L I critics claim that the Book of Mormon mentions animals outside the environment of a pre-Columbian New World. Cite this as evidence of the errors introduced by Joseph Smith and reveal their fraud. The examples most often targeted include: The ass (donkey)
bees
Cow
Elephant Horse
Silkworms Swine (pigs)
Some fun is also produced at the expense of two unknown animals, whose names have no translation:
cureloms
cumones
IN FIRST PLACE we should not reject the possibility of a "replacement loan", in which the name for a species known is applied to new species. This phenomenon is well established - for example, the Amerindians called 'deer' to the European horses in their first encounter with them. The classic example, of course, is the hippopotamus, the Greek name given to an animal they characterized as "horse (hippo) river (potamus). Those critics who deride should ask how anyone could mistake a hippopotamus with a horse - the answer, of course, is that the Greeks knew perfectly well that the hippo was not a real horse, but the name was imposed.
addition to these considerations, some of the species 'ridiculous' may not be as strange as critics claim
Asses (Donkey)
The only clue to the role of "ass" in Nephite society comes of Mosiah 12:5 and Mosiah 21:3, in which captives are those charges as "dumb ass." Other references are given in 1 Nephi 18:19 and Mosiah 5:14, while Mosiah 13:24 is a quote from the Ten Commandments. "Donkey" has been suggested as a semantic loan tapir, which many have described in terms resolutely equine. [1] [2] may be added that some modern enthusiasts say tapir tapirs inability to grow up in flocks (by not being herd animals, they tend to fight), but "people of the territories maintains tapir native to fatten individual specimens and use them as food, though ... some are quite wild, and others can be extremely dangerous ... They are big, heavy and strong, with powerful jaws and teeth can move very quickly " [3] A recent government report indicates:
The tapir is docile compared with men and therefore their management is relatively easy. An Indian described the tapir as follows: "It's a very social animal. Taken from small one can easily tame it, he knows how to behave around the house will eat up the mountain and then back to sleep close to home. " [4] seems that at least a limited role for the tapir should not excluded from the discussion, either as a food source (The tapir is between 7 and 10% of the diet in rural Amazonia [5] or beast of burden as a potential small-scale (given its strength .) Charles Darwin have noted that tapirs were domesticated in the Americas, but did not tend to breed in captivity [6] This fact could explain the relatively low frequency of their mention in the Book of Mormon.
Bees
Among the alleged anachronisms in the Book of Mormon is the word for "bee" (Ether 2:3 ) ... It should be noted first that the use of "Bees" in the Book of Mormon was produced in the environment of the Old World (Jaredite), and never use it in connection with the New World, so that the dispute could simply end here. "Jaredites bees brought to the New World? We may never know. However, some studies suggest that the bees were known in the archaic New World. Bruce Warren, for example, notes that "there are many references in the Maya region to the existence of bees in ancient times and these references occur in ritual contexts, ie, native or pre-Hispanic." Other scholars of the New World have observed that "there were only honeybees in America but also the old gods of bees and beekeepers ... Honey was considered a real treat for the Indians. Of equal importance was the wax taken from the hives which was often exchanged for other goods " [7]
More information on New World bees in a domestic context can be found in F. Padilla, F. Puerta, JM Flores and M. Bustos, "Bees, Apiculture and the New World," in Archives of zootechnical, 41/154 (1992-extra): 563-567. PDF link
Cows
The term "cattle" is used three times in the Book of Mormon (Ether 9:17-19 ; Enos 1:21 ; 3 Nephi 3:22 ), while the term "cow" is used in two ( Ether 9:18; 1 Nephi 18:25 ). Jaredite Registration is not clear whether "cattle" and "cows" are the same, or "cow" is a subcategory of "cattle" ...
As with many animals in the Book of Mormon, it is likely that these words of the Book of Mormon family names come from reallocating unknown elements .... Miami Indians, for example, were unaware of the buffalo and simply named "wild cow" Similarly, the "explorer DeSoto called the buffalo cow." The Delaware Indians named the cow as the name for deer, and the Miami tribe named the sheep for the first time seeing her as "the-who-is-seems-to-the-cow '" [8] [ 9]
Elephant
The only place where elephants are mentioned in the Book of Mormon in Ether 9:19 approximately 2500 BC Thus any elephants that existed on Americas must necessarily have survived after 2400 BC ... In addition to the traditional, five elephants sphinxes have been found in ancient Mexico. The Dr.Verrill, a well-known archaeologist (non-Mormon) describe one such figures as "surprising and obviously elephantine that can not be explained by any of the ordinary theories that may be an exaggerated tapir, ant-eater or macaw. The figure not only has a trunk but additionally has large leaf-shaped ears and knees that bend forward as peculiar to the elephants. Moreover, it shows a weight or load on his back. It is inconceivable that anyone would have imagined a creature with wings and the peculiar ears knees of an elephant, or that any human being has streamlined a tapir to that end "...
oral traditions, written records and works art showing elephants form a strong basis for the position that elephants existed in ancient America. An even more substantial support - actual remains - has also been discovered. Today, all scholars agree that mastodons and mammoths (elephants unquestionably to zoologists) once lived in the Americas. The existing dispute is how long they lived. According to the Book of Mormon does not necessarily had to live with after 2400 BC. Archaeological evidence of recent years has shown that elephants may have survived until as late as that. Hunted mastodon bones recently discovered in an archaeological site dating from the immediate time after Christ. Another site, dated approximately 100 BC, brought to light the remains of a mammoth, a mastodon and a horse. [10]
Some scholars have suggested that the elephant (mammoth or mastodon) lived much later than previously believed. Ludwell Johnson, in an article entitled "Men and Elephants in Ameera" published in Scientific Monthly, wrote that "the discoveries of human remains with association and proboscis are not at all unusual. For 1950, Mac Cowan listed no less than twenty-seven "including as Hugo Gross said" a mastodon skeleton partly burned and numerous pottery shards in Alangasi, Ecuador ... There can be no doubt that the man and the elephant coexisted in America ... Probably safe to state that the American Proboscidos have been extinct for at least 3000 years. "If the elephants disappeared for at least 3000 years, yet be located within the age range Jaredite. And, as noted above, some evidence indicates that, in limited numbers, the elephant may have survived for several centuries. [11]
To summarize, the elephant is not a problem for the Book of Mormon Horse
As already mentioned, we should not reject the possibility of a "replacement loan" - under this interpretation the candidate species for "horse" would include the tapir, deer. [12]
Anyway, the case against pre-Columbian horses may not be so "ironclad" as critics assume:
Excavations at the site of Mayapan, dating back several centuries before the English arrival, has shown horse bones in four places (two of the lots were shallow so that horses could represent English) De Elsewhere, the cenote (well) Ch'en Mul, came more evidence, this time a firm archaeological context. In the lowest stratum of a sequence of levels of unconsolidated earth almost two meters thick, were found two teeth of a horse. Were partially mineralized, indicating that they were definitely old and could not have come from a English animal. Interestingly, Mayan pottery was also found in the stratified sample where the teeth were. [13]
Some have argued that the remains of a horse should be better established if they played a role in Nephite society. However, it must be remembered horses do not play an important role in the Book of Mormon. They are mentioned in the following contexts: Dating
scriptures of the Old World
2 Nephi 12:7 - Isaiah quote
2 Nephi 15:28 - quote from Isaiah
apocalyptic teachings of the Old World style.
3 Nephi 21:14 - Jesus speaks of "horses and chariots" in a symbolic and apocalyptic.
Horses in the New World
1 Nephi 18:25: found in the land of promise, as we journeyed through the desert ... the horse .. ...
Ether 9:19 - Jaredites had "horses." Used in conjunction with car
Alma 18:9 - feeding the horses Ammon Lamanite king associated with their "cars."
Alma 20:6 - The Lamanite king horse and cart used to visit a neighboring kingdom
3 Nephi 3:22 - The Nephites kept their horses and carts to a central fortified area as protection against thieves
(Note that we are not say whether these cars were used for fitting, or if they were to transport goods, or serving a ceremonial function. One assumes some sort of practicality and the cars are taken to a siege in 3 Nephi)
role in raising
animals Enos 1:21 - the people of Nephi ... raised herds of cattle and flocks of all kinds of cattle and goats and wild goats, and also many horses.
3 Nephi 4:4 - During the siege of the thieves, the Nephites "had been provided with food and horses, and cattle, and flocks of all kinds, to survive for a period of seven years."
3 Nephi 6:1 - After the siege, the Nephites they returned to their lands each carrying their possessions, including "horses and cattle."
is interesting that horses are often grouped with livestock, so it appears to have played a role in the diet (although this might be under the exigencies of the siege of 3 Nephi)
Conspicuously absent is the role of horses in many Travel in the Book of Mormon. Horses and cars do not seem to play a role Nephites in war, that in contrast to the biblical accounts, in which the chariots of Egypt, Babylon and the Philistines are super-feared weapons on the plains of Israel.
not see a role for the gallant horse cavalry charges that were the ideal romantic warrior in the days of Joseph Smith. Nor is there any sign of rapid maneuver warfare and cavalry skirmishes promoted by Western nations. These are the horses of the practical realities of the nineteenth century or its wildest dreams.
There have been societies in which the horse was vital, as the warriors Huns of Asia and Eastern Europe, for whom horses were a sign of wealth and status, and essential for food, clothing and war. However, there are currently no horse bones from that period in the archaeological record. [14]
If the hundreds of thousands of horses owned by the Huns left little or no trace, might not be so surprising that little has been found in America, since the role for the horses in the Book of Mormon is minimal. Ironically, there is more evidence of horses in Mesoamerica between the Huns!
Moreover, "everyone knows" that there were no horses in America before Columbus. Joseph Smith would have understood this common belief. If it was trying to perpetrate a fraud, why include an item that everyone had heard, especially when it plays such a small role in the book?
Pigs
The "pigs" are mentioned twice in the Book of Mormon, one in 3 Nephi 14:6, where the Lord uses the term figuratively, and another in Ether 9:18 where are described as useful for food animals. Some critics have ridiculed the suggestion of the Book of Mormon that pigs were used as food (due to dietary restrictions of the Law of Moses), but it should be noted that the story contained in Ether develops before the Mosaic Law. Other critics have pointed out that the pigs were unknown in the ancient New World ... However, early Americans did have an indigenous pig. The Aztecs called coati, "which basically means glutton" name often applied to the peccary or wild pig. "With regard to the peccary" Sorenson notes, "two words in Nahuatl quahpizotl quauhcoyamet and developed after the conquest to distinguish native pig ..."[ Castilla Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting, 290.] [15]
cureloms and cumoms
Jaredites These names are terms without translation. Have suggested a potential variety of animals such as llamas, alpacas, mastodons, and other mammals of the Pleistocene. [16]
No further information available, one can not consider it a coup against the Book of Mormon. Interestingly, if Joseph Smith was inventing the Book of Mormon, this was a chance to let your imagination run wild, yet no description of the strange beast is given to us (although for the fraudulent production model, it was taken work of naming)
The conclusion
We outline the following tentative conclusions:
Ass - the horse-looking tapir is a possibility. A
Beja - not necessarily in America according to the text, but equally there are examples of pre-Columbian
Vaca - bovine animals (eg buffalo) were present in American Elephant
- was necessary only in the Jaredite, There are both traditional evidence, inscriptions and biological remains that support the Book of Mormon
Horse - there is some evidence, not yet considered final, which suggests it was known least in some parts of Mesoamerica in pre-Columbian times before Christ. There is also ample precedent for naming different animals with common names, and there are other candidates of the New World as deer and tapir .. Silkworms
- present in the New World with other options available for silk clothing. silk
Pigs - there were native species although only registered for use by the Jaredites (which is not surprising, as the Nephites were under the Law of Moses).
addition to these considerations, some of the species 'ridiculous' may not be as strange as critics claim
Asses (Donkey)
The only clue to the role of "ass" in Nephite society comes of Mosiah 12:5 and Mosiah 21:3, in which captives are those charges as "dumb ass." Other references are given in 1 Nephi 18:19 and Mosiah 5:14, while Mosiah 13:24 is a quote from the Ten Commandments. "Donkey" has been suggested as a semantic loan tapir, which many have described in terms resolutely equine. [1] [2] may be added that some modern enthusiasts say tapir tapirs inability to grow up in flocks (by not being herd animals, they tend to fight), but "people of the territories maintains tapir native to fatten individual specimens and use them as food, though ... some are quite wild, and others can be extremely dangerous ... They are big, heavy and strong, with powerful jaws and teeth can move very quickly " [3] A recent government report indicates:
The tapir is docile compared with men and therefore their management is relatively easy. An Indian described the tapir as follows: "It's a very social animal. Taken from small one can easily tame it, he knows how to behave around the house will eat up the mountain and then back to sleep close to home. " [4] seems that at least a limited role for the tapir should not excluded from the discussion, either as a food source (The tapir is between 7 and 10% of the diet in rural Amazonia [5] or beast of burden as a potential small-scale (given its strength .) Charles Darwin have noted that tapirs were domesticated in the Americas, but did not tend to breed in captivity [6] This fact could explain the relatively low frequency of their mention in the Book of Mormon.
Bees
Among the alleged anachronisms in the Book of Mormon is the word for "bee" (Ether 2:3 ) ... It should be noted first that the use of "Bees" in the Book of Mormon was produced in the environment of the Old World (Jaredite), and never use it in connection with the New World, so that the dispute could simply end here. "Jaredites bees brought to the New World? We may never know. However, some studies suggest that the bees were known in the archaic New World. Bruce Warren, for example, notes that "there are many references in the Maya region to the existence of bees in ancient times and these references occur in ritual contexts, ie, native or pre-Hispanic." Other scholars of the New World have observed that "there were only honeybees in America but also the old gods of bees and beekeepers ... Honey was considered a real treat for the Indians. Of equal importance was the wax taken from the hives which was often exchanged for other goods " [7]
More information on New World bees in a domestic context can be found in F. Padilla, F. Puerta, JM Flores and M. Bustos, "Bees, Apiculture and the New World," in Archives of zootechnical, 41/154 (1992-extra): 563-567. PDF link
Cows
The term "cattle" is used three times in the Book of Mormon (Ether 9:17-19 ; Enos 1:21 ; 3 Nephi 3:22 ), while the term "cow" is used in two ( Ether 9:18; 1 Nephi 18:25 ). Jaredite Registration is not clear whether "cattle" and "cows" are the same, or "cow" is a subcategory of "cattle" ...
As with many animals in the Book of Mormon, it is likely that these words of the Book of Mormon family names come from reallocating unknown elements .... Miami Indians, for example, were unaware of the buffalo and simply named "wild cow" Similarly, the "explorer DeSoto called the buffalo cow." The Delaware Indians named the cow as the name for deer, and the Miami tribe named the sheep for the first time seeing her as "the-who-is-seems-to-the-cow '" [8] [ 9]
Elephant
The only place where elephants are mentioned in the Book of Mormon in Ether 9:19 approximately 2500 BC Thus any elephants that existed on Americas must necessarily have survived after 2400 BC ... In addition to the traditional, five elephants sphinxes have been found in ancient Mexico. The Dr.Verrill, a well-known archaeologist (non-Mormon) describe one such figures as "surprising and obviously elephantine that can not be explained by any of the ordinary theories that may be an exaggerated tapir, ant-eater or macaw. The figure not only has a trunk but additionally has large leaf-shaped ears and knees that bend forward as peculiar to the elephants. Moreover, it shows a weight or load on his back. It is inconceivable that anyone would have imagined a creature with wings and the peculiar ears knees of an elephant, or that any human being has streamlined a tapir to that end "...
oral traditions, written records and works art showing elephants form a strong basis for the position that elephants existed in ancient America. An even more substantial support - actual remains - has also been discovered. Today, all scholars agree that mastodons and mammoths (elephants unquestionably to zoologists) once lived in the Americas. The existing dispute is how long they lived. According to the Book of Mormon does not necessarily had to live with after 2400 BC. Archaeological evidence of recent years has shown that elephants may have survived until as late as that. Hunted mastodon bones recently discovered in an archaeological site dating from the immediate time after Christ. Another site, dated approximately 100 BC, brought to light the remains of a mammoth, a mastodon and a horse. [10]
Some scholars have suggested that the elephant (mammoth or mastodon) lived much later than previously believed. Ludwell Johnson, in an article entitled "Men and Elephants in Ameera" published in Scientific Monthly, wrote that "the discoveries of human remains with association and proboscis are not at all unusual. For 1950, Mac Cowan listed no less than twenty-seven "including as Hugo Gross said" a mastodon skeleton partly burned and numerous pottery shards in Alangasi, Ecuador ... There can be no doubt that the man and the elephant coexisted in America ... Probably safe to state that the American Proboscidos have been extinct for at least 3000 years. "If the elephants disappeared for at least 3000 years, yet be located within the age range Jaredite. And, as noted above, some evidence indicates that, in limited numbers, the elephant may have survived for several centuries. [11]
To summarize, the elephant is not a problem for the Book of Mormon Horse
As already mentioned, we should not reject the possibility of a "replacement loan" - under this interpretation the candidate species for "horse" would include the tapir, deer. [12]
Anyway, the case against pre-Columbian horses may not be so "ironclad" as critics assume:
Excavations at the site of Mayapan, dating back several centuries before the English arrival, has shown horse bones in four places (two of the lots were shallow so that horses could represent English) De Elsewhere, the cenote (well) Ch'en Mul, came more evidence, this time a firm archaeological context. In the lowest stratum of a sequence of levels of unconsolidated earth almost two meters thick, were found two teeth of a horse. Were partially mineralized, indicating that they were definitely old and could not have come from a English animal. Interestingly, Mayan pottery was also found in the stratified sample where the teeth were. [13]
Some have argued that the remains of a horse should be better established if they played a role in Nephite society. However, it must be remembered horses do not play an important role in the Book of Mormon. They are mentioned in the following contexts: Dating
scriptures of the Old World
2 Nephi 12:7 - Isaiah quote
2 Nephi 15:28 - quote from Isaiah
apocalyptic teachings of the Old World style.
3 Nephi 21:14 - Jesus speaks of "horses and chariots" in a symbolic and apocalyptic.
Horses in the New World
1 Nephi 18:25: found in the land of promise, as we journeyed through the desert ... the horse .. ...
Ether 9:19 - Jaredites had "horses." Used in conjunction with car
Alma 18:9 - feeding the horses Ammon Lamanite king associated with their "cars."
Alma 20:6 - The Lamanite king horse and cart used to visit a neighboring kingdom
3 Nephi 3:22 - The Nephites kept their horses and carts to a central fortified area as protection against thieves
(Note that we are not say whether these cars were used for fitting, or if they were to transport goods, or serving a ceremonial function. One assumes some sort of practicality and the cars are taken to a siege in 3 Nephi)
role in raising
animals Enos 1:21 - the people of Nephi ... raised herds of cattle and flocks of all kinds of cattle and goats and wild goats, and also many horses.
3 Nephi 4:4 - During the siege of the thieves, the Nephites "had been provided with food and horses, and cattle, and flocks of all kinds, to survive for a period of seven years."
3 Nephi 6:1 - After the siege, the Nephites they returned to their lands each carrying their possessions, including "horses and cattle."
is interesting that horses are often grouped with livestock, so it appears to have played a role in the diet (although this might be under the exigencies of the siege of 3 Nephi)
Conspicuously absent is the role of horses in many Travel in the Book of Mormon. Horses and cars do not seem to play a role Nephites in war, that in contrast to the biblical accounts, in which the chariots of Egypt, Babylon and the Philistines are super-feared weapons on the plains of Israel.
not see a role for the gallant horse cavalry charges that were the ideal romantic warrior in the days of Joseph Smith. Nor is there any sign of rapid maneuver warfare and cavalry skirmishes promoted by Western nations. These are the horses of the practical realities of the nineteenth century or its wildest dreams.
There have been societies in which the horse was vital, as the warriors Huns of Asia and Eastern Europe, for whom horses were a sign of wealth and status, and essential for food, clothing and war. However, there are currently no horse bones from that period in the archaeological record. [14]
If the hundreds of thousands of horses owned by the Huns left little or no trace, might not be so surprising that little has been found in America, since the role for the horses in the Book of Mormon is minimal. Ironically, there is more evidence of horses in Mesoamerica between the Huns!
Moreover, "everyone knows" that there were no horses in America before Columbus. Joseph Smith would have understood this common belief. If it was trying to perpetrate a fraud, why include an item that everyone had heard, especially when it plays such a small role in the book?
Pigs
The "pigs" are mentioned twice in the Book of Mormon, one in 3 Nephi 14:6, where the Lord uses the term figuratively, and another in Ether 9:18 where are described as useful for food animals. Some critics have ridiculed the suggestion of the Book of Mormon that pigs were used as food (due to dietary restrictions of the Law of Moses), but it should be noted that the story contained in Ether develops before the Mosaic Law. Other critics have pointed out that the pigs were unknown in the ancient New World ... However, early Americans did have an indigenous pig. The Aztecs called coati, "which basically means glutton" name often applied to the peccary or wild pig. "With regard to the peccary" Sorenson notes, "two words in Nahuatl quahpizotl quauhcoyamet and developed after the conquest to distinguish native pig ..."[ Castilla Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting, 290.] [15]
cureloms and cumoms
Jaredites These names are terms without translation. Have suggested a potential variety of animals such as llamas, alpacas, mastodons, and other mammals of the Pleistocene. [16]
No further information available, one can not consider it a coup against the Book of Mormon. Interestingly, if Joseph Smith was inventing the Book of Mormon, this was a chance to let your imagination run wild, yet no description of the strange beast is given to us (although for the fraudulent production model, it was taken work of naming)
The conclusion
We outline the following tentative conclusions:
Ass - the horse-looking tapir is a possibility. A
Beja - not necessarily in America according to the text, but equally there are examples of pre-Columbian
Vaca - bovine animals (eg buffalo) were present in American Elephant
- was necessary only in the Jaredite, There are both traditional evidence, inscriptions and biological remains that support the Book of Mormon
Horse - there is some evidence, not yet considered final, which suggests it was known least in some parts of Mesoamerica in pre-Columbian times before Christ. There is also ample precedent for naming different animals with common names, and there are other candidates of the New World as deer and tapir .. Silkworms
- present in the New World with other options available for silk clothing. silk
Pigs - there were native species although only registered for use by the Jaredites (which is not surprising, as the Nephites were under the Law of Moses).
