Book of mormon archaeology in north america wayne may. Many instances of human sacrifices are found in ancient writers, which may be compared with the description of the old testament of the manner in which molech was worshipped. In addition, sites and artifacts are also provided that give additional indirect support to the book of mormon story, such as evidence associated with other precolumbian hebrew travelers to the american continents. South african bom translation story making the rounds. There have been writing, artifacts found from north america. The book of mormon also introduces us to a much earlier culture known as the jaredites who left babylonia sometime between the 19 th and 20 th centuries bc from the tower of babel. Book of mormon cities have been found, they are well known, and their artifacts grace the finest museums. Critics of the book of mormon often point to apparent problems with plants and animals as evidence of fraud from joseph smith. Archaeology, relics, and book of mormon belief book of. Some of the first steel comes from east africa, dating back to 1400 bc. I served a mission in south africa from 1971 to 1973. Proposed book of mormon geographical setting wikipedia.
A popular traditional view among many latterday saint faithful covers much of north and south america. See more ideas about book of mormon, bible mapping and native american history. Many have doubted the book of mormon as an historical account because it mentions ancient americas inhabitants having wrought implements of iron. How a mormon lawyer transformed archaeology in mexicoand. Archaeologists unearthed stone artifacts including hand axes, flakes and other tools near the town of kathu in northern cape province, south africa. Religious studies center, brigham young university, 1988, 187205. Book of mormon archaeology is real, authentic, scientifically researched, a proven fact.
The body is sharply carinated with long rounded spout and pinched handle, the shoulder decorated with a palm design, and the base with a palm frond within concentric circles, ridges toward the back and geometric designs before. Why does the book of mormon talk of horses, metal, cows, etc when these did not come to new world until after 1492. Hebrew in america many years before the white man book. Artifacts in africa suggest an earlier modern human the. The earliest artifacts thought to be hafted projectiles i. Based on the calculations made using the dolerite erosion rate, it is probably between 160,000 and 200,000 years old. Have any artifacts from the book of mormon been found. The main story of the jaredites can be found in the book of ether. Illuminating the credibility of the book of mormon through archaeological photographs.
This giant print book of mormon features 14 point type print. Countless items validating the existence of alexander exist because his troops left them scattered in. Pages in category book of mormon artifacts the following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total. Even the nephite script has been found on stella and seals. Book of mormon artifacts and metallurgy life after ministry. Wayne may presents book of mormon evidence in north american geography, archaeology and historical records. Book of mormon evidence in american archaeology wayne may.
The book of mormon claims that jewish ancestry formed the majority of precolumbian inhabitants of america. New, more precise carbon dating of artifacts found in south africa, such as poisontipped arrows or ostrich eggs, have been found to be 44,000yearold. One early account describes tapirs found in the jungles of central and south america as beasts that be as big as an ox or a cow and be of great color. He listed a halfdozen languages he tried, all of which did not accommodate the strange sentence structure found in the book of mormon. Each pointer on the map can be opened clicked on to obtain information regarding the specific site, artifact, or other. The phoenicia ship expedition hidden north american. Precolumbian america this is a wonderful site with a lot of information, and some unusual things as well, worth a look, from ancient travelers to the americas to small artifacts found in south america that resemble air planes, and more. The book of mormon does not say that all the natives in the new world were either lamanites or nephites. A few of the copies of the 1841 book of mormon, the first to be published in england, were engraved with the names of early church leaders and their wives. On this page, we will focus on the issue of warfare in particular, where longheld scholarly opinions and the book of mormon have clashed until recently. Three big historical challenges to the book of mormon. The great mosque of djenne in mali is a rare example of islamic desert architecture found in africa. They are merely masked by archaeological labels such as maya, olmec, and so on.
The material below covers the geography of the book of mormon in north america. The branchs fullday annual school symposium, a seminar in which seven speakers participate, is also reported on in full, as are the. Questionable archaeology and the book of mormon by brant gardner in recent years, two very different books have appeared that discuss the place of the book of mormon in the. Claims book of mormon archaeology is based upon scant evidence is deception for the masses. Such civilizations left numerous artifacts in the form of hewn stone ruins, tombs, temples, pyramids, roads, arches, walls, frescos, statues, vases, and coins. Just because no artifacts have been found that support the book of mormon, that is no proof that future artifacts will not be found which verify the book. Nephis descriptions lead us to believe they left the arabian peninsula, probably in modernday oman or yemen. Critics of the book of mormon have argued that there are words and phrases in the book that are anachronistic with archaeological findings.
Twopart presentation at the november 20 vernal, ut book of mormon evidence conference. Ancient biblical coins abound in archeological digs throughout the middle east, yet not one book of mormon coin senum, amnor, ezrom, onti, seon, senine, shum, limnah, shiblon, shiblum, leah, antion has ever been found anywhere. Public gets 1st look at priceless mormon artifacts. The book of mormon puts a number of historical artifacts and cultures in the wrong historical era. Why are there not any archeological artifacts on ancient. Nice carthaginian orangeware terracotta lamp with leaping canine within the discus. Norman totten, categories of evidence for old world contacts with ancient america, in the book of mormon. Ideal for the vision impaired, this easytoread edition includes type larger than standard books and bibles. There is no universal consensus among mormon scholars regarding the placement of these locations in the known world, other than somewhere in the americas. Book of mormon translator converted the mormon urban. How a mormon lawyer transformed archaeology in mexicoand ended up losing his faith. More than 70,000 years ago, people occupied a cave in a high cliff facing the indian ocean at the tip of south africa. Could a ship like this one have reached the americas anciently, was there a trade route between the old lands.
The problem, then, is not that book of mormon artifacts have not been found, only that they have not been recognized for what they are. Ancient coins and artifacts from carthage, north africa. These include portraying a nephite civilization with a metal industry metal swords, breastplates, coinage in mesoamerica despite the fact that the area is known to not have possessed such industry at the time 15. Book of mormon geography watch as wayne may presents the parallels between the geography of the hopewell and adena civilizations and the book of mormon records. He said he finally tried egyptian, and to his complete surprise, he found that the book of mormon translated flawlessly into egyptian, not modern, but. Along with cocreator robert lopez, parker and stone have produced a work of comedic genius that exceeds critical hype and hyperbole. Ancient israelites did come to america over 2400 years ago. The phoenicia ship expedition was to explore circumnavigating africa as their ancestors once did. What researchers and scientists found in south africa. From book of mormon population estimates, it is evident that the civilizations described are comparable in size to the civilizations of ancient egypt, ancient greece, ancient rome, and the maya. Thus, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest a jewish or middleeastern migration to. But the idea of an ancient book hidden up to come forth at a future time no longer seems quite so ridiculous not, at least, to those whove been following the relevant archaeological developments. The hebrew language was found on stones in north america.
Experience a whole new level of visual comfort with this giant print book of mormon. Here it is stated that solomon had a great throne of ivory. Rather than finding supportive evidence for these book of mormon historical claims and artifacts, mormon scholars have been forced to retreat from traditional interpretations of the words and phrases in the book of mormon and have developed unconventional explanations to reconcile these conflicted book of mormon texts with ancient native american artifacts. Earliest bone arrowhead, 61,700 years old, found in south.
Artefacts aims to ensure that the fascinating information provided in about 10 annual evening lectures by the branchs excellent speakers, and the information learnt during about eight or nine oneday and longweekend outings is not lost to posterity. The republic of mali, located in western africa, is the place to find legendary sites as the metropolis of timbuktu, djenne mosque and the. Because of the brevity of the book of mormon text regarding these people, little has been written about them in comparison to the nephites. Lds giant large print book of mormon, reference edition. The book of mormon explains that lehis sailing party left a coastline they named bountiful in the old world.
It can be seen along the bottom of the books spine that this copy belonged to emma smith. Its interesting that the elephant can be found in the book of mormon, but not in the bible. However, an inference to this animal can be found in i kings 10. Categories of evidence for old world contacts with ancient.
Critics have often used the lack of ancient iron artifacts in native america as proof the book of. In 1945, for example, a number of christian manuscripts were found in egypt at nag hammadi, ancient chenoboskion. David wyrick, a licking county surveyor found the artifacts. As with the bible, there are some complex issues that require some exploration. South african and canadian archaeologists have uncovered tens of thousands of earlier stone age artifacts, including hand axes and other tools, estimated to be up to onemillion years old, at a site at the town of kathu in south africas northern cape province. Book of mormon artifacts and metallurgy life after. In one glass case sits a weathered page from the original book of mormon manuscript that. This makes it by far, older than the sumerian civilization.
Cement buildings have been found, as described in the book of mormon. Africanglobe south african and canadian archaeologists have uncovered tens of thousands of earlier stone age artifacts, including hand axes and other tools, estimated to be up to onemillion years old, at a site at the town of kathu in south africas northern cape province. Artifacts hint that modern human culture may have emerged. It was such a huge undertaking in my mind that quite frankly, it scared me. Additional convergences are found in the book of mormon account.
Controversial and outofplace in time metallic spheres from south africa ancient mysteries apr 8, 2017. These relate to artifacts, animal, plant, or technology that critics believe did not exist in the americas during the book of mormon time period before 2500 bc to. Artefacts the south african archaeological society. Another comparison to the book of mormon can be found in alexander the great, who conquered most of the known world in 300 bc contemporary with moroni with 4080,000 troops. The geographical setting of the book of mormon is the set of locations of the events described in the book of mormon. Precolumbian america hidden north american archaeology. Why are there not any archeological artifacts on ancient world of book of mormon as there are on the bible. I have watched more than 20 hours of wayne may book of mormon lecture videos and conversed with both wayne may and rod meldrum in person.