Marked with Red in their Foreheads: A Book of Mormon Custom Recalling Ancient Egyptian Practices

The Book of Mormon prophet Alma relates how the apostate Amlicites "had marked themselves with red in their foreheads after the manner of the Lamanites; nevertheless they had not shorn their heads like unto the Lamanites" (Alma 3:4). Though Alma does not say why the Lamanites so marked their foreheads, he does consider the mark as the sign of a (self-imposed) curse.

The Lamanites may have so marked themselves at birth as a mark of cultural identity, or they may have marked themselves as a sign of war: "white and red," says Professor E.V. Gordon, "were used as symbolic of peace and war among the Indians as among many other peoples. Later the Indians of the prairies are known to have carried small flags, one of white bison's hide and the other of reddened leather, for use in the same way that the red and white shields were used by the Norsemen," An Introduction to Old Norse, 217, 5.347. For the Amlicites, who were Nephite dissenters, marking with red clearly also served as a sign of both identification with the Lamanites and for recognition in battle. Again, the mark may also have served an amuletic purpose. None of these five purposes for the marking in red contradicts or excludes the others.

So why a mark of red as register for cursing in Alma's record? Alma does not call up such an idea from his inner consciousness; it is cultural. In the system of signs by which the Nephites order their universe, red connotes cursing. Though there would have been other connotations associated with the color, and other reasons for the marking, the people of Alma's day would not have missed the point: by marking themselves in or for war, the Amlicites had also taken upon themselves both a new identity as well as the cursing associated with that identity. Like the Lamanites, the rebellious Amlicites had cut themselves off, or separated themselves, from the presence of God, and thus also from the people of God--that is the curse.


I  An Ancient Practice

That same semiotic tie between red and separation, that is, cursing, famously appears in Egyptian books and paintings. Red is the color of Seth, the god who confronts the civilized order of things, and red marks all that pertains to him, including the desert wastes. All that is evil, all that is cursed, that is fit to be burned, trampled, or destroyed takes on a taint of red. We also recall the dot of red ink sometimes placed in the amulet of the Wedjat-eye, and so at the forehead, in order to subsume, and thus ward off, evil. For the Amlicites, marching to battle, the mark surely had a like amuletic quality, a quality blending an element of the dangerous with a hope of impregnability. The Amlicites, whose cause was not just and whose amuletic dreams ran red, were setting up themselves for disaster: "For God knows the rebel, and God punishes with blood" (Jan Assmann, Mind of Egypt, 146 = Instructions of Merikare).

The Egyptian language knows several words for red and related shades of hot color, the two most common of which are dashrut or dushrit (dshr) and chimas (tms). The color word chimas or timas concretely derives from the substance of red ink. The names of the cursed, that is, the rebellious, are recorded in (lit. "cut into") a register of timasaw or tms.w, the book of damnation, the book of the "red ones." The action of recording, in such a case, thus corresponds to that of marking--by cutting or tattooing or painting--the forehead with red. Those so recorded ("those of tms.w") are consigned to slaughter by knife and fire (red flames) in the Netherworld. It is the very act of cutting or painting forehead or register of tms.w that activates or, in Alma's words, "fulfills" the curse: "I will set a mark upon him that fighteth against thee and thy seed" (v. 16). And for Alma the supreme irony is that "they set the mark upon themselves, yea, even a mark of red upon their foreheads" (v. 13). The Lord allows the mark but intervenes not at all. It's all self-applied, and judgment immediately works its due.

The idea is captured by the Egyptian hieroglyph of enemy, a sign which reveals the fate of the Sethian enemy of order and reason--an ax to the head. But note: the sign ironically shows the enemy putting the ax to his own head. Thus for Alma, as for the Egyptians, enmity and rebellion (even coming out "in open rebellion against God," v. 18) make up the essence of folly. Rebellion brings not victory but inevitable reversal. The curse follows forthwith: "therefore it was expedient that the curse should fall upon them," v. 18. The curse falls upon the Amlicites even as they fall in battle, only later to be identified and counted by their red marks. All this again recalls the Egyptian notion of tallying the record of timasaw (tms.w), a tally of accountability and the accounting of fate. The red mark makes the exact tally of the enemy dead, as noted in Alma, possible, except in the case of the final tally, too innumerable for any count. The mark of red ultimately points to corpse and burial.


The books of Alma and Helaman have much to say about the doctrine of restoration, that is to say, divine retribution (Helaman 14:29-31). The doctrine accords with the Egyptian writings that speak of the punishment of timasaw (Book of the Amduat; Book of Gates), as a coursing from "red things" (evil deeds) to "red things" (evil punishments). Alma sums things up with impeccable Egyptian logic (a logic found throughout the Book of Mormon): "Now I would that ye should see that they brought upon themselves the curse; and even so doth every man that is cursed bring upon himself his own condemnation" (v. 19). Like the Egyptians, Alma, as shown again and again in his long book, considers rebellion the worst of all possible crimes, and as suits the crime, punishment begins its work with inexorable immediacy. (Further treatment of the theme, with sources, appears in Val H. Sederholm, British Museum Papyrus 10808 and Its Cultural and Religious Setting.)


II  Latter-day Applications  (updated 10 November 2015--and since)

"Orbed in a Rainbow" (Hodie, Ralph Vaughan Williams = John Milton, "Ring Out, Ye Crystal Spheres")


We are "to liken" all Scripture unto ourselves. What modern practices might correspond to the action of the Amlicites in marking their foreheads? Modern prophets warn against the practice of marking the body with tattoos. Tattoos "defile" the temple of God, for the body is intended to be the dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost (1 Corinthians 3:17; 6:19). As disciples of Christ, we manifest a constant love for all; neither do we seek to judge anyone who marks their body. At the same time, we share the prophetic warning about sanctifying the temple of God in our bodies.

Another practice reminiscent of marking the forehead with red is the use of color in social media as a sign of allegiance, a sign of support for practices not in harmony with the will of God. To superimpose symbolic colors onto one's own photograph on Facebook or Twitter, as a sign of both allegiance and dissent--even if that is a quiet dissent--follows the practice of the Amlicites. As disciples of Christ, we manifest a constant love for all; neither do we seek to judge anyone who uses symbolism to promote contemporary social causes of every kind. At the same time, we share the prophetic warning about allegiances and idolatry--about loyalty.


All Saints hope to reconcile the Divine purpose and the weaknesses of men. Indeed Christ's grace is made perfect in weakness. But in seeking to grasp the Reconciliation of God and Man, we cannot lose sight of the character of Atoning Love. Atoning Love comes through submission to the will of God. Jesus, even from the foundation of the world, so submitted His will to that of His Father. And submission, an awakening from weakness, remains forever the price for receiving that Love. Atoning Love is found in repentance, and thus also in the preaching of repentance and of strict obedience to the law of God.

The substance that makes up discipleship is a thing of many days and, likely, even many jarrings. Every six months we come together in General Conference. We look for peace and comfort and love; we may find testing and warning and rebuke. Learning at the feet of prophets and apostles was never easy. A disciple may be jarred into painful outcry for a day, but what is a day? As we continue in the covenant path, we must "hold on [our] way" by often also holding our tongues and by striving, meanwhile, to tame our hearts. Loyalty, pure and undiluted, in both public and in private, should be the aim of every true disciple of Christ.

Following Christ, we love and serve without distinction of persons. Yet the loving response to any and every weakness is never acquiescence; nor is it manifest in a sharing of signposts and symbols. The prophetic call is for "courage to defy the consensus" (President Thomas S. Monson). The swiftly multiplying Amlicites doubtless had their reasons for dissent. And as followers of the popular preacher Nehor, they believed that God would "in the end" save all men--and what news could be brighter? Yet the moment they marked their foreheads, a fleeting, worldly, allegiance became the controlling power of their lives. Such allegiance can result from so very many different causes and take such a variety of forms!

The Scriptures draw for thirsting saints so much refreshment from "the wells of salvation." This living water also brims with semiotic reflections in living color. As Latter-day Saints we must ever remember how the Scriptures of the Restoration present the rainbow, with its comprehensive spectrum, as a symbol of God's eternal covenant with Enoch to bring again Zion. The Doctrine and Covenants defines the community of Zion as "THE PURE IN HEART" (97:21).

The bow signals for the faithful that promised moment in which latter-day Zion and the Zion of Enoch will unite in radiant beauty and peace, a moment glimpsed in Ralph Vaughan Williams's stunning rainbow scene in the Christmas cantata Hodie. In the hope of the rainbow, promised tomorrow will dawn Today:

Orbed in a rainbow, and, like glories wearing,
Mercy will sit between,
Throned in celestial sheen,
With radiant feet the tissued clouds down steering;
And heaven, as at some festival,
Will open wide the gates of her high palace hall.


The festival is the panegyris, the glorious celebration of Zion, gathered in "from all thy creations" (Moses 7:31), what our Scriptures call the "general assembly" (KJV Hebrews 12:23). The phrase appears again in the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 9. Hugh Nibley explores the theme of the panegyris throughout some 70 years of books, talks, and essays.


And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant, which I made unto thy father Enoch; that, when men should keep all my commandments, Zion should again come on the earth, the city of Enoch which I have caught up unto myself. 

And this is mine everlasting covenant, that when thy posterity shall embrace the truth, and look upward, then shall Zion look downward, and all the heavens shall shake with gladness, and the earth shall tremble with joy. 

And the general assembly of the church of the firstborn shall come down out of heaven, and possess the earth, and shall have place until the end come. And this is mine everlasting covenant, which I made with thy father Enoch (Joseph Smith Translation Genesis 9:21-25).


When we "look upon" the bow, we, too, should "remember the everlasting covenant" and promise of Zion. 

James Thomas Linnell's richly beautiful painting, "The Rainbow," found in the annex of the Salt Lake Temple--And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I will establish my covenant unto thee--carries that same message to the hearts of all who enter there.