Our Trip to See the Las Lunas Decalogue Stone
About a month ago my family and I took a trip out West to Las Lunas, New Mexico and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Las Lunas portion of the trip was to search out the famous Las Lunas Decalogue stone. The first thing you learn when trying to find the stone is that nobody wants you to find it.
It is out in the middle of nowhere. There are no markers anywhere, outside of the odd arrow scratched in a rock to tell you where to go. And every official sign you see has some version of No Trespassing, Keep Out.
The area of the site is about 15 miles west of the town of Las Lunas. Here is a satellite image of the immediate area:
The black lines traversing the picture are route 6, which leads to the area from Las Lunas and a railroad that runs along the road. The green line on the right side of center is the Rio Puerco River. When we were there it was a dry wash. The dark green blotch in the center of the picture is the two mesas at the site. The larger mesa is where the stone is located. I spent too much quality time climbing up and around the wrong mesa looking for the thing. There I developed some serious blisters and by the time we made it to the actual stone, I was done for and not in a condition to explore further. But here is my proof that I made it:
I discovered after I came home that this is a tiny part of a development that extends to the top of the mesa and has other paleo-Hebrew writings as well as evidence of habitation.
When I was there I marked all the waymarks with my GPS unit. I intend to make a return trip to Las Lunas to explore the other markings and evidences. I also intend to GPS mark the other important sites of the encampment. If you might be interested in making the return trek with me, let me know.
Of course, the ultimate questions about the site are 1) Is it legitimate or is it a fraud? And 2) What does it mean?
First, I dont think its a fraud. First, until you actually get there it is hard to imagine the profound isolation of the site. Someone would have to be highly motivated to even get there. There are two types of folk who might be interested in fraudulently making this. Kids on a lark might be interested in doing it. But for that to happen, they would have to expend a substantial amount of work to get there and even more to prepare the surface of the stone and etch the letters. Not only that, but they would have to know Hebrew, and not just Hebrew, but paleo-Hebrew. So I rule them out. The other category of person who might be interested is an academic type who might perpetuate a fraud in order to discover it and take credit for a great find. The fact of the matter is that no one has ever attempted to discover the site. As a matter of fact, there has been little academic interest in the site at all.
What does it mean? Well, thats really a question for people smarter than me. Two House oriented folks head down a path of saying it must be the 10 Lost Tribes. I wouldnt want to be dogmatic about it, but I doubt that. My understanding of the lost tribes in their dispersion is that they had abandoned YHVH worship and were doing the Baal thing. Personally, I lean toward this being Judahites. We know that Solomon sent ships out in his day. Is this a group that got stranded here in the New World and couldnt get back home? Well probably never know for sure.
When I get back there to finish my study of the site I will share the other Hebraic markings and let you know how they support the view that I am putting forth. In the meantime, here are our pics of our trip to Las Lunas:
It is out in the middle of nowhere. There are no markers anywhere, outside of the odd arrow scratched in a rock to tell you where to go. And every official sign you see has some version of No Trespassing, Keep Out.
The area of the site is about 15 miles west of the town of Las Lunas. Here is a satellite image of the immediate area:
The black lines traversing the picture are route 6, which leads to the area from Las Lunas and a railroad that runs along the road. The green line on the right side of center is the Rio Puerco River. When we were there it was a dry wash. The dark green blotch in the center of the picture is the two mesas at the site. The larger mesa is where the stone is located. I spent too much quality time climbing up and around the wrong mesa looking for the thing. There I developed some serious blisters and by the time we made it to the actual stone, I was done for and not in a condition to explore further. But here is my proof that I made it:
I discovered after I came home that this is a tiny part of a development that extends to the top of the mesa and has other paleo-Hebrew writings as well as evidence of habitation.
When I was there I marked all the waymarks with my GPS unit. I intend to make a return trip to Las Lunas to explore the other markings and evidences. I also intend to GPS mark the other important sites of the encampment. If you might be interested in making the return trek with me, let me know.
Of course, the ultimate questions about the site are 1) Is it legitimate or is it a fraud? And 2) What does it mean?
First, I dont think its a fraud. First, until you actually get there it is hard to imagine the profound isolation of the site. Someone would have to be highly motivated to even get there. There are two types of folk who might be interested in fraudulently making this. Kids on a lark might be interested in doing it. But for that to happen, they would have to expend a substantial amount of work to get there and even more to prepare the surface of the stone and etch the letters. Not only that, but they would have to know Hebrew, and not just Hebrew, but paleo-Hebrew. So I rule them out. The other category of person who might be interested is an academic type who might perpetuate a fraud in order to discover it and take credit for a great find. The fact of the matter is that no one has ever attempted to discover the site. As a matter of fact, there has been little academic interest in the site at all.
What does it mean? Well, thats really a question for people smarter than me. Two House oriented folks head down a path of saying it must be the 10 Lost Tribes. I wouldnt want to be dogmatic about it, but I doubt that. My understanding of the lost tribes in their dispersion is that they had abandoned YHVH worship and were doing the Baal thing. Personally, I lean toward this being Judahites. We know that Solomon sent ships out in his day. Is this a group that got stranded here in the New World and couldnt get back home? Well probably never know for sure.
When I get back there to finish my study of the site I will share the other Hebraic markings and let you know how they support the view that I am putting forth. In the meantime, here are our pics of our trip to Las Lunas:
posted by Bill at 9:07:00 PM
1 Comments:
It is worth noting that at least two religious organizations also have a special motivation for faking these inscriptions; The Christian Identity, and the Church of Latter Day Saints. It is most likely the latter, though the Christian Identity have latched on to it to "prove" the chosen race got here first. The Mormons say roughly the same thing with slightly less racist drivel.
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