Relationship of the Maya and the Olmec to the Lamanites and the Jaredites

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Criticism

• The Maya and the Olmec are often associated with the Nephites and Jaredites.
• Critics claim that LDS Scholars believe that Mayan cities were inhabited by the Nephites.

Source(s) of the criticism

• Simon Southerton, Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church (Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 2004) 83, 168, 191. ( Index of claims )

Response

Why the Maya and the Olmec?

A common criticism is that LDS associate the Nephites and/or Lamanites with the Maya, and the Jaredite civilization with the Olmec. There is circumstantial evidence to support this criticism:

• The general consensus among LDS scholars that Book of Mormon events are likely to have occurred in Mesoamerica. This is the location of the ancient Maya and Olmec civilizations.
• The fact that the Maya and Olmec civilizations are in the proper relative locations and approximate time periods required by the Book of Mormon (A detail, by the way, which Joseph Smith could not possibly have known).
• Artwork that has appeared in Church publications and buildings for many years has depicted Book of Mormon events occurring in a Mesoamerican setting. One well-known painting of Christ appearing to the Nephites shows a Mesoamerican pyramid in the background, and to the far left, one of the "elephant-like" snouts associated with masks of the Mayan rain-god Chac.
• A famous set of 12 paintings by artist Arnold Friberg was included in all copies of the Book of Mormon for many years. These paintings depict Book of Mormon events as occurring in Mesoamerican settings.^[1]
• The Church produced film "The Testaments" depicts Book of Mormon events as occurring in a Central American setting, with Christ appearing in front of a classic Mayan pyramid.
• "Book of Mormon tours" which take interested members to "see the lands of the Book of Mormon" in Mesoamerica.

It is easy, therefore, to see why LDS typically associate the Nephites or Lamanites with the Maya. However, to simply say that Book of Mormon civilizations are associated with "the Maya" is an over-simplification of the facts.

Who are the Maya?

In order to fully understand the criticism, it is necessary to understand who "the Maya" actually are. There are three distinct periods associated with the Maya civilization:

1. The pre-classic period: Approximately 1800 B.C. to 250 A.D.
2. The classic period: 250 A.D. to 900 A.D.
3. The post-classic period: 900 A.D. to approximately 1600 A.D.

The criticism assumes that LDS associate the Nephites and/or the Lamanites with the classic Maya. Since the classic period occurred between 250 A.D. and 900 A.D., this period does not correlate well with the period covered by the Book of Mormon between approximately 600 B.C. and 400 A.D.

Conclusion

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Endnotes

1. Vern G. Swanson, "The Book of Mormon Art of Arnold Friberg: 'Painter of Scripture'," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 10/1 (2001). [35–36] link

Further reading

FAIR web site

• FAIR Topical Guide: