlatelolco, Distrito Federal, México

Pyramid of the Niches

El Tajín, Veracruz, México

The Pyramid has 7 Levels

The splendor of the city of Cholula started in the pre-Hispanic era, where they erected the tallest pyramid

in Mesoamerica. This building has seven different superimposed construction phases.

Cholula, Puebla, México

The Pyramid of the Moon has seven stages of construction, the last being around the year 400 AD. This last

stage is the stage that the visitor can see today in the archaeological site.

Teotihuacán, Estado de México, México

The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan has seven stages of construction. The Temple was rebuilt seven times,

expanded eleven, its construction began in the year 2-Rabbit (1390).

Tenochtitlan, Distrito Federal, México

For analogies identified through registration, classification and architectural analysis of the cities of Tenayuca, Tenochtitlan

and Tlatelolco, we can infer that beyond their almost identical measurements, their astronomical orientation, and the

superimposed seven stages of construction on their respective Templo Mayor, in the three pre-Hispanic sites there was a

parallel and simultaneous development. So explains the archaeologist Salvador Guilliem Arroyo, in his study, Tlatelolco,

mirror of Tenochtitlan.

Tenayuca, México

The Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley said:

"The evidence of its truth and validity in a world that tends to demand

evidence, lies not in archeology or anthropology, although knowledge of

these sciences may be helpful for some, nor linguistic research nor historical

analysis, although they may serve to confirm. The evidence of its truth and

validity lies within the book itself. The proof of its truth lies in reading the

book itself. It is a book of God. "(" Four Cornerstones of Faith‖ Liahona,

February, 2004)