In this respect, the book of mormon has aged better than its detractors. Until champollion, no one had been able to translate ancient egyptian texts since they fell into disuse in the fourth century ad. The term reformed egyptian is the name which the nephites have given to a script based upon egyptian characters, and modified over the course of a thousand years. Joseph smith, in 1830, translated those plates, he said, by the gift and power of god, into 1611 english from reformed egyptian hieroglyphics. I will here give you the signification of the word mormon, and also, book of mormon, which every person that has read a dictionary of the reformed egyptian tongue knows to be correct. The book of mormons elusive reformed egyptian may not. Moroni indicates that he and his father mormon wrote in a script called reformed egyptian. Latterday saints are often fascinated and sometimes perplexed with figuring out what reformed egyptian was or how it worked.
The who, what, and why of reformed egyptian in the book. Grim writing the book of mormon and reformed egyptian the book of mormon is a sacred text of the churches of the latter day saint movement. Critics who raise the objection seem to be operating under the false impression that reformed egyptian is used in the book of mormon as a proper name. In recent years, we have learned that several ancient documents were.
Replica of the gold plates with reformed egyptian characters via. The anthon transcript often identified with the caractors document is a piece of paper on which joseph smith wrote several lines of characters. The prophet moroni indicated that he and his father mormon wrote their abridgement of the nephite records in a script called reformed egyptian mormon 9. In fact, the word reformed is used in the book of mormon in this context as an adjective, meaning altered, modified, or changed.
What can be similar is the use of the language, meaning the style the words are written, for instance, the. In 1823, the angel moroni allegedly visited mormon prophet joseph smith and divulged the location of some golden plates containing the fullness of the everlasting gospel. Some have maintained that the book of mormon was written in hebrew but with. The book of mormon writers stated that they used the learning and language of the hebrews but used egyptian characters in their writing in order to save space because hebrew would have used up many more plates. Reformed egyptian four surviving characters reformed egyptian in 1680 father chretian le clercq a roman catholic missionary lived among the micmac indians for twelve years.
It is not very clear whether the symbols are intended to be reformed egyptian. Book of mormon evidence monday, september 12, 2016. And besides, some add, real jews wouldnt have used it anyway, since jews believe hebrew to be a sacred language, and ancient jews held egyptian, the language of their hereditary enemies, to be evil and corrupt. From these plates came the book of mormon, translated by joseph smith from reformed egyptian characters, inscribed on the gold plates. How the book of mormon was translated let us reason. Writing in reformed egyptian book of mormon authors recorded the fact that they wrote in reformed egyptian, because hebrew characters took up. The name mormon in reformed egyptian, sumerian, and mesoamerican languages. He was probably refering to what is known today as demotic script. The book of mormon and other ancient documents book of. The book of mormon claims to have been written in reformed egyptian morm. The translation of some ancient egyptian documents such as papyrus amherst 63 had eluded scholars until they realized that while the characters were egyptian, the underlying text was aramaic. Reformed egyptian book of mormon archaeological forum. Skeptics of the book of mormon, on the other hand, often dismiss reformed egyptian as a fabrication by joseph smith. Reformed egyptian an evidence for book of mormon deseret news.
We are a nonprofit organization supported by people like you. The book of mormon text refers to the language it is written in as reformed egyptian. We have today a probable example of the book of mormon reformed egyptian characters. Book of mormonlanguagereformed egyptian fairmormon. After spending this time with the micmac, he then sailed back to france and wrote a book about the customs and religion. Joseph smith claimed to have translated the book of mormon from a language called reformed egyptian. He wrote the first part of what would become the book of mormon, using the reformed egyptian characters, because he could convey his thoughts and ideas with fewer symbols or words an important consideration when engraving upon metal plates.
Some of the characters of reformed egyptian were copied off of the book of mormon plates by joseph smith. Until champollion, no one had been able to translate ancient egyptian texts since they fell into disuse in the fourth century a. With that aside it has always been of interest for lds scholars to try to find some of these same reformed egyptian characters in other writing systems because it would add authenticity to the book of mormon and be looked upon as a direct bulls eye as far as evidences for the book are concerned. So, it is no surprise that egyptians or jews have no script called reformed egyptian, as this was a nephite term. Reformed egyptian is clearly an appropriate generic term for those writing systems. If the book of mormon was translated from egyptian. As far as i know, reformed egyptian is in no way close to hebrew. Egyptian characters and modified them to write hebrew words make historical and linguistic sense.
It was first published in march 1830 by joseph smith as the book of mormon. Indeed, the very script that mormon used in abridging the plates was, according to him, an egyptian script called amongst the nephite scribes reformed egyptian mormon 9. The name mormon in reformed egyptian, sumerian, and. Moroni makes it clear that reformed egyptian is the name which the nephites have given to a script based upon egyptian characters, and modified over the course of a thousand years see mormon 9. But the book of mormon, according to one of its writers, moroni, was written using reformed egyptian characters, though the nephites also knew hebrew mormon 9. According to smith, these characters were from the golden plates the ancient record from which smith claims to have translated the book of mormon and represent the reformed egyptian writing that was on the plates. Its compactness can be seen by the fact that, unlike hebrew which had its base in alphabetical letters, reformed egyptian was made up of characters, many individual symbols capable of expressing complete thoughts. Mormona writer of wicked, absurd, fictitious nonsense, for.
Moreover, no such script has been found in the new world. For evidence of other hebraisms in book of mormon language, click here. After spending this time with the micmac, he then sailed back to france and wrote a book about the customs and religion of the micmac indians. These are two totally different languages with different writing symbols. Many have wondered what reformed egyptian might be and why book of mormon recordkeepers wrote in such a script. Replica of the gold plates with reformed egyptian characters via church news.
Despite the translation of egyptian and numerous american indian languages, reformed egyptian remains unknown. If, in regard to reformed egyptian the original language was lost mormon 9. Evidence for the reformed egyptian mentioned in the book of mormon. Egyptian hieroglyphs greek meaning sacred symbols were designed to be. Despite rampant egyptomania in the early nineteenth century, the notion of jews writing in egyptian was an unimaginable concept, and joseph smith was roundly criticized on this point by early book of mormon critics. Closer in time to the letter in question is this passage from a local illinois newspaper in 1841. That egyptian characters were also reformed or altered by generations of nephite scribes according to their manner of speech is not at all unusual mormon 9. Mormons, the book of mormon was allegedly originally.
However, the reformed egyptian used by the nephites is described as a language system unique to them mormon 9. Reformed egyptian is the name by which the characters on the. The fact that modern linguists and philologists dont know of a script known as reformed egyptian is irrelevant, since mormon tells us that the script was called reformed egyptian by us, that is, by the nephites. The book of mormon uses the term reformed egyptian in only one verse, mormon 9. Many skeptics have declared that, contrary to the claims of the book of mormon, there is no such language as reformed egyptian. Then, over the years, they modified the egyptian characters for.
A simple search on wikipedia about reformed egyptian. After the book of mormon was translated from reformed egyptian, otherjewish and semitic texts written in egyptian characters have been discovered giving. Archaeologists and egyptologists have found no evidence that this language ever existed. In 1680 father chretian le clercq a roman catholic missionary lived among the micmac indians for twelve years. What is the book of mormon describing in referring to the. Since the book of mormon s publication in 1830, significant progress has been made in the fields of egyptology, near eastern and precolumbian american archaeology, linguistics, and latterday saint history. The characters shown in that example do bear a strong resemblance to some other characters found in both the old and new worlds. Its important to note that reformed is an adjective synonymous with altered, or modified. For the creation of the book of mormon someone has. If joseph smith said the book of mormon characters were from jerusalem and wrote in reformed egyptian, wouldnt it make more sense if they would have written in hebrew. Egyptian translations of these glyphs have been deciphered. However, one needs to look no further than new york, pennsylvania, and ohio to find the setting of the book of mormon. These platesabridged by moroni and his father, mormon, 1,400 years earlierwere written in reformed egyptian hieroglyphics. This document appears to be things that were being studied at the school of the prophets.
The first knowhy published on may 2, 2019 why did mormon and moroni write in reformed egyptian. The book of mormon was supposedly written in a reformed egyptian script, but no such language is known to scholars of the ancient near east. The book of mormon is a sacred text of the latter day saint movement, which, according to adherents, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the american continent from approximately 2200 bc to ad 421. In the book of mormon, two very different young lds missionaries the talented, eager elder. The young man, however, had very little formal education and was incapable of writing a book on his own, let alone translating an ancient book written from an unknown language, known in the book of mormon as reformed egyptian. If you love the book of mormon, consider donating to book of mormon central and becoming part of this exciting movement. This is made clear by mormon, who tells us that the characters which are called. Why did mormon and moroni write in reformed egyptian. The prophet moroni indicated that he and his father mormon wrote their abridgement of the nephite records in a script called reformed egyptian. Orson pratt an early mormon apostle said, this book must be either true or false, if false it is one of the most cunning wicked bold deeplayed impositions ever pawned upon the world.
In a 2015 publication, i successfully translated all four of these characters from known hieratic and demotic egyptian glyphs. A thousand years later the prophet moroni told us that the nephite record was written in the characters which are called among us the reformed. The who, what, and why of reformed egyptian in the book of mormon submitted by bmc team on may, 2019. This is from the mormon newspaper, the prophet, from december 21, 1844. But no entity outside of the mormon church refers to reformed egyptian as a real, written language. Moroni makes it clear that reformed egyptian is the name which the nephites have given to a script based upon egyptian characters, and modified over the. Most who have studied the subject conclude that this signifies writing the hebrew language in modified egyptian characters. Would egyptian be too lengthy and bulky on the plates to account for the book of mormon. Languages and scripts inevitably transform over time to accommodate the needs of those speaking, reading, and writing them. Does the book of mormons assertion that the nephites took. While there is much that is unknown about reformed egyptian, some clues about its nature emerge from a close reading of the book of mormon text and comparison with other. However, hugh nibley, a mormon apologist, argues that reformed egyptian is actually meroitic egyptian. An account written by the hand of mormon upon plates taken from the plates of nephi. Whatever the true opinion of charles anthon, something in that experience convinced martin harris.
To read more about chiasmus in the book of mormon, click here, and here. Authentic egyptian names in the book of mormon the book of mormon claims a close tie to all things egyptian 1 nephi 1. After the book of mormon was translated from reformed kialo. Grim writing the book of mormon and reformed egyptian. Williams recorded four characters that had been copied from the plates and joseph smiths translations of those characters. The book of mormon was originally written in reformed egyptian characters on plates of ore by prophets living in the western hemisphere between 600 bc and ad 421. Book of mormon characters mormonism, the mormon church. In 1829, as joseph smith was finishing his translation of the book of mormon. It was first published in 1830 by joseph smith, jr. When adding biographies, be sure to add a category link seen at bottom of this edit page so that it will be added. The hit broadway musical the book of mormon, written by south parks trey stone and matt smith and frozen s robert lopez, is a irreverent, hysterical, and surprisingly sweet sendup of religion, culture shock, and classic musical theatre. Joseph smith claimed to have translated reformed egyptian from the gold plates into english.