Scholars identify the first advanced Mesoamerican civilization as the Olmec (ca. 1700–400 BC), which closely corresponds with the time period of the Jaredite civilization. This ancient pre-Columbian American “society began constructing thrones of stone between 1350–1000 BC.” Today, these people are known for their huge and elaborate stone thrones and colossal stone heads that have survived the centuries. The thrones were usually made out of a single, large, altar-like stone, ornamentally carved with three-dimensional depictions of the rulers themselves seated in cave-like openings. The massive stones used to make these thrones and heads could weigh up to 40 tons and were transported from as far as 90 km (about 56 miles). The intensive labor required to produce these stone monuments attests to the power of the rulers who commissioned them.
Mesoamerican scholars have noted that construction of massive thrones and colossal stone heads were one of the ways Olmec kings memorialized themselves. The thrones served as seats of power, which symbolically positioned rulers as sitting between the human and divine realms. The thrones were also carved in ways to legitimize their high status by establishing their relationship to founding ancestors.
In order for Riplakish to construct an “exceedingly beautiful throne,” he had to have possessed sufficient power to harness a massive labor force. Riplakish was the second king following a famine which had decimated the Jaredite kingdom (Ether 9:28–35). His father had begun to rebuild the kingdom (Ether 10:1–4), and by the time Riplakish took over the kingdom he wielded considerable power. The record describes a period of oppressive taxation and building projects during Riplakish’s reign and mentions that he burdened the people with burdens “grievous to be borne” and forced them to “labor continually” (Ether 10:5–6).
Many Olmec stone thrones and heads were intentionally smashed, defaced and mutilated to delegitimize a king and his possible successors—particularly at times of rebellion or civil war. Consistent with Olmec history, Riplakish’s throne may have been defaced and mutilated since the Jaredite record states that “the people did rise up in rebellion against” Riplakish, and he “was killed, and his descendants were driven out of the land” (Ether 10:8).
Book of Mormon Central, “Why Did Riplakish Construct a Beautiful Throne? (Ether 10:6),” KnoWhy 244 (December 2, 2016).
John E. Clark, “Archaeology Relics, and Book of Mormon Belief,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 14, no. 2 (2005): 38–49, 71–74.
John E. Clark, “Archaeological Trends and Book of Mormon Origins,” BYU Studies 44 (2005): 83–104.
John E. Clark and Arlene Colman, “Time Reckoning and Memorials in Mesoamerica,” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 18, no. 1 (2008).
Christopher A. Pool, Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
Susan D. Gillespie, “Olmec Thrones as Ancestral Altars: The Two Sides of Power,” in Material Symbols: Culture and Economy in Prehistory, ed. John E. Robb (Carbondale, IL: Center for Archaeological Investigations, 1999), 224–253.