I am indebted to Mayaphile Ryan Williams for information that led to this research.
Kaqchikel Chronicles: The Definitive Edition, with translation and exegesis by Judith M. Maxwell and Robert M. Hill II (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006) is a 771 page (Part 1 Introduction and Linguistic Commentary 80 pages, Part 2 The Chronicles 691 pages) book of mytho-historical narratives from highland Guatemala. The largest text in the collection, the Xajil Chronicle aka Anales de los Xahil, was written in Kaqchikel, a Mayan dialect, using Latin characters by Francisco Hernandez Arana Xajila in 1571, He was copying from an earlier indigenous and probably pictorial source no longer extant. Adrian Recinos published a translation called Annals of the Cakchiquels in Spanish (Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1950) and English (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1953) bundled with the K'iche'Title of the Lords of Totonicapan. In 1992 native Kaqchikel linguists, U.S. Kaqchikel linguists and anthropologists collaborated at a University of Texas Maya Hieroglyphic Workshop to re-translate a portion of the text. The 2006 publication resulted from their efforts.
This post will explore many ways the Kaqchikel Chronicles correspond with the Book of Mormon, aka Mormon's Codex: An Ancient American Book (John L. Sorenson's apt terminology).
1. The Kaqchikel Chronicles were originally in Kaqchikel, a post-classic Mesoamerican language, recorded in Latin characters, then translated by scholars into various European languages beginning in 1855. The Book of Mormon was originally in an unknown Mormon 9:34 pre-classic Mesoamerican language with Hebrew roots Mormon 9:33. For a known Mesoamerican language with some demonstrated Hebrew roots, see the blog article "Uto-Aztecan." The Book of Mormon was recorded in reformed Egyptian characters Mormon 9:32. For a powerful demonstration of significant Egyptian influence on the Olmec, read Stephen C. Compton's book Exodus Lost described in a previous blog aritcle. The Book of Mormon was translated with divine aid into Early Modern English (see the blog article "Early Modern English") by unlettered 24-year-old Joseph Smith Jr. and published in 1830. It has since been translated in whole or in part into 113 languages, one of which is Kaqchikel.
2. The precontact Kaqchikel were divided into two groups, a western polity centered on Iximche just south of modern Tecpan, Chimaltenango, Guatemala and an eastern polity centered on Mixco Viejo, Chimaltenango, about 31 kilometers NW of modern Guatemala City. Both Iximche and Mixco Viejo are in what we consider to be the greater land of Nephi in the Book of Mormon's land southward, although neither site existed in Nephite times. The principal settlement in the greater land of Nephi we believe was Kaminaljuyu, now part of urban Guatemala City.
3. The documents that make up the chronicles are clearly lineage-centric, focused on the Kaqchikel. Information about the K'iche' and other rival groups is included only as details relate to the Kaqchikel. Heroic origin narratives include others as a way of explaining their existence, but the protagonists are ancestral Kaqchikel. The Book of Mormon is a lineage history focused on the Nephites. Heroic origin narratives mention Lamanites and others, but always from the point of view of the Nephite record-keepers who cast themselves as the good guys.
4. The documents that make up the chronicles come from several genres: origin myth, heroic narrative including military actions, continuous year-count annals, genealogies, tribute lists and court records. The Book of Mormon has all of these and more, including sermons, missionary journals, epistles, etc. Mosiah 7:22 and Mosiah 19:15 are tribute lists. The terrific book The Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon describes Nephite jurisprudential process, including formal court proceedings. Ether 10:31 is one of many elite genealogies in the text. Alma 63:7-9 is a classic year-count annal. Approximately one-eighth of Mormon's abridgement is all about war. 1 Nephi 18 is a fine example of heroic narrative. Even in the first generation, Laman and Lemuel considered their dynastic founding narrative a myth 1 Nephi 2:11.
5. Females are scarce in the pages of the Kaqchikel Chronicles, as they are in the Book of Mormon.
6. The Kaqchikel revered Tollan or Tula as a faraway place of pre-eminent political power and cultural influence. Nobles received investiture of authority in Tollan. Lowland Maya epigraphy depicts Tollan as a place of cattails. First Teotihuacan, then Toltec Tula Hidalgo with its eastern counterpart, Chichen Itza, and finally Aztec Tenochtitlan all played the role of Tollan in their era.
We correlate the Book of Mormon city of Jacobugath 3 Nephi 9:9 with Teotihuacan. It was in the northern extremity of Nephite terra cognita 3 Nephi 7:12-13 far beyond Nephite or Lamanite political control. The Nephite far north was a land of lakes and rivers Alma 50:29, Helaman 3:4.
Lake Chapala in Jalisco is modern Mexico's largest at 1,100 square kilometers. Lovely Lake Catemaco in the Tuxtlas has a surface area of 74 square kilometers. The largest lake system in Mexico in Book of Mormon times was in the valley where Mexico City sits today. Lake Chalco to the southeast, Lake Xochimilco to the southwest, Lake Texcoco in the middle, Lake Xaltocan to the northeast and Lake Zumpango to the northwest had a combined surface area exceeding 1,400 square kilometers. These were shallow lakes with many islands. Tenochtitlan was on an island in Lake Texcoco. Tula Hidalgo was 33 air kilometers to the NW. The Avenue of the Dead in Teotihuacan was 8 air kilometers to the East. Iximche was about 1,000 air kilometers distant. No rivers are shown in the central Mexican portion of the map above, not because they do not exist, but because it is very tedious to plot rivers as paths in Google Earth and our efforts have been spent in the core Book of Mormon area.
7. Monarchs preserve crown jewels as symbols of legitimacy. The Kaqchikel were no different. Their kingly regalia included gem stones, precious metals, feathers and weapons of war. Nephite crown jewels, passed down dynastic lines, included records on precious metal plates, the Liahona, the sword of Laban Mosiah 1:16 and the gem stone interpreters Mosiah 8:13, Mosiah 28:13-16.
8. The Kaqchikel were organized into:
10.
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| Kaqchikel Chronicles Published by UT Austin |
This post will explore many ways the Kaqchikel Chronicles correspond with the Book of Mormon, aka Mormon's Codex: An Ancient American Book (John L. Sorenson's apt terminology).
1. The Kaqchikel Chronicles were originally in Kaqchikel, a post-classic Mesoamerican language, recorded in Latin characters, then translated by scholars into various European languages beginning in 1855. The Book of Mormon was originally in an unknown Mormon 9:34 pre-classic Mesoamerican language with Hebrew roots Mormon 9:33. For a known Mesoamerican language with some demonstrated Hebrew roots, see the blog article "Uto-Aztecan." The Book of Mormon was recorded in reformed Egyptian characters Mormon 9:32. For a powerful demonstration of significant Egyptian influence on the Olmec, read Stephen C. Compton's book Exodus Lost described in a previous blog aritcle. The Book of Mormon was translated with divine aid into Early Modern English (see the blog article "Early Modern English") by unlettered 24-year-old Joseph Smith Jr. and published in 1830. It has since been translated in whole or in part into 113 languages, one of which is Kaqchikel.
2. The precontact Kaqchikel were divided into two groups, a western polity centered on Iximche just south of modern Tecpan, Chimaltenango, Guatemala and an eastern polity centered on Mixco Viejo, Chimaltenango, about 31 kilometers NW of modern Guatemala City. Both Iximche and Mixco Viejo are in what we consider to be the greater land of Nephi in the Book of Mormon's land southward, although neither site existed in Nephite times. The principal settlement in the greater land of Nephi we believe was Kaminaljuyu, now part of urban Guatemala City.
3. The documents that make up the chronicles are clearly lineage-centric, focused on the Kaqchikel. Information about the K'iche' and other rival groups is included only as details relate to the Kaqchikel. Heroic origin narratives include others as a way of explaining their existence, but the protagonists are ancestral Kaqchikel. The Book of Mormon is a lineage history focused on the Nephites. Heroic origin narratives mention Lamanites and others, but always from the point of view of the Nephite record-keepers who cast themselves as the good guys.
4. The documents that make up the chronicles come from several genres: origin myth, heroic narrative including military actions, continuous year-count annals, genealogies, tribute lists and court records. The Book of Mormon has all of these and more, including sermons, missionary journals, epistles, etc. Mosiah 7:22 and Mosiah 19:15 are tribute lists. The terrific book The Legal Cases in the Book of Mormon describes Nephite jurisprudential process, including formal court proceedings. Ether 10:31 is one of many elite genealogies in the text. Alma 63:7-9 is a classic year-count annal. Approximately one-eighth of Mormon's abridgement is all about war. 1 Nephi 18 is a fine example of heroic narrative. Even in the first generation, Laman and Lemuel considered their dynastic founding narrative a myth 1 Nephi 2:11.
5. Females are scarce in the pages of the Kaqchikel Chronicles, as they are in the Book of Mormon.
6. The Kaqchikel revered Tollan or Tula as a faraway place of pre-eminent political power and cultural influence. Nobles received investiture of authority in Tollan. Lowland Maya epigraphy depicts Tollan as a place of cattails. First Teotihuacan, then Toltec Tula Hidalgo with its eastern counterpart, Chichen Itza, and finally Aztec Tenochtitlan all played the role of Tollan in their era.
We correlate the Book of Mormon city of Jacobugath 3 Nephi 9:9 with Teotihuacan. It was in the northern extremity of Nephite terra cognita 3 Nephi 7:12-13 far beyond Nephite or Lamanite political control. The Nephite far north was a land of lakes and rivers Alma 50:29, Helaman 3:4.
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| Kaqchikel Iximche and Likely Tollan Sites |
7. Monarchs preserve crown jewels as symbols of legitimacy. The Kaqchikel were no different. Their kingly regalia included gem stones, precious metals, feathers and weapons of war. Nephite crown jewels, passed down dynastic lines, included records on precious metal plates, the Liahona, the sword of Laban Mosiah 1:16 and the gem stone interpreters Mosiah 8:13, Mosiah 28:13-16.
8. The Kaqchikel were organized into:
- Chinamit which recent research indicates was a territorial rather than kin unit. These were villages, towns or cities. Founding lineages enjoyed elite status within their chinamit.
- Amaq' which was a close alliance of continguous chinamits. These were regional polities. One of its chinamits was dominant in each amaq'. An amaq' retained its identity and political structure even when its inhabitants migrated en masse to another location.
- Winaq which was a confederation of Amaq's. The best English translation is "people" or "nation."
- Villages, towns and cities Mosiah 27:6, Alma 23:14, Mormon 5:5. These local polities honored their founders Alma 8:7.
- Lands which were allied contiguous cities. These regional polities had principal cities of the same name Mosiah 23:20, Alma 8:18. The people of Ammon in the land of Jershon migrated en masse to the land of Melek Alma 35:13. Residents of the land of Morianton attempted to move as a group to the land northward Alma 50:25-36.
- The Nephites used both "nation" and "people" to describe their confederation Moroni 8:27.
10.