Page 20 - Insights Into The Scriptures - The Jaredites
P. 20
With the understanding of the timeline for the Jaredite nation, let’s
now turn to the second and third parts of the question, from where did they
start, and where did they travel?
Where Did the Jaredites Start From?
We have talked about unusual parts of the Jaredite culture and how
it relates to the game of chess and the story of Mulan. The question is,
could the similarities in the Jaredite culture and that of the Orient suggest a
travel route, and could a travel route also tie them to the similarities in the
two cultures? Also, there is an even more important question. Does the
book of Ether give us any scriptural clues about the travel?
Can the fact that the game of chess is so close to the ideas of the
battles in the book of Ether indicate that the Jaredites had a connection to
the Orient?
Let’s begin with the land where the Jaredites started their journey.
As a joke, I asked Google where the Tower of Babel was. Google came
back with an address. It said the address was Iraq. When I told it to map
it, it took me to a site some have suggested for the Tower of Babel, and it
even had an aerial photo. This site is in a place called Etemenanki. Figure
5 is a picture of the ariel view of the spot many believe was the place the
Tower of Babel was built. Figure 6, is a google map of Etemanki and
shows it right near Babylon. Finally, Figure 7 is an expanded map of the
Middle East showing Etemanki in relation to modern countries and cities.
14