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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
Hamblin and Merrill: "a warrior holding in one hand a macuahuitl and in the other a strange curved weapon"
Parent page: Book of Mormon/Weapons/Scimitars
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: [1]
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." [2]
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[3] 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.[4] 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).[5] 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.
Notes
- ↑ William J. Hamblin, A. Brent Merrill, "Notes on the Cimeter (Scimitar) in the Book of Mormon", Warfare in the Book of Mormon, (1990)
- ↑ Cited in Ross Hassig, Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control (Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988), 15.
- ↑ William J. Hamblin and A. Brent Merrill, "Swords in the Book of Mormon," Warfare int eh Book of Mormon
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 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."