Year of Maroni
Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2024 4:06 am
Tonight marks the first day of the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese lunar calendar. In ancient Siam this was called the year of Marong. In Thailand, even today, the fifth year in the lunar cycle is referred to as the Year of Marong. (source)
"Marong is a Siamese word used in their astrological or astronomical works. It is applied to a man who can by supernatural means assume any shape he pleases. A Buddhist Priest of Siam acquaints me that it is a title bestowed on a military chief - and also signifies a person who can preternaturally change his appearance” (source)
Marong was a title given to military leaders. For example, the founder of the first kingdom on the Malay Peninsula was named Marong. His son, the founder of the Kingdom of Siam according to some accounts, also inherited the title Marong. (source)
So get this...
A variation of the Siamese military title 'Marong' is Maroni. M-A-R-O-N-I
The above is taken from Samuel Rafinesque's "The American Nations".
Guess who was Samuel Rafinesque's mentor?
Samuel Latham Mitchell (source), the guy Martin Harris visited in 1828 (two years before the publication of the Book of Mormon) to show the transcript of ancient hieroglyphic letters taken from the Golden Plates.
And how did Joseph Smith spell the name of the last person to engrave upon the Golden Plates? M-A-R-O-N-I
It could be:
"Marong is a Siamese word used in their astrological or astronomical works. It is applied to a man who can by supernatural means assume any shape he pleases. A Buddhist Priest of Siam acquaints me that it is a title bestowed on a military chief - and also signifies a person who can preternaturally change his appearance” (source)
Marong was a title given to military leaders. For example, the founder of the first kingdom on the Malay Peninsula was named Marong. His son, the founder of the Kingdom of Siam according to some accounts, also inherited the title Marong. (source)
So get this...
A variation of the Siamese military title 'Marong' is Maroni. M-A-R-O-N-I
The above is taken from Samuel Rafinesque's "The American Nations".
Guess who was Samuel Rafinesque's mentor?
Samuel Latham Mitchell (source), the guy Martin Harris visited in 1828 (two years before the publication of the Book of Mormon) to show the transcript of ancient hieroglyphic letters taken from the Golden Plates.
And how did Joseph Smith spell the name of the last person to engrave upon the Golden Plates? M-A-R-O-N-I
It could be:
- A coincidence
- More data to support the claim that Joseph Smith was the world's greatest guesser, not easy to guess the exact spelling of a title for military leaders that would have been contemporaneous with Captain Maroni.
- Another thing to suggest that the author of the Book of Mormon was riffing off things being discussed only in very tight academic circles in the 1820s
- Evidence that the Book of Mormon is a historical text or pseudo-historical text set on the Malay Peninsula.