Indian Petroglyphs at the Los Lunas site

The Decalogue inscription is located at the foot of the Hidden Mountains on the north-eastern side, at the only acessible pathway going up. However, there are other artefacts of interest, too. When James D. Tabor did his survey of the whole site in 1996 he reported the existence of some leftovers of an ancient habitation (see 8). If there was an ancient fortification, as he claims there was, it certainly is not immediately visible from the ground to the untrained eye. However, the whole site, especially the top and the north-eastern rocks and slopes, are covered with petroglyphs.

The researcher David Deal has published a detailed analysis for one of these petroglyphs (3) . It depicts a sky-map, laid out on a flat rock, recording the positions of the planets and constellations during a solar eclipse. It coincides with the solar eclipse on September 15, 107 B.C.E., to be followed by the Jewish "Rosh Ha Shannah" on the next day. This interesting discovery was first published by David Deal back in 1984. "Rosh Ha Shanah" is the first day of the Jewish month of "Tishri". "Ethanim" was the old-Hebrew name for "Tishri" refering to the seventh lunar month of the sacred calendar of the Israelites. It was also regarded as the first month of their secular calendar, especially in an agricultural sense. Like David Deal, James D. Tabor, too, emphasizes the significance between the date of the Los Lunas solar eclipse on September 15 107 B.C.E. and the Jewish New Year. However, he thinks both events were on the same day (8).

Another interesting petroglyph, whose picture is shown below here for the first time on the Web, seems to portrait an ancient high-ranking mediterranean visitor, possibly wearing a crown. Crowns were unknown to native American Indians. They are of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean origin. The small cross-like symbol in the circle below looks like an artistic representation of the old-Hebrew or Phoenician letter TETH. This might be just a coincidence, but should be taken into consideration in view of the other Hebrew or Phoenician artifacts on that same site.

Photo: J.Neuhoff 1996	Left: An unidentified petroglyph depicting a face and with what looks like a crown on its head. It is less than 50 yards away from the Decalogue inscription. Does the circle with the cross below the face represent an old-Hebrew or Phoenician TETH character? See drawing below.