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According to the Book of Mormon, a religious text of the Latter-day Saint movement, the Nephites (〔(LDS.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide" ) (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from «nē´fīt»〕) are one of four groups (including the Lamanites, Jaredites, and Mulekites) to have settled in the ancient Americas. The term is used throughout the Book of Mormon to describe the religious, political, and cultural traditions of this group of settlers. The Nephites are described as a group of people that descended from or were associated with Nephi, the son of the prophet Lehi, who left Jerusalem at the urging of God c. 600 BC and traveled with his family to the Western Hemisphere, arriving in the Americas c. 589 BC. The Book of Mormon notes them as an initially righteous people who eventually "had fallen into a state of unbelief and awful wickedness"〔(''Book of Mormon'': Helaman 4:25. )〕 and were destroyed by the Lamanites c. AD 385.〔, Ibid.〕 Some Mormon scholars claim that the forebears of the Nephites settled somewhere in present-day Central America after departing Jerusalem. However, both the Smithsonian Institution〔Terryl L. Givens, ''By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 132.〕 and the National Geographic Society have issued statements that they have seen no evidence to support these claims in the Book of Mormon and no non-Mormon archaeologist or historian has supported their existence. ==Archaeology== (詳細はFoundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), part of Brigham Young University, has performed extensive archaeological research in this area, and publications on this subject and other historical topics are issued regularly by the FARMS organization.〔Laura F. Willes. ("LDS SCRIPTURE RESEARCH" ). Center for Book of Mormon Studies, Maxwell Institute, Brigham Young University.〕 This research is disputed by many researchers, including Michael Coe, a scholar in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican history, as well as the Smithsonian Institution and others. In 1973, Michael Coe addressed the issue in an article for ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought'' stating: In 1996, the Smithsonian Institution issued a statement addressing claims made in the Book of Mormon, stating that the text is primarily a religious text and that archeologists affiliated with the Institution found "no direct connection between the archeology of the New World and the subject matter of the book". The statement further says that there is genetic evidence that the Native American Indians are closely related to peoples of Asia, and that archaeological evidence indicates that the Native Americans migrated from Asia over a land bridge over the Bering Strait in prehistoric times. The statement said that there was no credible evidence of contact between Ancient Egyptian or Hebrew peoples and the New World, as indicated by the text of the Book of Mormon. The statement was issued in response to reports that the name of the Smithsonian Institution was being improperly used to lend credibility to the claims of those looking to support the events of the Book of Mormon.〔Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution. ("Statement Regarding the Book of Mormon" ). 1996. Letter posted online by the (Institute for Religious Research ).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nephite」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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