On Ether's Cave, John Gee wrote an interesting piece about the name Gidgiddoni that suggests the name is well attested in Neo-Assyrian records. He writes, "It comes from the same Assyrian empire that is discussed so extensively int he works of Isaiah." He suggests the name appeared on the brass plates and was incorporated into Nephite culture centuries later.
It's a reasonable inference, but the name appears so much later in Nephite history that it makes me wonder if it is not more likely that the name was known among the Mulekites and the Phoenicians who presumably brought them across the ocean. Alternatively, there could have been other migrations to North America from the Middle East who brought that name with them.
Regardless of its provenance, this is yet another Book of Mormon name that was once ridiculed by critics and now turns out to be an authentic ancient name Joseph Smith could not have known about.
It's a reasonable inference, but the name appears so much later in Nephite history that it makes me wonder if it is not more likely that the name was known among the Mulekites and the Phoenicians who presumably brought them across the ocean. Alternatively, there could have been other migrations to North America from the Middle East who brought that name with them.
Regardless of its provenance, this is yet another Book of Mormon name that was once ridiculed by critics and now turns out to be an authentic ancient name Joseph Smith could not have known about.
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