Roman mural depicting of a bull (wearing crown and garlands) being brought to the sacrificial altar before the Capitoline temple of Jupiter by two priests. (Roman priests in the act of bull sacrifice are generally depicted as shirtless.) It is worth noting that priests who daily were involved in the movement, sacrifice and butchering of bulls and sheep would have had a physique more like a cowboy than a librarian. (Displayed in the Ara Pacis museum, Rome.) Read more
A discussion of the range of meanings to the term Mysticism (part 1) Read more
Sponsored by the “Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum” (BMAF) on Saturday, 18 Oct, 2014. For details see their web page or Facebook page. Read more
The closest known parallel the Book of Mormon golden plates in size, script, function and period are the Pyrgi gold plates. They are religious text dating to around 500 BC in Italy; one is written in Phoenician (= Paleo-Hebrew), and two in Etruscan. They are now in the Etruscan Museum in the Villa Giulia in Rome. 1- Three plates–Phoenician text is in the Middle 2- The Phoenician plate. Read more
This is the surviving terracotta arm of an early Etruscan statue. The arm is pre-made to be attached to a different possible statutes of god. The arm is raised to the square in a gesture of blessing or covenant. (Villa Giulia, Rome) Read more
I taught the first class on Mysticism and Esotericism today, and experimented with recording it. It is mainly class administration and explaining the requirements, which will only be of interest to students actually taking the class, but I posted it on YouTube. On Friday I will post the discussion on “What is Mysticism and Esotericism” Read more
Early Roman (or Etruscan?) bronze lamp-stands. One has a built in lamp, and one has four “branches” to hold a lamp. (Villa Giulia, Rome) Read more
The legend of Semiramis, queen of Assyria, has many different forms. (Probably to be associated with Shammuramat, queen of the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad V (r. 824–811 BC) In this sixteenth century tapestry from the Vatican, Semiramis offers sacrifice to Baal. The priest holding a patera, makes a drink/oil offering on a fire altar in front of the statue of Baal, surrounded by vessels for drink offerings. Later legend makes here the mother/wife of Ninus, sometimes equated with Nimrod. Read more
I’ve been watching “Hell on Wheels” on Netflix, a show about the building of the Intercontinental railroad . A minor sub-theme of season 3 is about Mormon pioneers along. At the end of episode 5, there is a villain, who was seemingly converting to Mormonism, reading from the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 1:13 as a theme for the conclusion. 13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which... Read more
This statue shows a Roman emperor Pontifex Maximus (High Priest), with veiled head in preparation for prayer and offering, carrying a patera (libation vessel) for liquid offerings (KJV “drink offering”) in the right hand, and a “cornucopia” in the left hand, containing agricultural offerings similar to the “first fruits” (Ex. 23:16-19) offering for the Israelite temple. (Vatican Museum, Rome) Read more
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