BEHEADING (DECAPITATION) TRADITIONS IN THE SCRIPTURES

BEHEADING (DECAPITATION) TRADITIONS IN THE SCRIPTURES AND IN POST-BOOK OF MORMON ANCIENT AMERICAN CULTURES By Mark F. Cheney ©2015 Although this essay may seem like a gruesome undertaking, beheadings are well known in the scriptures and in the ancient world. Perhaps the most famous beheading in the Christian world is that of David’s act after slaying the giant, Goliath (1 Samuel 17), and it should be noted that he performed the deed with the victim’s own sword which may be noteworthy as a possible part of some tradition in itself. Some Old Testament references to decapitations follow: Judges 7:25 And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb ... and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon.... 1 Samuel 17:57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, ... [he] brought ... the head of the Philistine in his hand. 1 Samuel 31:9 They cut off his head and stripped off his weapons, and sent them throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people. 2 Samuel 4:7-8 And they smote him, and slew him, and beheaded him, and took his head ... brought the head of Ishbosheth unto David.... 2 Samuel 16:9 Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head." 2 Samuel 20:22 And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and cast it out to Joab. 2 Kings 10:7-8 [T]hey took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel. And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning. Judith 13:2-11 They were all overcharged with wine ... But Holofernes lay on his bed, fast asleep, being exceedingly drunk. ... Judith stood before the bed praying ... Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel ... that I may bring to pass ... that it might be done by thee ... When she had said this, she ... loosed his sword ... And ... she took him by the hair of his head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord ... And she struck twice upon his neck, and cut off his head ... And after a while she went out, and delivered the head of Holofernes to her maid, and bade her put it into her wallet. And some New Testament references to beheadings, notably, John the Baptist’s: Matthew 14:10 And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison. Mark 6:16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. Mark 6:27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, Luke 9:9 And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him. Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

In the Book of Mormon the best known decapitation occurred in the story of Nephi and Laban, where Nephi found Laban passed out in the street in a drunken condition. He reluctantly, given his youth and pure nature, followed the Lord’s instruction to “slay him” by taking “Laban by the hair of the head, and … smote off his head with his own sword.” (1 Nephi 4:8-18) In Hamblin and Merrill’s “Swords in the Book of Mormon”, Chapter 15 of WARFARE IN THE BOOK OF MORMON, they state “Nephi’s method of beheading Laban by grasping his hair to pull up the head and expose the neck is a common technique (see fig. 2).” Figure 2 is reproduced here in my sketch and is a line drawing of “Rameses III grasping the hair of his enemies as he beheads them, from a relief at Medinet Habu, XXth Dynasty (1192-1160 B.C.)” (pp. 335-336, Warfare in the Book of Mormon, Ricks and Hamblin, Ed., 1990.) Another more obscure instance of beheading anciently in Mesopotamia is found on page 39 in the same book.

Ramses III beheading his victims - The next most notable instance in the Book of Mormon of a beheading is that of King Coriantumr killing and taking the head of Shiz in the final battle of the Jaredites: “And it came to pass that when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he smote of the head of Shiz.” It goes on further to add “And it came to pass that after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on his hands and fell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died.” (Ether 15:30-31) Some writers believe that Stela No. 21 at the ancient site of Izapa, Mexico, represents this beheading of Shiz in the Book of Mormon. You can see below that the victim, whose blood is pumping from his neck, is raising himself up on at least one hand. When I first saw Stela 21, I was reminded of Laban’s beheading by Nephi.

Stela 21, Izapa, Mexico - The Rogan Plates are a collection of Mississippian copper plates found in Mound C of the Etowah Indian Mounds near Cartersville, Georgia by John P. Rogan, working under Cyrus Thomas of the Smithsonian Institution in the early 1880’s, which also bear some remarkable similarities to Maya sculpture found in the Yucatan Peninsula. Both of these plates depict what has been called the “Falcon Dancer” or “Birdman”.

Repousséd Etowah copper plates found in Mound C near Cartersville, Georgia (Rogan Plates 1 on the left and 2 on the right). Looking at Rogan Plate 1 we see a number of interesting motifs similar to those found in Mesoamerican and Aztec art. First the falcon or eagle image is common – not too surprising or very significant in and of itself, but then there is the interesting downward pointed satchel or apron in the center of the plate, a sword or weapon in the right hand and the head of a supposed enemy in the left hand . Another plate with both some definite connections to the Rogan Plates is the Copper Solar Ogee Deity plate found at Lake Jackson Mound Site, Florida. This plate has the same weapon raised in one hand and the severed head in the other.

Solar Ogee Deity plate – Lake Jackson Mound, Florida Now looking at two wall carvings from Chichen Itza, let’s examine some of the similarities between them and the Rogan Plate. The so-called “Winged Warrior” wall carving in Chichen Itza has a number of comparables: first, the name itself indicates a bird motif similar to the “Dancing Falcon”, second, the warrior holds a weapon in his right hand and a severed head in his left. Flying serpents are also part of the decoration.

“Winged Warrior” - Chichen Itza To continue the comparisons with wall carvings in Chichen Itza, we can look at the Quetzalcoatl or Feathered Serpent Warrior. Here the warrior again carries a weapon in his right hand that appears to be a serpent-shaped club or macana, and the now-familiar severed head, with gushing blood, in his left hand. These are interesting similarities to the North American examples, to be sure, but the beheading appears to be ubiquitous throughout ancient cultures.

Feathered Serpent Warrior - Chichen Itza This essay shows common traditions of the Old World and the New World and may not really prove anything, however, neither does it leave the question unanswered as to whether traditions in the Book of Mormon are closely comparable to those in the Near East, the given land of both Jared and Nephi’s fathers.