The Promised Land of America Shows Signs the Nephites Lived There
“The Lord gave a divine promise to the ancient inhabitants of this favored country (the United States): ‘Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ” (Ether 2:12). Our Heavenly Father inspired the leaders of…the United States of America, that they might together, under His direction, having been raised up by God for the purpose, establish the Constitution of this country and…Bill of Rights, that by the year of our Lord 1805 [there would be] a climate where our Heavenly Father could send into this period of mortality a choice spirit who would be known as Joseph Smith, Jr.” Teachings of Thomas S. Monson by Thomas S. Monson 2011 (Ordained an Apostle, 1963; ordained President of the Church, 2008)
It sounds like to me that President Monson believes the United States is the Promised Land of the Book of Mormon. Why do Mesoamericanists believe the entire continent of the Americas is the Promised land? You mean Greenland, Guatemala, and the Northwest Territories are the Promised Lands? I love all of God’s children in the entire world and God loves us all the same, but seriously? If a person from Greenland comes to the United States legally as a citizen that person can also live in the Promised Land, correct? I’m sure Greenland has much beauty on its own, but it is not the Promised Land, is it? I am not belittling other lands. I’m just making a sensible statement. Why are the United States and Israel the only two Promised Lands? Because Christ said so. See 3 Nephi 20:22,29
Many of these same Mesoamericanists who don’t think the USA is the Promised Land of the Book of Mormon, also have very liberal takes on science and evolution and other important things. They seem to also reject the reality or believable idea that the migration of the Hopewell Culture mirrors that of the Nephites, where both civilizations ended up in extermination near Hill Cumorah in about 400 AD. Non-Mormon archaeologists believe the idea about the Hopewell Culture ending in NY about 400 AD, and the Heartlanders believe that same thing about the Nephites. It just makes sense!
Intellectual Theory
“There has been a lot of talk from some intellectuals about various hoaxes purported to be associated with certain mounds and artifacts and stones, including ancient Hebrew stones and script found in North America. It makes sense that when Lehi landed in North America he and his culture would have left behind evidence of his Jewish and Israelite heritage. Since nothing has been found in South and Central America, these intellectuals want to condemn anything that may have been found in North America. Of the 10-12 evidences found in North America related to Hebrew, the scholars refute ALL OF THEM as hoaxes!. That seems way to easy to just out of hand condemn any evidence. That’s what people do when they can’t explain things. Much of today’s science is not engaged in finding new truths, but in finding new pet theories. Since no new “Scientific Law” has been discovered and proven in over 100 years, the scientists are now propping up their new “theories” as if they are true.
Take for example the theory of evolution. Last time I heard it is still a theory and has never been proven to be a law. What about the theory of magma in the center of the earth? It has been shown in Dean Sessions book that it is more likely that water is at the center of the earth? I’m not a scientist but just an ordinary man who likes to have science and history just “make sense”. What about the intellectuals (some at BYU) that say Noah’s flood was not universal and was probably a myth? What about those who say Adam was not the first man created on this earth? I would rather ask the simple question of, “does it make common sense” rather than listen to many intellectuals who claim to know the unknown or have a good theory for it. I don’t know the unknown either, but I study and pray about all things and it has to make sense as well. For example, something cannot be created out of nothing. We know this by the scriptures (D&C 93:29) and yet the vast majority of these intellectuals don’t believe in some scripture either.
Amazing Archaeology in Florida Here::
If you have an Annotated Book of Mormon by David Hocking and Rod Meldrum, turn to pages 538 and 539 to see the 50 similarities between the Hopewell and the people of the Book of Mormon. Below you will see additional proof of these similarities by non-LDS scholars and archaeologists. It is simply amazing!
Are the Nephites the Hopewell Mound Builders?
“When European colonists began to expand west beyond the Allegheny Mountains, they found tens of thousands of mounds scattered all across the land. Massive structures of every conceivable type were found, including pyramids, cone shaped mounds, hill-top forts, terraced platforms, and effigy mounds in the shape of various animals, each of which must have taken thousands of man-hours to construct, most built as monuments to their honored dead.
While most Hopewell mounds were built to house their honored dead, Olaf Prufer maintains that the most flamboyant traits of the Hopewell, including their practice of sun-worship, seems to have originated from outside sources, particularly those living along the Tennessee River System where we find an ancient people S. D. Peet simply refers to as the stone-grave people, for they buried their dead in boxlike cists. The stone-grave people were a broad-headed people unlike the narrow-headed skull types found among the populations settled around the Great Lakes, i.e., the Algonquians, Iroquois and Sioux-those of Nephite and Mulekite stock.
Several noted historians and archaeologists note the similarities between the stone grave people and those living in Ireland, a people who appear to have arrived via the Atlantic where they initially settled in New England, and from there across the land to West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. From there they migrated along the Ohio River into Ohio and Illinois and along the Mississippi where major changes began to take shape including, 1-the rise of a strong religious class which constituted a selected minority of the population; 2-an elaboration and centralization of a mortuary cult by the ruling class, 3-the establishment of a more effective social organization that brought the general population under the control of the ruling class, and 4-a general population increase. (1-Don Dragoo, Hopewellian Studies, p. 25.)
Trade was likely the main reason the Nephites participated in the Hopewell phenomena and began moving west to join them. Those who remained in New York steered clear of their society however, for the ceremonial centers built up in Hopewell territory were centers of sun, moon, and serpent worship. The Nehors noted in the Book of Moron may well have been tied to the Hopewell, a people the Nephites had to use all their strategies to keep out of Nephite territory, for all too many of their people succumbed to their decadent ways and headed south to live among the Lamanites-those likely living in Ohio where the Order of Nehor was flourishing, an order very much like the Druidic Order of Ireland and England.” bookofmormonlands
“During the nineteenth century, considerable excitement and speculation raged about the antiquity and identity of the builders of the numerous prehistoric burial mounds, earthworks, and fortifications which were encountered by the settlers west of the Allegheny Mountains, it was to be expected that the Book of Mormon, with its claim to being a historical record of ancient American peoples, would be drawn into the controversy. In fact, it has been almost as common-place among non-Mormon writers to regard that record as a history of the “Mound Builders” as to consider it a narration of the travels of the “Lost Ten Tribes.”
That this belief has persisted to the present day, in spite of the efforts of Mormon writers to emphasize the parallels between the Middle American archaeological record and the Book of Mormon, may be seen in the recent (1968) statement by the author of an otherwise excellent account of the “Mound Builder” controversy:
The legend of the Mound Builders achieved its apotheosis when a major religious creed was founded upon it by Joseph Smith and made lasting by his successor Brigham Young.”’ JOSEPH SMITH AND THE PREHISTORIC MOUND-BUILDERS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA By John H. Wittorf
Hopewell Culture Mounds and Earthworks
“The Hopewell Culture was contemporaneous with the end of the Adena culture, but the Adena people tended to be considerably larger than the Hopewell. Remains of men seven feet tall were common among the Adena, while Hopewell were robust, their males averaged closer to six feet in height. There are four types of earthworks that were constructed by the ancient Hopewell civilization.
- Defensive Enclosure Mounds
- Burial Mounds
- Effigy (Shaped) Mounds
- Ceremonial and Temple Mounds
“Mounds were used chiefly as burial places but also as elevated foundations for special structures such as temples (Marietta, OH), hill top enclosures (Fort Ancient, OH), as totemic representations (Serpent Mound in Ohio), and ceremonial space and structures, (The great Circle/Octagon complex, Newark, OH). In size they vary from less than one acre in area to more than 100 acres. Over 200,000 earthworks dotted America’s Heartland.” The Book of Mormon in America’s Heartland page 102 by Rodney Meldrum
5 Important Similarities
- The Hopewell Culture describes the common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 300 BC to 400 AD, in the Middle Woodland period. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of related populations. They were connected by a network of trade routes, known as the Hopewell Exchange System. Serpent Mound, Ohio
- At its greatest extent, the Hopewell Exchange System ran from the Southeastern United States as far south as the Crystal River Indian Mounds into the southeastern Canadian shores of Lake Ontario up north. Within this area societies participated in a high degree of exchange with the highest amount of activity along waterways. The Hopewell Exchange System included copper from the Great Lakes, mica from the Carolinas, obsidian from the Rocky Mountains, and shells from the Gulf Coast. These people then converted the materials into products and exported them through local and regional exchange networks. Although the origins of the Hopewell are still under discussion, the Hopewell culture can also be considered a cultural climax, ending suddenly in about 400 AD.
- Hopewell populations originated in western New York and moved south into Ohio where they built on top of the local Adena mortuary tradition. Hopewell was also said to have originated in western Illinois and spread by diffusion … to southern Ohio. Similarly, the Havana Hopewell tradition was thought to have spread up the Illinois River and into southwestern Michigan, spawning Goodall Hopewell.
- The name “Hopewell” was applied by Warren K. Moorehead after his explorations of the Hopewell Mound Group in Ross County, Ohio in 1891 and 1892. The mound group itself was named for the family that owned the earthworks at the time.
- The Hopewell location in the Mississippi Valley, plains of Illinois, and Indiana and locations in Ohio match up with the location of the Nephites in the Book of Mormon. The time period also shows a great correlation, especially as both the Hopewell and Nephite civilization abruptly ended in about 400 AD. Rod Meldrum Exploring the Book of Mormon in America’s Heartland.
Thousands of United States Ancient Earthworks
The most common question that is asked about mounds is, “How many exist?” In the 1800’s the Smithsonian sponsored many expeditions to identify mound sites across America. A map (shown below) was produced by Cyrus Thomas in 1894 in a Bureau of Ethnology book. They found approximately 100,000 mound sites, many with complexes containing 2 to 100 mounds. The figure of 100,000 mounds once existing— based on Cyrus Thomas map revealing 100,000 sites—is often cited by others, but that estimate is far, far too low. After visiting several thousand mounds and reviewing the literature, I am fairly certain that over 1,000,000 mounds once existed and that perhaps 100,000 still exist. Oddly, some new mound sites are discovered each year by archaeological surveys in remote areas. But in truth, a large majority of America’s mounds have been completely destroyed by farming, construction, looting, and deliberate total excavations” – Gregory L. Little, Ed.D., The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Mounds & Earthworks, Eagle Wing Books, Inc., Memphis, TN [2009].
(Picture Above) A list of earthworks was compiled to aid in the construction of archaeological maps for the general report and was then published in 1891 as Bulletin 12 of the Bureau of American Ethnology, “Catalogue of Prehistoric Works East of the Rocky Mountains” by Cyrus Thomas. This list, along with information from additional fieldwork, formed the basis for the construction of this map.
There is a temple mound situated above the Ohio River near Cincinnati. “Fragments of burnt limestone may still be seen on the top. The mound is a rectangle two hundred and twenty-five feet long by one hundred and twenty feet broad, and seven feet high.” In contrast to the hewn stone buildings and altars of Mexico, the Ohio mound has the right dimensions to have accommodated a timber and burnt lime plaster (“cement”) building of the size and proportions of Solomon’s Temple.” J. P. Maclean, The Mound Builders – Archaeology of Butler County, Ohio, 1904, pp. 222-223.
“Few realize that some of the oldest, largest and most complex structures of ancient archaeology were built of earth, clay, and stone right here in America, in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. From 6,000 years ago until quite recently, North America was home to some of the most highly advanced and well organized civilizations in the world – complete with cities, roads, and commerce.” Dr. Roger Kennedy, former director of the Smithsonian’s American History Museum.
View of the Hebrews
“Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews (Poultney, Vt., 1823; second enlarged edition, 1825) combines scriptural citations and reports from various observers among American Indians and Jews to support the claim that the Indians were the descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. It is one of several books reflecting the popular fascination at the time of Joseph Smith with the question of Indian origins. While some have claimed it to be a source for the Book of Mormon, no direct connections between this book and the Book of Mormon have been demonstrated.
The full title of the 1825 edition is View of the Hebrews; or the Tribes of Israel in America. Exhibiting the Destruction of Jerusalem; the Certain Restoration of Judah and Israel; the Present State of Judah and Israel; and an Address of the Prophet Isaiah to the United States Relative to Their Restoration. The author, Ethan Smith (no relation to Joseph Smith), was pastor of the Congregational church in Poultney, Vermont.” Author: Roberts, Richard C.
Arguments to show that the American natives are the tribes of Israel
View of the Hebrews; By Ethan Smith
85 1. They all appear to have had one origin
88 2. Their language appears a corruption of Hebrew
93 3. They have their holy ark
94 4. They have practised circumcision
95 5. They have one, and only one, God
104 6. Their variety of traditions evince they are the descendants of Israel
107 7. A prediction relative to their famine of the world
119 8. Testimony of William Penn
120 9. The tribe of Levi
121 10. Several appropriate traits of character
123 11. Their being in tribes, with heads of tribes
123 12. Their places answering to the cities of refuge
125 13. Other evidences and considerations
128 A hint to objectors
Archaic Shell Rings Spotted in Southeastern United States
Monday, August 30, 2021(Dylan Davis, Penn State) UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA—According to a statement released by Penn State, Dylan S. Davis and his colleagues identified possible shell rings and mounds using deep machine learning to analyze data collected from lidar surveys, synthetic aperture radar, and multispectral satellite imagery of a 4,000-square-mile area of the southeastern coast of the United States. These technologies detect structures underneath heavy forest or ground cover, provide information on soil attributes, and reveal features not visible to the human eye. Such shell rings were constructed between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago, and are thought to have been used as trade centers, Davis said, since copper from the Great Lakes region and imported ceramics and lithics have previously been recovered from the 50 known shell ring sites in the region. The study spotted hundreds of potential new shell ring sites, based upon their slope and elevation change when compared to the surrounding landscape. Some of these sites were found in counties where shell rings have never been identified. Davis said the team has not yet been able to investigate the possible shell rings in person. To read about rituals performed at Georgia’s Dyar Mound, go to “Enduring Rites of the Mound Builders,” one of ARCHAEOLOGY’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2020. https://www.archaeology.org/news/9965-210830-archaic-shell-rings?fbclid=IwAR1gWRRPRlYUdD8Pn6f5k4hJM3vvXyO6bfJqTVdEqtkqjNoOXO_CB50NSrE
Enduring Rites of the Mound Builders
Georgia, United States By ERIC A. POWELL January/February 2021
(University of Georgia) Aerial view, 1978, Dyar Mound, Georgia, United States(National Museum of the American Indian)
The site of a three-story-high earthen structure known as Dyar Mound now lies beneath central Georgia’s Lake Oconee, a reservoir created by a dam built in the 1970s. Before the dam’s construction, archaeologists excavated the mound, which was originally built in the fourteenth century A.D. by the ancestors of today’s Muscogee Creek people. Based on artifacts recovered from the site, they determined that Dyar Mound had been abandoned shortly after a 1539–1543 expedition led by Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto traversed the southeastern United States. De Soto and his retinue brought diseases that caused a population collapse in the region. This collapse has long been thought to have precipitated the sudden end of the Mississippian tradition, a widespread belief system practiced by the ancestral Muscogee peoples, among others.
A team led by Washington University in St. Louis archaeologist Jacob Holland-Lulewicz has now redated charcoal unearthed at Dyar Mound and used statistical modeling to determine that the site was not in fact abandoned after the de Soto expedition, but that people carried out Mississippian rites atop the mound for nearly 150 years more. “The ancestors of the Muscogee were resilient, and their practices endured for generations,” says Holland-Lulewicz, who notes that advances in radiocarbon dating methods will likely continue to help revise scholarly narratives of early contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples.
https://www.archaeology.org/issues/406-2101/features/9271-georgia-dyar-mound
Please feel free to copy this map and share it with friends.
