Kaminaljuyu (KJ), A-List candidate for the city of Nephi, was the largest and most important site in the Maya highlands during Book of Mormon times. It was located precisely where modern Guatemala City stands today. In 1983, utility crews excavating at the corner of 30th Avenue and 6th Street in Zone 7 found the large stone sculpture known as Monument 65. Archaeologists date it to ca. 150 BC. It depicts 3 rulers, each flanked by captives in postures of humiliation and defeat. This is the top of the stone.
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KJ Monument 65 Top, Museo Nacional
Photo by Kirk Magleby, Dec. 27, 2015 |
And this is the bottom of the stone with different light,
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KJ Monument 65 Bottom, Museo Nacional
Photo by Kirk Magleby, Dec. 27, 2015 |
Possible Book of Mormon correspondences are obvious:
- If KJ is Nephi, then the location of this artifact is relevant.
- King Noah reigned in Nephi ca. 150 BC, so the date of this artifact is relevant.
- The scene depicts 3 rulers seated on benches or thrones. The text describes a throne for King Noah Mosiah 11:9 and seats for his priests Mosiah 11:11.
- The center right captive wears a large belt, girdle, or loin cloth around his waist. Lamanites in King Zeniff's era wore leathern girdles about their loins Mosiah 10:8.
- The captives' hands are bound. Captives were brought bound to King Noah Mosiah 12:9 and King Limhi Mosiah 7:7-8.
- The captives have been stripped of their clothes. Captives in the greater land of Nephi ca. 90 BC were stripped naked Alma 20:29.
The most curious iconographic features on this stone are the 3 small circles just in front of the rulers' noses and upper lips. Other KJ sculpted pieces from this same late pre-classic time period also have the small circles just in front of rulers' noses and lips. Stela 10 has 2 examples. Stela 10 was found in situ by archaeologists. It dates to the Miraflores/Verbena phase ca. 200 - 1 BC.
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| KJ Stela 10 Drawing with Small Circles on Upper Left & Lower Figures |
This is a closeup of the upper left figure showing the small circle just in front of his nose and upper lip.
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KJ Stela 10 Detail, Museo Nacional
Photo by Kirk Magleby, Dec. 27, 2015 |
We see the same thing on KJ Stela 11 which dates to the late pre-classic ca. 200 BC - AD 250.
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| KJ Stela 11 Drawing by Linda Schele |
This is a closeup of the man in the mask. He has a small circle just in front of his nose and upper lip.
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KJ Stela 11 Detail, Museo Nacional
Photo by Kirk Magleby, Dec. 27, 2015 |
About 190 kilometers west of KJ is the allied site of Takalik Abaj (TA). The best-known sculpture piece from TA is Stela 5, carved in AD 126 to commemorate the transfer of power from one ruler to another, likely from father to son. The scene depicts the two rulers flanking a double column of hieroglyphs.
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| TA Stela 5 Drawing |
This closeup photo shows both rulers with a small circle just in front of their noses and upper lips.
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| TA Stela 5 Detail |
Clearly, small circles in front of elite faces was a stylistic convention in the Guatemalan highlands in the late pre-classic. We also find the motif in the lowlands at this same time period. This is a drawing of the accession scaffold from San Bartolo (SB) dated to ca. 100 BC. Mark Wright draws parallels between this scene and the coronation of King Mosiah
2 on a tower as described in
Mosiah 2:7. See his 2014 article "
Axes Mundi: Ritual Complexes in Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon" in
Interpreter.
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SB Accession Scaffold Mural Drawing, Museo Nacional
Photo by Kirk Magleby, Dec. 27, 2015 |
This scene depicts power being transferred form the ruler on the left to the ruler on the right who sits atop a scaffold with quincunx symbols at the joints. Both figures show the small circle just in front of their noses and upper lips. One other interesting detail about San Bartolo: the principal investigator at this site is William Saturno of Harvard's Peabody Museum. Saturno has been partially funded by the Leon & Randie Reinhart family, LDS membes from Southern California who have also supported John L. Sorenson's work.
La Mojarra Stela 1 has a clear example of a small circle just in front of an elite figure's nose and mouth.This monument, discovered in 1986 near the Olmec site of Tres Zapotes, contains the dates AD 143 and AD 156. The original is on display in the Museo de Antropologia in Xalapa, Veracruz.
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| La Mojarra Stela 1 Drawing by George Stuart |
This is a closeup of La Mojarra Stela 1.
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| La Mojarra Stela 1 Detail |
El Baul Stela 1 has another good example. The figure looking down from the heavens has a small circle just in front of his nose and upper lip. This monument contains the date AD 37.
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| El Baul Stela 1 Drawing |
This is a closeup of the figure looking down from above.
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| El Baul Stela 1 Detail |
A similar scene is depicted on La Venta Stela 3 dated prior to 400 BC. The upper right celestial figure has a small circle in front of his nose and mouth.
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| La Venta Stela 3 Photo & Drawing |
Middle pre-classic La Venta Stela 13 has the same motif.
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| La Venta Stela 13 Drawing |
This bearded figure with plumed headdress, beaded necklace, and tasseled sandals, has a small circle immediately in front of his nose and upper lip.
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| La Venta Stela 13 Photo of Basalt Sculpture |
We have now seen examples of this small circle motif on 8 sculpted monuments and 1 painted mural from 6 different pre-classic sites. This iconographic representation continues into the classic period, Examples are known, for example, from Palenque, Tikal and Copan.
We now turn our attention to the meaning of this small circle symbol. Our interpretive models will come from the pre-classic site of Izapa and the text of the Book of Mormon.
