This page lists Mesoamerican themes found in the Book of Mormon.

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Calender; ‘Baktun’: The Book of Mormon frequently divides time into 400 year blocks. This was a typical Mesoamerican method of dividing up their calendar.

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Mayan Armor: The description of armor in the Book of Mormon closely matches the patterns of armor used among Pre-Classic and Classic Mesoamericans.

William Hamblin (Book: Warfare in the Book of Mormon)

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Horses: The inclusion of “horses” in the Book of Mormon is one of the most controversial topics in Book of Mormon studies. However, there is evidence that indicates that the description of “horses” in the Book of Mormon is in fact appropriate.

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Swords: Swords described in the Book of Mormon can be accounted for by the Mesoamerican “ macuahuitl” , a wooden sword studded with deadly bits of obsidian.

Matt Roper (Spaniard descriptions of Mesoamerican swords; JBMS 5/1)

Hamblin & Merrill (book: Warfare in the Book of Mormon)

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Nephi’s Garden: The features described by Helaman regarding Nephi’s garden, the highway, and the marketplace are known features of Mesoamerican life. But, these elements were unknown in Joseph Smith’s day.

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Ammon among the Lamanites : The story of Ammon among the Lamanites is an extraordinary story. Strangely, it is disjointed and difficult to comprehend…until it is placed in its proper ancient context. Nibley points out the strangeness of this story (it is only a small part of a much larger paper, do a word search [ctrl + F] for “Ammon”), while Gardner illuminates it by placing it in an ancient Mesoamerican context. This interesting story makes much more sense in an ancient context, one that Joseph could not have been aware of.

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Cement : Long thought to be a blunder by Joseph, the mention of “cement” in the Book of Mormon turns out to be a bulls-eye.

Kerry Shirts (video, discussing Diane Wirth’s research)

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Tropical Climate: The Book of Mormon never mentions cold, and in fact it is sweltering hot on New Year’s day in the Book of Mormon. Had Joseph written the BoM being influenced by his own environment (as critics contend), he would have not have described New Year’s day this way.

John Sorenson (quoted at Lehi’s Library blog)

Kerry Shirts (video, discussing Diane Wirth’s research)

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Writing: In 1830 it was widely believed that no form of writing ever existed among the “uncivilized” Native Americans. Joseph Smith went against conventional wisdom and only later did we discover that he was exactly right.

Kerry Shirts (video, discussing Diane Wirth’s research, @ 2:20 min)

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And it came to pass… : This phrase is used extensively throughout the BoM, and while it is an odd phrase for an English writer it turns out to be an authentic Mesoamerican writing technique.

Lehi’s Library (a blog post combining research from various scholars)

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Weights and Scales in Commerce: The Nephites had a complex system for trade and commerce. While it is nothing like modern American systems, it is very similar to ancient American systems.

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Elephants: The Book of Mormon suggests that elephants existed in ancient America during the time of the Jaredites. It is not likely that Joseph, or anyone in 1830, knew about the evidence we now have for elephants in America.

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