Many don’t know that there is actually another river called Sidon in Lebenon (today it is know as Saida: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidon). The word Hermounts used in the Book of Mormon is similar to the word “Hermonites” (Ps. 42:6), see BD Hermon. The relationship between the River Sidon in Lebanon and Mount Hermon, also appears in the Book of Mormon between the River Sidon and Hermounts geographically. When you understand that Mulek probably came from this area in Israel it makes a lot more sense why many of the areas in the Book of Mormon have similar names in the north part of the Book of Mormon that match areas in northern Israel.

Anyways, I look forward to your posting on archeology from the Old Testament.

So I’m a little confused about what the issue we’re discussing actually is.

This is the best example of the size, shape and material of what a temple was built of in the Book of Mormon. From this it appears it was made of wood, and rectangular in shape, which was 90’ long x 30’ wide (1 Kgs. 6:2). With just a few people I can’t imagine Nephi building a large pyramid and stating that it was built similar to Solomon’s temple. The other unique thing about the verse above is that there was copper, gold and silver in great abundance. This is a huge clue as to where the land may be, as I suspect they didn’t mine it like we do today, but rather it would have been in outcroppings on the surface.

I assume from this verse the Nephites built temples like the Jews did and not like the Egyptians. The temples we should be looking for are rectangular buildings with a inner court and an outer court with a surrounding wall around the whole structure. In the Book of Mormon it states clearly that there were walls around their temples (Mosiah 2:7; 11:10) similar to Jewish temples. The pyramids just don’t fit, it was the apostate’s that built pyramids not the children of Israel. From everything I read the Nephites appear as an analog to the children of Israel.

I hope we do find remnants of Nephite temples but not unlike the search for king Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, which we still haven’t found, even being built with better materials around the same time period, in a location we know. The key, in my opinion, to finding Nephite ruins is first to understand what the record states about potential ruins so that we can match it to something we find. Without that matching ability we are just speculating.

I believe the Aztecs are descendants of Lehi (specifically Nephites that rejected the gospel) after A.D. 400, after they had destroyed the church and wandered away, not unlike how the Jews were scattered after the death of Christ. I believe that is why we see so many cultural things that match the Book of Mormon in Meso-America.

I don’t know if you have done any research on archeological evidence that the children of Israel lived in Egypt for hundreds of years and then wandered in the desert for 40 years and then established themselves in the land of Israel. Today there is virtually no archeological evidence of the events recorded in the Old Testament, just geographical evidence, which causes many to be disenfranchised with the Old Testament. The same problem may exist for the Book of Mormon people.

If we can find temples of the Philistines in Israel that date prior to the Book of Mormon time period, and we can find Aztec, Mayan, Olmec, or other structures that seem to resemble a temple, I don’t think it is a great stretch to wonder if these are Book of Mormon structures. Maybe they are, maybe they’re not. People who support the idea that they are adobe have found Anasazi ruins in the 4 corners region of Utah that may come from 6000 BC, then I think it is reasonable to assume Book of Mormon structures could be found. Aztec or Olmec proponents think perhaps stone pyramids might be these temples.

Now, as a neutral party, I’m going to listen to these ideas and try to find strengths or weaknesses. I don’t know if these temple references refer to adobe, stone, timber, or other structure, but there are enough ancient structures out there from far older than the Book of Mormon period. To assume that Book of Mormon dwellings or temples won’t be found doesn’t sound like a reasonable position to me.