Izapa Stela 5 is one of a number of large, carved stelae found in the ancient
MesoamericaMesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries...
n site of
IzapaIzapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it was occupied during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, near the base of the Tacaná volcano), the fourth largest mountain in...
, in the
SoconuscoSoconusco is a region of the Mexican state of Chiapas, located in the extreme south of the state and separated from Guatemala by the Suchiate River. It is a region of rich lowlands and foothills. The economic center is Tapachula. Soconusco consists of 16 municipalities.The name comes from the...
region of
ChiapasChiapas is the southernmost state of Mexico, located towards the southeast of the country. Chiapas is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest, and Oaxaca to the west. To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean.Chiapas has an area of...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
along the present-day Guatemalan border. These stelae date from roughly 300
BCECommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
to 50 or 100 BCE, although some argue for dates as late as 250 CE.
Also known as the "Tree of Life" stone, the complex religious imagery of Izapa Stela 5 has led to different theories and speculations concerning its subject matter, particularly those involving
Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contactPre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact describes interactions between the indigenous peoples of the Americas who settled the Americas ca. 20,000 B.C.E., and peoples of other continents , which occurred before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean in 1492.Many such contacts have been...
.
Izapa Stela 5 is one of a number of large, carved stelae found in the ancient
MesoamericaMesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries...
n site of
IzapaIzapa is a very large pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the Mexican state of Chiapas; it was occupied during the Late Formative period. The site is situated on the Izapa River, a tributary of the Suchiate River, near the base of the Tacaná volcano), the fourth largest mountain in...
, in the
SoconuscoSoconusco is a region of the Mexican state of Chiapas, located in the extreme south of the state and separated from Guatemala by the Suchiate River. It is a region of rich lowlands and foothills. The economic center is Tapachula. Soconusco consists of 16 municipalities.The name comes from the...
region of
ChiapasChiapas is the southernmost state of Mexico, located towards the southeast of the country. Chiapas is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest, and Oaxaca to the west. To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean.Chiapas has an area of...
,
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
along the present-day Guatemalan border. These stelae date from roughly 300
BCECommon Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used world-wide for numbering the year part of the date...
to 50 or 100 BCE, although some argue for dates as late as 250 CE.
Also known as the "Tree of Life" stone, the complex religious imagery of Izapa Stela 5 has led to different theories and speculations concerning its subject matter, particularly those involving
Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contactPre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact describes interactions between the indigenous peoples of the Americas who settled the Americas ca. 20,000 B.C.E., and peoples of other continents , which occurred before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean in 1492.Many such contacts have been...
. Though discovered and documented first in the 1930s, the stone is particularly noteworthy because of the controversy created by the proposition by Professor M. Wells Jakeman in 1953 that the stone was a record of the
Book of MormonThe Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi...
tree of life visionThe Tree of life vision is a vision described and discussed in the Book of Mormon, one of the scriptures of the Latter Day Saint movement denominations published by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1830. According to the Book of Mormon, the vision was received by a prophet named Lehi, and later by his son...
.
The stela
Documented by Smithsonian archaeologist Matthew W. Stirling in 1941, Stela 5 is composed of volcanic
andesiteAndesite is an igneous, volcanic rock, of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. The mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite, zircon, apatite, ilmenite, biotite, and garnet are common accessory minerals. Alkali...
and weighs around one-and-a-half tons. Stela 5 presents the most complex imagery of all the stelae at Izapa. Researcher Garth Norman, for example, has counted "at least 12" human figures, a dozen animals, over 25 botanical or inanimate objects, and 9 stylized deity masks.
Like much of Izapan monumental sculpture, the subject matter of Stela 5 is considered mythological and religious in nature and is executed with a stylized opulence. Given the multiple overlapping scenes, it appears to be a narrative.
Theories and speculations
Mainstream Mesoamerican researchers identify the central image as a Mesoamerican world tree, connecting the sky above and the water or underworld below.
Linda ScheleLinda Schele was an expert in the field of Maya epigraphy and iconography. She played an invaluable role in the decipherment of much of the Maya hieroglyphics. She produced a massive volume of drawings of stelae and inscriptions, which, following her wishes, are free for use to scholars...
and Mary Ellen Miller further propose that the stela records a creation myth, with barely-formed humans emerging from a hole drilled into the tree's left side. The associated seated figures are completing these humans in various ways. Julia Guernsey Kappelman, on the other hand, suggests the seated figures are Izapa elites conducting ritual activities in a "quasi-historical scene", which is framed by, and placed in the context of, the "symbolic landscape of creation".
Lehi's vision
Based on the "Tree of Life" theories put forth by Stirling and others, Brigham Young University Archeology chair and Professor M. Wells Jakeman proposed that the bas-relief image was a representation of Lehi's
dream of the tree of life in the
Book of MormonThe Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr. as The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi...
. Jakeman published multiple interpretations and theories about the stone during his lifetime and the Lehi theory quickly filtered through Mormon culture.
In support of Jakeman's speculation - a tree, a body of water, and a number of people are clearly present in the stela, as in the Book of Mormon story. "Latter-day Saints have either accepted or rejected Jakeman's proposal to varying degrees."
Some Latter-day Saint researchers have claimed that the six figures at the level of the tree represent Lehi's family at the time of the vision, from left to right: Sariah, Lehi, Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi. Four of the six figures are facing the tree, representing those who ate of the fruit in Lehi's vision, and the Laman and Lemuel figures are facing away representing their rejection of the tree. Many other parallels have been drawn between the symbology on this stone and Lehi's vision related in the
Book of Mormon. Not all Latter-Day Saint scholars accept this proposition.
Out of Africa
Others have interpreted the imagery to support
theories of an African originOlmec alternative origin speculations are explanations that have been suggested for the formation of Olmec civilization which contradict the accepted scholarly consensus. These speculations typically involve contact with Old World societies...
citing, for example, what appears to be a boat at the bottom of the scene.
Disagreement
Mainstream Mesoamerican scholars do not support linking Izapa Stela 5 to the Bible, the Book of Mormon, or an "out of Africa" theory. For example, Julia Guernsey Kappelman, author of a definitive work on Izapan culture, finds that Jakeman's research "belies an obvious religious agenda that ignored Izapa Stela 5's heritage".
External links