By Jerry Ainsworth
In 1976, I took a group of university students to the Yucatan, Mexico, as part of our studies in International Health Care. While there, we rented three vans and drove to the ruin site of Chichen Itza, on the northern tip of the peninsula.

As I stepped from the van, my eyes fell on the magnificent and majestic structure named El Castillo, or the pyramid of Kukulcan. I stood in front of this ancient symbol and began to weep. I did not understand why, but some force touched something deep inside of me, and I was moved to tears.

At the time I did not fully understand my feelings, but on reflection, I realized that I had simply fallen in love with this ancient culture, and all others of Mesoamerica. The adventurous and intellectual part of me wanted to know, “Who were these people? How and why did they build such impressive buildings? What happened to them? Where did they go?”

Thirty years later, this quest has led me to the discovery of valuable ancient artifacts, the establishment of links between the Maya and the Book of Mormon civilizations, and fresh insights into the language, geography and culture of the Mesoamerican peoples. Many of these hidden truths have been published in my book, the Lives and Travels of Mormon and Moroni. But new discoveries keep emerging and this past October I was asked to present my most recent findings at the Book of Mormon Lands Conference in Salt Lake City.

I want to emphasize that I have not done this work alone. I have collaborated with archeology officials in Mexico and Guatemala, held discussions with the brightest Mayan scholars in the field and studied their scientific findings, gone on countless archeological explorations throughout Mesoamerica with noted scientists as well as respected local authorities, and analyzed authentic historical documents which are just now revealing fascinating facts. Along with four others, I have created the Foundation for Ancient American Studies to enlarge the world’s understanding of ancient Mesoamerica and explore petroglyphs in the Utah Basin. That web site should be up by early 2010.

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Here are some of my more interesting discoveries.

Volume One of the History of Mexico contains one of the best documented arrivals of ancient people to this continent. It refers to a group called the Quinamis who came from the “Great Tower” around 2,500 B.C. and landed at a place known today as Tampico, Mexico. From the ancient Mexican language of Nahuatl, Tampico literally means “the point of our roots.” (Tam means “roots,” while Pico means “point.”)  Tampico is in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which means “The land of roots.”
Today the Quinamis are referred to as the Olmec and correspond to the People of Jared in the Book of Ether. 

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In Third Nephi, both the historian Nephi and the Savior state that the city of Moroni sank into the sea. We know this city was located “on the borders by the East Sea.” There is such a place in the country of Belize called Cerros. It is directly off of the East Coast of the northern part of Belize and is an ancient Mayan city now lying under water. In fact, a portion of one pyramid protrudes above the surface, while many buildings of this city are also visible under water.  There are no other geographical candidates along the East Coast of Central, South or North America that fit this description.

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Towers are prominently mentioned in the Book of Mormon and to our 21st century minds, we probably envision wooden structures like those used for windmills or lookouts. Alma and Mosiah indicated that these towers were everywhere and were so tall that the Nephites could see armies preparing for war. The Lamanites had them as well. The eleventh chapter of Genesis gives us valuable insights into the composition of ancient towers. In those scriptures, the Tower of Babel is described as a structure made of stone, brick and mortar. Assuming that the Book of Mormon “towers” were made of the same material, then it is easy to see what prophets and Book of Mormon historians meant by towers – they are the pyramids of Mesoamerica. In Mexico alone, there are more than 23,000 pyramids –far more than the number that exist in Egypt. 

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One of the first similarities I saw between the Book of Mormon people and the Maya, is the existence of two major groups who appeared to be in constant conflict. Archaeologists referred to these groups as the Highland Maya and the Lowland Maya and they lived in what are now the modern nations of Mexico and Guatemala. An area called the Wilderness separated the two. When migrating from the highlands to the lowlands, these people traveled down the Usumacinta River, which was called the “Highway of the Maya.” I believe this is the River Sidon – especially since archaeologists have discovered many ancient cities of the Lowland Maya along the Usumacinta River were abandoned around 350 AD, corresponding to the timeframe in Mormon 2:38.

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The Mayan term “ha” means “connected to water in some way.” It can also mean “by the water.” So Mayan terms like Zazil-ha, Misol-ha, Altun-ha, are all places “by the water.” This also appears to the meaning of the term “hah” in the Book of Mormon. The cities of Moronihah, Nephihah, and others, were located by the ocean. In Third Nephi 19:4, when the Savior names his twelve disciples, he indicates there were two sets of brothers, one of which was Mathoni and Mathonihah. When applying the Maya meaning of “ha” to the names I was puzzled about the meaning until I consulted with a
Mayan friend who immediately understood the meaning. “They were twins, which is why they were both given the same name,” he told me. “The one who was born first, had the term “hah” added to his name indicating he was the one who broke the water.

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While reading one of the more outstanding books about the Maya, The Forest of Kings, I discovered on page 362 a partial genealogy chart, indicating that these people descended from a patriarch named ahau jawbone. The term “ahau” in Maya means Lord and the name Lehi is the Hebrew term for jawbone. So, I discovered that the patriarch of this family was a man named Lord Lehi – based on the documentation in this book by Linda Schele and David Freidel – two of the world’s best Mayan archaeologists.