Most people have never even heard of the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone, but it is truly one of the greatest historical mysteries of North America. If you tried to tell most history teachers that the Ten Commandments arrived in North America long before Christopher Columbus did, most of them would tell you that you are absolutely nuts. But that is apparently exactly what happened. The existence of the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone suggests that there is a whole lot more to the history of North America than we have been told. So just what is the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone? It is is a huge flat stone on the side of a mountain in New Mexico. The mountain is known as Hidden Mountain, and it is located near Los Lunas, New Mexico – approximately 35 miles south of Albuquerque. It is what is written on this massive stone that is so remarkable. This very large stone actually has the Ten Commandments inscribed on it in ancient paleo-Hebrew script with a few letters of ancient Greek mixed in.
Paleo-Hebrew (which the Phoenecians also used) is a language that nobody in the world speaks anymore. It is substantially different from the modern Hebrew that the Jewish world uses today.
So where in the world did these Ten Commandments written in paleo-Hebrew come from?
Back in 1996, Professor James D. Tabor of the University of North Carolina-Charlotte was able to interview Professor Frank Hibben about the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone. Hibben, who passed away in 2002, was a retired University of New Mexico archaeologist. According to Tabor’s account, Hibben was absolutely “convinced that the inscription is ancient and thus authentic. He reports that he first saw the text in 1933. At the time it was covered with lichen and patination and was hardly visible. He was taken to the site by a guide who had seen it as a boy, back in the 1880s.”
The scholars who have delved into this great mystery estimate that the stone is anywhere from 500 to 3000 years old. There are other native American inscriptions nearby that are estimated to be approximately 2000 years old. Most who have studied the stone are almost certain that the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone pre-dates the arrival of Christopher Columbus in North America.
So how in the world is it possible that a copy of the Ten Commandments written in paleo-Hebrew showed up in North America long before Christopher Columbus “discovered” America?
One key to this great mystery may be the Phoenicians.
You see, the Phoenicians were the greatest seafaring people of the ancient world. The Phoenicians originally lived in what is known today as Lebanon, and they founded a vast array of settlements all around the Mediterranean during the course of their travels. In fact, they founded the great city of Carthage in North Africa and they also founded the great Etruscan civilization in Italy. It is historically documented that the Phoenicians got as far as Spain during their voyages, and many scholars now believe that the Phoenicians ultimately were able to cross the Atlantic and arrive in North America.
The reality is that if any ancient civilization would have been able to cross the Atlantic ocean, it would have been the great seafaring Phoenician people.
So who exactly were the Phoenicians? Well, the truth is that they were Israel’s next door neighbor to the north. Israel tended to war with all of the other nations surrounding it, but history tells us that they had good relations with the Phoenicians. The great ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician cities. In fact, Phoenicians greatly helped in the building of Solomon’s Temple. The relationship was so close that the Greek historian Herodotus (484-425 A.D.) actually referred to the Israelites as the “Phoenicians”. It is also a fact that the ancient paleo-Hebrew language and the ancient Phoenician language were virtually identical.
That is why the inscription on the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is often referred to as a “Phoenician” inscription.
It is also documented that the Phoenicians carried their religions with them wherever they traveled. In fact, one scholar discovered that the Phoenicians actually brought the worship of the Lord God of Israel with them to Italy….
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http://www.british-israel.com/Ancmigr_files/Ancmigr.htm
Early 19th century noted antiquarian scholar, Sir William Betham, studied the Celtic origins of Europe, and his studies of early Italy were published in a two-volume work, “Etruria Celtica.” Betham reproduced ancient coins from the kingdom of Utruria, in Italy, known as the Etruscan civilization. Interestingly, several of the Utrurian coins discovered were minted in honor of their deity, which was none other than Yahweh, God of the Hebrews!
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So did Phoenicians bring the Ten Commandments with them to North America? Could it have been Israelites who were traveling with Phoenicians? Nobody knows. It is still a great mystery. But it does appear that the most reasonable answer is that the greatest seafaring people by far of the ancient world, the Phoenicians, came to North America and brought the Ten Commandments with them.
When investigating this stone, many people begin to wonder if it has anything to do with Mormonism. The truth is that it has absolutely nothing to do with Mormonism. Instead it has everything to do with the scattering of the people of Israel – just like God said that He would do.
You see, the Los Lunas Decalogue stone is yet another clue about what happened to the ten lost tribes of Israel. These ten lost tribes are known in the Scriptures as the northern kingdom of Israel or sometimes they are simply referred to as “Ephraim”. Ephraim was one of the most dominant tribes in the northern kingdom, and just as God said in His Word, He scattered Ephraim (the northern kingdom) over the face of the entire earth. The Los Lunas Decalogue stone is evidence that they may have even been scattered as far as North America.
For even more information about the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone, check out the short YouTube video posted below….