Alma 14:9
9 And it came to pass that they
took Alma and Amulek, and carried them forth to the place of martyrdom, that
they might witness the destruction of those who were consumed by fire.
Culture: An obvious
question to ask this terrible scene is why Alma and Amulek were not punished
along with their converts. After all, it was they who had caused this religious
problem, had been brought before the chief judge, accused by the people, and
apparently found culpable.
Both Alma and Amulek occupy
positions of some import. Alma is a Zarahemlaite and the immediate past chief
judge. Perhaps the Ammonihahite judge feared retaliation from Zarahemla if he
ordered his execution. Amulek had some protection as Alma’s companion and also
had significant social standing and probably a large kindred. His execution
might also bring about retaliation. And finally, in later Mesoamerican
documents, well-known captives were kept alive and “on display” for several
years before execution. Thus, Alma and Amulek may have been important enough to
warrant ceremonial detainment rather than a more immediate death. (Brant A.
Gardner, Second Witness: Analytical and Contextual Commentary on the Book of
Mormon, 6 vols. [Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2007], 4:235-36)
Gardner references the book by Schele and Fridel, A
Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of Ancient Maya. Here are the relevant sections:
Finally, on 9.13.10.0.0 (January
26, 702), the day Smoking-Squirrel dedicated both Stela 22 and Stela 24, the
young king displayed his famous captive, Shield-Jaguar of Ucanal, in a public
blood- letting ritual (Fig. 5:15a). As depicted, the ill-fated captive is
nearly naked, stripped of all his marks of rank and prestige, holding his bound
wrists up toward the magnificently dressed fourteen-year-old king who sits high
above him on a jaguar-pillow.
. . .
Smoking-Squirrel’s rampage
through the central Petén finally ended, to the relief of neighboring kingdoms,
on February 16, 713, with the first katun anniversary of his accession. As he
had since the beginning of his reign, Smoking-Squirrel paired the stela
commemorating this event with a stela depicting his mother, the founder of his
line. Stela 2, which is essentially a war monument, stood adjacent (Fig. 5:12)
to Lady Wac- Chanil-Ahau’s Stela 3 (Fig. 5:18), which shows her participating
in her son’s anniversary celebration. In this text, Smoking-Squirrel once again
memorialized her arrival. He also created some useful political propaganda by
linking the date of the first katun anniversary of his own accession to the
same anniversary date of Naranjo’s Ruler I. Ruler I was, of course, the king
who had fallen victim to Caracol’s victory eighty-one years earlier. With this
pair of inscriptions, Smoking-Squirrel completed the circle of defeat and
triumph for Naranjo. The glory of that city had been revived by a new and vital
dynasty.
Smoking-Squirrel’s fame as a
warrior was no doubt legend in the region of the Petén. His successful military
campaigns upset the destinies of cities as dramatically as the past victories
of his hated enemy, Caracol; and his postconquest strategies were cleverly
designed to keep his enemies powerless. For example, by keeping his high-ranked
captives, Shield- Jaguar and Kinichil-Cab of Ucanal, alive for many years,
Smoking-Squirrel most likely disrupted the succession within both their
families and their kingdom. This elegant strategy created chaos in a social
structure where these individuals could not be replaced until after they were
dead. To display these captives in public rituals over many years confirmed the
military prowess and the political power of the young king among his own
constituency, and sowed fear and respect among Naranjo’s rivals.
Smok-ing-Squirrel also made optimum use of the powerful allies that came to him
through his mother’s line. He fought his wars with the support of his
formidable and aggressive grandfather, Flint-Sky-God K, and most prob-ably
Shield-God K, his mother’s half brother, who became ruler of Dos Pilas on
9.13.6.2.0 (March 27, 698). These battles secured the region surrounding Lake
Yaxha, making the journey between Naranjo and the Petexbatiin stronghold held
by his mother’s people both easier and safer. (Linda Scheel and David Freidel, A
Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of Ancient Maya [New York: William Morrow
and Company, Inc., 1990], 190-91, 193-94)
Here are the relevant images for the above:
Figure 5:12a (p. 186):
Figure 5:15 (p. 190):
Figure 5:18 (p. 193):
Thirteen days after the battle in
which Jaguar-Paw fell, Ah-Cacaw displayed his Calakmul captives in a ritual in
which they were humiliated and probably tortured.’” (Linda Scheel and David
Freidel, A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of Ancient Maya [New York:
William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1990], 203)
Note for above:
This ritual display of captives
after a battle is the war event shown most often in narrative scenes in Maya
art (Schele 1984a). We can see an excellent example of this in Room 2 at
Bonampak (M. Miller 1986:1 12-130). The event in the Tikal scene is spelled
nawah, a term meaning “‘to dress or adorn” (Bricker 1986:158). Here, the action
is the dressing of the captive in the garb of sacrifice. This action included
stripping him of his regalia, replacing his battle garb with the cut-cloth kilt
of sacrifice, replacing his ear ornaments with paper or flowers, and painting
him in the color of sacrifice. Landa (Tozzer 1941:117-119) reported that blue
was the color painted on the stripped bodies of sacrificial victims before they
were tortured or killed.
Captives most often appear as
sacrificial victims, rather than as warriors engaged directly in battle.
Capture, and the rank of those captives taken, were central to the prestige of
Maya nobles. Sacrificial victims also appear regularly in burials and in
dedication rites. Brian Dillon (1982:44) found a deposit of sacrificial victims
who were apparently lying in the belly-down position characteristic of captives
when they met their fate. Captives, especially high-ranked ones, were often
kept alive for years. They appeared repeatedly in all sorts of rituals, and
their survival quite possibly created problems of succession in their lineages.
Peter Harrison (1989) has
provided us additional information on Structure 5D-57 that enriches this piece
of history considerably. At the Seventh Round Table of Palenque, he
demonstrated how the builders of the Central Acropolis used the geometry of the
triangle in conjunction with older buildings to establish the location of new
buildings. Using this technique, Structure 5D-57 was positioned in relationship
to what he calls “Great-Jaguar- Paw’s clan house,” known archaeologically as
Structure 5D-46, a great two-storied palace built on the west end of the
Central Acropolis during the Early Classic period. So important was this palace
to subsequent kings that while they added to it, they were careful to retain
the original structure as a part of the functioning Acropolis throughout the
subsequent history of the city.
The identity of its original
patron is established by a cache vessel deposited under the west stairs of
5D-46. The inscription on the pot records that it was made for the dedication
of the “k’ul na (holy structure) of Great-Jaguar-Paw.” Thus, Ah-Cacaw established
the location of the building depicting his display of captives at the
dedication of Temple 33 in relationship to the residence of the very ancestor
whose victory over Uaxacttin is celebrated on Stela 31. It was in Temple 33
that he deposited this tree-stone with such reverence. This is a remarkable
folding of history back on itself and a wonderful example of the symmetries the
Maya found so fascinating and useful in their construction of political
history. (464-65 n. 76) (Linda Scheel and David Freidel, A Forest of Kings:
The Untold Story of Ancient Maya [New York: William Morrow and Company,
Inc., 1990], 464-65 n. 76)
Here is Figure 5:22 from p. 204:
Further Reading:
