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Posted on : 24 Feb, 2006
Subject : Hebrew Christians in Ancient America
HEBREW CHRISTIANS in ANCIENT AMERICA
There are a surprising number of evidences and corroborations that there have been Israelites visiting and living upon the American continents for thousands of years. There are also indisputable evidences that, among the ancients who inhabited the Americas before the coming of the Europeans, there was belief in Jesus the Messiah!
The Record of the Nephites is a translation of the scriptural record of some of the ancient inhabitants of America. Similar to the Bible, it contains the chronicles of the people, themselves (such as the reigns of kings, significant battles, and so forth), as well as their spiritual experiences, including prophecies and revelations. The Nephite Record also includes the account of the Messiah’s visit to the people of this land, following His resurrection.
What follows are a few of the archaeological, linguistic, and cultural evidences of the ancient Christian-Israelite presence in America, and supporting proof of the truthfulness of The Nephite Record.
Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions
South of Albuquerque, and west of Los Lunas, New Mexico, an ancient inscription was carved into the face of a boulder centuries ago. It is the text of the Ten Commandments, written in Hebrew! Of particular interest is the fact that the type of Hebrew writing that was used was Paleo-Hebrew, which is the form of Hebrew writing that was used for approximately a one-thousand-year period, ending about 500 BC. This means that we can fairly conclude that the inscription of the Ten Commandments was engraved on the face of a boulder in New Mexico, North America, sometime prior to 500 BC! This is one proof that Hebrew people were on the land of America many centuries before the birth of the Messiah. This, of course, is one of the messages of The Record of the Nephites: that the Holy One of Israel led colonies of righteous Israelites to the land of America, prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian dispersion that occurred in about 587 BC. For them, the American continent was a land of promise.
Other inscriptions, also written in Paleo-Hebrew, have been discovered in the states of Iowa, Ohio, and Tennessee, as well as in Brazil. In Newark, Ohio, a carved stone of curious workmanship was discovered which also bears an engraved inscription of the Ten Commandments of the Covenant – in Paleo-Hebrew. At a site known as Bat Creek cave, in Tennessee, an ancient Hebrew inscription has been found which mentions the Israelite tribe of Judah!
Without a doubt, these various inscriptions firmly establish the fact that Israelites were in America long before the arrival of Europeans!
“Reformed Egyptian”
In addition to Paleo-Hebrew writings that have been discovered in America, there have also been some documented cases of Egyptian writing. Examples of ancient Egyptian writing have been discovered in several places in North America, including eastern Iowa, the New England states, and southeastern Canada.
The original text of The Record of the Nephites was actually engraved on metallic plates, instead of having been recorded in the more common manner of writing upon parchments of animal skins. The reason, of course, was with the intent of preserving the sacred writings for future generations. [Other examples of ancient sacred writings upon thin sheets of metal made of soft metal such as lead or gold, have been discovered in Israel, Iraq, Korea, and Italy. It is a practice that is also mentioned in ancient Hebrew records.] The ancient American prophets [who were Hebrews] indicated that they actually engraved the sacred records using a style of characters that they called “reformed Egyptian”. Their reason for doing this was to economize on the available writing space on the metal sheets. Hebrew, like English, is a language that is phonetic – which means that it may take several letters to form a single word. Ancient Egyptian was, however, more symbolic – meaning that a single character [instead of several letters] could be used to represent a single word, or even a complete phrase. Compared with Hebrew, Egyptian writing was similar to “short-hand." The ancient American prophets, who recorded the prophecies and revelations that God gave to them, said that they modified the Egyptian language for their own use, because it required less space to write.
Very interestingly, a cross-link has been found between a modified style of ancient Egyptian writing, a tribe of North American Indians, and the characters that were used to write the ancient Nephite Scriptures! A modified or reformed style of Egyptian writing has been in use for many centuries by the Micmac [Mi-kmaw] Indians, of Northeastern America, a division of the Algonquin people. When the first Europeans made contact with the Micmacs, they discovered that they, unlike almost all other Native American tribes, already had a written language! That, in and of itself, was remarkable. But, what is most remarkable is the fact that the written language of the Micmac people of North America contains a very high percentage of characters that are either identical to, or slightly modified from an ancient style of Egyptian writing, known as hieratic! Not only are several characters the same, but the meaning of the words translates exactly the same! This proves that there was, at some ancient time, connection between someone who wrote in a modified form of Egyptian hieratic writing, and the Micmac Indian people of North America! [This is also consistent with the history presented within the Record of the Nephites.]
The Micmacs, like the ancient Nephites, did not speak in Egyptian – they only wrote in Egyptian [although there are a few Algonquin words which do have the same sound as the equivalent Egyptian words.]
Even more stunning evidence that confirms the historicity of the Record of the Nephites is found in the fact that there is a very high correlation between the reformed Egyptian characters of the Micmac tribe, and a small sample the characters used by the ancient Nephites. In 1828, during the Divinely-inspired translation of the ancient records into English, a few handwritten copies of some of the Nephite writing characters were made from the plates, for the purpose of showing scholars, to verify the ancient nature of the writings. One original handwritten copy of these characters is known to have survived to the present day. Although it is actually a relatively small sample of the ancient writing, there is a high percentage of correlation between those characters and the Micmac characters, and the hieratic style of Egyptian writing. All of this combines to confirm that the original text of The Record of the Nephites was, indeed, written in a reformed or modified form of Egyptian – the form that was in common use between about 800 and 500 BC, which corresponds with the time period when the main party of Israelites left the Middle East, and migrated to America.
Native Language & Customs
There are many Native American Indian customs that confirm the fact of their Hebrew origins. Many of those customs and linguistic evidences were noticed and recorded by the first Europeans who had contact with the various Indian tribes. Sadly, as the result of the cruel dispersion of the Indian people, and the deliberate destruction of their culture, by invading Europeans, most present-day Native Americans are unaware of their Hebrew roots. But, thanks to books written between the 17th and early 19th centuries by Europeans who had first contact with the various Indian tribes, information about many of the old accounts and practices has been preserved. Several of these books are available today, either as reprints, or in the research sections of university libraries. Some of the most interesting titles, written in English in the years between the late 18th and early 19th centuries, include: History of the American Indians, by James Adair; A Star in the West, by Elias Boudinot [founder of the American Bible Society, and U.S. Congressman]; A View of the Hebrews, by Ethan Smith; and American Antiquities, by Josiah Priest.
The old customs of the American Indian people included many rituals that were the same, or partially modified, from the equivalent Hebrew observances of the Mosaic Law. Each Indian tribe displayed some customs or traditions that are definitely Hebrew in character. Examples include: circumcision in some tribes; ritual purification after touching a dead body; laws of unclean meats [many Indian tribes followed the dietary laws]; cities of refuge [to which a person who accidentally had committed a felony could flee for safety from retribution]; levirate marriages [the obligation of a brother to ‘raise up seed’ to a deceased brother who left a childless widow]; laws of niddah [separation] for menstruating women; ritual purification in preparation for warfare; manner of marriage, divorce, and punishment for adultery; their lunar-based calendar; animal sacrifices; and many others.
A strong example of the Hebrew origin of some American Indian people includes the observance of annual holy days, which correspond with the appointed feasts of the Bible. For example, many Native American tribes celebrated a spring holy day known generally as the “feast of green corn”, which was observed at the time of the full moon in early spring. Corresponding with this, we find that in the Hebrew calendar, the name for the month in which the Passover occurs was originally known as Abib, which can be translated as “green ear [of grain]”. Like the ‘feast of green corn’, the Passover was observed at the time of the full moon.
Some of the best-educated Europeans who first contacted American Indians in eastern North America noticed that, in the language of many tribes, there were numerous words that sounded the same, and had the same meaning as Hebrew words! Among those reaching this conclusion were notable early immigrants to North America, such as William Penn, Roger Williams, and Jonathan Edwards. Words that have the same sounds and meanings in Hebrew as they do in Indian languages include words for: man, wife, the heavens, prayer, winter, as well as numerous verbs and phrases. Among the words that were nearly identical to the Hebrew were Yo-he-wah [corresponding to Yahweh], and ha-le-lu or ha-le-lu-yah. Similarly, in the mid-1600’s, reports of Hebrew-speaking Indians in South America first came to the attention of Europeans. As in North America, not only did the Europeans discover many strong similarities between the spoken languages of the Indians and the Hebrew language, they also reported seeing inscriptions written in Hebrew, and a very strong similarity between Indian customs and Israelite practices.
Indian History
There are literally hundreds of Native American legends, among tribes ranging from east to west and north to south, which correspond with the stories told within the Record of the Nephites. These traditions and events which are remembered as part of the oral history include: an original homeland across the oceans, the story of migration to America, the division of a single family into warring tribes led by brothers, and, most strikingly, a visitation of the Messiah to this land. Of special interest is a tradition that the Native American people once had a holy book of scripture, which they said was much like the Bible, but that, because of their many wars and falling away from godly ways, the holy book was buried in the ground long ago! The legend further stated that, at some future, the Indian people would once again have that holy book, and would once again be a peaceful and righteous people. [This, of course, parallels what happened with the original Nephite records.]
Native People of both North and South America remember in their oral history a time when a person, recognized as the Son of God, descended from Heaven, and visited their ancestors for a short time. He taught them the ways of righteousness, peace, and love. He healed those who were sick, restored sight to the blind, and even restored life to some who were dead. He showed them wounds in His hands. His skin was fair, and He had a beard. He chose twelve men as spiritual leaders. He laid hands on their children and blessed them. Then, after a short while, He went back into Heaven, promising to return one day. [An out-of-print book, He Walked the Americas, by L. Taylor Hansen, contains numerous Native American oral traditions of the visitation of the Messiah to this land.]
In southern Mexico and Central America are several pre-European carvings in stone that portray this Heavenly visitor with a beard, and pierced hands, obviously corresponding to the Messiah Jesus. When Spanish conquistadors invaded Central America, they discovered that some of the native people thought that they were emissaries from Heaven – because they remembered that the One who had visited them had fair skin and a beard, and that He had promised to return one day.
Other Ancient Christian Evidences
Other archaeological evidences prove the presence of Christians in America many centuries prior to the “discovery” of America by Europeans. This, of course, is in perfect harmony with the scriptural account of the Nephite Records.
In the north-central state of Michigan, there have been thousands of ancient artifacts unearthed which unmistakably depict scriptural events. [Similar objects have been discovered in other Midwestern states, and as far south as Louisiana.] Ancient slate tablets found in Michigan are engraved with pictographs of Old-Testament events such as the building of the Great Tower and the Flood of Noah. Some of the ancient pictographs [presently believed to date between 200 BC and 600 AD] portray the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, between two thieves! Although written in a language that has not yet been completely translated, other ancient Michigan engravings show the Ten Commandments, and a Hebrew-style calendar. Some of the slate inscriptions illustrate wars between two tribes of people who, some think, seem to correspond with the battles between Nephites and Lamanites, as chronicled in the Nephite Records. Other relics found in the same mounds include copper coins, copper alloy tools, and items made of clay, and of carved stone. Nearly all of these Michigan relics include an inscription that has been interpreted as a modified form of the Hebrew equivalent of the sacred name of Yahweh, God the Father. Whoever these ancient inhabitants of Michigan were, they were worshippers of the Holy One of Israel, and they knew the gospel of the Messiah!
Conclusions
From these many cultural, linguistic, archaeological, and historical evidences, it is natural and logical to conclude that there were people of Hebrew origin on the American continent many centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Among the Native American peoples, there are some who are literal, flesh-and-blood descendants of the House of Israel. [This is not to say that the Native American people are all Israelite in ancestry, nor that the Native Americans are the only people who are descendants of Jacob. Without a doubt, however, many American Indian people are numbered among the offspring of Israel.] We can also discover that some of the ancient Americans wrote in a modified form of Egyptian writing. And, we can discern that the risen Messiah apparently appeared and ministered to at least some of them. Through the ancient engravings, writings, language, and history of the Native American people, we can confirm that The Record of the Nephites is a true historical account of Israelite immigrants to America, led here by the hand of God, and visited by the Messiah Jesus Christ.
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