Thursday, May 26, 2011

Steel Swords?

Ether10:23, 27 [BOM}
“23And they did awork in all manner of bore, and they did make gold, and silver, and ciron, and dbrass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the earth; wherefore, they did cast up mighty heaps of earth to get ore, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did ework all manner of fine work. …27And they did make all manner of aweapons of war. And they did work all manner of work of exceedingly curious workmanship.”
Now, Just for kicks I again looked up to see what FAIRLDS had to say about this. Where they write:

“ Swords and Scimitars
The most likely New World candidate would be a weapon known to the Aztecs as the macuahuitl—a long wooden shaft with large pieces of obsidian flakes fixed into its edges. Although used by the later Aztecs and Mayans, the macuahuitl dates back to Book of Mormon times. The Book of Mormon tells us that swords were so sharp they could sever limbs with one stroke. Obsidian can be sharper than surgical steel.12 At the time of the Spanish conquest it was recorded that one Maya warrior cut the head of a Spaniard’s horse with one stroke of his macuahuitl or what the Spanish called his “sword.”13
A scimitar (Book of Mormon “cimeter”) usually refers to a blade that is curved. The Book of Mormon tells us that warriors often fought with both swords and cimeters. It is therefore interesting to note that one recently discovered Mesoamerican sculpture depicts a warrior with a macuahuitl (sword) in one hand and a curved weapon (cimeter) in his other hand. There is enough Mesoamerican artwork and artifacts that display the basic characteristics of a scimitar that the Book of Mormon is vindicated for its usage.14
Some believers and critics have assumed that Book of Mormon swords must have been made of metal (see Ether 7:9, Mosiah 8:11). Part of this belief is derived from Nephi’s statement that he patterned news swords “after the manner” of the sword of Laban (see 2 Nephi 5:14). The “steel” swords of Ether may have had blades of what is currently known as “bronze” (see Part 4 of this series on “Anachronisms”). “Steel” swords are not mentioned after Ether so they may have been unique. Other native swords might have had bits of metal rather than obsidian in their shafts, but obsidian would probably have been the preferred cutting tool (more abundant and easier to make into a weapon). As for Nephi patterning his sword after Laban’s metal sword, it is entirely possible that Nephi followed the general pattern—a double-edged, hand-held, long blade (easily the macuahuitl).”
Amazing, they talk about “swords” made of obsidian and possibly bronze. But you find no record of this archeologically. And here we are told that they were mining all types of metals. And in all but the same breath, as to explain what they made with these metals you have them explaining farm tools and weapons. But where are these bronze tools and weapons? Buried in the hill of Cumorah? Perhaps Moroni took them with those other metal artifacts that disappeared, the golden plates?
But I do like how we go from metal to obsidian….

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