History, Geography, Archaeology of the Book of Mormon

Once Nephi's family were in the Americas, their tie to the history of the old world became a matter of lineage and religion.  Here are some key points on that subject:

• The two groups - Nephites and Lamanites - were biological descendants of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. Due to intermarrying with the indigenous people they found in the new world, the Lamanites had a darker skin than their brethren within a few generations. 
• They had come from the area around Jerusalem just prior to the fall of Judah to Babylon.
• They spoke Hebrew.
• They lived the Law of Moses.
• They looked forward to the day when the Messiah would come. 
• Their father was a man of means, which means they were undoubtedly well educated.

• Nephi said that he wrote his accounts in a format he called reformed Egyptian,[1] which was more concise than Hebrew. There is some indication in the history of the time that young men in Judah were taught Egyptian language and writing as well as Hebrew because there was a lively trade between the two nations.  As Nephi was keeping his records on metal plates, it would have been a daunting task and he used the most concise method of recording that he could find.
• When the two nations split following Lehi's death, Nephi took their records (the plates of brass) with him along with the Liahona and the sword of Laban.
• Because the Nephites had a written language, including their religious teachings and laws, they retained their culture and their language.
• Because the Lamanites had no written records and because they were not faithful in the religion of their father, within a few generations had lost much of the language and culture that would have identified them as Israelites. 

As to geography, we are now on less clear-cut ground.  Everyone knows where Jerusalem is because it is still there.  In fact, one of the arguments put forth against the Book of Mormon is because we don't know where Zarahemla is, or Nephi or Mulek or Bountiful.  While these cities don't exist on a map today, they did exist in the past and the jungles of Central America are strewn with their ruins.  The challenge for scholars and archaeologists is to study the Book of Mormon for geographical clues, look on the maps for those locations, and ascertain if there are ruins that fit the description, time, and place of those cities and landmarks (rivers, mountains, etc.) 

Book of Mormon archeology began to heat up in the 1960s.  Today, LDS scholars and archaeologists believe they can identify approximately 80% of the sites mentioned in the book.  While they can't say for sure: this is Zarahemla, they can say, "There should be a city in this location at this time" and if the archaeological findings fit, there is an association that is more than coincidental.

When I talk about geography and archaeology, I will be drawing on a variety of sources.  The most scholarly of these is Dr. John L. Sorenson's An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon.  I will also refer to Johnson, Cooper, and Gasser's An LDS Guide to Mesoamerica.  For cultural resources and legend, I will refer to Ainsworth's The Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni and Taylor Hansen's He Walked the Americas. (These are both primarily collections of the mythology of native peoples that resonate with me.  Neither of these authors are scholars as I understand the word. However, what they say is provocative, so I will reference them on occasion.) I will also be looking at some online sources that I will credit individually as they are used.

So join me for a journey into a land long gone.  I'll try to make it a fun trip!

[1] A stela found in Mexico with Mayan glyphs on the front and etched characters on the back that look surprisingly like the Reformed Egyptian characters drawn by Joseph Smith. The man in the picture is Esteban Mejia, part of an archaeological expedition featured in the book, The Travels of Mormon and Moroni. 

 

Text copyright July 2013 Gebara Education

 

Pictures:

Mural found in Central America and Mesoamerican building both from www.taleof2nations.blogspot.com

 Picture of Stela downloaded from www.inthecavityofarock.blogspot.com
Copy of the characters found on the plates as copied by Joseph Smith from www.bookofmormonarchaeology.org

Actual metal plates found in an archaeological dig from www.bmaf.org