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by giacomo on April 7th, 2004

giacomo

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Is there any archaeological or DNA evidence that supports the idea that the Americas were once inhabited by Jews?

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Answers. 24 helpful answers below.

  • by LaserFalson on February 8th, 2005

    LaserFalson

    I do not know what the original article was about, but any DNA evidence that shows up in the early Americas would most likely be residual from the people that came over from Asia a long long time ago (to put it frankly). The idea of people coming over by water, of any nationality, is absurd. People came over on the ice bridge and then not at all until the Vikings began moving around in the region of the Americas.

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  • by giacomo on April 8th, 2004

    giacomo

    The Book of Mormon chronicles the story of a Jewish family that fled Jerusalem circa 600 BCE. According to the BOM, this family split into a pair of major civilizations that warred and reconciled repeatedly over a period of more than 1,000 years. Finally one group, the Lamanites, utterly destroyed the other group, the Nephites. The Lamanites had been cursed with dark skin because of their wickedness. Joseph Smith taught that the American Indians were the descendants of the Lamanites.

    However, scientific studies show a conclusive link between Native Americans and Siberian Asians, which supports the theory that the peoples of America crossed from Asia via the Bering Strait.

    In fact, there are no Native American populations that share ancestry with Israelites, according to these studies.

    Mormons have responded to this evidence with the claim that other people lived in the Americas who did not come from Jerusalem. While this is a worthy explanation, it does not address the lack of any DNA evidence linking ANY pre-Colombian population with the population of ancient Israel. Likewise, despite years of searching, no archeological evidence has been found in either continent to support the existence of these vast empires of American Hebrews.

    Below is a link to a Los Angeles Times article about a Mormon scientist and his quest to reconcile the Book of Mormon with DNA evidence.

    http://www.rickross.com/reference/mormon/mormon86.html

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  • by KoolaidDrinker on March 11th, 2007

    KoolaidDrinker

    How much money did the lds church spend trying to find archiological evidence before they decided that it was unimportant and not faith promoting?

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  • by Glenn Blaylock on October 5th, 2004

    Glenn Blaylock

    I was just re-reading a book called "He Walked the Americas" when I came across a passage that is pertinent here.

    "In the Indian mound of Pittsfield was found three pages of parchment now held in old Harvard, upon which were written quotations from the Old Testament, written in archaic Hebrew.

    "About eight miles southeast of Newark, the father of Bancroft, Indian recorder of untold legends, speaks of finding the only engraved stone pictograph of the white-robed teacher. About His head, in Ancient Hebrew were the words of the Ten Commandments. His hair and beard are well pictured as well as his flowing toga."

    So, here is some archeological evidence that supports the presence of Jews on the Americas before Columbus or Lief Ericson ever came to this continent.

    Now I will give just a little more background on the source of this information. "He Walked the Americas" is a collection of Indian legends concerning the travels and teachings of a great white god throughout the Americas. This teacher is described as having been fair-skinned with full beard. His hair and beard were brown with reddish highlights in the early legends and white in the later legends. (One legend even describes the events that led to this change in color.) His eyes were green as the sea. He wore a white toga like garment that was embroidered around the hem with black crosses. He also had cross-shaped scars in the palms of his hands. He came from across the Pacific ocean and departed across the Atlantic.

    He taught the people to worship the one God, His Father in Heaven, the Great Spirit, who has no image, and ended the worship of dumb idols. He taught a religion of peace and put an end to human sacrifices. When describing His own birth, He said that He had been born of a virgin in a land on the other side of the oceans, that a new star appeared in the heavens, and that that winged beings sang chants in honor of the occasion.

    The legends also tell of how he performed mighty miracles including walking on water, control the weather, healing the sick and the injured, and raising the dead. (Is any of this sounding familiar yet?) Most people gave Him their own names, but there was one group of people that managed to get Him to tell them the name that he had gone by in the land where he grew up and the name that the people of that land used when speaking of His Father. His name in this tribe is Chee-zoos and His Father's is Yeh-ho-veh.

    The author of "He Walked the Americas," L. Taylor Hansen, was not LDS at the time that she wrote the book. (In the end of the book, Hansen was not even willing to go all the way to suggesting that this personage was Jesus. She concluded that He was an Essene.) However, I have heard rumors that she did join the Church some time afterward. Taylor holds a Masters Degree in Archeology, Anthropology, and Geology from Stanford University. The book was first published in 1963 and is still available in bookstores today. (It is a staple in LDS bookstores for very obvious reasons, but is also available through most of the big online retailers.) If you want outside corroboration of the Book of Mormon, then I strongly recommend this book. Even if you don't, it is still a fascinating book.

    **************
    "science_geek: This is not DNA or archeological evidence."

    So, relicts found in an indian mound, relicts that predate Europeans coming to this continent and have hebrew righting on them, do not constitute archeological evidence? That would sure surprise the archeologists. Note, once again, this is being cited in a book written by someone who was not LDS.

    Now, admittedly, the legends themselves are not archeological evidence. They would be anthropological evidence. However, the consistency of the legends across ALL of the peoples of the Americas, the nature of the Great White God's personality and his teachings, the fact that the legends all seem to date back to the first century AD make a very compelling case that someone who was at least associated with Jesus, if not Jesus Himself, came here and taught Christian principles to the people living here at the time. I don't say that these legends prove that Jesus came to this part of the world, but they do make a very compelling argument. A true scholar would not simply reject this evidence without actually reading it. As I wrote above, the book is still available for purchase through most of the large online bookstores. Excerpt from it are also available at http://www.geocities.com/willow1d/amer.html (there are a total of four web pages of excerpts). Let me just give you one short part of one legend:

    "This impressed the Dene so much they asked Him what the name of His One God was. The Prophet then asked them what name they would like to know Him as. But the Dene did not want to name this One Great God as they knew not what to call Him. So they asked the Prophet what His name was in other lands. And to the astonishment of many today, the Prophet revealed 'The Great Yeh-ho-vah.'"

    Let me just give one other short legend:

    "The 'Algonquin of the Eastern Seaboard' tell they received their name for the Dawn Light from the Pale One. They wouldn't name the Prophet as He had asked them to do. They wanted to know what He was called where He grew up and He told them a name that was strange and hard to say. But they tried hard to say it: Chee-Zoos, God of the Dawn Light, basically the same as the Puants."

    **************
    "science_geek: BobGlenn, I reject you alleged document as I am a trained skeptic, and do not believe that such a document really exists. Where is this alleged document?"

    You can read the beginning of the post to find the information you seek. Also, I don't see much point in continuing this. You are not concerned with the truth. You have repeatedly accused me and my brother of lying. You contemptuously combine my brother and my names as though you don't even acknowledge that we are separate individuals. You have even questions my credentials as a scientist. In another answer, I provided links to back up my educational claims. Well, now I question yours. Why should we believe anything that you write? You who hide behind a handle, why should we believe that you have any authority in these matters?

    *************
    "science_geek: GlennBob, here is a link to an article that clarifies the area and times from which your alleged parchment supposedly came. It is most certainly a hoax, just like the Book of Mormon is a hoax too. Please follow this link for a very interesting primer on early Mormon activities. http://www.findarticles.com/.../pg_1"

    Had you done just a little bit more research, you would have found that the Kinderhook plates have already been dealt with here (http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/20133). By following the link in my answer to that question, you would have found facsimiles of the plates. From looking at these, there is no way that anyone with even a passing familiarity with the language would mistake the writing on those plates for Hebrew. The Kinderhook plates were a fraud, but they are not the stone pictogragh that Bancroft describes.

    *************
    I just spent a significant amount of my day reading through the website that JadeEzekiel84 linked to in one of his comments and there is something that I find rather striking about that website, namely the complete lack of independent back up for the accusations that it makes against Latter-day Saints. The stories that I read did not name the accusers and web searches based on the names that did appear could not turn up any information on the accusations from any other sources. So, what we have here are a bunch of unsubstantiated accusations by anonymous accusers.

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  • by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on August 14th, 2009

    Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here

    Yes. It's called "Brooklyn".

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  • by Wade Olsen on January 6th, 2005

    Wade Olsen

    Just some claification on giacomo's answer:

    I have read the LA Times article and I have also seen the "documentary" about his same topic, i.e. no Hebrew DNA in Native Americans. The link that giacomo provided is the opinion and research of one person Murphy. If you read the actual LA Times article that is referenced in giacomo's link, (and I have) the LA Times article doesn't prove that there is no DNA evidence, it only reports that Murphy might be (and was) excommunicated for saying that the church was wrong. The LA Times niether agreed or disagreed with Murphy, they only reported the story of him being excommunicated. The LA Times goes on to state that many scientists said that Murphy's research niether proves or disproves Murphy's thory.

    The "documentary" on this same topic, is actually produced by another christian church and at the end of the "documentary" a preacher/pastor from this church comes on and states that this church produced this "documentary" and then he calls the Mormons to repentance. Seems a little bias to me. I would have to question the validity of this mention article and "documentary".

    Just letting you know.

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  • by Kim Siever on April 8th, 2004

    Kim Siever

    Not that I know of. However, what does Jewish archaeology look like? Since there are many Jews of all sorts of nationalities and bloodlines, how do you determine what Jewish DNA is?

    I do not see how you can find archaeological or genetic evidence of Jewish inhabitants in the Ancient Americas.

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  • by brian_griffith on January 23rd, 2007

    brian_griffith

    "Is there any archaeological or DNA evidence that supports the idea that the Americas were once inhabited by Jews?"

    NO!

    The DNA evidence demonstrates the claim that the Native Americans are direct descendants of Jews to be absolutely false.

    Here is a VERY interesting documentary on this subject ... it features BOTH Mormon and non-Mormon scientists and scholars weighing in on this subject ...

    Thank you.

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  • by Corey Poindexter on April 17th, 2004

    Corey Poindexter

    It is interesting to see the difference between the two preceeding answers. My OPINION is this; How can one prove, via DNA or any other physical means, that the Native Americans are of Jewish decent. You can't, it's impossible. If DNA had been around 400 years ago, maybe, but with Columbus came inter-racial activities, marital or otherwise, that mixed gene pools of the the natives with those from Europe.

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  • by Joseph Smith was a fraud and Eisegete on August 16th, 2009

    Joseph Smith was a fraud and Eisegete

    Yes, many Jews have moved to the Americas. Oh, probably as far back as the 1800's.

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  • by Anonymous on February 5th, 2007

    Anonymous

    The book of mormon people were not descended from jews but from other tribes of Israel. the jews are descendants of Judah. Lehi, the patriarch of the Book of mormon People was descendant of manasseh. His sons married the daughters of a servant who cme with them who was a descendant of Ephraim so there is no reason why there should be Jewish DNA among the book of mormon people

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  • by ceh4702 on November 16th, 2006

    ceh4702

    Havn't you ever heard of the scattering of the 12 tribes of Isreal. If there were Jews in Europe and Russia, Why not America?


    Quote from another poster:

    I do not see how you can find archaeological or genetic evidence of Jewish inhabitants in the Ancient Americas.

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  • by pyschorebel on September 29th, 2004

    pyschorebel

    There is an aztec Legend of a great white God, Quetzalcoatl . Many LDS believe this to be a remnant account of Jesus Christ when he visited the Americas. The reason why the Aztecs accepted Cortes were thought he was him. The Legend also stated that he was supposed to return from the east, consistent with the Belief LDS have that When christ comes again he will come from the east. The reason why the statues of Mormon on top of the LDS temples usually point that direction is because of this belief. Another belief of the Aztecs is his coming would end mortal Kingship, just like many Christians believe Christ will reign when he comes again. From these similarities some LDS believe he was a peice of the memory of Jesus Christ's visits to the Americas.


    The information I got this from is here

    http://weber.ucsd.edu/%7Eanthclub/quetzalcoatl/quetzal.htm

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  • by Don Gorgeous George on August 13th, 2009

    Don Gorgeous George

    The Jews do inhabit the Americas, but they are not native here.

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  • by laie_techie on August 13th, 2009

    laie_techie

    DNA testing is done on either the mtDNA (female line) or the Y chromosome (male line). Thus it can only positively identify two ancestors per generation. This means the Israelite DNA markers could be lost in as few as two generations (Lehite man marries Asiatic woman and has a daughter; that daughter marries an Asiatic man and has a child with no Lehite DNA markers). Likewise I can't participate in the Pratt family DNA project because I'm related to the Pratts through my paternal grandmother.

    I'm not aware of any conclusive archaeological evidence of pre-columbian Israelites in the Americas.

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  • by truth seeker on August 13th, 2009

    truth seeker

    In addition to the information and folk lore ("Great White God" belief of Native Americans even taught in history books) presented in the "He Walked America" book there are hundreds of carbon-dated (by the Smithsonian Institute) ancient American artifacts (housed in the Smithsonian) which were found in the Ohio area (somewhat close to Newark and Palmyra, New York, etc.). There are also museums in Ohio with these artifacts with ancient American drawings of Christ; the ONE God, the Hebrew Menorah, etc. The ancient Americans that lived in the Ohio area 200 BC to 500 AD (correlates to the carbon dating of the artifacts) are called the "Hopewell Civilization" (research it; they are also called the "Mound People.")

    And since the Mormons and the BOOK OF MORMON (BoM) have been mentioned in this discussion, I will elaborate further...
    (Based on a profound Near Death Experience AND substantiating research and scriptures:
    www.bridgingtruth.com and www.mormon.citymax.com)

    These artifacts contain drawings of Jesus Christ who is the Eternal Father; the One God. This is contrary to what the Mormons teach even though clear substantiation is found in the unaltered sections of the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 15:1-5, Alma 11:23-40, Ether 3:14, as confirmed in the Torah, and Bible~see www.bridgingtruth.com for correlating scriptures). The BoM was significantly altered with the 2nd printing in 1837(over 3,000 changes of great impact much more so than the "grammar and spelling changes" members are told). These alterations changed the identity of God ~ see pages 1-40 of the original BoM. Joseph Smith's "First Vision" account involved only ONE God; "the Lord." This hand-written account by Joseph was also altered later with different versions to involve two personages contrary to the Bible, Torah, and original Book of Mormon.

    As foretold in the LDS scriptures (D&C 112:24-26, 124:47-48, 64:38-40 etc.) the Mormon church is condemned by God and needs to be cleansed due to these changes and embellishments regarding the identity of God, and abominable practices (polygamy/masonry/suppression of women e.g. priesthood taken away in early years of church also from blacks).

    The "learned men"/leaders of the LDS church took away the "plain and precious truths" taken out of the Book of Mormon (1st Nephi 13) by the "great and abominable church e.g. the LDS church in these latter days (several "abominable churches" in history). This church could have been great due to the simple history and record (Book of Mormon) of the Ancient Americans e.g. the "other sheep" Jesus went to teach (John 10:16). However, Joseph Smith did not heed the warning against his following his "own will and CARNAL DESIRES or he would FALL" > D&C 3:1-11 and thus the church became abominable due to Smith's adulterous affairs "justified" erroneously by "polygamy" (D&C 132; a section of embellishment used to "justify" polygamy was not ADDED to LDS scripture until 1857)

    The LDS church is under condemnation for the "abomination" of polygamy (Jacob 2:23-24, Jacob 3,~ polygamy caused the destruction of the Nephites e.g. Hopewell civilization 400 AD) and the church is under condemnation for the secret combinations/satanic blood oath requirements of Masonry(Moses 5:29) which are required in all LDS Temples. No "King" position e.g. "prophet/President" should ever have been allowed. Joseph Smith was commanded to be one of the apostles NEVER to seek a "King" position ("type & shadow" of wicked King Noah; wicked "President of the church" from book of Mosiah in BoM) which the BoM warns against (D&C: 20:2, 21:1). Apostle greater than a prophet (1st Corianthians 12:28). Jesus called 12 apostles and then 12 elders in the America's to rule in his stead; NEVER did he call a prophet or "King" to rule. Joseph Smith DID repent weeks prior to his Masonic murder: D. Michael Quinn’s historical research into the early years of the church found that Joseph Smith repented of polygamy weeks prior to his assassination by burning the original polygamy manuscript with his first wife Emma and telling the Quorum to burn their Masonic temple garments and to stop practicing polygamy. June 10, 1844: “Hyrum (Joseph’s brother) tells Nauvoo City Council that the 1843 revelation pertains to ancient polygamy, not to modern times…” (Polygamy has NEVER been commanded by God; not even for David and Solomon and Abraham lied to the Prince fearing man more than God and was given Hagar and was cursed ~ Muslims now hate all Christians...)
    June 20, 1844: “Smith writes the apostles to return to Nauvoo immediately and probably on this occasion, instructs them to destroy their endowment undergarments.”
    June 23, 1844: “…Joseph and Emma Smith burn the original manuscript of the 1843 polygamy revelation, presumably on this evening…” (Quinn, pg 645 ¶ 6, ¶ 12, pg 646 ¶ 1).

    Too much power invariably leads to absolute corruption as evidenced by behind-the-scene arrogance & corruption of LDS leaders unbeknownst to members due to public relations facade. Outwardly we see a 2 billion dollar shopping mall, the "timely" death of Alan Barnes, son-in-law to "King" Hinckley just weeks after he confesses to FBI regarding his signing Salt Lake Olympic bribery checks (Silent Witness newspaper article, Salt Lake Tribune. Barnes had to be taken out prior to SLOC trials which would have been a public relations disaster to King Hinckley), and political involvement in violation of nontaxable status, etc.

    We see the heavenly signs of the "Whirlwind" that touched down in downtown Salt Lake City in 1999 killing one person (initially it was widely circulated that it was a gay person in a downtown bar recent Deseret article changed this) and caused destruction of the "great and spacious" assembly hall (D&C 112:24-26: "and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth...(cleansing of corruption)...upon my house shall it begin...first among those...who have professed to known my name and have not known me and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord." D&C 124:47-48: "...ye by your own works, bring cursings...judgments...by your follies, and by all your abominations, which you practice before me, saith the Lord." D&C 64:38-40: "...the inhabitants of Zion (presently "Babylon" is SLC, Utah per Isaiah 13 & 2 Nephi 23/highest rate of depression, abuse/pornography in USA, US Census 2004/Feb. 9th 2009) shall judge all things pertaining to Zion. And liars and hypocrites shall be proved by them, and they who are NOT apostles and prophets (but profess to be e.g. the leaders of the LDS church) shall be known. And even the bishop who is a judge and his counselors...shall be condemned..."

    The LDS church leaders are embarrassed by their uninspired support of FARMS which declares the ancient Americans landed and lived in Meso/Central America. The artifact evidence supports that the Nephites lived in the Great Lakes/Ohio area/central USA area... The LDS "prophets"/money changers are not inspired but are condemned as warned of in the original Book of Mormon and original Book of Commandments(now D&C 64:38-40, etc)!

    As mentioned above a church should never be put before God which is done in the LDS temple ceremony (masonic blood oath of loyalty and secrecy to the "building up of the Kingdom of God" or "suffer your life to be taken." The Lord repeatedly warns (see Bible) against "his prophet" leading "his people astray" contrary to the false dogma of "a prophet will never lead you astray" with a prophet (Hinckley) stating "all is well in Zion" (warned against in 2 Nephi 28: "wo unto those who say all is well in Zion..." ). Isaiah foretells Babylon to be in a city high in the mountain tops; Salt Lake City, Utah.
    Based on a profound Near Death Experience AND substantiating research and scriptures:

    www.bridgingtruth.com and www.mormon.citymax.com

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  • by saint nist on May 27th, 2007

    saint nist

    nothing that has been published so far...

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  • by mechanic on March 31st, 2007

    mechanic

    I read "He Walked The Americas" when I was in junior high many, many, years ago. It was my fascination with "histories mysteries" as why I read it. Even if artifacts show ancient Hebrews, Jews, or Egyptians in the Americas, it doesn't prove any "historicity" of the BoM. Now about DNA. When God cursed the "Lamanites", he totally changed their DNA, otherwise how could the original cursed ones pass down the curse, so can DNA studies can't really be of any use, can it? But if the researchers are telling the truth, then the DNA still points to Asian origins of the native peoples in mesoamerica.

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  • by Esteban-- Smart ass Pumpkin on March 11th, 2007

    Esteban-- Smart ass Pumpkin

    The temples in the hills above Taos, NM were found to have minorahs in them.

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  • by singwell-is off researching a lot on February 12th, 2007

    singwell-is off researching a lot

    This may or may not help, but I found this article online:
    http://boards.rootsweb.com/topics.dnaresearch.projectannouncements/25/mb.ashx

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  • by Dougtheavenger on January 30th, 2007

    Dougtheavenger

    Is there any archaeological or DNA evidence that supports the idea that the Americas were once inhabited by Jews?

    YES

    American Indians and Modern Jews share the Q-P36 lineage. It is found in 31% of American Indians in the US, (Hammer 2005) 5% of Ashkenazi Jews (Behar 2004) and 5% of Iraqi Jews. (Shen 2004)

    and there is plenty more

    Doug Forbes
    dougtheavenger@sbcglobal.net

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  • by Hyperion is back in China on August 13th, 2009

    Hyperion is back in China

    +4 I don't think there is actually such a thing as 'Jewish DNA'. The Jews were a group of people from Mesopotamia and the Levant that adopted a certain set of religious beliefs around 3500 years ago. DNA doesn't change in the face of the religious belief of the person carrying it. Abraham living in Ur in 2000BC didn't have radically different DNA from his neighbors in Erech or Ninevah.
    .
    The DNA of Jewish people at say the time of King David would have included traits from Greece, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia etc. As indeed their closest non Jewish neighbors would. You can narrow down human origins into broads regions but not to socio-religious groupings by belief or behaviors.
    .

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  • by Anonymous on August 16th, 2009

    Anonymous

    Jewish is a Religion. There are Jews (Jewish People) in every country.

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  • by Phoenix on August 16th, 2009

    Phoenix

    Jews are everywhere. They're good like that.

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