Mulek is hypocoristic for Hebrew Mlkyh (w) (KJV Melchiah and Malchiah), which is attested both in the Bible (see 1 Chronicles 6:40; Ezra 10:25, 3; Nehemiah 3:14, 31; 8:4; 11:12; Jeremiah 21:1; 38:1, 6) and in numerous ancient inscriptions, most of them from the time of Lehi. Mule (Heb. Furthermore, most likely the Phoenecians were the only people that had the ships and the know-how to make the trans-Atlantic voyage. And there is no doubt that he is describing America, long before Columbus. But nothing in the Bible or other known sources precludes the possibility of his escape from Jerusalem. Diodorus relates that there are “islands” which are in the “ocean.” And one in particular of “considerable size” lies quite a distance from “Libya” (i.e. Mulek is a nickname derived from melek (Hebrew, king), a diminutive term of endearment meaning "little king." Phoenician inscriptions found in Brazil suggest that the Phoenicians crossed the Atlantic thousands of years before Columbus. It is precisely this logic that ties the Phoenicians to Mulek, because it was they alone who could provide precisely what Mulek and the fleeing Jews needed: a place to go that was unknown to those who were seeking after them. These people were eventually discovered by Nephite refugees from lamanite predations in the south. We were at sea together for two years around the land belonging to Ham [Africa] but were separated by a storm [lit. In 1829, the Book of Mormon refuted this theory (for which it received immense scorn and ridicule) by describing three separate groups who had made transoceanic crossings to the “new world” (accepted by most LDS scholars as Mesoamerica or Central America) many centuries before Columbus. Based on the shipbuilding technology of their time, both voyages would have been challenging, though not impossible. Mulek (/ ˈmjuːlɛk /), according to the Book of Mormon, was the only surviving son of Zedekiah, the last King of Judah, after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem. Masters of the art of navigation, Phoenician ships made of cedar ruled the seas. "Mulek" is not found anywhere in the Bible, but any student of Semitic languages will instantly recognize it as the best-known form of diminutive or caritative, a term … See this page in the original 1992 publication. It is therefore possible that the Mulek of the Book of Mormon is "Malchiah, son of the king" mentioned in Jeremiah 38:6. The KJV tr. ). New Information about Mulek, Son of the King, Reexploring the Book of Mormon, http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/28/world/americas/phoenician-christopher-columbus-america-sailboat/index.html?iref=allsearch, PARALLELS: Mesoamerican and Ancient Middle Eastern Traditions, Decoding Ancient America: A Guide to the Archaeology of the Book of Mormon, Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon, Is This the Place? The thirty verses which comprise the Book of Omni, although written by five lesser-known authors, provide answers to many questions. A fictive paternity thus obscures the lineage of Malchiah as the actual son of Zedekiah. By Sheena McKenzie, for CNN  http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/28/world/americas/phoenician-christopher-columbus-america-sailboat/index.html?iref=allsearch)4. http://web.archive.org/web/20080209224134/http://users.cyberone.com.au/ myers/before-columbus.html. Ancient Near Eastern sources affirm that during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, Mulek's father, Zedekiah, who was deserted by all who escaped, was captured with members of his family and a few courtiers. The Bible describes the children of ancient Israel as being used much like animals for burned offerings, sometimes to even appease the Judeo-Christian god Jehovah. The difference between the two is dictated by how close to the Law of Nature (a.k.a. And there is no doubt that he is describing America, long before Columbus. He came to America, and his descendants were among the people who founded the city of Zarahemla. This is consistent with viewing the hypocoristic Mulek as the diminutive of Malkiyahu, since a is often assimilated to o or u in the vocalic structure of most Semitic languages. Genesis 36:24 | View whole chapter | See verse in context And these are the children of Zibeon; both Ajah, and Anah: this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father. Africa), and it is a long voyage of “a number of days to the west.” He says the land is fruitful and beautiful. Even more brief is the account of a surviving son of King Zedekiah, puppet King of Judah, set up by the conquering Babylonians. 45:6). Mulek is a nickname derived from melek (Hebrew, king), a diminutive term of endearment meaning "little king." Purple became the color of royalty. History tells us that Zedekiah had all his sons murdered in front of him and then blinded. It is also known that names ending in -yahu (in English, -iah ) were common during the late First Temple period, that Zedekiah indeed had a son named Malkiyahu (Aharoni, p. 22), and that the familial forms of yahu -names were shorter than their "full" forms. We set [sacrificed] a youth for the exalted gods and goddesses in the nineteenth year of Hiram, our mighty king. The Bible's Old Testament refers to "Canaanites" generically in referring to the early Phoenicians who inhabited the eastern Mediterranean coast of what is now Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and part of Syria. Discussion centers on similar seals, the meaning of Ben Hamelek, the possible age of Malkiyahu, and Book of Mormon claims about Mulek. The Bible, in II Kings 25:4, describes King Zedekiah's escape through such a tunnel during the siege. Read more about DNA in Bible History Daily. (Mosiah 25:13). the god of the Ammonites and Phoenicians to whom some Israelites sacrificed their infants in the valley of Hinnom King James Word Usage - Total: 8 Molech 8 The Hebrew lexicon is Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Lexicon; this is keyed to the "Theological Word Book of the Old Testament." When pursued, Ishmael abandoned his captives and fled with eight men to Ammon. Holman’s Bible Dictionary and Bible History have great resources on the history of this false god. We are not the first to suggest a Phoenician connection to the Mulekites. Solomon made an alliance with King Hiram of Tyre, who supplied materials for Solomon's temple, as well as Hiram Abi (Abiff), the metal worker, who is at the core of the Freemasonic ritual. The Phoenicians made important contributions to the marine sciences, having been credited with the division of a circle into 360 degrees and having reliable celestial reference points. And what better reason for the Mulekite language to have been corrupted so much, when many of the people weren't Jews, but were Canaanites from Phoenicia, and spoke other Canaanitic dialects? By Ross I. and Ruth R. Christensen. He relates that it remained “undiscovered because of its distance from the entire inhabited world,” but that the Phoenicians discovered it accidentally. Diodorus relates that there are “islands” which are in the “ocean.” And one in particular of “considerable size” lies quite a distance from “Libya” (i.e. The name Mulek is not found in the King James Version of the Bible. Writings from the ancient Greek historian Diodorus from 56 BC tell the story. (king). The tunnel, with walls composed of unworked stone and bedrock, is wide enough to allow passage of one person crawling through at a time. Who were these people, the Phoenicians? 25; Jer. Today, their primary descendants include the Lebanese, Palestinians, many Syrians and some Egyptians. The Mulekites were elated to have access to Nephite records, since their own language and traditions had been distorted in the absence of historical documents. The Nephites discovered in Mulek's descendants an additional witness concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. Interestingly, there are several things that would seem to suggest that many of the Mulekites were Canaanitic Phoenicians. A paper read at the Twenty-first Annual Symposium on the Archaeology of the Scriptures, held at Brigham Young University on October 16, 1971.The senior author is a professor of archaeology and anthropology at Brigham Young University.Mrs. Cedar was very important in the ancient Middle East, which had little wood. Transatlantic crossing: Did Phoenicians beat Columbus by 2000 years? Helaman 6:10. They were also called on to decorate many palaces throughout Mesopotamia. Rainey, Anson. But Hammelech is a translator's error, since ben-hammelek means "son of the king" and is not a proper name-a fact confirmed by the Septuagint (LXX Jer. Indeed, it has been suggested that one of the men bearing this name is the Mulek of the Book of Mormon. Much of it is “mountainous” and it has “navigable rivers which are used for irrigation.” It has “private villas of costly construction” and “banqueting houses” and the “inhabitants.” And he goes on and on and on in his description of this land to the west of Africa. In the summer of 586 B.C., when the troops of King Nebuchadrezzar breached the walls of Jerusalem, King Zedekiah of Judah and a large company of warriors attempted to escape by night to the East. Robert Starling contributed the following: Early this century, a Brazilian rubber-tapper called Bernardo da Silva Ramos was working in the Amazon jungle when he noted that on many of the rocks there could be found ancient scripts carved deep into the stone. History tells us that Zedekiah had all his sons murdered in front of him and then blinded. The Mulekites And The Phoenician Connection. Robert F. Smith suggested that the Mulekites got to America with Phoenician help. Why is this significant? Malchiah is identified as "the son of Hammelech" in Jeremiah 38:6. Its longer form occurs in the Bible as Malkiyahu (in English, Malchiah), meaning "Jehovah is king." pered), so called from the quick step of the animal or its power of carrying loads. The Bible wouldn't be the Bible without some punny subtext. Notes:1. It appears likely that a good number of the Mulekites where Phoenicians by blood. Why would Jews come to name the principal river in their Territory after a Phoenecian capital unless they had Phoenecian influence among them? Jeremiah 38:6 mentions “Malchiah the son of Hammelech,” which could also be a reference to this same Mulek. In the Bible, the sons of Zedekiah are not named. Later a region was named for Zarahemla, a descendant of Mulek (Mosiah 25:2). 6,500-Year-Old DNA Points to Ancient Migration A new DNA study demonstrates that humans migrated from modern-day Turkey and Iran to Israel’s Upper Galilee region 6,500 years ago.. What Happened to the Canaanites? Copyright © 2021, Book of Mormon Archaeological Forum. Just prior to his death, Amaleki completed the Book of Omni by briefly recording the account of King Mosiah’s discovery of the people of Zarahemla—the Mulekites. New Information about Mulek, Son of the King, Reexploring the Book of Mormon, http://farms.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=71&chapid=8062. Researchers have conducted DNA sequencing on ancient Canaanite skeletons and have determined that modern … The Bible insists that a society must be governed by a triad of anointed sovereigns, namely prophets, priests and the king. And finally… He found that the greater part of them resembled, often in detail, the ancient writings of the Old World and compiled a catalog of nearly 2000 such scripts. Because of the brevity of the Book of Mormon text regarding these people, little has been written about them in comparison to the Nephites. Posted in Mormon Dilemmas, tagged bible, Book of Mormon Timeline, Ensign, false gospel, Jesus, mormonism, Mulek, salvation on 11/03/2011| 1 Comment » Book of Mormon Timeline Today’s dilemma is filled with many subject matters for the Mormon and non … This was because they didn't want all the people of Carthage to leave. Update. Sorenson, John L. "The 'Mulekites'." It is not probable that the Hebrews bred mules, as this was strictly forbidden in the law ( Leviticus 19:19), although their use was not forbidden.We find them in common use even by kings and nobles ( 2 Samuel 18:9; 1 Kings 1:33; 2 Kings 5:17; Psalms 32:9). Much of it is “mountainous” and it has “navigable rivers which are used for irrigation.” It has “private villas of costly construction” and “banqueting houses” and the “inhabitants.” And he goes on and on and on in his description of this land to the west of Africa. So we have no direct proof that there was a prince named Mulek. http://www.nephiproject.com/Newsletter/Do%20the%20Mulekites%20Help %20Solve%20an%20Historic%20Mystery.pdf3. The Book of Mormon states that after escaping from Judah, Mulek traveled to the Americas and established a civilization there. Malchiah is identified as "the son of Hammelech" in Jeremiah 38:6. A good king causes his people to be prosperous and peaceful whereas a bad one causes poverty and strife. "Three Hebrew Ostraca from Arad." Their allies the Jewish aristocracy and elites. Biblical Archeologist 42:2 (Spring 1979):114-18. 11:2-4]); he may even have been unborn, although he probably avoided captivity some other way. He was named Mulek and was probably an infant (or perhaps in the womb) when, with some kind of entourage, left Jerusalem and arrived in Mesoamerica at approximately the same time as Lehi’s group (600 BC). The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. 'from the hand of Baal'], and we were no longer with our companions. Its longer form occurs in the Bible as Malkiyahu (in English, Malchiah), meaning "Jehovah is king." Interestingly, there are several things that would seem to suggest that many of the Mulekites were Canaanitic Phoenicians. Origins: The mule is mentioned in mankind’s earliest records. Commerce has cast us on this distant shore, a land of mountains. Ancient Phoenicia also produced the rare purple dye that came from a special snail. Volumes have been written about the prophet Lehi and his descendants who arrived from Jerusalem sometime after 600 BC. "Jerahmeel & Baruch." Mulek might have been away when the city fell; perhaps he eluded his captors at Jericho; the women could have hidden him (as Jehoshiba hid her nephew Joash of the royal line earlier [see 2 Kgs. Its longer form occurs in the Bible as Malkiyahu (in English, Malchiah), meaning "Jehovah is king." This page was last modified on 27 May 2011, at 16:33. Hiram Abi's father was a Phonecian, and his mother was an Israelite. Phoenicia ended with the fall of Tyre to the Babylonian king Nebuchandnezzar in 573 B.C.3, Writings from the ancient Greek historian Diodorus from 56 BC tell the story. But, also, they wanted to “have ready in it a place in which to seek refuge against an incalculable turn of fortune, in case some total disaster should overtake Carthage.” Because they figured that they would be able to move quickly to a place that was “unknown to their Conquerors.”. And they took him, fleeing to Phoenicia, and they made their way to America with Phoenicians on Phoenician ships. The Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen had furniture in his tomb made of Phoenician cedar. Mulek is a nickname derived from melek (Hebrew, king), a diminutive term of endearment meaning "little king." Robert F. Smith suggested that the Mulekites got to America with Phoenician help.1 Hugh Nibley did also, noting that there are names in the Book of Mormon that may have Phoenician ties.2 We read in the Bible that early on, the Kings of Israel had political and friendship ties with the Kings of Sidon (Tsydon) and Tyre. "The Prince and the Pauper." The Mulekites lived thenceforth among the Nephites, enjoying separate-but-equal status and ultimately outnumbering the descendants of Nephi (Mosiah 25:1-4, 13). He mentions the fact that they “planted many colonies throughout Libya and not a few as well in the western parts of Europe.” And that they ventured out “beyond the Pillars of Heracles into the sea.” Then, as they were in the Atlantic, they were “driven by strong winds a great distance out into the ocean” and were “storm-tossed for many days.” Finally, they arrived ashore to this “island” and “had observed its felicity.” He claims that the Tyrrhenians were intent on colonizing it, but the Phoenicians from Carthage kept them from doing it. He relates that it remained “undiscovered because of its distance from the entire inhabited world,” but that the Phoenicians discovered it accidentally. Mulek, the son of Zedekiah, is mentioned several times in the Book of Mormon (see Mosiah 25:2; Helaman 6:10; 8:21) but not in the Bible—at least not in a way that people have recognized, until just recently. 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