Did Lehi’s family encounter other people upon their arrival in the land of promise?
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May 21, 2013, 12:14:26 AM5/21/13
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Did Lehi’s family encounter other people upon their arrival in the land of promise? by Jerry Ainsworth
The vast majority of people who research and write on Book of Mormon geography believe the setting of the book is in Mesoamerica. And with rare exception these people, myself included, believe Lehi landed on the pacific side of Guatemala, near the border that separates this country from Mexico – in Book of Mormon terms, the land of first inheritance.
When they landed were other people living there in Mesoamerica before 600 BC?
The answer given in the 2007 Maya conferences at the Universities of Texas and Pennsylvania is, “Yes, there were people already living in this area, and they had been living there for hundreds of years.” At the Texas conference a number of cities were reported to have existed in this geographical area as far back as 1200 BC, with others dating back to 800 BC.
To appreciate how many people may have lived in Mesoamerica at 600 BC, remember that the United States of America has only been in existence for around 350 years, and look at the population of this country today. It is easy to understand that when Lehi landed, there may have been one or more cultures in this area with large populations.
There were also cultural events, customs, celebrations, traditions and beliefs that Lehi and his family encountered upon their landing. If you can imagine 20 strangers coming to the city where you live, and then ask what kind of evidence they would leave of their arrival – you can appreciate what happened at the landing of Lehi.
Rather than the culture Lehi brought with him becoming preeminent, his culture was, to a large extent, absorbed by the existing cultures. (With the exception of their adherence to the Law of Moses with its holy days and belief system)
Mormons, for example, celebrate Christmas in December although we know that was not the month Jesus was born. It was just the existing custom the LDS church was exposed to after the restoration of the gospel. Rather than trying to change the celebration of the birth date of Jesus Christ to April, we simply adopted the existing custom. Lehi and his people may have made similar adaptations.
Who were these native people who predated the Lehites?
The secret of who the other people were may lie in Ether chapter 6, where we are told that there were probably at least four categories of people (and possibly more) who came over from the great tower. Jared with his family and the friends of Jared and their families, a total of at least three separate families, and the Brother of Jared and his family and the friends of the Brother of Jared and their families, again totaling at least three families. Thus, a total of at least six families made the trip. The pre-Columbian history of Mexico states that Mexico was originally settled by seven families.
Lehi landed south of the Narrow Neck. Ether 10:21 states that the descendants of Jared and his brother did not take their culture south of the Narrow Neck. There were a few who did go into the land Southward during their battle with the serpents. (see Ether 9:32) Ether 2:1 states that the Book of Ether is about Jared and the Brother of Jared and their descendants. It does not say it is a record of the other families that came with them. So, although Jared and his brother decided not to expand their culture south of the Narrow Neck, that prohibition did not necessarily include their friends’ families.
I conclude that the people Lehi encountered upon his landing in Mesoamerica were descendents of the friends of Jared and his brother, or possibly other people who the Lord may have led here. (and quite possibly descendants of Jared and his brother. Though the record states that all Jaredites were destroyed, it was the royals and their followers who were all killed, not necessarily the total population) Genesis 11:8 says the following about the people at the tower of Babel – “So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build another city.”
There is evidence that there were people in South America at the same time the Jaredites thrived in Central America. So, either the Lord scattered a separate group of people to that part of this continent, or the friends of Jared or his brother migrated that far. (assuming these people came from the Levant)
Archaeologically we know that virtually every succeeding group who inhabited Mesoamerica adopted at least part of the culture of the Jaredites; their architecture, their calendrics, some of their language, and some of their theology. (Assuming the Jaredites were either the Olmec or closely associated with the Olmec, they are referred to as "the mother culture of Mesoamerica.")
Ether 1:43 states that the civilization descending from Jared and his brother would be “…a great nation. And there shall be none greater than the nation which I will raise up unto me of their seed, upon all the face of the earth.”
I believe that these are the people that Lehi and his family encountered upon their landing, and that this explains why they emulated the existing culture, rather than the other way around.
– Dr. Jerry Ainsworth
(bracketed comments by Doug Christensen)
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