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"They kept 2,156 gold tablets on which the Maya recorded their laws."


David T

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Who knows, this could be nonsense, but it's certainly interesting. Ancient Mesoamerican Law recorded on a few thousand gold tablets? Read the story here.

"The Dresden Codex leads to a giant treasure of eight tons of pure gold," said Rittsteig, who has spent more than 40 years studying the document, to Bild.

A professor emeritus at Dresden University and author of various publications about the Maya culture, Rittsteig stressed that "page 52 talks about the Maya capital of Atlan, which was ruined by an earthquake on October 30th in the year 666 BC. In this city, they kept 2,156 gold tablets on which the Maya recorded their laws."

The treasure sank, along with the city, into the waters of Lake Izabal, located in eastern Guatemala. But the German academic claims to have found the remains thanks to radar images taken in the area.Rittsteig calculates that "just the gold in the tablets is estimated to be currently worth up to 211 million euros (290 million dollars)."

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But 666 BC would be pre-Nephite.

I don't think this is interesting from the perspective of finding a Nephite record. I think it's potentially interesting in broadening our understanding of mesoamerican history, law, religion, and culture, and other influences in the pre-established mileu where many feel the Nephites may have showed up.

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I don't think this is interesting from the perspective of finding a Nephite record. I think it's potentially interesting in broadening our understanding of mesoamerican history, law, religion, and culture, and other influences in the pre-established mileu where many feel the Nephites may have showed up.

:P

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The Dresden Codex says nothing of the sort. I know every "expert" in Mayan writing, and Joachim Rittsteig is not one of them; in fact, I've literally never even heard of him. A quick Google Scholar search will demonstrate that no one else has either. He has written nothing, and been quoted by no one, which seems odd for an emeritus professor, doesn't it? According to his Facebook, he has an masters in math, which is not quite the qualification one needs to be an expert in ancient Maya epigraphy.

And for those of you who don't know who I am since I rarely post here anymore, I am a faithful member and firm proponent of a Mesoamerican setting, and I'm just about to complete my PhD in Mesoamerican archaeology (and I am at a high intermediate level when it comes to the glyphs, and attend established and respected Maya conferences in Europe and Latin America), so please don't mistake me for an uninformed critic or troll. But I have to speak up here; EVERYTHING about his claims are patently false.

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The Dresden Codex says nothing of the sort. I know every "expert" in Mayan writing, and Joachim Rittsteig is not one of them; in fact, I've literally never even heard of him. A quick Google Scholar search will demonstrate that no one else has either. He has written nothing, and been quoted by no one, which seems odd for an emeritus professor, doesn't it? According to his Facebook, he has an masters in math, which is not quite the qualification one needs to be an expert in ancient Maya epigraphy.

And for those of you who don't know who I am since I rarely post here anymore, I am a faithful member and firm proponent of a Mesoamerican setting, and I'm just about to complete my PhD in Mesoamerican archaeology (and I am at a high intermediate level when it comes to the glyphs, and attend established and respected Maya conferences in Europe and Latin America), so please don't mistake me for an uninformed critic or troll. But I have to speak up here; EVERYTHING about his claims are patently false.

I appreciate the input. How would we have viewed Schlieman?

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The Dresden Codex says nothing of the sort. I know every "expert" in Mayan writing, and Joachim Rittsteig is not one of them; in fact, I've literally never even heard of him. A quick Google Scholar search will demonstrate that no one else has either. He has written nothing, and been quoted by no one, which seems odd for an emeritus professor, doesn't it? According to his Facebook, he has an masters in math, which is not quite the qualification one needs to be an expert in ancient Maya epigraphy.

And for those of you who don't know who I am since I rarely post here anymore, I am a faithful member and firm proponent of a Mesoamerican setting, and I'm just about to complete my PhD in Mesoamerican archaeology (and I am at a high intermediate level when it comes to the glyphs, and attend established and respected Maya conferences in Europe and Latin America), so please don't mistake me for an uninformed critic or troll. But I have to speak up here; EVERYTHING about his claims are patently false.

Perfect. Exactly the kind of response I was looking for, and expecting. A search for his name tends to associate him with German quests for the lost City of Atlantis - which he appears to think this Lost Maya Capital is.

I said in my OP that "this could be nonsense" - it appears that this first impression was correct :P Thanks Hashbaz, and I'm glad I could lure you out of the woodwork!

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The Dresden Codex says nothing of the sort. I know every "expert" in Mayan writing, and Joachim Rittsteig is not one of them; in fact, I've literally never even heard of him. A quick Google Scholar search will demonstrate that no one else has either. He has written nothing, and been quoted by no one, which seems odd for an emeritus professor, doesn't it? According to his Facebook, he has an masters in math, which is not quite the qualification one needs to be an expert in ancient Maya epigraphy.

And for those of you who don't know who I am since I rarely post here anymore, I am a faithful member and firm proponent of a Mesoamerican setting, and I'm just about to complete my PhD in Mesoamerican archaeology (and I am at a high intermediate level when it comes to the glyphs, and attend established and respected Maya conferences in Europe and Latin America), so please don't mistake me for an uninformed critic or troll. But I have to speak up here; EVERYTHING about his claims are patently false.

Yeah, I dusted off my texts and notes from when I muddled through a semester of Mayan glyphs while Steve Houston was at BYU and couldn't find anything on p52 of the Codex that could corroborate Rittsteig's story. I thought it was all pretty much an astronomical/astrological text, right?

I love, too, how the reports volunteer his calculations for the monetary value of the gold plates. Classic.

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