Dave Gray of Warwick, Queensland, Australia was my roommate for 10 days recently while we wandered around Guatemala as part of a tour group led by Mark Wright. After Guatemala, I promptly returned home and went back to work. Dave was able to go to Austin, Texas and attend the 2016 Maya Meetings. He told me about an important doctoral dissertation written by Lucia Ross Henderson in 2013 at UT Austin. Entitled Bodies Politic, Bodies in Stone: Imagery of the Human and the Divine in the Sculpture of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Her dissertation committee included such luminaries as David Stuart (UT Austin), Julia Guernsey (UT Austin), Barbara Arroyo (Proyecto Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala City), and Karl Taube (UC Riverside). Henderson's dissertation has proven so insightful in the last couple of weeks I decided to lay out the points of tangency (John L. Sorenson calls them "correspondences") I see between her interpretations of life in and around Kaminaljuyu and my interpretations of life described in the text of the Book of Mormon.
Kaminaljuyu may be the city of Nephi. The January, 2016 Book of Mormon Lands Map makes this correlation, as do maps by John L. Sorenson (1985, 2013), Joseph L. Allen (1989, 2008), V. Garth Norman (2006), Clate W. Mask, Jr. (unpublished), and Shelby Saberon (unpublished).
When trying to reconstruct the past, texts are the most useful because they describe people, places, artifacts and belief systems in some sort of context. Art is the next most useful because it depicts people, places, artifacts and belief systems in some sort of context. Material remains (artifacts) are less useful because their relationship to people, places and belief systems is subject to modern interpretation and contexts can be difficult to establish. Fortunately for our present purpose we have a remarkably rich ancient American text (the Book of Mormon), significant art from Kaminaljuyu and allied sites such as Takalik Abaj and Izapa, and decades of archaeological investigation carried out in spite of inexorable encroachment from urban Guatemala City.
Citations reference Henderson's 773 page dissertation unless otherwise indicated. Kaminaljuyu is abbreviated "KJ" for convenience. One of my assumptions about the Book of Mormon text is that "Lehi-Nephi," a politically correct term used only during the reigns of Zeniff, Noah and Limhi, was otherwise called simply "Nephi."
1. p. xi KJ reached apogee in the late preclassic (300 BC - AD 250). This matches up well with Book of Mormon chronology.
2. p. xi KJ was the largest and most influential site in the Maya highlands. Nephi was the chief city in its environs Alma 47:20.
3. p. xi KJ was in the highlands. One went up to the land of Nephi from Zarahemla Mosiah 7:1, and from the wilderness between Zarahemla and Nephi Mosiah 7:4.
4. p. xi Human sacrifice was known to the people of KJ. Human sacrifice was known to Book of Mormon peoples Mormon 4:14.
5. p. xi A god known to science as the Principal Bird Deity (PBD) was revered at KJ. Jesus Christ was described in the Book of Mormon with avian characteristics 2 Nephi 25:13.
6. p. xi Water represented deity at KJ. Water represented deity in the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 11:25.
7. p. xi Wind represented deity at KJ. Wind represented deity in the Book of Mormon Ether 2:24.
8. p. xi Public performances at KJ were auditory phenomena. Book of Mormon peoples gathered to hear their king Mosiah 2:6.
9. p. xii Rulers in KJ wore costumes. Apparel was important in Zeniff's Nephi Mosiah 10:5.
10. p. xii KJ was ruled by kings. Nephi was ruled by kings Mosiah 7:9.
11. p. xii Kings in KJ were sustained by the supernatural and the divine. Nephite kings were sustained by the divine Mosiah 8:14.
Kaminaljuyu may be the city of Nephi. The January, 2016 Book of Mormon Lands Map makes this correlation, as do maps by John L. Sorenson (1985, 2013), Joseph L. Allen (1989, 2008), V. Garth Norman (2006), Clate W. Mask, Jr. (unpublished), and Shelby Saberon (unpublished).
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| Kaminaljuyu Mound Surrounded by Modern Guatemala City Photo by Kirk Magleby Dec. 27, 2015 |
Citations reference Henderson's 773 page dissertation unless otherwise indicated. Kaminaljuyu is abbreviated "KJ" for convenience. One of my assumptions about the Book of Mormon text is that "Lehi-Nephi," a politically correct term used only during the reigns of Zeniff, Noah and Limhi, was otherwise called simply "Nephi."
1. p. xi KJ reached apogee in the late preclassic (300 BC - AD 250). This matches up well with Book of Mormon chronology.
2. p. xi KJ was the largest and most influential site in the Maya highlands. Nephi was the chief city in its environs Alma 47:20.
3. p. xi KJ was in the highlands. One went up to the land of Nephi from Zarahemla Mosiah 7:1, and from the wilderness between Zarahemla and Nephi Mosiah 7:4.
4. p. xi Human sacrifice was known to the people of KJ. Human sacrifice was known to Book of Mormon peoples Mormon 4:14.
5. p. xi A god known to science as the Principal Bird Deity (PBD) was revered at KJ. Jesus Christ was described in the Book of Mormon with avian characteristics 2 Nephi 25:13.
6. p. xi Water represented deity at KJ. Water represented deity in the Book of Mormon 1 Nephi 11:25.
7. p. xi Wind represented deity at KJ. Wind represented deity in the Book of Mormon Ether 2:24.
8. p. xi Public performances at KJ were auditory phenomena. Book of Mormon peoples gathered to hear their king Mosiah 2:6.
9. p. xii Rulers in KJ wore costumes. Apparel was important in Zeniff's Nephi Mosiah 10:5.
10. p. xii KJ was ruled by kings. Nephi was ruled by kings Mosiah 7:9.
11. p. xii Kings in KJ were sustained by the supernatural and the divine. Nephite kings were sustained by the divine Mosiah 8:14.