The Mystery of the Los Lunas Commandment Stone

By Bill Lussenheide

Back when I was in elementary school, I was taught a little poem in regard to the discovery of America, which I am sure many of you remember as well. It went like this…

In fourteen hundred and ninety-two,
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

Although Columbus’ voyages were nothing short of amazing, it is virtually certain that he was not the first to arrive on the shores of the American continents. Of course, there were already people here — many Native American nations inhabited what later became known as North and South America and even the Caribbean islands where Columbus landed.

Columbus probably wasn’t even the first European to arrive here. The documentation of  Icelander Leif Ericcson’s successfully sailing to North America in the year 1000 — almost 500 years prior to Columbus’s voyage, is regarded as historically valid.

Over the years, several curious discoveries have also entered the scene about early American transits and voyages Eight ancient Phoenician copper coins have been found scattered across North America from Nebraska to Georgia to Connecticut.

 Ancient Roman coins have been found in Venezuela and Maine. Additional ancient Roman coins were found in Texas at the bottom of an Indian mound in Round Rock. The mound is dated at approximately 800 AD.

Several historians believe there is evidence that a fleet of Chinese merchant ships was visiting and trading in California as early as 1418, including that of an amazingly accurate world map in possession of these Chinese mariners, 74 years before Columbus.

The Bible itself gives evidence of a navy of ships that were commissioned by Solomon that were involved with far away trade, as evidenced by the exotic cargo they carried…

1 Kings 10:22: For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.

1 Kings 9:26 And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. 27. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. 28. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to king Solomon.

It is self-evident that travels in the ancient world were far more extensive than we have previously imagined. Which brings us to a most curious discovery in the wilderness of New Mexico, that has some interesting ramifications.

God’s 10 Commandments Carved Anciently in the New Mexico Desert?

The Los Lunas Decalogue Stone is a large boulder on the side of Hidden Mountain, near Los Lunas, New Mexico. This is about 35 miles southwest of Albuquerque in a barren area. , It bears an inscription carved into a flat panel of the Ten Commandments in an ancient Paleo/Hebrew language!The stone is also known as the Mystery Stone or The Commandment Rock. The stone is controversial in that it is highly likely Pre-Columbian, and therefore proof of early Semitic contact with the Americas. Obviously, this does not collaborate with many modern narratives of how the history of American occurred.

The first recorded mention of the stone is in 1933, when professor Frank Hibben, an archaeologist from the University of New Mexico reported the stones discovery.

In 1996, respected Prof. James D. Tabor of the Dept. of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina – Charlotte, and who also taught Greek and Hebrew part-time at the Seventh Day observing Ambassador College in the early 1970s, personally interviewed the late Professor Hibben about the stone.

Hibben was convinced that the inscription is ancient and thus authentic. He reported to Tabor that he first saw the text in 1933. At the time it was covered with lichen and patination and was hardly visible. He was taken to the site by a guide who had seen it as a boy, back in the 1880s.  George Moorehouse, a professional geologist said that an age of 500 to 2000 years or even more would not be an unreasonable estimate of its antiquity. The inscription uses Greek and Hebrew counterparts but a very ancient form of the letter Aleph.

The literal translation is as follows…

I am Jehovah your God who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves. There must be no other gods before my face.

You must not make any idol.

You must not take the name of Jehovah in vain.

Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.

Honor your father and your mother so that your days may be long in the land that Jehovah your God has given to you.

You must not murder.

You must not commit adultery.

 You must not steal.

You must not give a false witness against your neighbor.

You must not desire the wife of your neighbor nor anything that is his.

The Los Lunas Commandment Rock site itself used to be accessible via the Rio Puerco, a contributory to the Rio Grande, which in turn leads into the Gulf of Mexico. It is quite possible that anciently, the present dry, arid conditions did not prevail in the region, according to several historic meteorologists, and allowing for the sailing of small ship to the region.

Were the first Sabbath Keepers in America, ancient Hebrew mariners, blown off course by a hurricane, or deliberate explorers of a new land? We will have some interesting things to ask after the Second Coming of Jesus in many areas and topics!

None the less, the engravers of the Los Lunas Mystery Stone, had a reverence for the true God, and an observance of his Seventh Day Sabbath as pioneers to a new continent!

Bill Lussenheide serves as Vice President of the Bible Sabbath Association and has been a Sabbath Keeper since age 17 as a first generation Christian.