More Comments Answered – Part V

Continuing with more comments and our responses:

Comment #19: “In reading about the Inca, I find they are the ones that created the legend-myth about three brothers and four sisters emerging from caves near Lake Titicaca around AD 1200. This blows your theory of this legend referring to Lehi.” Angelien

Response: As is well documented by numerous scholars, the Inca were notorious for borrowing deities, legends, myths, etc., for their own purposes and glorification. The Inca often established legends about themselves and adopted stories into their pantheonic history as a means to intimidate and control the people they conquered. The interesting thing about this particular “legend-myth” as you call it, is that it obvious came from elsewhere—and strip it of its Incanisms, it does strike at an earlier, much more complete story with some very specific purposes involved. I suggest you read some of the early chroniclers who nearly all wrote about this legend—in its original and complete form, it really sounds like the story of Lehi and his sons as I’ve suggested.

Comment #20: “You mention the cinchona tree with its quinine for fevers, but in Alma it talks about herbs in the plural good for curing diseases, or something like that” Crandall

Response: The scripture you refer to is: “And there were some who died with fevers, which at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land -- but not so much so with fevers, because of the excellent qualities of the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate”(Alma 46:40). And yes, you are right about the “many plants prepared to remove the cause of disease.” One of those other plants is called "muña" (Minthostachys spicata), a Peruvian native mint plant that when rubbed in the hands emits its fragrance that when breathed offers relief for those suffering from nausea, dizziness, headaches or other undesirable effects of high altitudes. In addition, this herb is also used in order to make medicinal infusions for diarrhea and dysentery due to colds; the leaves used as plaster are an efficacious anti-inflammatory. Besides this, there are many other such plants and herbs in the Andean area that help in the cure of numerous diseases, etc.

Left: The indigenous Cinchona Tree of the Andes, whose bark produces quinine found only in the Peruvian area prior to 1700 A.D.; Right: the Minthostachys spicata plant, with the acris the dominant species of the southern Peruvian highlands

Comment: 21: “What makes you think that the Nephites traveled to Easter Island? I see no proof there of anything Nephite.”  Danbrann

Response: Besides early residents of Easter Island when first questioned by Europeans said their forefathers came from the mainland to the east, meaning Peru, there is also the legend that their Rongorongo language on the boards discovered on the island came with their forefathers from Peru. In addition, there are similarities between some of the stonework found on Peru with the carved rock walls in Peru, and also there is a similarity of the burial icons of Cajamarca in northern Peru with the famous carved heads on Easter Island. There are also similar statues and carvings found in Polynesia.

Left: The burial icons or statues of Cajamarca in northern Peru; Right: The famous statues on Easter Island

Comment #22: “I heard that there were tunnels or some such thing beneath the fortress overlooking Cuzco, your City of Nephi. Is this true?” Morgan

Response: I have personally not been in these tunnels, but it is said that a tunnel measuring more than a mile in length, linking Sacsayhuaman to the Koricancha temple, was discovered by Spanish archaeologist Anselm Pi Rambla. According to him, the tunnel may form part of a series of galleries, chambers, fountains and ancient mausoleums, which are thought to be under the city of Cuzco. The first to describe an underground citadel in Cuzco were the chroniclers Garcilaso de la Vega and Cieza de Leon. Garcilaso claims to have actually played in these tunnels as a boy growing up in Cuzco. As for Pi Rambla, he claims to have made measurements as part of some project or other. News reports cite the Spanish scholar telling the Peruvian Congress's Cultural Commission that he had discovered a subterranean passageway, which in his opinion would change the views on Peruvian history." I’m not sure that will happen, but according to radar images obtained by Pi Rambla, the tunnel links directly to the Temple of the Sun or Korikancha, with the Convent of Santa Catalina or Marcahuasi, with the Cathedral or Temple of Inca Wiracocha, with the palace of Huascar, with the Temple of Manco Capac or Colcampata and with the Huamanmarca. He went further, saying these buildings are in a perfect astronomical alignment, but while that is generally true, I have not made any measurements myself and cannot say. Pi Rambla thinks that the ancient Peruvians guided their constructions by the location of the Sun, moon and constellations. I do know that Cuzco officials claim that a tunnel opening was condemned in the early 1920s to avoid the disappearances of tourists and curiosity seekers, since its labyrinthian pattern was unknown and evidently they were not interested in making the effort to map it. Legends, or myths, claim that many had died in these tunnels, especially in the late 1800s, having entered and lost their way, but that is not confirmed. One thing about all this that I find interesting is that Pi Rambla has claimed that the discovery of the tunnel would involve a pre-Inca citadel, belonging to a culture that has yet to be considered—I’d like to hear more about who scholars might think those people would be. He has said that such a citadel “would be some three hundred feet or more under Cuzco, but had no idea to what age it belonged. I heard some time ago that he was intending to lead some excavation work to confirm the location of the subterranean galleries and confirm the stories of the chroniclers Garcilaso and Cieza, but have heard nothing more. On the other hand, there are all sorts of stories about underground tunnels throughout Peru and Ecuador. To my knowledge, no official or concentrated effort has ever been mounted, but pictures have circulated about such.

The tunnels of Chavin de Huantar. Top Left: one of the entrances into a tunnel; Top Right: A vertical air vent leading straight down to the underground tunnel system; Bottom: One of the tunnels. Note the walls made of block, and the overhead rock cut to form the roof

On the other hand, the underground tunnels of the Chavin, with entrances made of large stones and incorporating air vents, have been found that form a maze of passages. It is thought that these passages lead for miles and were constructed around 1000BC. The tunnels of Chavin de Huantar to the north of Lima in the heart of the Andes in the valley of the river Mosna. Julio Cesar Tello, father of Peruvian archaeology, started work in Chavin in 1919. The tunnel complexes beneath the site are forbidden to the public.

Within the tunnels are numerous stairwells that lead down further into the tunnel complexes and into deeper tunnels. These stairwells are small and narrow, allowing only one person at a time through them

Comment #23: “I find it strange that the Inca, and several cultures before them all seem to have worshipped the Sun god. I realize the Sun is a prominent heavenly body, but it still seems strange. Any ideas why?”

Response: The Nephites worshipped Jehovah, or Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I find it perfectly normal that Satan’s effort in counterfeiting everything good into bad or evil would end up changing Son to Sun and divert attention, reverence and worship away from the Son of God to the Sun in the heavens. When the Nephites were annihilated, the Lamanites obviously adopted the Sun as their focus of divine attention. As you said, what more prominent object in nature would a heathen people worship than the Sun? You might also want to know that Inca Roca forced all conquered and allied tribes to worship the Sun god. In the Inca world, the Sun god, named Inti, was a very brutal god who was only satisfied with animal, and sometimes even human, sacrifices. The Inca used their god to keep conquered tribes in line