Ancient Myan Ruins Support the Book of Mormon

My sister and her husband just got back from Cancun and had a fabulous time. As we chatted about her vacation she mentioned something that really intrigued my interest. They had gone to visit Chitzen Itza  and I was reminded of the many times that I have heard about the ancient history of Mexico that parallels the Book of Mormon.

The Tour

As she told me everything she learned from her tour guide I began to write it all down so I could research it myself. Including the interesting tidbit her tour guide pointed out - that the bearded white God is depicted with a Hebrew nose in all of the ancient art. She then mentioned that after the tour, the guide asked she and her husband if they were LDS (mormon) and they said, "yes". He replied, "Oh I wished I would have known that ahead of time because then I could have told you so much more! Your Book of Mormon supports the history and culture of this ancient people. I could have shown you so many neat things that support what you believe." This was really fascinating. In fact, I was so intrigued that right away I hit the web to do some research.

My Research

Feathered Serpent

The ancient Myan civilization reflect in their history an event that took place in which a bearded white man whom they revere as a God descended from the sky. They refer to this deity as "Kukulkan" which means feathered serpent, and the Aztecs refer to a similar deity known as "Quetzalcoatl" which also means feathered serpent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza

The double symbolism used in its name is considered allegoric to the dual nature of the deity, where being feathered represents its divine nature or ability to fly to reach the skies and being a serpent represents its human nature or ability to creep on the ground among other animals of the Earth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feathered_Serpent_%28deity%29

Quetzalcoatl

Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (us Mormons) believe that Quetzalcoatl, (who has been described as a white, bearded god who came from the sky and promised to return), was actually their depiction of Jesus Christ.

Christ visiting Ancient America

I love the Book of Mormon for so many reasons. It is another testament of Jesus Christ and is a history of the native people who lives on the American continent before and after Christ came to Earth. My favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon is the event where the resurrected Christ visits the Nephite people. He descends from heaven and tells the people who He is. He then blesses their sick and establishes His church exactly as he established it in Mark 3 and Matthew 16. He promises to one day return again. I never feel the spirit so strong than when I read the book of 3rd Nephi in the book of Mormon.
https://www.lds.org/topics/church-organization/the-church-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng

The prophet John Taylor wrote:

The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl, closely resembles that of the Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the same being. But the history of the former has been handed down to us through an impure Lamanitish source.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl

As I continued on my research, I found this amazing site. It yields evidence of many events that take place in the Book of Mormon, LDS history and the Old testament  such as the story of the three Nephites, the symbolism of the temple of Solomon incorporated into the Myan temples, and modern day revelation about Jesus birth date. It's amazing stuff and very fascinating indeed!

Here are excerpts taken from this website which you can read in full detail at http://www.yucatan-revealed.com/Christ-In-Tulum.html

The Descending God

Tulum is one of the most intriguing and mysterious of the Mayan cities. In fact, it is not a city at all but a temple complex devoted to the teaching and worship of the Descending God. The Descending God has been so named by the archaeological community because He is always shown with his feet in the air as if he is descending from the sky.

If Christ, having been resurrected, descended from heaven to visit the Maya, He would have come in great glory and the event would have been so singular that its depiction would have been repeated over and over throughout the Mayan world.  This is what we see with the Descending God.

Inscriptions of the Three Men

In Tulum, we find that the Temple Of The Inscriptions was built to teach all people that the Descending God was and is the supreme God of all Gods and that all things are subject to him.

The murals inside the temple tell the story of three men, who may have been responsible for the building of the temple complex. In these murals the three are portrayed as seers, possibly living in a physical state between life and death.

The outside of the Temple Of The Descending God bears symbology that represents the Descending God as the light and life of the world and that He is the living water and light of the sun. The murals inside the temple, which have great need of restoration, show scenes that depict both heaven and earth and perhaps creation.

Temple of the Descending God

The Temple Of The Descending God was built in alignment with both the morning star, or the planet Venus, and the sun so as to mark April 6th as the birthday of the Descending God.

On that day Venus can be seen rising into the night sky directly over the door of the temple and sunlight forms a brilliant star that can be seen only on that day. This is Extremely significant because Mayan Gods were known by the day on which they were born.  And April 6th is the birthday of the Descending God.

It is interesting to note that the prophet Joseph Smith, who lived in the state of New York, published in 1830 a translated ancient record which told of a personal visit by Jesus Christ to the Americas shortly after His resurrection.  In addition, he identified April 6th as the birthday of Jesus Christ.  He also identified the ancient name of the city of Zion as being Zama.  Zama was the original name for the city of Tulum.

the prophet Joseph Smith

In 1831, when Joseph Smith identified Zama as the name of the city of Zion, Tulum had not yet been uncovered and was overgrown by rainforest.  It would not be until 1837 that the jungle would be cut away from the temple complex that we call Tulum.  And, it would not be until late into the 20th Century before the April 6th phenomena would be documented and the original name of Tulum be identified as the same name Joseph Smith had used more than a hundred and fifty years earlier to identify the city of Zion.

It is also interesting to note that included in the translation of the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith was an account of three men, two of them brothers by the same mother, who were Disciples of Christ and attended to Jesus during his visit to the Americas.  The translation indicates that they were seers and were granted the power, by Christ, to live until his second coming in a translated state.

Finally let’s talk a bit about the red hands.  In Tulum we see the red hands associated directly with the Descending God.

The 17th Century Spanish historian Lizana recorded that the Maya represented the great God of heaven by symbol of the hand, because with his powerful hands he had performed many powerful miracles amongst the people to include healing the sick.

The color of the hands is significant because red was the color the Mayas gave to the East.  The direction from which Christ will come in accordance with New Testament scripture, and the direction from which He would have come if he had visited them.

What is of additional interest is that we find the red hands in many other cities that contain strong evidences of a possible visit by Jesus Christ and which had a belief in the Descending God. 

What do you think?  I would love to hear your thoughts or anything you'd like to add - especially if you have visited these ancient sites.

I have always had a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Factual evidence or no factual evidence doesn't change my testimony one bit. This information is definitely food for thought and is the icing on the cake to what I already believe. 

I know that Christ established His church on the Earth then and today. I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book. It supports the Bible and truly testifies of Jesus Christ and His gospel. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

If you would like to read the Book of Mormon it is free and online here: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm?lang=eng


Sources for this article: http://www.yucatan-revealed.com/Christ-In-Tulum.html