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Sustaining and Defending the LDS Temple

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The Seal of Melchizedek – Part 5

July 14, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 16 Comments
The seal of Melchizedek as seen on the entrance doors of the Salt Lake Temple

The seal of Melchizedek as seen on the entrance doors of the Salt Lake Temple. (Click for larger view)

(Continued from Part 4)

It’s been a long time coming, since September 2008 to be exact, and I’d like to finally complete this series of posts on the seal of Melchizedek.  It is probably one of the most trafficked series of posts on this website.  It’s drawn a lot of attention, and may have even been part of what compelled a BYU scholar, Alonzo L. Gaskill, to publish an article about it in The Religious Educator at BYU in 2010, which article I’d like to talk about.

But first, there are a few other artifacts related to the symbol that I’d like to share.  As I pointed out in Part 2, this seal is most prominently found as displayed in the mosaics and iconography in the basilicas of Ravenna, Italy.  Indeed, this is very likely where Hugh Nibley saw this symbol originally, as perhaps did Michael Lyon, and where he may have coined the name the “seal of Melchizedek.”  The symbol is shown on the altar cloths in these mosaics, shown next to Melchizedek, Abel, and Abraham, in making sacrificial offerings to God.  The altar cloth also shows gammadia in the corners, right-angle marks like the Greek letter gamma, which is also very interesting, and worthy of a study in and of itself.

To begin, I want to note again that to date I have not found any evidence for this symbol being called the “seal of Melchizedek” by any other scholar, historian, or historical figure in recorded history before Hugh Nibley and Michael Lyon.  That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but it is likely a conception that began with the Latter-day Saints, making a logical connection between the symbol and the Biblical figure found adjacent to it in the mosaics. [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts, Scholarship Tagged: alonzo gaskill, altar, andrew skinner, BYU, catholic, circle, compass, daniel c. peterson, dome of the rock, earth, egypt, egyptian, fayum, gammadia, garments, heaven, hinduism, holy of holies, hugh nibley, jerusalem, joseph smith, margaret barker, markings, marks, masonry, melchizedek, new name, offerings, origin, painting, priesthood, prophet, representation, royal, sacrifice, salt lake temple, source, square, star, symbolism, symbols, veil

Ancient markings excavated in Jerusalem stump experts

December 9, 2011 by Bryce Haymond 12 Comments

20111209-215557.jpg

Matti Friedman of the Associated Press published news about a recent excavation in the City of David in Jerusalem, near the Gihon Spring. The excavation revealed an interesting set of markings carved into the stone floor of a room, and expert archeologists cannot determine what their meaning or use was. The markings consist of three “V” marks, or perhaps gammadia “Γ,” although one is inverted from the other two, plus a straight line mark. They date to about 800 B.C. [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts Tagged: archeology, circle, compass, gammadia, history, jerusalem, markings, marks, square, symbols

Sanctuary Vesture: A Brief Overview and Comparison

February 24, 2011 by Guest Blogger 2 Comments
Ancient Israelite temple ceremonial clothing

Ancient Israelite temple ceremonial clothing worn in the Mosaic Tabernacle, and succeeding Israelite temples of Solomon, Herod, et al.

I’m very pleased to welcome another guest post by Matthew B. Brown.  Some of his writings, particularly his book The Gate of Heaven, are what inspired me to study the temple more in depth.  He offers a wealth of insight and learning for the Latter-day Saints. ~Bryce

Matthew B. Brown holds a degree in history from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is the author of ten books and has published articles with the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU (aka FARMS). Matthew has served as a volunteer researcher, editor, and respondent for The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) and has spoken at several of their annual conferences. He is one of the directors of the upcoming EXPOUND symposium on May 14, 2011, and will also be a presenter (expoundlds.com).

~~

It is publicly acknowledged that Latter-day Saints who participate in the central temple rites of their faith dress in several layers of ceremonial clothing, consisting of a “white undergarment” (which is worn as part of everyday life) and “other priestly robes” (which are only worn during times of temple service).1 [Read more…]

Posted in: Practices, Scholarship Tagged: anointing, bible, cap, clothing, endowment, garments, history, initiation, israelites, joseph smith, markings, marks, Matthew B. Brown, oil, ordinances, priest, prophet, research, rite, rites, ritual, rituals, robe, robes, royal, sanctuary, scholar, scholars, solomon, symbols, symposium, tabernacle, vestments, washing

The Universal Creation Song

March 22, 2010 by Bryce Haymond 18 Comments

Music is a fundamental part of worship, and was even more so anciently than it is today.  Before the printed word made the sacred word so accessible to the masses, it was passed on from generation to generation orally.  But this was not just the spoken word.  In order for the word to be remembered and said the same way over and over again, over decades and centuries, a mnemonic device was employed to facilitate the reciter.  This device was music.  The sacred word, every word, was put to music.

This can be seen in the way the Bible is written in Hebrew, one of the oldest languages in the world.  In Hebrew, particularly the Hebrew Bible, there are cantillation marks that specify how the text should be sung:  [Read more…]

Posted in: Practices Tagged: bible, creation, hebrew, hugh nibley, hymn, initiate, Jewish, markings, marks, moses, muses, music, native american, poetry, prayer circle, rites, round dance, scriptures, symbols, synagogue

“The Temple as a Place of Ascent to God” – Notes from Dr. Peterson’s Fireside

July 15, 2009 by Bryce Haymond 43 Comments
View of Salt Lake Valley from the Draper Temple on July 10, 2009.  The Jordan River and Oquirrh Mountain temples are in the distance.

View of Salt Lake Valley from the Draper Temple on July 10, 2009. The Jordan River and Oquirrh Mountain temples are in the distance.

On Sunday I had the opportunity of going to the Daybreak Stake Center in South Jordan and listening to a wonderful fireside given by Dr. Daniel C. Peterson about the temple.  I audio recorded the fireside, and have a digital copy.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get a hold of Dr. Peterson to ask permission to post it on TempleStudy.com.  But as I said previously, I also took notes as well as I could, and I hope that they might reproduce some of the excellent thoughts Dr. Peterson conveyed. [Note: Not all of the images below are the exact same as Dr. Peterson used, but I have tried to use similar ones.]

One of the first things he said was that the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (which stands only a few blocks from the stake center) would be, in a way, a fulfillment of prophecy.

[Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts, Practices, Scholarship, Texts Tagged: ancients, anointing, ascension, cleansing, cosmology, creation, crown, daniel c. peterson, diagram, egyptian, embrace, endowment, enoch, fair, fireside, gammadia, garments, gate, hands, jerusalem, markings, myth, osiris, paul, prayer, presence, priest, psalms, questions, rituals, robes, scholar, secret, tabernacle, throne, veil, washing, worthiness
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