New Witnesses for God (Volume 2 of 3)

by B. H. Roberts

An item of interest connected with the Nephite migration, and one very likely to fasten itself in the traditions of the natives, would be the Nephite "Director" or "Liahona" as the Nephites called it. This "Director" was found by Lehi, early in the Nephite migrations, at his tent door, and is described as "a round ball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one pointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness. * * * And we did follow the directions of the ball, which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness."^[[61]] Later, when the prophet Alma refers to it, after informing his son Helaman that it was called, by their fathers, "Liahona," he adds:

And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness. And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done.^[[62]]

In the traditional account of how the first Inca and his sister-wife were directed to Peru, one may see the distorted account of this Book of Mormon fact. The tradition is thus related by Prescott:

The celestial pair, brother and sister, husband and wife, advanced along the high plains in the neighborhood of Lake Titicaca to about the sixteenth degree south. They bore with them a golden wedge, and were directed to take up their residence on the spot where the sacred emblem should without effort sink into the ground. They proceeded accordingly but a short distance, as far as the valley of Cuzco, the spot indicated by the performance of the miracle, since there the wedge speedily sank into the earth and disappeared forever. Here the children of the Sun established their residence, and soon entered upon their beneficent mission among the rude inhabitants of the country; Manco Capac teaching the men the arts of agriculture, and Mama Oello initiating her own sex in the mysteries of weaving and spinning."^[[63]]

Squiers relates the tradition substantially in the same manner, except that in place of a "golden wedge," he represents the celestial pair as being divinely guided by "a golden rod," which sinks into the earth on reaching the divinely appointed place of their destination.^[[64]]

The student of the Book of Mormon will at once recognize how well the Nephite and Lamanite religious wars, at some periods of their history, are described in the following passage:

There appear to have been very hotly contested religious disputes; constant wars broke out between the sectarians following the god Votan and those who worshiped Quetzalcohuatl, and the vanquished on either side perished under horrible tortures, or were compelled to fly their country^[[65]]

Much confusion exists among authorities concerning the Toltecs. Because of their clear knowledge of the creation, flood, tower of Babel, confusion of languages and dispersion of mankind,^[[66]] they are thought to have commenced their wanderings at the dispersion of mankind from Babel. But if a people had in their possession a version of the Hebrew scriptures, as the Nephites had, for instance, it is not difficult to understand how these Bible facts could be incorporated in their traditions, without insisting that they were immediately connected with those very ancient Bible events. In whatever way the controversies about the Toltecs may terminate, the following description of them could well stand for a description of the Nephites, barring the items of cruelty, revengefulness, and sanguinary nature of their religion, and their ignorance of iron.^[[67]]

In spite of wars and discord the time of the Toltec domination is enshrined in the memory of the Nahuas as their golden age. The Toltecs, they tell us, were tall, well proportioned, with clear, yellow complexions; their eyes were black, their teeth very white; their hair was black and glossy; their lips were thick; their noses were aquiline, and their foreheads were receding. Their beards, were thin, and they had very little hair on their bodies; the expression of their mouths was sweet, but that of the upper part of their faces severe. They were brave, but cruel, eager for revenge, and the religious rites practiced by them were sanguinary. Intelligent and ready to learn, they were the first to make roads and aqueducts; they knew how to utilize certain metals; they could spin, weave and dye cloth, cut precious stones, build solid houses of stone cemented with lime mortar, found regular towns; and, lastly, build mounds which may justly be compared with those of the Mississippi valley. To them popular gratitude attributes the invention of medicine, and the vapor bath (temazcalli). Certain plants to which curative properties were attributed were the remedies mostly used.^[[68]] In the towns we are told, were hospitals where the poor were received and cared for gratuitously. Our information respecting the commerce of the Toltecs is very vague. We know, however, that it was important. At certain periods of the year regular fairs were held at Toltan and Cholula; the products of the regions washed by both oceans were seen side by side with numerous objects made by the Toltecs themselves. These objects were of great variety, for though iron was unknown to them, the Toltecs worked in gold, silver, copper, tin and lead. Their jewelry is celebrated, and the few valuable ornaments which escaped the rapacity of the Conquistadores are still justly admired. The Toltecs cut down trees with copper hatchets, and sculptured bas-reliefs and hieroglyphics with stone implements. For this purpose flint, porphyry, basalt, and above all obsidian, the istlie of the Mexicans, were used. Emeralds, turquoises, amethysts, of which large deposits were found in various places, were sought after for making jewelry for both men and women. At Cholula a famous kind of pottery was made, including vases and the utensils in daily use, censers, and idols for the temples of the gods and common ornaments for the people.^[[69]]

Let this description be compared with that which Helaman^[[70]] gives of the Nephites in the sixty-fourth year of the Nephite republic—a date corresponding with the year 27 B. C.—and it will be seen that either one might stand for the other.