216:, "the stone is almost certainly a fake." He points out that "the flat face of the stone shows a very sharp, crisp inscription..." His main concern however is the lack of any archaeological context. He argues that to get to the location of the stone would have required whoever inscribed it to have "stopped along the way, encamped, eaten food, broken things, disposed of trash, performed rituals, and so on. And those actions should have left a trail of physical archaeological evidence across the greater American Southwest, discovery of which would undeniably prove the existence of foreigners in New Mexico in antiquity with a demonstrably ancient Hebrew material culture..." and states that "There are no pre-Columbian ancient Hebrew settlements, no sites containing the everyday detritus of a band of ancient Hebrews, nothing that even a cursory knowledge of how the archaeological record forms would demand there would be. From an archaeological standpoint, that's plainly impossible."
130:
111:, saw it. According to a 1996 interview, Hibben was "convinced the inscription is ancient and thus authentic. He report that he first saw the text in 1933. At the time it was covered with lichen and patination and was hardly visible. He claimed he was taken to the site by a guide who claimed he had seen it as a boy, back in the 1880s." However, Hibben's testimony is tainted by charges that in at least two separate incidents, he fabricated some or all of his archaeological data to support his
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191:. The familiar Jewish mezuzah is a tiny scroll placed in a small container mounted by the entrance to a house. The ancient Samaritan mezuzah, on the other hand, was commonly a large stone slab placed by the gateway to a property or synagogue, and bearing an abridged version of the Decalogue. On historical and epigraphic grounds, Gordon regards the
220:
alphabets) that are much more likely to derive from the work of a modern forger than from an ancient Hebrew or
Samaritan scribe." Other speculative origin myths include the idea that members of a passing U.S. Army battalion made up primarily of Mormon soldiers during the Mexican-American War carved the stone.
219:
British archaeologist Keith
Fitzpatrick-Matthews has concluded that "Viewed dispassionately, the Los Lunas inscription is a clear, but well constructed forgery (for its day). Despite the claims of high antiquity, there are features of the text (such as the mixing of letter forms between two separate
137:
Because of the stone's weight of over 80 tons, it was never moved to a museum or laboratory for study and safekeeping. Many visitors have cleaned the stone inscriptions over the years, likely destroying any possibility for scientific analysis of the inscriptions'
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argued that the punctuation is consistent with antiquity. Other researchers dismiss the inscription based on the numerous stylistic and grammatical errors that appear in the inscription.
146:, estimated that the inscription could be between 500 and 2000 years old and explaining its freshness and lack of patina as being due to frequent scrubbing to make it more visible.
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One argument against the stone's antiquity is its apparent use of modern Hebrew (or otherwise atypical) punctuation, though amateur
723:
713:
399:
Morehouse, George E.; "The Los Lunas
Inscriptions, a Geological Study," Epigraphic Society, Occasional Publications, 13:44, 1985.
632:
593:
718:
685:"The Mystery Stone: Does a rock in New Mexico show the Ten Commandments in ancient Hebrew? Harvard professor says yes,"
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as examples of
American landmarks with disputed provenances. Other disputed American Hebrew inscriptions include the
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Visitors to the site are required to purchase a $ 35 Recreational Access Permit from the New Mexico State Land Office.
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The reported 1880s date of discovery is important to those who believe that the stone is pre-Columbian. However, the
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http://www.badarchaeology.com/out-of-place-artefacts/petroglyphs-inscriptions-and-reliefs/the-los-lunas-inscription/
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142:. Nevertheless, comparing it to a modern inscription nearby, geologist George E. Morehouse, a colleague of
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477:
Hunter, J. Michael (2005). "The
Kinderhook Plates, the Tucson Artifacts, and Mormon Archeological Zeal".
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126:, was known to scholars by at least 1870 - thus not precluding the possibility of a modern hoax.
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This claim is made, e.g., by Fell (1980, p. 167), Gordon (1995), Deal (1999) and Tabor (1997).
75:, that bears a nine-line inscription carved into a flat panel. The stone is also known as the
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In April 2006, the first line of the unprotected inscription was obliterated by vandals.
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Gordon, Cyrus, "Diffusion of Near East
Culture in Antiquity and in Byzantine Times,"
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548:
514:
Bliss, Wesley L., "A Chronological
Problem Presented by Sandia Cave, New Mexico."
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is a hoax associated with a large boulder on the side of Hidden
Mountain, near
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83:. The stone has gained notoriety in that some claim the inscription is
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690:(an online daily magazine of Jewish news and culture), Feb. 27, 2013.
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Encyclopedia of
Dubious Archaeology: From Atlantis to the Walam Olum
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The first recorded mention of the stone is in 1933, when professor
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Newark Ohio
Decalogue Stone, Keystone, and Johnson-Bradner Stone
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Los Lunas Decalogue Stone after 2006 vandalization of first line
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653:"An Ancient Hebrew Inscription in New Mexico: Fact or Fraud?"
91:. Standard archeological evidence contradicts this, however.
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Fell, Barry, "Ancient Punctuation and the Los Lunas Text,"
700:(a website examining dubious archaeological claims), 2013.
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The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is often grouped with the
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is a direct descendant of the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet.
323:"Archaeological Fraud of the Month: Los Lunas Stone"
195:period as the most likely for the inscription. The
705:
693:Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith, and Doeser, James,
640:Preston, Douglas, "The Mystery of Sandia Cave,"
421:Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews (6 September 2011).
184:has proposed that the Los Lunas Decalogue is a
662:(Summer 1997): 1–3. Web version crawled by
628:webspage dated 1999, accessed Jan. 28, 2013.
529:"University buildings named on shaky ground"
671:American Dictionary of the English Language
612:Epigraphic Society, Occasional Publications
626:"Translation of the Los Lunas Inscription"
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588:. ABC-CLIO/Greenwood. pp. 161–162.
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89:early Semitic contact with the Americas
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729:Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact
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637:, webpage, accessed Jan. 26, 2013.
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624:Neuhoff, Juergen, and Stan Fox,
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714:1933 archaeological discoveries
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16:Inscribed boulder in New Mexico
631:New Mexico State Land Office,
527:Dalton, R (27 November 2003).
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321:Feagans, Carl (2022-01-14).
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695:"The Los Lunas Inscription"
423:"The Los Lunas Inscription"
390:Webster (1870, pp. 1766-67)
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212:According to archaeologist
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648:(16, June 12, 1995):66-83.
464:The Los Lunas Inscription
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55:Los Lunas Decalogue Stone
479:Journal of Mormon History
455:Feder (2011, pp. 159-62).
87:, and therefore proof of
65:Los Lunas Decalogue Stone
673:, G&C Merriam, 1870.
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109:University of New Mexico
37:34.785217°N 106.996512°W
246:Smithsonian Institution
168:mezuzah over doorway.
77:Los Lunas Mystery Stone
656:United Israel Bulletin
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42:34.785217; -106.996512
298:NM State Land Office
266:Bat Creek Inscription
250:Bat Creek Inscription
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69:Los Lunas, New Mexico
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683:Batya Ungar-Sargon,
621:30-31 (1995), 69–81.
607:, Times Books, 1980.
345:Feder (2011, p. 160)
234:Kensington Runestone
545:2003Natur.426..374D
120:Paleo-Hebrew script
33: /
516:American Antiquity
327:Archaeology Review
276:Newark Holy Stones
230:Heavener Runestone
197:Samaritan alphabet
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115:migration theory.
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734:Pseudoarchaeology
595:978-0-313-37918-5
580:Feder, Kenneth L.
281:Pseudoarchaeology
224:Similar landmarks
124:Phoenician script
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101:Frank Hibben
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170:Kiryat Luza
156:Controversy
73:Albuquerque
40: /
28:106°59′47″W
708:Categories
642:New Yorker
509:References
432:15 January
332:2024-02-26
240:, and the
207:Barry Fell
204:epigrapher
144:Barry Fell
113:pre-Clovis
25:34°47′07″N
563:0028-0836
491:0094-7342
193:Byzantine
186:Samaritan
166:Samaritan
107:from the
582:(2011).
571:14647348
518:, 1940a
499:23289247
260:See also
252:and the
541:Bibcode
302:webpage
189:mezuzah
164:Modern
95:History
59:in 1997
57:in situ
688:Tablet
619:Orient
592:
569:
561:
533:Nature
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489:
140:patina
495:JSTOR
287:Notes
590:ISBN
567:PMID
559:ISSN
487:ISSN
434:2014
63:The
549:doi
537:426
248:'s
79:or
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