On the Trail of the Plates of Mormon

Here is a couple of websites I have found and still going through. I really like this research from what I read so far and agree with most of the author’s ideas. Maybe it is time to reconsider all of our old ideas and theories in these subjects.

72 Languages

Scripture History

I am going to return to my original reason why I started this blog. To share my ideas on ancient American history based on the Book of Mormon. I respect everyone’s opinion on ancient history and doctrine but I will not tolerate anyone condemning my beliefs based on evidences and interpretation. I think I made that clear in my last post. If anyone has questions or comments about what I am presenting I will keep them posted otherwise I will delete any comments that will lead me into a doctrinal debate on what is right or wrong according to your interpretation. I do not want to go through again what I went through with the last commenter. I know many other LDS bloggers have gone through this with their blogs and I have read many postings and comments along the same lines. This kind of debate is not what I intended when I started doing this. I never liked to read or witnessing debates between different faiths. It never gets anywhere and I always feel terrible and negative afterwards. This what happened to me lately. Granted, I could have just let it go and deleted it but I did not know who I was dealing with at the time. I learned my lesson quickly. There are some people out there determined to show why you believe is false and wrong irregardless of how many times and ways you tell them I really don’t care. Just don’t tell me that I am wrong and will be condemned for my beliefs.

I love to read and talk about ancient history and I was amazed to discover this article a while back about an ancient gold book that was discovered. Some of you may be already familiar with this but I just wanted to add it to my blog as a record for my research. This does not prove the Book of Mormon is true but at least supports the idea that there were gold books produced in ancient times. I like this website owner’s comment on the article.

Gold Book at the Bulgarian Museum

The world’s oldest multiple-page book – in the lost Etruscan language – has gone on display in Bulgaria’s National History Museum in Sofia.

It contains six bound sheets of 24 carat gold, with illustrations of a horse-rider, a mermaid, a harp and soldiers.

The small manuscript, which is more than two-and-a-half millennia old, was discovered 60 years ago in a tomb uncovered during digging for a canal along the Strouma river in south-western Bulgaria.

Dates to around 600 BC.

What is it about the LDS Church that inspires so many people to spend their time trying to prove it false or start whole ministries solely on proselyting to the Mormons? I don’t believe that there is any other faith that receives this much attention and whole websites devoted to disproving the claims of the LDS Church. These people often use “evidence” to support their claims and use obscure and unknown writings of the Church to discredit our beliefs. It’s one thing irregardless of your faith to teach about the Gospel of Christ to others. It’s quite another to try to convince others through evidence and interpretation that what you believe is false and wrong. Jesus Christ has taught to love and respect other’s beliefs and way of life. Did Jesus pick and chose who He wanted to teach about His Father in Heaven and how to live your life? According to the New Testament He didn’t, at least from my understanding. Did He teach the Apostles to go out and prove with evidence and to convince the people that what they believe in was wrong? He taught to teach the people irregardless of race or background His Gospel and let the Holy Spirit witness to them what they are taught is of God. I don’t need evidence or testimonies to prove to myself that what I believe is correct or not. That is what the Holy Spirit is for. Evidence and testimonies only support the ideas of what I believe is true. The LDS Church has taught this from the beginning. It is up to the individual to investigate whether or not a certain doctrine is true and to go ponder and pray about it. Sometimes you won’t receive an answer right away but eventually you will. It is taught in the scriptures to put our faith in God not on what you see and on witnessing miracles. The people of Jerusalem witnessed and testified of many miracles that they saw Jesus Christ perform and yet He was still crucified for what He believed in. We are not to sit in judgement in condemning another’s faith or way of life. That is left up to God to decide. I hope that I haven’t offended anyone with this post. If I do please forgive me. I respect everyone’s opinions but I am tired of reading someone’s article or posting condemning my faith and showing  “evidence” why my faith in God is wrong and false.

I found this article the other day. From the article: “What we found is the only hematite mine, a type of iron also known as ochre, recorded in South America prior to the Spanish conquest. This discovery demonstrates that iron ores were important to ancient Andean civilizations.” Although this does not prove the Book of Mormon is true, it is another piece of the puzzle to resolve the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. I find it interesting that archaeologists have for years said that there were no ancient iron ore mines in the New World and iron was not used here. And this article is from a non-LDS archaeologist. So, if there is one mine in Peru could there be others out there that we haven’t found, yet? Here is another article from a non-Mormon source about copper mining in Michigan. The dating of some of the sites was made well after Joseph Smith died. It was only speculation during his time that the copper was mined anciently. This is from the Book of Mormon:

1. Mosiah 11: 3, 8

     3 And he laid a tax of one fifth part of all they possessed, a fifth part of their gold and of their silver, and a fifth part of their ziff, and of their copper, and of their brass and their iron; and a fifth part of their fatlings; and also a fifth part of all their grain.
         •  •  •

     8 And it came to pass that king Noah built many elegant and spacious buildings; and he ornamented them with fine work of wood, and of all manner of precious things, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of brass, and of ziff, and of copper;
2. Ether 10: 23

     23 And they did work in all manner of ore, and they did make gold, and silver, and iron, and brass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth; wherefore, they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did work all manner of fine work.
3. Jarom 1: 8

     8 And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceedingly rich in ^agold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine workmanship of wood, in buildings, and in ^cmachinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manner of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war—yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war.

And here is another article that talks about metal coins and the 1000 year smelting history of the Incas.  And again from a non-LDS source. It wouldn’t be to hard to figure out that if they can smelt metals for coins and jewelry why not for weapons? The Incans were a waring nation who came from the north into South America. Where did they learn to do these things? And I wonder where Joseph Smith got the strange idea that Native Americans in the New World could smelt metal ores. I also wonder if there were any books written at that time and in the local libraries that said specifically that the Native Americans in South America and elsewhere smelted metal and mined iron ore, at least for jewelry or coinage.  Any iron or steel artifacts would disintegrate in a wet climate. As far as I know there was not much explorations done in South America prior to 1800 and archaeology was just beginning to be started. According to the article, this is the first time an iron ore mine has ever been found. So, where did Joseph Smith get his information from? Was it a best guess?
Before anyone starts condemning the Book of Mormon and say that it is just a work of fiction consider for once that maybe this is a true record of an ancient people. Let us wait and see what else non-Mormon archaeologists could find to support Joseph Smith and the LDS Church claims on the Book of Mormon.

I have decided to put aside researching the Mentinah Archives for now and concentrate more on my map of Nephite migrations until I can get more information on them. The Archives gave me some new ideas on how and where the Nephites settled in the United States. I forgot about the Anasazi ruins and numerous artifacts found in Utah that suggests an advanced culture lived there. So, I adjusted my map to reflect on these discoveries. You can view it here.

I believe one of the reasons why there would be two locations for Nephite settlements is that God wanted to re-establish His Church and His people on this land. There is only two general areas that can support large populations–the lands east of the Mississippi river and the lands west of the Rocky Mountains including the west coast. In Alma 63:4,5, there are two groups that went into the lands northward. One was a company of 5400 families. I believe they settled in the southwest. The other group is Hagoth’s ships. The scripture says he travel in the west sea by a narrow neck of land. There is only one place where he could have done this from Zarahemla and that is the northern coast of Mexico. There is an archaeological site that was discovered on the north end of Lake Mead that dates to around the first century that is called the Lost City. I have also read that there were many other sites in the Grand Canyon area that was destroyed by Lake Meade. Could it be possible that Hagoth traveled up the Colorado River as suggested in the Book of Hagoth in the Archives and started colonies there? Then after he did this would travel across the Pacific to settle the south sea islands. (The Book of Hagoth says that he had a son named Hagoth who left before his father did and became lost during a storm and landed on a group of islands.) Most migrations takes place along rivers where there is plenty of water and food. There might be other ruins in the lower Colorado river area that date to this time. I found this site that also suggests that Nephites settled in the Utah mountains. This site is the best I have seen so far of a gallery of photographs that suggests a high level of technology in Utah. Metal plates, swords and stone boxes. These were all used by the Nephites. The Utah valleys would be an excellent place to store records and give protection to the people. A part of my theory on why the Nephites migrated north was to escape the wars and the corruption of the Church in Zarahemla. From the time Lehi settled in South America the Nephites were being pushed north by the Lamanites. They would settle in an area for a while then become over run by Lamanites and corruption in the Church and then a small group of righteous Nephites would leave and start new. According to the Book of Mormon the Nephites in Zarahemla were becoming a very corrupt and evil nation just before the coming of Christ. So, I believe that God wanted to preserve the Church and records and sent groups of righteous Nephites into the lands north into the United States. What better place for protection than in the mountains of Utah where they could be naturally protected on three sides. By using Hagoth’s ships a colony could be set up quicker than overland routes. I believe that God wanted the east coast to be settled also in case the mountain colony would become corrupted and the Church and records could be again saved from destruction. It says in Alma 63 that copies of the records were sent to all the cities except where Alma was commanded not to send them. So, there would be libraries of records found throughout the United States and Central America and Joseph Smith may have been allowed to see one of these to return the Mormon Plates in upstate New York. The grasslands between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains is a great barrier between the two colonies that would discourage large scale wars to happen.

This is the basics of my theory on the Book of Mormon geography. It’s all speculation, I know, but I believe this to be closest to what the Book of Mormon teaches us about the Nephite Nation. This is a fun and challenging project for me and I hope I can inspire someone to take a closer look into my ideas and do a better researched article on this subject. More to come…

I apologize for not writing much lately. I have done some research into the Mentinah Records Of the Nemenhah Tribe of Utah. I have to admit that I was at first skeptical that these records are real simply because the LDS Church or anyone else have not publicly declared them to be authentic. After reading a few books from these archives I have not found anything that contradicts the doctrines of the Church and there are a few things that are culturally different from what we believe today. Even if they turn out to be, a least in part, fictional there are a lot of lessons that can be learned from these books. The main point that I have learned so far is to seek the Holy Spirit in all things, including confirmation on whether these records are true or not. It says in the introduction of each book to seek the Holy Spirit and ask Him for guidance and truth when reading the archives. This is taught often in the LDS Church and is one of the keys that is used to know whether the Book of Mormon is true or not. I have been told in an e-mail with the publisher of the archives to treat these records exactly the same as the Book of Mormon. How did I know the Book of Mormon is a true account of an ancient people in the New World? I read and prayed about it and I received an answer that it was true. There is a lot to go through in these archives and eventually I will read everything but from what I have read so far I believe these records are a true account of the Nemenhah people. These records fills in some of the the gaps in the Book of Mormon relating to spirituality, temple worship, and the general history of the Nephite people. These records are not meant to replace the Book of Mormon but as a supplement to those whose believe them to be true.

I am posting my thoughts on these records in this blog because they so far support my idea of Nephite migrations into the United States. I hope to get to the point of bridging the gap between these records and the Book of Mormon so that people of all faiths can enjoy the lessons taught in both of these records.   I will post more on these records later on and talk about what I have learned.

Just a word of warning, though, before posting comments. I will respect everyone’s opinion in this matter but I will not tolerate hateful comments and anyone condemning my faith or anyone else’s. I expect everyone to be civil in posting or else it will be deleted.  I only am expressing my opinion and thoughts on these records and they do not reflect the position of the LDS Church or anyone else’s. Thank you.

I just created this map. I will update when time allows.

My map.

In my last post, I mentioned the Hagoth may have been from Japheth’s line. After looking more into this I decided to take him off the map and changed some things on the map. This is all will will say about this map for now. I want to get back to my original topic and talk about the Nephite migrations.

On this post, I will be talk about the map I created showing the descendants of Noah’s three sons returning to North America before Christ.

Click on map for larger view.

There are many reports that show that various groups of people from the Old World settled in the New World.  Although some these claims are disputed among archaeologists and historians there is still an element of truth to these claims. Why would someone who found an artifact make up information on what he believes to be an Egyptian, Viking, etc. artifact? To gain a good reputation or publicity? Most of the time this failed but a few artifacts still are a mystery even among archaeologists, whether they would admit to it or not. How would you explain the Hebrew inscriptions found in New Mexico that have been proven to be hundreds of years old? This is just one example of many artifacts that have been found here in the US and throughout the New World that have remained a mystery. There seemed to be 3 basic groups of artifacts that date to around the time of Christ or before that have been found in the New World based on written reports. Asian, Semitic, and Egyptian/Phoenician with a few Roman and Greek artifacts thrown in. I have found some reports that date back before 1800 that talk about Jews arriving in the New World and reports on Native American legends that talk about their people coming from the  lands across the great waters either east or west. Why would these reporters fabricate such stories for the government especially Native American legends?  I created this map and  my other map on my home page based on these reports, the Book of Mormon,  general knowledge of world history, and archaeological discoveries. Whether you believe in the Book of Mormon or not these maps would work even with just archaeological discoveries and general history. I personally believe the Book of Mormon is a true account of early New World history and is the source of my faith in Christ. I believe the Book of Mormon confirms these discoveries. This map in this post shows different groups of people arriving in the New World and their relationship to one of the sons of Noah. I got the idea when I was looking up information about the sons of Noah from this Wikipedia article. When I was reading this article, the Nephite migrations suddenly came into my mind. It suddenly occurred to me to look closer at the key people who led these migrations. After the flood, Noah’s sons moved their families to different parts of the world. Japheth went to the Orient, Ham went to Egypt, and Shem settled in the Mesopotamia area.  One map I created used the Hopi swastika to map out their general migration routes and so I added these sons to the map. Only now I had to figure out who goes where. Lehi was the founder of the Nephite nation, Mulek was the founder of Zarahemla and Hagoth sailed north and settled the west coast of the United States. Lehi we know was a Jew whose line is from Shem. Mulek possibly brought Egyptians or Phoenicians with him whose line is from Ham(I believe that Mulek may have used Phoenician ships and crews to bring him here). Not much is known about Hagoth but if the pattern is right he would be descended from Japheth. There is a lot of research claiming that Asiatic people came over the land bridge many hundreds of years ago and that a few groups of these people possibly came over in ships and settled along the west coast, from Alaska to South America. This might be the Jaredites. This would explain why certain Native American features look Asian. As far as the Phoenician aspect is concerned, there has been what some researchers claim to be Phoenician ports and artifacts found in Brazil and eastern US and that the Nephites in Zarahemla had shipping, according to the Book of Mormon. The Jewish line is found in reports of bearded statues of men and caves in Ecuador filled with records on gold plates, chariots, and other Old World artifacts plus we have the Book of Mormon for those who believe it to be a true account of early American history. Nephites are believed to have introduced writing and advanced farming among other things to the New World.

I believe all three groups of people came together in Central America and over time mixed and became one people. Just before Christ was crucified and cities and lands were destroyed in the New World this mixed group migrated north and settled in central US and became a new people for a time. I believe that this may have God’s master plan on returning his people back to the US where Adam’s family originally lived. God is very well organized and would not haphazardly move people around.

More to come…