8 And it came to pass that king Lamoni inquired of his servants, saying: Where is this man that has such great power?
9 And they said unto him: Behold, he is feeding thy horses. Now the king had commanded his servants, previous to the time of the watering of their flocks, that they should prepare his horses and chariots, and conduct him forth to the land of Nephi; for there had been a great feast appointed at the land of Nephi, by the father of Lamoni, who was king over all the land.
10 Now when king Lamoni heard that Ammon was preparing his horses and his chariots he was more astonished, because of the faithfulness of Ammon, saying: Surely there has not been any servant among all my servants that has been so faithful as this man; for even he doth remember all my commandments to execute them.
11 Now I surely know that this is the Great Spirit, and I would desire him that he come in unto me, but I durst not.
Alma 18:8-11 (Emphasis mine)
After Lamoni had questioned his servants, he asked after Ammon. He is feeding your horses and getting the chariots ready. Lamoni was shocked. Never had a servant been this loyal and faithful. This means, Lamoni said, that he is the Great Spirit.
Lamoni, realizing his sins, wants Ammon to come unto him, but he fears doing this.
Let us pause from continuing our study of chapter 18 for a moment. Verse 9 tells us Ammon is feeding the King’s horses. Here there is a huge problem with the Book of Mormon. (Kind of like the “problem” with Jesus being born “at Jerusalem.”) No remains of horses have been found that date back to the Book of Mormon time. This is evidence that the Book of Mormon is a fraud and a hoax. But is this a valid conclusion?
This subject has been studied and researched by Book of Mormon scholars and they have addressed this question. Let’s look at some of their conclusions.
Let’s look at the writings of Robert R. Bennett as an example of the research on this topic.
“The Book of Mormon mentions horses, yet these animals seem not to have been known to native Americans who greeted the Spaniards upon their arrival in the New World in the sixteenth century. Moreover, archaeological evidence for the presence of the horse in the pre-Columbian Americas is presently scant and inconclusive. How can this be explained? Careful consideration of this question begins with an examination of what the Book of Mormon says and does not say about horses…
“Horses were known to some Nephites and Lamanites from about 600 B.C. to the time of the Savior. They were found in the ‘land of first inheritance’ during the time of Nephi, son of Lehi (see 1 Nephi 18:25), and in the land of Nephi during the days of Enos (see Enos 1:21). They were also utilized by at least some of the Lamanite elite during the days of King Lamoni in the same general region during the first century B.C. (see Alma 18:9—12).
“… [W]e need not conclude from the text that horses were universally known in the Americas throughout pre-Columbian history. Moreover, the Book of Mormon never says that horses were ridden or used in battle, although some passages suggest that at times they may have been used by the elite as a draft animal (see, for example, Alma 18:9; 3 Nephi 3:22).
“Small herds of animals in a limited region sometimes leave no archaeological remains. We know that the Norsemen probably introduced horses, cows, sheep, goats, and pigs into Eastern North America during the eleventh century A.D., yet these animals did not spread throughout the continent and have left no archaeological remains…
“The horse was the basis of the wealth and military power of the Huns of central Asia (fourth and fifth centuries A.D.). Nonetheless, according to S. Bokonyi, a leading authority on the zoological record for central Asia, ‘We know very little of the Huns' horses. It is interesting that not a single usable horse bone has been found in the territory of the whole empire of the Huns. This is all the more deplorable as contemporary sources mention these horses with high appreciation.’
“The lack of archaeological evidence for the Hunnic horse is rather significant in terms of references to horses in the Book of Mormon. During the two centuries of their dominance, the Huns must have possessed hundreds of thousands of horses. If Hunnic horse bones are so rare, notwithstanding the abundance of horses during the Hunnic empire, how can we expect abundant archaeological evidence for pre-Columbian horses in the New World, especially given the scant and comparatively conservative references to horses by Book of Mormon writers?
“… It is also possible that some Book of Mormon peoples coming from the Old World may have decided to call some New World animal species a ‘horse’ or an ‘ass.’ This practice, known as ‘loanshift’ or ‘loan-extension,’ is well known to historians and anthropologists who study cross-cultural contact. For example, when the Greeks first visited the Nile in Egypt, they encountered a large animal they had never seen before and gave it the name hippopotamus, meaning ‘horse of the river.’ When the Roman armies first encountered the elephant, they called it Lucca bos, a ‘Lucanian cow.’ In the New World the Spanish called Mesoamerican jaguars leones, ‘lions,’ or tigres, ‘tigers.’
“Similarly, members of Lehi's family may have applied loanwords to certain animal species that they encountered for the first time in the New World, such as the Mesoamerican tapir. While some species of tapir are rather small, the Mesoamerican variety (Tapiris bairdii) can grow to be nearly six and a half feet in length and can weigh more than six hundred pounds. Many zoologists and anthropologists have compared the tapir's features to those of a horse or a donkey.” [i] (Emphasis mine)
Let’s summarizes Bennett’s main points.
- The horses may have lived in a narrow geographical area.
- It is not unusual for there to be a lack of archaeological evidence for animal within a narrow geographical area.
- There is almost no archaeological evidence of horses in the Central Asian area occupied by the Huns.
- What is referred to as a horse could be another animal, such as a tapir (see picture below).
We see that the claims that there were horses in the New World because they weren’t known when the Spanish brought them and there have been no archeological finds of horses in what is believed to be the Book of Mormon area is an invalid claim.
12 And it came to pass that when Ammon had made ready the horses and the chariots for the king and his servants, he went in unto the king, and he saw that the countenance of the king was changed; therefore he was about to return out of his presence.
13 And one of the king's servants said unto him, Rabbanah, which is, being interpreted, powerful or great king, considering their kings to be powerful; and thus he said unto him: Rabbanah, the king desireth thee to stay.
14 Therefore Ammon turned himself unto the king, and said unto him: What wilt thou that I should do for thee, O king? And the king answered him not for the space of an hour, according to their time, for he knew not what he should say unto him.
15 And it came to pass that Ammon said unto him again: What desirest thou of me? But the king answered him not.
Alma 18:12-15 (Emphasis mine)
When finished, Ammon goes to tell the King that his chariots are ready. But, when he arrived, he found the expression of the King had changed. Ammon felt he was not welcome and he turned to leave.
He was stopped by another servant. All had come to realize that there was something different, something special, about Ammon. So, when telling Ammon the King wanted him to stay, the servant called him “Rabbanah” (powerful or great king).
Rabbanah was one of those titles and names that are found in the Book of Mormon. Paul Hoskisson writes:
“Like proper names in most languages, the proper names of the Book of Mormon probably had semantic meanings for Book of Mormon peoples. Such meanings are evident from several instances wherein the Book of Mormon provides a translation for a proper name … Rabbanah is interpreted as ‘powerful or great king’ (Alma 18:13 ). The single greatest impediment to understanding the semantic possibilities for the Book of Mormon proper names remains the lack of the original Nephite text.” [ii] (Emphasis mine)
Ammon, being a faithful servant to the King stayed and asked him how he could serve him. The King was silent for an hour. Again Ammon asked him what he desired of him and received no answer.
[i] Horses in the Book of Mormon, Robert R. Bennett, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 5, 2011.
[ii] Names in the Book of Mormon, Paul Y. Hoskisson, Maxwell Institute, accessed September 5, 2011.
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