In the first of these
posts we discussed the facts and scriptures surrounding the Nephite building
materials. In the last several posts we have answered the specific statements
about those who believe the Nephites did not use stone and clarifying the point. We continue here:
Comment #30: “They
used architectural patterns and methods familiar to them from their origins in
ancient Sumeria. This included the ziggurat, or stepped pyramid, topped by a
small temple. This temple symbolically represented a mountain or “high place”
where one could more ready communicate with the "gods" Fenton Z.
Response: One would think that a people would continue with
their known architectural style and methods, but this is not what is found in
the so-called Olmec lands. At sites such as San Lorenzo
Tenochtitlán, the Olmec constructed non-Jaredite large earthen platforms more
than 3,000 feet long, 1,000 feet wide, and 150 feet high, upon which were
erected ritual and ceremonial structures of stone and more perishable materials
such as wood or plaster. These platform complexes served several purposes,
including residences for elite Olmec families and rulers, gathering places for
public ceremonies, and burial sites for Olmec royalty. At the site of La Venta,
Guatemala, the Olmec constructed conical (not stepped) pyramids in the center
of their platform complexes, perhaps meant to imitate mountains or volcanoes
not found in the immediate Olmec area. The earthen platforms consisted of
layers of worked colored stone laid out in large plazas and covered with as
many as a dozen sequential layers of sand and earth piled one on top of the
other to construct the platforms. The complexity suggests that the process of
construction was as important as the final structure. None of this suggests
Mesopotamia (Babel) in any way.
So far, eighteen ziggurats have been uncovered in the are of
Mesopotamia, but they are not all the same. Left: The Guto-Sumerian ziggurat
resembling the Hind Kush mountains or Iran; Right: The Ziggurat of Ur
Comment #31: “The
Mesopotamian ziggurats were constructed of earth and fired brick. (Only one
pyramid in Mesoamerica in known to have been built of fired brick, that at
Comalcalco). However, in Mesoamerica the same pattern is used, but the
material is different. There the pyramids were constructed of hewn or rough
stone, often with an earthen core.”
Response: As has been stated earlier, we do not know what
the Tower of Babel looked like. We know what Nebuchadnezzar II’s ziggurat
looked like, but that was some 1500 years after the Tower. We know what other
ziggurats looked like from some architectural excavations, but nothing dating
back near 2200 B.C. to the time of the Jaredites. We also know that stepped
pyramids have been found in different areas around the world—probably because
it was the easiest way for ancient cultures to build upward—including Egypt's pyramids,
and some in Andean Peru.
Comment #32: “The
account indicates that the Jaredites built many mighty cities, and spacious
buildings, and that the people covered the face of the earth. (Ether 9:23).
Their cities, dwellings and trade routes were connected by extensive roads,
paths and trail systems. They were skilled in mining and metallurgy, and left
large waste dumps from their mining operations (Ether 10:23). The Jaredites
also erected stone monuments (stelae) to memorialize their rulers (at least in
the case of Coriantumr, Omni 20-22). They constructed a great city by
the narrow neck of land between the land northward and the land southward
(Ether 10:20). But (and this is very important), there is no record of any Jaredite city being built in the land
southward. The land southward was maintained solely as a wilderness for
hunting (Ether 10:21).”
The Olmec
influence covered much of Mesoamerica, but their specific Olmec sites covered
far into the Mesoamerican Land Southward
Response: The last remark should eliminate all discussion
about the Mesoamerican Olmecs being the Jaredites, for the Olmecs built some
cities in the Land Southward, including La Venta, San Andres, Arroyo Sonso, and
Chiapa de Corzo, Tenochtitlan, Potreto Nuevo, El Manati, El Azuzul, and Las
Lijmas.
For clarification, the ancient Peruvians built many mighty
cities, and spacious buildings, and that the people covered the face of the
earth. They also built out of stone, their cities, dwellings and trade routes
were connected by extensive highways and roads, they were skilled in mining,
metallurgy and textiles, and erected stone monuments to their god and rulers,
and built enormous fortresses, resorts and outpost forts.
For additional clarification, the Andean area, from southern
Colombia to northern Chile, from western Bolivia to Ecuador and Peru, has all
the earmarks of the scriptural record for both the Jaredite and Nephite
building, roads, metallurgy, ore, textiles, fortresses, etc., as the scriptural
record points out. One can say they
doubt the Nephites built out of stone, but the scriptural record simply does
not back up that belief. And the experience of Nephi working timbers and
building a ship not like that of men should suggest to even the most resistant
that the Nephites were learned and capable of building beyond that of other peoples
of the same era.
The point is, with all their experience with stone
buildings, at least they had knowledge of such stone buildings in Mesopotamia
and the building techniques of the great Tower, so why would we expect they
would not use stone in the Land of Promise. Certainly they would have had huge
numbers, with the size of families they had (Eher 6:20, 7:2), and they lived
long lives (Ether 7:1).
Comment #33: “You talk about building with stone, but early
man built out of wood. Stone building was probably rare, and isolated to areas
like Egypt where they had no wood” Emmett G.
Response: Perhaps it might seem like that, however, the
reality is early man all over the world built with stone, even in areas where
there was plenty of wood. In fact, one
of the oldest and longest lasting building materials known to man is stone, which has
stood the test of time.
One of the
oldest buildings in the world was that of Barnenez in Northern Finistere,
France, built in 4850 B.C. It is 236 feet long, 82 feet wide and over 26 feet
high and made completely of stone
Other areas where prehistoric stone buildings were
constructed are found in Peru (3500 B.C.), Pakistan (2600 B.C.), Malta (3700 B.C.),
England (3650 B.C.), Denmark (3000 B.C.), Russia (3000 B.C.), India (2650
B.C.), Spain (2000 B.C.), Wales (2000 B.C.), Iraq (1400 B.C.), Iran (1250
B.C.), Sweden (1000 B.C.), Mexico (800 B.C.), Turkey (750 B.C.), Bulgaria (400
B.C.), and numerous sites within many of these countries, plus those below:
Top Left: Stone houses, Dunbeg Fort, Ireland, 500
B.C.; Top Right: Stone houses at Nuraghe, Sardina, Italy, 1900-730 B.C.;
Center Left: Stone buildings at Nawamis in Sinai, 4000-3150 B.C., Center Right:
Knap Howar, Orkney, Scotland, 3700-2800 B.C.; Bottom Left: The workshop of
Pheidias, Olympia, Greece, 500 B.C.; Bottom Right: Round houses made of stone
and mud with a wood roof, 3800-2500 B.C., Lempa, Cyprus
There is no question that building with stone began in the
earliest prehistoric periods and continued onward through all ages and in many
parts of the world.
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