“Moroni Had Prepared Shields to Defend Their Heads”

Alan C. Miner

In Alma 43:19 it says that "Moroni had prepared his people with . . . shields to defend their heads." According to Hunter and Ferguson, Father Sahagun, speaking of the Tultecs [an ancient Mesoamerican people], says some of the noble lords of that nation "used to wear in war a kind of gold helmet . . . They also used another kind of silver helmet. [Milton R. Hunter and Thomas S. Ferguson, Ancient America and the Book of Mormon, p. 276]

Alma 43:19 Shields to defend their heads ([Illustration]): Armor - Quilted Cap - Quilted cap with chinguard from the ancient Maya ruins near the present town of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico [Milton R. Hunter and Thomas Stuart Ferguson, Ancient America and The Book of Mormon, p. 276]

Alma 43:19 Shields, Arm-Shields (Illustration): Maya arm-shield, from Stela 17, Dos Pilas, Tetexbatun, Guatemala [William J. Hamblin, "Armor in the Book of Mormon," in Warfare in the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., p. 415]

Step by Step Through the Book of Mormon: A Cultural Commentary

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