Category:Book of Mormon/Weapons/Scimitars - Revision history

RogerNicholson at 02:43, 29 September 2014

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RogerNicholson at 02:43, 29 September 2014

2014-09-29T02:43:15Z

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			{{FME-Source
			\|title=Hamblin and Merrill: "a warrior holding in one hand a macuahuitl and in the other a strange curved weapon"
			\|category=Book of Mormon/Weapons/Scimitar
			}}
			<onlyinclude>
			==Hamblin and Merrill: "a warrior holding in one hand a macuahuitl and in the other a strange curved weapon"==
			William J. Hamblin, A. Brent Merrill: <ref>William J. Hamblin, A. Brent Merrill, [http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1108&index=17 "Notes on the Cimeter (Scimitar) in the Book of Mormon",] ''Warfare in the Book of Mormon'', (1990)</ref>
			<blockquote>
			There are three characteristics that distinguish the scimitar from an ordinary sword: it is sharp only on one side, its blade is curved, and it is used only to cut. Some of the same characteristics that distinguish a scimitar from a sword distinguish several different types of Mesoamerican melee weapons. Indeed, the early Spanish conquistadores and colonists correlated some Mesoamerican weapons with the scimitar. Antonio de Solis y Rivadeneyra relates that the Aztecs "had likewise long Swords, which they used with both Hands, as we do our Scimitars." <ref>Cited in Ross Hassig, ''Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control'' (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 15.</ref>

	~~There are three characteristics that distinguish~~ the scimitar ~~from an ordinary sword: it~~ is ~~sharp only on~~ one ~~side~~, ~~its blade is~~ curved, ~~and it~~ is ~~used only~~ to ~~cut~~. ~~Some~~ of the ~~same characteristics that distinguish a scimitar from a sword distinguish several different types~~ of ~~Mesoamerican melee weapons~~. ~~Indeed~~, ~~the early Spanish conquistadores and colonists correlated some Mesoamerican weapons with the scimitar~~. ~~Antonio de Solis y Rivadeneyra relates~~ that the ~~Aztecs "had likewise long Swords, which they used~~ with ~~both Hands, as we do our Scimitars~~."1		One of the earliest Mesoamerican candidates for the Book of Mormon scimitar is found in a Late Pre-Classic sculpture that shows a warrior holding in one hand a macuahuitl<ref>William J. Hamblin and A. Brent Merrill, "Swords in the Book of Mormon," ''Warfare int eh Book of Mormon''</ref> and in the other a strange curved weapon (see fig. 3, p. 339 in chapter 15). It is impossible to say for certain what this item is supposed to represent. However, a similar weapon is known in India — the haladi.<ref>George C. Stone, ''A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor'' (New York: Jack Brussel, 1961; reprint of 1931 ed.), 275a, fig. 342.</ref> Note that this warrior holds both a macuahuitl sword and a curved weapon just as Zerahemnah is described in the Book of Mormon as being armed with.

	One of the earliest Mesoamerican candidates for the Book of Mormon scimitar is found in a Late Pre-Classic sculpture that shows a warrior holding in one hand a macuahuitl2 and in the other a strange curved weapon (see fig. 3, p. 339 in chapter 15). It is impossible to say for certain what this item is supposed to represent. However, a similar weapon is known in India — the haladi.3 Note that this warrior holds both a macuahuitl sword and a curved weapon just as Zerahemnah is described in the Book of Mormon as being armed with.		In our opinion, however, the Book of Mormon cimeter should probably be identified with a curved, axlike weapon held by many of the figures in the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza. It appears to be a curved piece of wood in the end of which was inserted obsidian or flint blades (see fig. 1).<ref>Hamblin and Merrill state, "For dozens of examples, see Earl H. Morris, Jean Charlot, and Ann A. Morris, The Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza, Yucatan (Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution, pub. #406, 1931), vol. 2, p1. 77, 79, and so on."</ref> Although in appearance it is somewhat like an ax, it is structurally different, in that an ax has a straight shaft of wood with a blade mounted on the shaft, while this weapon has a curved shaft of wood with a blade mounted at the tip of the wood.
			</blockquote>
	In our opinion, however, the Book of Mormon cimeter should probably be identified with a curved, axlike weapon held by many of the figures in the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza. It appears to be a curved piece of wood in the end of which was inserted obsidian or flint blades (see fig. 1).4 Although in appearance it is somewhat like an ax, it is structurally different, in that an ax has a straight shaft of wood with a blade mounted on the shaft, while this weapon has a curved shaft of wood with a blade mounted at the tip of the wood.<~~ref~~></~~ref~~>		</onlyinclude>
			{{endnotes sources}}

RogerNicholson at 02:37, 29 September 2014

2014-09-29T02:37:07Z

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	{{:Source:Roper: Swords and "Cimeters" in the Book of Mormon:JBMS 8:1:a strange double-curved weapon held in the left hand of the warrior figure on the Loltún cave relief}}		{{:Source:Roper:Swords and "Cimeters" in the Book of Mormon:JBMS 8:1:a strange double-curved weapon held in the left hand of the warrior figure on the Loltún cave relief}}
	{{:Source:Roper: Swords and "Cimeters" in the Book of Mormon:JBMS 8:1:A curved wood weapon with inset stone blades}}		{{:Source:Roper:Swords and "Cimeters" in the Book of Mormon:JBMS 8:1:A curved wood weapon with inset stone blades}}
			{{:Source:Hamblin and Merrill:Notes on the Cimeter (Scimitar) in the Book of Mormon:a warrior holding in one hand a macuahuitl and in the other a strange curved weapon}}
	{{endnotes sources}}		{{endnotes sources}}


			There are three characteristics that distinguish the scimitar from an ordinary sword: it is sharp only on one side, its blade is curved, and it is used only to cut. Some of the same characteristics that distinguish a scimitar from a sword distinguish several different types of Mesoamerican melee weapons. Indeed, the early Spanish conquistadores and colonists correlated some Mesoamerican weapons with the scimitar. Antonio de Solis y Rivadeneyra relates that the Aztecs "had likewise long Swords, which they used with both Hands, as we do our Scimitars."1

			One of the earliest Mesoamerican candidates for the Book of Mormon scimitar is found in a Late Pre-Classic sculpture that shows a warrior holding in one hand a macuahuitl2 and in the other a strange curved weapon (see fig. 3, p. 339 in chapter 15). It is impossible to say for certain what this item is supposed to represent. However, a similar weapon is known in India — the haladi.3 Note that this warrior holds both a macuahuitl sword and a curved weapon just as Zerahemnah is described in the Book of Mormon as being armed with.

			In our opinion, however, the Book of Mormon cimeter should probably be identified with a curved, axlike weapon held by many of the figures in the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza. It appears to be a curved piece of wood in the end of which was inserted obsidian or flint blades (see fig. 1).4 Although in appearance it is somewhat like an ax, it is structurally different, in that an ax has a straight shaft of wood with a blade mounted on the shaft, while this weapon has a curved shaft of wood with a blade mounted at the tip of the wood.<ref></ref>

RogerNicholson at 02:25, 29 September 2014

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RogerNicholson at 02:24, 29 September 2014

2014-09-29T02:24:42Z

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	{{endnotes sources}}		{{endnotes sources}}

			===Mesoamerican Scimitar-Like Weapons===

			A number of candidate forms are known that plausibly fit the Book of Mormon category cimeter. One category consists of simple agricultural or hunting devices that could also have served in battle. Others were more obviously weapons from the outset. Matthew Roper: <ref>{{JBMS-8-1-6}}</ref>
			<blockquote>
			A curved wood weapon with inset stone blades. While the Book of Mormon cimeter may have been a curved wooden blade, the Nephite and Lamanite use of armor, starting in the battles of the first century BC, could have brought about a need for more effective blades. In a recent study of Mesoamerican warfare, Hassig describes a curved, clublike weapon that he labels a "short-sword."47 He knows of their presence only from the post-Classic codices (after AD 1,000).48 This device consisted of a curved piece of hardwood approximately 18 inches long with obsidian blades inset into its cutting end. Hassig credits this slashing weapon with a number of characteristics that clubs, for example, could not provide.49

			Such a weapon may have survived right up to the Spanish conquest in highland Guatemala. One Spanish account of a native tradition relates that "the weapons with which it is said they fought were bows and arrows and certain cutlasses that they say were made of flint."50 The curved form of the end of the "short-sword" could justify the term cutlasses.

			Despite Hassig's belief in the late invention of this weapon in Mesoamerican history, evidence from earlier Mesoamerican art shows that it was known far earlier than he realized. A stela from Comitan, Chiapas, from before AD 1,000, portrays a curved object like this weapon, while something similar is depicted on a monument at Chichen Itza, dated, according to its inscription, to AD 874.51 Moreover, murals from Teotihuacan as early as AD 450 display curved-bladed knives that look very similar to short-swords.52 Hassig grants that these "were doubtless used in combat as auxiliary weapons. . . . All combatants [among the Teotihuacanos] may have carried them."53 By their curved shape they too could be called cimeters.

			Even back in the era of the Book of Mormon, a weapon was pictured that is similar to the short sword. Hayden notes that a "hooked implement" depicted on Stelas 3 and 4 at Izapa (second century BC) and on Stela 2 at La Venta (no later than the sixth century BC) "bears a remarkable resemblance to the hooked machete used by some groups today." To him "it seems most probable that the item was being used as a weapon," which must have been made of wood since no archaeological remains of this form have been recovered.54 Another early Guatemalan site, now known as Abaj Takalik, contains carved stone monuments somewhat similar to the sculptural styles at Izapa and La Venta and seemingly dated to the centuries before 400 BC One of these pictures a man who grasps a weapon with a curved blade. It is impossible to tell from these sculptured images whether the blades were of wood alone or had an inset obsidian edge.

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{{FME
|title=Scimitars/Cimeters in the Book of Mormon
|category=Book of Mormon/Weapons
}}
{{:Source:Hoskisson:Scimitars, Cimeters:Warfare in the Book of Mormon:the mistaken assumption that scimitars did not exist in the pre-Islamic Old World}}
{{:Source:Roper: Swords and "Cimeters" in the Book of Mormon:JBMS 8:1:a strange double-curved weapon held in the left hand of the warrior figure on the Loltún cave relief}}
{{endnotes sources}}