Ether or not?

Traditions of the Tower

This is an exercise in your familiarity with the Book of Ether. Ether is the abbreviated history of the Jaredites from the time they left Babel, to their ultimate destruction in the Americas. Can you tell which of the following excerpts that refer to the Tower of Babel are taken from Ether's writings?

1. Afterwards men, multiplying made a very tall and strong... tower, in order to shelter themselves in it when the second world should be destroyed. When things were at their best, their languages were changed and, not understanding each other, they went to different parts of the world.

2. But behold, I give not the full account, but a apart of the account I give, from the tower down until they were destroyed.

3. There were seven families who, in the dispersion of the tower of Babel, joined together because they understood each other’s language, to come to settle these regions.

4. An abridgment taken from the Book of Ether also, which is a record of the people of Jared, who were scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, when they were building a tower to get to heaven.

5. I say that the origin and first parents of all of them were seven families who, in the scattering of peoples because of the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel, joined together because of finding themselves of one language...and they traveled to these parts, where they established themselves and multiplied, and went on dividing into towns and nations.

6. His first parents came out from the tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people; and the severity of the Lord fell upon them according to his judgments, which are just; and their bones lay scattered in the land northward.

7. Our ancestors had come from the other side of the sea, from Civan-Tulan at the confines of Babylonia.

8. We were also in Babylon, where all the men made a great house, and a great building. By the work of these men, the top of this building reached half way to the heavens. At that time all these great ones spoke only one language. Then they separated at night-time; they went to their house to sleep. And God, our Lord, spoke to them, because they were made in His image, of the race, the sons of Adam. And because they were sinners, He changed their language and they all became different. This is what God our Lord told them. Then the languages were changed, and they certainly became different. Later when they met one another they couldn’t understand each other, and they couldn’t greet each other, so they were bewildered. Then they separated and spread over all the world.

9. Seven Toltecs who were present at the construction of that tower, seeing that they did not mutually understand the others, departed with their wives and children.

10. [He] was at the construction of the great wall, as they called the tower of Babel, and with his own eyes he saw the confusion of tongues, after which the Creator God commanded him to come to these extensive lands to distribute them among men.

11. The first king...was the one who brought them to this New World where they settled, who, as can be inferred, came from the great Tartary, and they were of those of the division of Babylon, as it is declared more at length in the history that is written.

12. It gave an account of the people who were destroyed, from the time that they were destroyed back to the building of the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people and they were scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth.

13. He caused a tumult among them, by producing in them divers languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before.

14. Who...came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families, from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered.

15. It is that same being who put it into the hearts of the people to build a tower sufficiently high that they might get to heaven. And it was that same being who led on the people who came from that tower into this land.

16. And God said...Come let us descend and confuse their tongues, that one man shall not understand the language of his neighbor, and they did so unto them. And from that day following, they forgot each man his neighbor's tongue, and they could not understand to speak in one tongue...And those who were left amongst them, when they knew and understood the evil which was coming upon them, they forsook the building, and they also became scattered upon the face of the whole earth. And they ceased building the city and the tower; therefore he called that place Babel, for there the Lord confounded the Language of the whole earth; behold it was at the east of the land of Shinar. And as to the tower which the sons of men built, the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up one third part thereof, and a fire also descended from heaven and burned another third, and the other third is left to this day...And many of the sons of men died in that tower, a people without number.

Answers:
1.  Fernando de Alba Ixtilixochitl. History of the Toltecs.
2.  Ether 1:5.
3.  Mariano Veytia. Ancient America Rediscovered. p. 192-3.
4.  Book of Mormon title page.
5.  Mariano Veytia. Ancient America Rediscovered. p. 40-41.
6.  Omni 1:22.
7.  Adrian Recinos and Delia Goetz, trans. The Annals of the Cakchiqueles. p. 194.
8.  History of the Xpantxay de Tecpan of Guatemala.
9.  Mariano Veytia. Ancient America Rediscovered. p. 193.
10.  Mariano Veytia. Ancient America Rediscovered. p. 46-7.
11.  Fernando de Alba Ixtilixochitl. History of the Toltecs.
12.  Mos. 28:17.
13.  Flavius Josephus. History of the Jews. 1:4:3.
14.  Ether 1:33.
15.  Hel. 6: 28.
16.  The Book of Jasher 9:32-38.

The Other Jaredites

I have previously discussed the probability that many Jaredites dispersed outward from the main group of Jared's subjects in the land of Moron.  This may have occurred early in their history, or little by little as individuals and groups dissented and rebelled against the central authority. 

As I have written elsewhere, it was likely that the original Jaredite families dispersed over the land following their arrival.  This is what the Lord had originally expected and commanded them to do following the flood.  If this occurred it would explain the other  groups which populated Mesoamerica prior to the time of Christ.

There is also the possibility that the Jaredite ships landed at different points along the coast from Mexico down to Nicaragua.  This is hinted at in the Indian legends, but I have been unable to verify it from other sources.  Some of the legends seem to indicate a scattered landing of the original people. 

While the main group of Jaredites continued to inhabit the land of Moron, and its surroundings throughout their 2000 year history, many other groups developed and flourished farther north in what is now Mexico and Guatemala.  They co-existed in Central American with the Jaredites of Moron, and later survived the decline and destruction of Coriantumer's people in the land of Moron about 300 BC.  Whether these outlying groups had contact with the main body of Jaredites is not revealed in the record, but in view of the history of trade among the various distinct groups, over large distances, it is likely that they did.  Such trade is revealed in the archaeological record, as well as post-conquest histories.  
These outside groups probably descended from the original Jaredite stock, however, it is possible that other outside peoples were also allowed to enter into the promised land.  Lehi hinted at the possibility of such other groups in the promised land when he commented: "The Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.  Wherefore ... there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord ... it is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations; for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance (2 Ne. 1:6-8)."  Although Lehi is here specifically referring to the Nephite people, this reference is also applicable to the Jaredites.  
In this article I would like to explore some of these other peoples.  This study will not be inclusive as there were numerous groups and subgroups, but will focus on the principal cultures and civilizations. 
I would also like to point out that these peoples were probably more or less present throughout the history of Mesoamerica, but would prosper and decline periodically depending upon their individual development and population.  Most of these "other Jaredites" existed as identifiable groups but their influence would wax and wane.  When one group would achieve dominance, the others would still exist, often as subservient subjects to the major power.  Later this or that group might excel and become the dominant power in the area, but the lessor factions were rarely completely exterminated. 
Let me give an example of this: when the Olmec civilization bloomed forth in about 1500 BC they did not suddenly appear out of a vacuum.  Their progenitors had been present for generations, but at this point their culture coalesced into an advanced civilization.  Similarly, when the Aztecs gained power in about 1300 AD they grew out of the roots of earlier peoples.  
The Book of Mormon mentions three groups that we know about that were allowed access into the Promised Land of the Americas - the Jaredites, who arrived about 2000 BC, the later Nephites and descendants of Lehi, who arrived about 590 BC, and the Mulekites.  This later group arrived in Mesoamerica sometime between 570 and 550 BC. They apparently landed on the Atlantic side of the continent, probably at Panuco near Tampico, Mexico, where they were either adjacent to, or mixed with the local Jaredite groups.  They may have been an ethnically mixed people which could have included Jews, Egyptians and Phoenicians.  

Archaeologically, the early Mesoamerican Jaredites could be  labeled as the formative period cultures.  During the history of this early period a number of groups separated and developed their own specialized cultures.  Groups such as the Olmec, the Maya, the Zapotecs, the Huaztecs, and the Toltecs.  Later a group migrated from the region of the Gulf of California.  Originally known as the Chichimeca or Mejica, they developed into the powerful Aztec nation. 

All of these groups seem to have come from a common origin, although the scholars would probably disagree with this hypothesis.  But they all had many cultural traits which they held in common, and these were similar to the cultural traits of the main body of Jaredites, as well as with the parent culture of Sumeria.  
These groups were often in conflict with one another, trying to dominate, and if possible, subjugate the other.  Their individual political influence waxed and waned over the course of history.  Most of them marshaled the economic, political, and military might to build magnificent cities and religious centers during their periods of dominance.  They kept records and histories, they measured time, they understood astronomy, they perfected their languages and writing skills and they excelled in many of the arts.

Mesoamerican languages from
Wikipedia

One problem with my theory of a common origin of the Mesoamerican people is that of language.  There are a number of distinct languages present in this area which may or may not be related to one another.  Such languages may indicate a separate ethnic origin, although there are common traits among the various languages of Mesoamerica.  The earliest languages appear to have been Oto-mangean, Mixe-Zoquean and Mayan.  The accompanying map indicates the distribution of present day languages in Mesoamerica.  This can give us some indication of the original homeland of each group, although there has, of course, been considerable migration over the centuries.  

In the following sections I will attempt to describe some of these individual groups.  As Wikipedia, and other sources, do such a thorough job of conveying information on this subject, I will quote from these individual sources where appropriate.

The Early Formative Peoples

Soconusco region

These groups occupied the Pacific coast of Mesoamerica, in what is know as the Soconusco region, from about 1900 to 1000 BC.  There are three  main groups which in many reports seem to be synonymous.  They are the Mokaya, the Ocos, and the Barra phase peoples.  These groups are all pre-Olmec and will be discussed separately below.

The Mokaya

The Mokaya was one of the earliest cultures identified by archaeologists.  These people were located along the Pacific coast of Southern Mexico and Guatemala in the area known as the Soconusco.  The people spoke a language now referred to as Mixe-Zoquean.  The principal site was Paso de la Amada which flourished from 1800-1000 BC.  Izapa is another major site in the area and may have been occupied as early as 1500 BC and flourished until 100 AD.  

From Wikipedia we read: The Mokaya were pre-Olmec cultures of the Soconusco region in Mexico and parts of the Pacific coast of western Guatemala, an archaeological culture that developed a number of Mesoamerica’s earliest-known sedentary settlements. The Soconusco region is generally divided by archaeologists into three adjacent zones along the coast—the Lower Río Naranjo region (along the Pacific coast of western Guatemala), Acapetahua, and Mazatán (both on the Pacific coast of modern-day Chiapas, Mexico). The term Mokaya was coined by archaeologists to mean "corn people" in an early form of the Mixe–Zoquean language, which the Mokaya supposedly spoke. The Mokaya are thought to have been among the first cultures in Mesoamerica to develop a hierarchical society, which arose in the Early Formative (or Preclassic) period of Mesoamerican chronology, at a time (late 2nd millennium BCE) slightly before similar traits were evident among the early Olmec centers of the Gulf Coast region.
The Ocos Culture

The Ocos was another of the earliest formative period cultures.  It has been identified from the same area as the Mokaya (Pacific coast of Chiapas and Guatemala) and they may be overlapping cultures.  It has been identified mainly through its ceramics which is the earliest dated pottery from Mesoamerica.  In addition to pottery, these people also produced many figurines.  This time period (1200 BC) shows evidence of the emergence of chiefdoms and other evidences of specialized social order.   

From about 1600 b.c. through the next 1,000 years, large regional settlements, home to sometimes thousands of people, would arise all along the Soconusco, including Paso de la Amada in the north, Mazatán, Cantón Corralito, Ojo de Agua, and La Blanca and La Victoria in Guatemala. From the number of large sites, at least a dozen, with surrounding hamlets, and the density of buildings and pottery discovered, the Soconusco was one of the most heavily populated regions in Mesoamerica.  The best-known, and earliest, Soconusco site from this period is Paso de la Amada, which NWAF [New World Archaeological Foundation] archaeologist Michael Blake first excavated in the 1980s. First settled around 1600 b.c., it was a town of about 2,000 people Clark [John] dubbed the Mokaya (“maize people” in Mixe-Zoquean, the language of the region’s modern inhabitants), who lived in central villages surrounded by outlying settlements.  (From: http://www.jenpinkowski.com/pdfs/Mexico.pinkowski.pdf   Archaeology Jan/Feb 2006)

The Olmec    

Olmec Heartlan from Wikipedia

The Olmec apparently developed from some of the early formative peoples of Mesoamerica and although many of the formative sites exhibit "Olmec" traits and traditions, their later principal sites were located along the eastern gulf coast of Mexico.  Olmec is a term that was bestowed upon them by the researchers but it was actually the name of a later distinct tribe of natives.   The Olmec have been mainly defined by the style of art  and artifacts found at their sites.  They are often referred to as the "mother culture" of later Mesoamerican peoples.  They possessed an early form of written language. Their physical appearance can be seen in their many masks and busts which have been found in their abandon sites.  The principal Olmec sites were San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes.
From Wikipedia we read:  The Olmec were the first major civilization in Mexico.  They lived in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the modern-day states of Veracruz and Tabasco.
The Olmec flourished during Mesoamica's Formative period dating roughly from as early as 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE.  Pre-Olmec cultures had flourished in the area since about 2500 BCE but by 1600-1500 BCE Early Olmec culture had emerged centered around the San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan site near the coast in southeast Veracruz.  They were the first Mesoamerican civilization and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed ... The most familiar aspect of the Olmecs is their artwork ... The Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts ... Olmec artworks are considered among ancient America's most striking.

The Zapoteca
Following the decline of the Olmec civilization, the Zapotecs became dominant and flourished from about 500 BC to 700 AD in the Oaxaca Valley in southern Mexico.  They spoke a form of  the Oto-manguean language and developed one of the earliest forms of writing found in Mesoamerica.  Their chief site was Monte Alban.
From Wikipedia:  The Zapotec civilization was an indigenous pre-Columbian civilization that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca of southern Mesoamerica. Archaeological evidence shows that their culture goes back at least 2,500 years. They left archaeological evidence at the ancient city of Monte Alban in the form of buildings, ball courts, magnificent tombs and grave goods including finely worked gold jewelry. Monte Albán was one of the first major cities in Mesoamerica and the center of a Zapotec state that dominated much of what is now the Mexican state of Oaxaca.  

Area of the Zapotecs

The Zapotec state formed at Monte Albán began an expansion during the late Monte Alban 1 phase (400–100 BC) and throughout the Monte Alban 2 phase (100 BC – AD 200). Zapotec rulers began to seize control over the provinces outside the valley of Oaxaca. They could do this during Monte Alban 1c (roughly 200 BC) to Monte Alban 2 (200 BC – AD 100) because none of the surrounding provinces could compete with the valley of Oaxaca both politically and militarily. By 200 AD the Zapotecs had extended their influence, from Quiotepec in the north to Ocelotepec and Chiltepec in the south. Monte Albán had become the largest city in the southern Mexican highland, and so it remained until approximately 700 AD.  The name Zapotec is an exonym [a name given by outsiders] coming from Nahuatl tzapotēcah ..., which means "inhabitants of the place of sapote". The Zapotec referred to themselves by some variant of the term Be'ena'a, which means "The People".  The Zapoteca  spoke the Oto-manguean language.

The Chichimeca

Map Chichimeca about 1550 AD
From Wikipedia Commons

The Chichimeca apparently pre-dated the later Toltec culture.  Mariano Veytia, in his book Ancient America Rediscoved, mentions that these people were the Lords of the Toltecs before they (the Toltecs) revolted, broke off, and established their own kingdom. They seem to have been an advanced people at one time, however all later references to them are of a savage, wild and uncivilized people, who foraged in the mountains for their food.  In more historic times, they seem to have divided into a number of related groups, all having similar lifestyles. At the time of the conquest, they resided in the rural areas of central Mexico.
From Wikipedia we read:  Chichimeca was the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern day Mexico and the southwestern United States.  The image of the Chichimecas as described by the early sources was typical of the era; the natives were "savages" - accomplished at war and hunting, but with no established society or morals, fighting even amongst themselves.

The Toltecs

Toltec Statues Tula
From Wikipedia Commons

The Toltec preceded the Aztec culture and was dominant in central Mexico for about 300 years.  Their principal city was Tula, located a short distance north of present day Mexico City.  The Toltecs may have been derived from a subgroup of the Chichimeca.  After about 1000 AD the civilization declined and disappeared.  The Toltec peoples may have become extinct, however, it is more likely that they became subservient and were absorbed into the surrounding cultures.  They may have spoken the Nahuatl language.  
From Wikipedia:  The Toltec culture is an archaeological Mesoamerican culture that dominated a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, in the early post-classic period of Mesoamerican chronology (ca 800-1000 CE).  The later Aztec culture saw the Toltecs as their intellectual and cultural predecessors and described Toltec culture emanating from Tollan (Nahuatl for Tula) as the epitome of civilization, indeed in the Nahuatl language the word Toltecatl came to take on the meaning "artisan".  The Aztec oral and pictographic tradition also described the history of the Toltec empire giving lists of rulers and their exploits. 

Maya Sites from Wikipedia Commons

The Maya
The Maya is one of the longest lived Mesoamerican civilizations. It originated in the Pre-Classic period of archaeological chronology and is represented today by a large surviving population. They flourished from about 250 to 900 AD when most of their majestic cities were constructed, and they were still numerous and strong when the Spanish arrived in the fifteenth century. They occupied parts of present day Chiapas, Tabasco, and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, as well as Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. They spoke various dialects of the Mayan language, many of which have survive to the present day. Some of their important sites are shown in the attached map.  The Maya developed a system of hieroglyphic writing which was unique and which has allowed scholars to decipher much of their ancient history.  They also used the Long Count Calendar, which was dated back to 11 August 3114 BC.  This calendar was probably originated by the Olmec.  

From Wikipedia:  The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period (c. 2000 BC to AD 250) ... many Maya cities reached their highest state of development during the Classic period (c. AD 250 to 900), and continued throughout the Post-Classic period until the arrival of the Spanish.  The Maya civilization shares many features with other Mesoamerican civilizations due to the high degree of interaction and cultural diffusion that characterized the region. Advances such as writing, epigraphy and the calendar did not originate with the Maya; however, their civilization fully developed them. Maya influence can be detected from Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, and western El Salvador to as far away as central Mexico, more than 1,000 km (620 mi) from the Maya area. Many outside influences are found in Maya art and architecture, which are thought to result from trade and cultural exchange rather than direct external conquest ... Around 100 AD, there was widespread decline and abandonment of Maya cities - called the Preclassic Collapse. This marked the end of the Preclassic era.

The Huasteca

It has been suggested that the Huasteca people originally were Maya who were divided from the southern Maya groups when other formative peoples pushed  northeastward from the Soconusco region dividing and displacing the original Maya.  They were thus split into two groups, the northern Huasteca, and the southern Maya.  

Huastec area - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia: La Huasteca is a cultural region located in the northeast of Mexico, including parts of the states of Tampaulipas, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi, Queretero and Guanajuato.  It is roughly defined as the area in which the Huastec people had influence when their civilization was at its height in the Mesoamerican period. Today, the Huastecs occupy only a fraction of this region ... The Huastecs are what probably remain of Mayan expansion northward up the Veracruz coast but were “left behind” after other Mayan groups retreated south and east. The Huastecs began to be culturally dominant in their region between 750 and 800 CE after El Tajin waned. From then to the 15th century, they expanded their territory and influence from the Tuxpan River to the Pánuco with most settlements along the banks of the Huayalejo-Tamesí River, along the northern Veracruz and southern Tamaulipas coast and west into the Sierra Madre Oriental. The culture was influential even farther west into northern Querétaro, and there may have been Huastec settlements into what is now northern Puebla. Notable settlements include El Tamuin in San Luis Potosí, Yahualica and Huejutla in Hidalgo, Tzicóaxc on the Veracruz/Puebla border as well as Tuxpan, Temapache, Pánuca and Tanhuijo in Veracruz.

The Teotihuacan Culture

Teotihuacan is a huge archaeological site north of Mexico City.  It has not been established which group of people built and inhabited this city, and we do not know their language or their basic history.  They pre-dated the Aztec culture and were dominant in Mesoamerica from about 300 BC to 200 AD.  

Teotihuacan from Wikipedia Commons

From Wikipedia: Teotihuacan ... is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas. The name means "where man met the gods." Apart from the pyramids, Teotihuacan is also known for its large residential complexes, the Avenue of the Dead, and numerous colorful, well-preserved murals. Additionally, Teotihuacan produced a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica.

The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC and continued to be built until about 250 AD. The city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. At its zenith, perhaps in the first half of the 1st millennium AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population of perhaps 125,000 or more, placing it among the largest cities of the world in this period. Teotihuacan began as a new religious center in the Mexican Highland around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the New World. Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population.  Although it is a subject of debate whether Teotihuacan was the center of a state empire, its influence throughout Mesoamerica is well documented; evidence of Teotihuacano presence can be seen at numerous sites in Veracruz and the Maya region. The Aztecs may have been influenced by this city. The ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate. Possible candidates are the Nahua, Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups. Scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multiethnic state.

The Aztecs
We can date the Aztec civilization from the founding of their capitol Tenochtitlan in 1325 at the present day site of Mexico City.  They controlled a large empire covering much of central Mexico until the coming of the Spaniards.  Aztec legends specify their origin from the area around the head of the Gulf of California.  They spoke the Nahuatl language.

Aztec Empire from Wikipedia

From Wikipedia: The Aztec people were ... those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries.  The Nahuatl words aztecatl and aztecah mean "people from Aztlan" a mythological place for the Nahuatl-speaking culture of the time, and later adopted as the word to define the Mexica people [I do not believe that Aztlan was mythical but referred to the place of origin of the original Jaredites in Sumer.  It means "place of the egrets or herons"] ... [The Aztecs together with the Acolhuas and the Tepanecs] formed the Aztec Triple Alliance which controlled ... the "Aztec Empire" ... At its pinnacle, Aztec culture had rich and complex mythological and religious traditions, as well as reaching remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments.  Aztec culture and history is primarily known through archaeological evidence found in excavations such as that of the renowned Templo Mayor in Mexico City; from indigenous bark paper codices; from eyewitness accounts by Spanish conquistadors such as Hernan Cortes and Bernal Diaz del Castillo; and especially from 16th and 17th century descriptions of Aztec culture and history written by Spanish clergymen and literate Aztecs in the Spanish or Nahuatl language, such as the famous Florentine Codex compiled by the Franciscan monk Bernardino de Sahagun with the help of indigenous Aztec informants.

Pipil
The people named Pipil (variously translated as Noble, Childish, or Boy) are a group currently living in El Salvador who originally are thought to have emigrated from Mexico and it has been suggested that they were originally Toltecs.  However some dispute this and feel that they were descended from the Maya.  They speak a form of Nahuatl which would tend to favor the Toltec theory.  Many in El Salvador are mestizos of the original Pipil culture.  One of the main products of the Pipil was cacoa which was grown and exported from their region.  

From Wikipedia: The Pipils or Cuzcatlecs are an indigenous people who live in western El Salvador which they called Cuzcatlán. Their language is called Nahuat or Pipil, related to Nahuatl. Evidence from archeology and ethnohistory also supports the southward diffusion thesis, especially that speakers of early Nahuan languages migrated from northern Mexican deserts into central Mexico in several waves. However, in general, their mythology is more closely related to the mythology of the Maya peoples who are their near neighbors 

Neo-Jaredites and the Jaredite Remnants

(This is a reprint of the original article found on my site Mormon Geography)

One of the problems facing Book of Mormon archaeology is the fact that the civilizations of the Maya, Aztec and other pre-Columbian cultures were at their zenith many years after the extermination of the Nephites. If we are focusing on the archaeological ruins of these civilizations, they don't seem to fit Book of Mormon history. But I contend that they were not related to the Nephite history, nor were they the work of true Lamanites. It is my opinion that the early Formative Period or Olmec Era ruins were built by the Jaredite peoples of the Book of Ether, but the later ruins (Maya, etc.) were built by Jaredite remnants (see section on Jaredite remnants below) and others, who followed the Jaredite traditions. I will called these people neo-Jaredites.

A neo-Jaredite will be defined as any of those heterogenous groups of people, following the terminal Jaredite wars (about 300 B.C.) who admired, conserved and followed the ancient Jaredite traditions. These traditions are of course the decadent practices characteristic of the terminal Jaredite era at the time of Ether and Coriantumr.  These traditions were apparently readily available, whether in writing or by word of mouth, to any who wanted to learn them.  The term neo-Jaredite would include Jaredite remnants, their descendants, any Nephites, Mulekites, Lamanites who allied themselves with them, and possibly others such as Asiatics who may have come by boat or across the Bering Strait. The neo-Jaredite traditions included such things as the rites and practices of secret societies, Jaredite architecture, language and writing, measurement of time and calendaring, idolatrous Jaredite religion, naturistic shamanism, the use of jade as a cultural and religious object, human sacrifice, blood oaths and offerings and monarchial forms of government. A major motivation for the continuance of these traditions may have been the involvement of these individuals or groups in the rites and practices of the ancient secret societies (such as the Gadianton Robbers).

These ceremonies were of ancient date and had been passed down from the time of Cain. They included oaths (2), blood offerings, secret signs, execution of those who violated these oaths by beheading, gaining power and wealth through assassination, worshiping the god of the underworld (in caves, cenotes, etc.), etc. The oaths involved swearing by heaven and earth and by ones own head (3Ne.12:33-36; Ether 8:13-14), and were likely sealed by blood. These were the groups often termed “Robbers” in the later chapters of the Book of Mormon (Hel. 2:10; 6:20; 7:4; Morm. 8:9, etc.). They successfully recruited others by flattering them with vanities, encouraging them to become part of their "elite" group, bribing them with their ill gotten gain, or appealing to their greed and lust for power. They felt that their works were “good; and ... of ancient date and they [had] been handed down to [them]” from the ancients. (3Ne.3:9).

Once in power, the vain leaders of these societies would memorialize themselves by creating monuments (stelae) extolling their achievements and immortalizing their genealogy. When another more powerful would gain ascendancy, he would deface or destroy the former strong man’s memorials, and build more elaborate structures superimposed over the former ones.

For much of their history they existed as numerous competing groups, city states, or small nations, engaging in tribal warfare to gain power over their neighbors thereby plundering their wealth, obtaining slaves for their public work projects, and victims for their sacrificial rites. The pattern appears to be very Asiatic following the earlier Jaredite tradition (3).  Occasionally one or the other group would gain supremacy and establish a ruling line, with their feudal subjects supporting them through tribute and conscripted labor. Their influence extended from Northern Mexico to Nicaragua, but was centered in Central and Southern Mexico and Guatemala. Their elaborate ceremonial centers were built to centralize power, legitimize their right to rule, facilitate the collection of tribute and coalesce the population. The religious purposes were probably secondary.  I contend that in a nutshell this explains the origin and history of the Maya, Aztec and other such groups.

The history of the Aztec (or Mexica as they called themselves) as outlined in the Codex Mendoza (4) is a prime example of this pattern.  This codex is a pictoral history of the Aztec nation compiled at the request of the Spanish crown shortly after the conquest.  It was written and interpreted by native scribes who were supervised by Spanish friars.  In this history the ruling line is established through force of arms, many surrounding communities are subjugated year by year, tribute and manpower are exacted, and those rebelling or opposing the conquerors are punished and often executed.  There are even royal assasinations reminiscent of Jaredite history.  The only thing not mentioned is the existence of secret societies, but one would hardily expect the native historians to reveal such things.

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Jaredite Remnants

Jaredite Remnants.  The existence of what I term neo-Jaredites depends on the survival of Jaredite remnants following Coriantumr's war of extinction. Were there in fact Jaredite survivors? At first this does not seem obvious from a reading of Ether for we read that Ether prophesied to "Coriantumr that, if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom and spare the people—Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were Coriantumr." (Ether 13:21.) This prophecy by Ether would not seem to leave any room for Jaredite survivors.

But consider what Hugh Nibley has to say about the subject. "What does the Book of Mormon mean by 'destroyed'? The word is to be taken, as are so many other key words in the book, in its primary and original sense: 'to unbuild; to separate violently into its constituent parts; to break up the structure.' To destroy is to wreck the structure, not to annihilate the parts. Thus in 1 Nephi 17:31 we read of Israel in Moses' day that, 'According to his word he did destroy them; and according to his word he did lead them,' bringing them together after they had been 'destroyed,' i.e., scattered, and needed a leader. 'As one generation hath been destroyed among the Jews,' according to 2 Nephi 25:9, 'even so they have been destroyed from generation to generation according to their iniquities.' A complete slaughter of any one generation would of course be the end of their history altogether, but that is not what 'destroyed' means. Of the Jews at Jerusalem Nephi says (1 Nephi 17:43), 'I know that the day must shortly come that they must be destroyed, save only a few.' Later, 'after the Messiah hath arisen from the dead . . . behold, Jerusalem shall be destroyed again' (2 Nephi 25:14). In these two cases what actually happened was that the Jews were all scattered 'save a few only' that remained in the land. The Israelites upon entering the Promised Land, we are told, drove out 'the children of the land, yea, unto the scattering them to destruction' (1 Nephi 17:32). Here it is plainly stated that the destruction of the Canaanites was their scattering—as is known to have been the case. Likewise of the Nephites: 'and after thy seed shall be destroyed, and dwindle in unbelief, and also the seed of thy brethren, behold these things shall be hid up' (1 Nephi 13:35), where both Nephites and Lamanites dwindle in unbelief after they have been destroyed."

"So when we read that the Jaredites 'were destroyed by the hand of the Lord upon the face of this north country' in the very first verse of Ether, we are to understand that the nation was smashed and dispersed, but not that the catastrophic final battle was necessarily the whole story. The first thing that occurs to King Mosiah [actually King Limhi] on the discovery of the twenty-four gold plates was, 'perhaps they will give us a knowledge of the remnants of the people who have been destroyed, from whence this record came' (Mosiah 8:12), showing that whether anyone survived or not, for Mosiah [Limhi] at least it was perfectly possible for remnants of a people to exist after that people had been 'destroyed.' But did not Ether prophesy that 'every soul should be destroyed save it were only Coriantumr?' (Ether 13:21). Every soul of what? Specifically of 'his kingdom . . . and all his household.' Ether himself, hiding out in a cave, was not included in the number, and neither were other inhabitants of the continent—Nephites, Lamanites, and Mulekites that were actually living here at the time of the Jaredite destruction. Neither were renegade Jaredites, wandering far and wide beyond the confines of the kingdom. That there were such renegades will appear from a number of things." (Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites, 1988], p. 239. [He goes into great detail on this topic in p. 238-254])

Again in An Approach to the Book of Mormon (p. 370) Nibley refers to what he believes would have been numerous Jaredite remnants. (This is the Melchizedek Priesthood manual for the year 1957 published by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

John L. Sorenson, in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, suggests that "it is plausible that several remote groups also could have survived to meld unnoticed by historians into the successor Mulekite and Lamanite populations." (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan, 1992), p. 192.)

Sorenson again comments “It is a safe presumption, however, that some groups existing at the time when the armies referred to in Ether 15 were destroyed simply refused to participate in the suicidal madness of Coriantumr and Shiz. They would have ensured their own survival by staying home and minding their meek business in this or that corner of the land. Such minor peoples might hardly even have noted the distant slaughter of the dynasts, so absorbed would they have been in their local affairs. The likelihood is that more than a few such groups continued past the time of the 'final destruction' of the armies at the hill Ramah, and some could well have been living in the land southward as Nephi and Laman built up their small colonies.”  (When Lehi's Party Arrived in the Land, Did They Find Others There? John L. Sorenson, FARMS Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, vol. 1, no. 1 (Fall 1992), 6.)

John A. Tvedtnes on Jaredite remnants: " I have long believed that some Jaredites survived the last great battles of their civilization and that it was the civilization itself that was destroyed, not every single Jaredite. This is evidenced mostly by the existence of Jaredite names in the Nephite population.  Ether reported only what he saw; he could not have been everywhere. Some would cite Ether's prophecy in Ether 13:21 as evidence that all the Jaredites except Coriantumr were to be destroyed. However, a careful reading of that verse indicates that it was all of Coriantumr's 'household' that was to be destroyed. We cannot know for sure how many Jaredites may have escaped to other places before or during the last great war. It is not impossible in the scenario painted by Sorenson that some of the people with whom the Lamanites intermarried were Jaredites.   This brings us to the question of indigenous peoples with whom the Lamanites may have joined.  [We might suppose] that such outsiders would have been mentioned in the Book of Mormon. But since that book was a clan record, it may have deliberately left out mention of peoples not originating in Jerusalem, with the sole exception of the Jaredites, who left a written record that came into the hands of King Mosiah."  

"There are, in fact, some possible references to outsiders in the Book of Mormon. For example, we never learn the real origin of the Amalekites, unless they are the same as the Amlicites. I have noted elsewhere that the antichrist Sherem (Jacob 7) may have been an outsider. Jacob wrote of him, "there came a man among the people of Nephi" (Jacob 7:1). Does this mean that he was not a Nephite? Jacob further notes "that he had a perfect knowledge of the language of the people" (Jacob 7:4). Don't all native speakers? This would have been remarkable only if the man were not a Nephite."   (John A. Tvedtnes.  Review of  John C. Kunich, "Multiply Exceedingly: Book of Mormon Population Sizes."  In FARMS Review of Books.  Vol. 6:1. 1994.) 

Home.

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Footnotes.

(2)  "The story of the rise and career of any great conqueror is a long catalog of terrible oaths taken and broken. The most solemn of these oaths are sealed by the drinking of blood, as when "the King of the Commains . . . caused the [Emperor of Constantinople] and their people . . . to be blooded, and each drank alternately of the other's blood." The study of the oldest annals of Asia conducts us, as does the study of the oldest languages, into a world of oaths and covenants. And why should this be so? The explanation is simple, for the purpose of the oath is to bind—the Egyptian word for "oath," to give one example, is simply ankh, originally a "knot." In a world of vast open spaces and limited population, where wandering nomads may take independence for themselves by hunting beasts or driving cattle over limitless grasslands, how can men be bound to any spot or leader? They must be tied by oaths, because there is no other way of holding them. Of course every effort was made to render the oath as binding, that is, as terrible, as possible, and of course such oaths were broken whenever convenient. The ease with which men of the steppes can pass from one camp to another has always kept their kings in a state of suspicious alert, so that Asiatic monarchy is at all times enveloped in a stifling—and very Jareditish—atmosphere of suspicion and intrigue."

Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites, edited by John W. Welch with Darrell L. Matthews and Stephen R. Callister [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988], 201.)

(3)  Hugh Nibley comments on the Asiatic model for Jaredite culture, which was not only valid for the Book of Ether era, but for the Neo-Jaredite era as well. "The basic fact is space—vast expanses of grassland, woods, and mountains, where hunters and herdsmen have ranged since time immemorial, trespassing on each other's territory, raiding each other's settlements, stealing each other's cattle, grimly escaping and pursuing each other by turns. ... The result is chronic chaos, a condition which has been a standing challenge to the genius and ambition of men with a talent for leadership. Periodically the Great Man appears in Asia to unite his own jangling tribesmen in fanatical devotion to himself, subdue his neighbors one after another, and finally by crushing a great coalition bring all resistance to an end, and at last bring "peace and order" to the world. The endless expanse of the steppes and the lack of any natural boundaries call for statesmanship in the grand manner, both the concept and techniques of empire being in fact of Asiatic origin. For a time one mind nearly succeeds in ruling the world, but a quick reckoning comes when the Great Man dies. In a wild scramble for the throne among his ambitious relatives the world-empire promptly collapses: Space, the force that produced the super-state, now destroys it by allowing disgruntled and scheming heirs and pretenders to go off by themselves to distant regions and found new states with the hope in time of absorbing all the others and restoring world dominion. The chaos of the steppes is not the primitive disorder of small savage tribes accidentally colliding from time to time in their wanderings. It is rather, and always has been, a shrewd game of chess, played by men of boundless ambition and formidable intellect with mighty armies at their disposal."

"Now to return to the Jaredites. Their whole history is the tale of a fierce and unrelenting struggle for power. The book of Ether is a typical ancient chronicle, a military and political history relieved by casual references to the wealth and splendor of kings. You will note that the whole structure of Jaredite history hangs on a succession of strong men, most of them rather terrible figures. Few annals of equal terseness and brevity are freighted with an equal burden of wickedness. The pages of Ether are dark with intrigue and violence, strictly of the Asiatic brand. When a rival for the kingdom is bested, he goes off by himself in the wilderness and bides his time while gathering an "army of outcasts." This is done by "drawing off" men to himself through lavish bestowal of gifts and bribes. The forces thus won are retained by the taking of terrible oaths. When the aspirant to the throne finally becomes strong enough to dispose of his rivals by assassination, revolution, or a pitched battle, the former bandit and outlaw becomes king and has to deal in turn with a new crop of rebels and pretenders. It is exactly as if one were reading Arabshah's grim and depressing Life of Timur, the biography of a typical Asiatic conqueror, with its dark allusions to the supernatural and especially to the works of the devil. It is a strange, savage picture of nightmare politics that the book of Ether paints, but it is historically a profoundly true picture."

Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert/The World of the Jaredites/There Were Jaredites, edited by John W. Welch with Darrell L. Matthews and Stephen R. Callister [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988], 197.)

(4)  The Essential Codex Mendoza by Frances Berdan and Patricia Rieff Anawalt.  Univ. of Calif. Press.  1997.

The Babylonian Cubit

The people of Mesoamerica are said to have used the Babylonian cubit as a standard measure in their construction projects. If true, this is another correlation between the ancient Americans and Mesopotamia, lending credence to my theory of Jaredite origins in Sumeria.

Archaeologist V. Garth Norman, writing for the Ancient America Foundation (also in the Book of MormonArchaeological Forum), claims that all the ancient monuments that he has investigated in Mesoamerica appear to have been constructed using the Babylonian cubit of 49.5 cm.

Norman began his studies at the site of Izapa, in Chiapas, and later studied measurements at many other sites and museums. All his measurements appeared to be consistent using a standard unit of length.

Discussing his discovery Norman relates: “During an eleven year study of the Izapa Project (1965-1976), Southern Mexico with the BYU-New World Archaeological Foundation (NWAF), I produced accurate drawings of all the Izapa monuments ... On my numerous trips to Izapa ... I started measuring glyphs and figures as well as distances between sky and base panels on the low relief carvings. During my Izapa sculpture study ... I measured comparable figures on different monuments as well as distances between sky and base panels and discovered consistent dimensions. This implied the use of a standard measure ... In the final analysis I decoded two Izapa standards -- 49.5 cm. and 52.5 cm. ... I found that the prevailing standard measures were used in divisions of half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, etc. In later comparative library study I was startled to find that these two standards were identical to the Royal Babylonian and Royal Egyptian cubits!”

Norman then goes on to correlate his findings with measurements used in Israel, which he feels link the Mesoamerican sites with the Nephites, whose origin was, of course, in Jerusalem. However, I feel it is much more logical to link the sites with the Jaredites who originated in Sumer.  They would have been familiar with such standard measurements, which were probably developed by the Sumerians.

The cubit measure was apparently an early invention by the Sumeria craftsmen. They subsequently passed on this knowledge to neighboring cultures. We have several examples of these ancient tools, one from Sumer, and another from Egypt.

Nippur Cubit Rod from Wikipedia Commons

In 1916 a German Assyriologist, excavating at the ancient Sumerian site of Nippur, found a graduated copper-alloy bar. He claimed that it was an ancient Sumerian cubit measure. It measured the cubit as 51.86 cm. I have been unable to find a date for this ruler, but the site of Nippur was flourishing about 2000 BC.

Egyptian Cubit Rod from Wikipedia Commons

The second is found in the Louvre Museum in Paris. It is from the time of Tutankhamun (about 1300 BC). It measures 52.3 cm long.

These measurements are not exactly equivalent to Norman's findings, however are fairly close. There seems to be a great deal of variation in reported cubit lengths measuring anywhere from 46 to 52.5 cm.

There is an excellent site dealing specifically with the cubit, it's history and the various lengths used by different groups. It can be found here. One additional item of interest from this site is the Egyptian numbering system. It seems to have similarities with the Mesoamerican system.

Maya Numbering

Lacouperie and the Jaredites

Terrien de Lacouperie was a nineteenth century French Sinologist

who spent most of his life studying the history and ancient records of China. He was widely respected at the time for his research and discoveries and widely honored for his efforts. He developed a theory regarding the origin of the Chinese civilization that I find very interesting and which supports my theory of the Jaredite migration through Asia, and their subsequent influence on the peopling of China.

From his studies, he hypothesized that the early colonists of China were a civilized people from Mesopotamia who introduced the civilization of the Sumerians into eastern Asia. He claims that they were what he calls “Bak” tribes from the Semite nation of Elam. The Elamites were a neighboring nation of the Sumerians at the time, and were politically subservient to them. He suggests that the “Baks” left Elam during a period of political turmoil and traveled eastward across Asia and settled in China.

Quoting from Lacouperie:

"The early Chinese intruders and civilizers were the Bak tribes, about sixteen in number, who arrived on the N.W. borders of China not long after the great rising which had taken place in S.W. Asia at the beginning of the twenty-third century B.C. in Susiana. Their former seat was within the dominating influence of the latter country, as they were acquainted with its civilization, a reflex of the

Babylo-Assyrian focus."

He then gives a list of correspondences between Sumerian and Chinese culture which tend to substantiate his claims.  (see list at bottom of blog.)

Lacouperie's theory supports my idea that the Jaredites left Sumer following the Confusion of Tongues and migrated eastward through Asia. They traveled slowly, periodically stopping to plant crops and harvest them, before resuming their journey eastward. During these stops, they establishing settlements of the sick, disabled or weary who were left behind. Arriving in the area of China, they traveled down the valley of the Yellow River (Huang He River) until they reached the Pacific coast.

This is described in the Aztec legends, speaking of their progenitors, which were recorded by the historian Boturini.

“Having left the land and country of Sennaar [Shinar] with their numerous descendents, and guided by divine providence...they scattered through the great forest [wilderness?] of the earth, and having come to pass all these things, that I have written in the first age, until in the second [age] the kinships having multiplied with the new addition of servants, and increasing in numbers, they traveled for a long time in Asia…going from one place to another and carrying with them seeds, particularly of corn, chili, and beans, and in each region they cut down the forests [cleared the land] and prepared farm land [sowing fields], and perhaps leaving behind the aged and weary that they might populate those lands; and so they walked that with time they were nearing America, and at last they entered and set foot on their continent (From “Idea de Una Nueva Historia General de la America Septentroinial, by Lorenzo Boturini, P. 126).”

Returning to Lacouperie, he also suggested that there was an earlier population of barbarians residing in China when the “Bak” group arrived and that they civilized these natives. However, I disagree with him on this point as Moriancumer, the leader of the Jaredites, was told that they would be going to a land where man had never been (Ether 2:5), so the area should have been unpopulated when they arrived. Any resulting civilization in China would have been that propagated by the Jaredites who were left behind. They would have passed on the culture that they had learned from the Sumerians.

Following his death in 1894, Lacouperie's writings and theories fell our of favor with the scholars. They felt that his translations were flawed and maintained that civilization in China had been an independent development, not the result of outside cultural influences. As a result of this scholarly ostracism, few people are aware of Lacouperie's writings or findings.

From my study of his works, I find him to be very knowledgeable and thorough. I feel that his translations are accurate, and he has thoroughly documented all his findings.

In response to those critics who reject his idea of a culture derived from Mesopotamia, Lacouperie wrote:

“The science of history has now shown, in all known instances, that centers of civilization never arose elsewhere than amid a conflict of races, when sparks, coming from a more enlightened quarter, have brought in an initiating and leading spirit, under the form of one or several men, or of immigrating tribes, incited by trade, religion, or in search of safety. The same science has shown moreover that man has always traveled more extensively than was formerly supposed, that 'there is no such thing as the history of one country,' and that intelligent nations always borrow fresh elements of civilisation whenever they have the opportunity of doing so … that in all investigated cases, culture is the result of an introduction from abroad, and not of a spontaneous development [emphasis mine] (from Western Origin of the Early Chinese Civilization, Lacouperie, 1894, Introduction).”

I believe that this is a true statement of fact. It is true for China.  It is true for Mesoamerica, where scholars assert the same notion, that the Mesoamerican peoples developed their culture independent of any other group or people.

If we accept the scriptures as valid history, which they are, we can observe that society has always descended from an original source. Adam was the primary source for this world, and his posterity reflected his intelligence and culture. Following the flood we had a new source in the man Noah and his family. All nations, peoples and cultures descended and benefited from this man's civilized knowledge and influence.

Unfortunately, the humanistic scholars believe in the notion of cultural evolution – that primitive man, over milleniums of time, has gradually evolved the various civilizations of the earth, independent of one another. This is on the order of claiming that all societies utilizing modern technology developed this science spontaneously and independently on their own without outside influence. Such a claim would be ridiculous, as is the claim that ancient societies derived their cultures independently without inheriting attributes from other outside groups.

But back to Lacouperie, if he is correct, he has shed more light on the history of the Jaredites, and we are better able to understand their origin and story.

Some other works by Terrien de Lacouperie which relate to this subject:

Early History of the Chinese Civilization.

The Languages of China before the Chinese.

The Old Babylonian Characters and their Chinese Derivates.

Catalogue of Chinese Coins from the 7th cent. B.C. to A.D. 621.

The Oldest Book of the Chinese, the Yh King, and its Authors.

Beginnings of Writing in Central and Eastern Asia.

History of the Civilisation of China. 2 Vols.

Numerous articles in the periodical The Babylonian and Oriental Record.

The Silk Goddess of China and Her Legend.

Most of these books and articles can be found free and online at www.archive.org

Lacouperie's list of Sumerian/Chinese correspondences:

(1) The art of writing 

(2) Writing from top to bottom and from right to left 

(3) Engraved, not relief writing 

(4) characters derived from those of Babylonia and

still semi-hieroglyphical 

(5) Similar meaning of the characters 

(6) Their phonetic and polyphonic values 

(7) Their imperfect system of aerology and phonetism 

(8) probably some written texts

(9) the use of lists of written characters arranged (10) phonetically,

(10) lists of written characters arranged phonetically

(11) lists of written characters arranged ideographically 

(12) some souvenirs of the cuneiform or monumental form of writing 

(13) the extensive use of seals 

(14) the shifted cardinal points of Assyro-Babylonia 

(15) the symbols to write them [the cardinal points]

(16) astronomical instruments 

(17) many names of stars and constellations 

(18) of twenty-four stellar points  

(19) the twelve Babylonian months 

(20) with an inter-calary month

(21) and a certain use of the week 

(22) the erection of lofty terraces for astronomical purposes, etc.  

(23) the machinery of Imperial Government  

(24) titles of dignities

(25) the names of several offices with which they had been made familiar near Susiana 

(26) the system of twelve pastors  

(27) the concept of four regions 

(28) and a special officer bearing that title  

(29) the political idea of a Middle Kingdom  

(30) many proper names which, appearing

in their beginnings and once restored to an approximation of

their old form, are easily recognized as similar to some names

used in the aforesaid S.W. Asiatic countries, etc.  

(31) the cycle of ten

(32) the cycle of twelve  

(33) several standard measures  

(34) the twelve scales of music  

(35) the decimal notation  

(36) the ten periods, etc.  

(37) the wheat, which, is aboriginal in Mesopotamia only  

(38) the arts of claybrick building 

(39) of embanking rivers 

(40) the making of canals

(41) many words of Akkado-Sumerian and Babylonian civilization  

(42) the use of metals  

(43) many minor notions of arts and science, such as 

(44) the fire drill 

(45) the use of war-chariots with horses harnessed abreast, etc. 

(46) the practice of divination  

(47) the use of eight wands of fate  

(48) known terms of good or bad fortune  

(49) numerical categories  

(50) the symbolic tree of life or calenderic plant 

(51) special emblems on their rulers' dress 

(52) the worship or at least the name of Utuku (=Tik), otherwise Shamash, as supreme god  

(53) the six honoured ones, or the six gods of Susiana  

(54) the ruling idea that events repeat themselves 

(55) the lucky and unlucky days  

(56) the mythical colours of planets  

(57) the concept of Yn and Yang  

(58) large square altars, etc. 

(59) the royal canon of Babylonia  

(60) many peculiar legends therein, etc.  

From The Languages of China Before the Chinese, Lacouperie, p. 125.