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CLAIMS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON The Book of Mormon says "the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, {Link without Title} handed down and altered by us" and that "none other people knoweth our language" (Mormon 9:32, 34). The book also describes this language as consisting of the "learning of the or Hieratic script. Moroni (quoted above) also states that if the plates were larger, they may have done their writing in Hebrew, and if they had done so then "there would be no imperfection." He also states that the Hebrew had been changed by them over time. Those who have examined the position critically (including but not limited to linguists, archaeologists and opponents of Mormonism, eg: {Link without Title} ) have commented on the Book of Mormon's claim to have been written with reformed Egyptian characters. Because there is no known archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in ancient America, some have suggested that the claims of the Book of Mormon regarding reformed Egyptian are implausible. Mormon apologists have generally responded that the Book at least allows for, or suggests, that reformed Egyptian writing was solely used for writing on sacred plates, and that the choice of Egyptian for the scribal language of sacred plates is plausible in light of the statements in the Book of Mormon and the historic influence and development of Egyptian writing. In either case, even within Mormonism, studies of Book of Mormon reformed Egyptian are necessarily limited to linguistic footprints in the translated text itself and a seven-line sample that may be the characters Joseph Smith and associates said were copied from the gold plates. Some Mormons, however, believe that the writing system may have existed in Mesoamerica outside the Book of Mormon, and that evidence that it did exist may someday be discovered. EXAMPLES OF REFORMED EGYPTIAN According to Joseph Smith, Jr. and his associates, Smith translated reformed Egyptian characters engraved on Golden Plates into English through various means including the use of an ancient device called the Urim And Thummim which, like the plates, were said to have been eventually returned to the angel named Moroni (or in one version, Moroni's prophet ancestor Nephi) who originally gave them to Smith. Only two possible examples of reformed Egyptian characters currently persist. Only the first is the subject of serious study. The Anthon transcript or Caractors document The more credible sample, called either the Anthon transcript or the Caractors document, was part of David Whitmer 's estate. David Whitmer published a statement in 1887 that "I have in my possession the original paper containing characters transcribed from one of the golden plates, which paper Martin Harris took to Professor Anthon [a Columbia University Classics professor] of New York, for him to read...." (Address to All Believers, p. 11) The sample is alleged to have been copied by Smith. This event is recounted in Joseph Smith-History . The Anthon transcript is currently owned by the Community Of Christ . The Hofmann Forgery In the early 1980s , convicted forger Mark Hofmann sold some so-called McLellin papers to various Mormon investors and the LDS Church (see Mark Hofmann and Salamander Letter ). The papers included an alleged sample of reformed Egyptian characters. According to one researcher, the sample appears to have been copied from the Caractors Transcript somewhat carelessly (line for line in the first four lines) to more closely agree with a description given by Charles Anthon. Blair Bryant explains: "Find a copy of that forgery and you can easily compare and see how Hofmann did it. Just turn a copy of the Caractors Transcript 90 degrees clockwise. Now compare the right-hand most column (line A) with Hofmann's left-hand most column. Reorient the individual characters as in the original (rotate each individual character 90 degrees counterclockwise) and you can identify every character.... Then Hofmann added a couple of additional squiggles to the bottom. REFORMED EGYPTIAN STUDIES Most study of Reformed Egyptian in Mormonism is via the proxy of the English text of the Book of Mormon. Some Mormons and non-Mormons have made attempts to study and decipher the Anthon transcript. Crowley Study In the January, February, and March 1942 issues of the Improvement Era magazine, The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints published a study of the Anthon Transcript in three articles by Ariel L. Crowley, a young LDS attorney from Boise, Idaho. In the January issue, Crowley presented evidence that the transcript owned by David Whitmer (now by Community Of Christ ) is the one used by Martin Harris in his meeting with Professor Anthon and contains Egyptian-like characters:
In the February issue, as introduced in the January issue, Crowley presented evidence that the Anthon Transcript characters were of Egyptian origin:
Bryant Caractors Translation Community Of Christ adherent Blair Bryant claims to have found correlation between the Caractors (Anthon) document and the Book of Mormon title page that leads to a plausible translation of the 7 lines (see Blair Bryant's Caractors Translation ). According to Bryant's work, the Caractors document consists of 216 characters written right to left, top to bottom, in 7 lines. The Bryant work postulates:
Bryant has offered a tentative rendered English prose translation of the document. His translation has the document bearing testimony that the Book of Mormon is a marvelous gift of God to His covenant people {Link without Title} . EXTERNAL LINKS
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