View source for Reformed Egyptian

{{Short description|Purported script from which the Book of Mormon was translated}}
{{Distinguish|Demotic (Egyptian)}}
{{Book of Mormon}}
[[File:Caractors document, by John Whitmer - Church History Museum - 25 March 2024.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Photograph of the "Caractors" document]]

The [[Book of Mormon]], a work of scripture of the [[Latter Day Saint movement]], is described by both itself and [[Joseph Smith]], the founder of the movement, as having originally been written in the '''Reformed Egyptian''' characters.<ref>{{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=Mormon|chapter=9|verse=32}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardy |first=Grant |title=Understanding the Book of Mormon: a reader's guide |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-973170-1 |location=New York |pages=6 |quote=Joseph and his associates insisted from the beginning that the Book of Mormon was a translation from an authentic ancient document written in "Reformed Egyptian" on metal plates and buried by the last ancient author about AD 421.}}</ref>

Scholarly reference works on languages do not acknowledge the existence of either a "reformed Egyptian" language or "reformed Egyptian" script as it was described by Joseph Smith.<ref name="standard language references">Standard language references such as Peter T. Daniels and William Bright, eds., ''The World's Writing Systems'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996) (990 pages); David Crystal, ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language'' (Cambridge University Press, 1997); and Roger D. Woodard, ed., ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004) (1162 pages) contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian." "Reformed Egyptian" is also ignored in Andrew Robinson, ''Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts'' (New York: McGraw Hill, 2002), although it is mentioned in Stephen Williams, ''Fantastic Archaeology: The Wild Side of North American Prehistory'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991).</ref> There is no archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in the ancient Americas.

==Reformed Egyptian and the Book of Mormon==
The Book of Mormon uses the term "reformed Egyptian" in {{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=Mormon|chapter=9|verse=32}} which says that "the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, [were] handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech" and that "none other people knoweth our language" ({{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=Mormon|chapter=9|verse=32|range=-34}}). The book also says that its first author, [[Nephi, son of Lehi|Nephi]], used the "learning of the Jews and the language of the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]]s" ({{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=1 Nephi |chapter=1|verse=2}}) to write his record which constitutes the first two books of the Book of Mormon. The abridgment that the Book of Mormon says was prepared by Mormon and Moroni nearly a thousand years later in approximately 380 AD, containing most of the balance of the book, was said to have been written in "reformed Egyptian" because it supposedly took up less space than [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]].<ref>"And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also ..." {{Sourcetext|source=Book of Mormon|version=1981|book=Mormon|chapter=9|verse=33}}</ref>

Latter-day Saint apologists contend that ''reformed Egyptian'' is a form of Egyptian writing similar to other modified Egyptian scripts such as [[hieratic]], a handwritten form of hieroglyphics thousands of years old by the first millennium BC, or early [[Demotic (Egyptian)|Demotic]], a simplified derivative of hieratic, which was used in northern Egypt.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hamblin|first1=William J.|title=Reformed Egyptian|journal=FARMS Review|date=2007|volume=19|issue=1|url=http://publications.mi.byu.edu/publications/review/19/1/S00006-5176a7ad373d86Hamblin.pdf|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20160514203811/http://publications.mi.byu.edu/publications/review/19/1/S00006-5176a7ad373d86Hamblin.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-05-14|access-date=17 March 2017}}</ref>

According to believers, Smith translated reformed Egyptian characters engraved on gold plates into [[English language|English]] through various means, including the use of a [[Seer stone (Latter Day Saints)|seer stone]] or the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|interpreter stones]], or both.<ref>Michael Morse, Smith's brother-in-law, said that he watched Smith on several occasions and said his "mode of procedure consisted in Joseph's placing the Seer Stone in the crown of a hat, then putting his face into the hat, so as to entirely cover his face." Michael Morse interview with [[William W. Blair]], May 8, 1879, in ''EMD'', 4: 343. Morse was clearly awed by Smith's ability to dictate as he did and called it "a strange piece of work." [[David Whitmer]] said that at one point "the plates were not before Joseph while he translated, but seem to have been removed by the custodian angel." David Whitmer Interview with the ''Chicago Times'', August 1875, in ''EMD'', 5: 21. Whitmer also stated that "after affixing the magical spectacles to his eyes, Smith would take the plates and translate the characters one at a time. The graven characters would appear in succession to the seer, and directly under the character, when viewed through the glasses, would be the translation in English." ''Chicago Tribune'', 15 December 1885 in ''EMD'', 5: 124. [[Isaac Hale]] said that while Joseph was translating, the plates were "hid in the woods.""Mormonism, ''Susquehanna Register and Northern Pennsylvanian'' 9 (May 1, 1834): 1 in ''EMD'' 4: 286–87. "No primary witness reported that Joseph used [the plates] in any way." Grant H. Palmer, ''An Insider's View of Mormon Origins'' (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002), 2–5.</ref> Smith said when he had finished the translation, he returned the plates to the [[angel Moroni]] and as such they were unavailable for study, meaning all examples of the script are due solely to Smith and his associates' transcriptions.<ref>"Joseph Smith Interview with Peter Bauder, October 1830" in ''EMD'', 1: 17; "Joseph Smith Interview with Leman Copley, 1831" in ''EMD'', 1: 24–25. Yet even after Smith had returned the plates to the angel, other early Latter Day Saints testified that an angel had also showed them the plates. Grant Palmer, ''An Insider's View of Mormon Origins'' (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2002), 201. In 1859, Brigham Young referred to one of these "post-return" testimonies: "Some of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God, were afterwards left to doubt{{nbsp}}[...] One of the Quorum of the Twelve, a young man full of faith and good works, prayed, and the vision of his mind was opened, and the angel of God came and laid the plates before him, and he saw and handled them, and saw the angel." ''[[Journal of Discourses]]'', June 5, 1859, 7: 164.</ref>

==The "Anthon Transcript"==
{{Main|Anthon Transcript}}
[[File:Broadside of Book of Mormon Characters.png|upright=1.25|thumb|right|1844 broadside with reformed Egyptian characters, "the same that was taken to Professor Anthon of New York, by Martin Harris, in the year 1827."]]

The "[[Anthon Transcript]]" is a piece of paper on which [[Joseph Smith]] said he [[wikt:transcribe|transcribed]] reformed Egyptian characters from the [[golden plates]]—the ancient record from which Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon. A manuscript known as the "Caractors" document was previously thought to be this transcript. However, [[handwriting analysis]] suggests the document was most likely written by [[John Whitmer]], one of the [[Eight Witnesses]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = The 'Caractors' Document: New Light on an Early Transcription of the Book of Mormon Characters, Mormon Historical Studies, vol. 14, No. 1|url = https://www.academia.edu/5007828|website = www.academia.edu|access-date = 2015-12-09| last1=MacKay | first1=Michael H. }}</ref> This handwriting analysis casts doubt on the idea that "Caractors" document was the Anthon Transcript because John Whitmer was not affiliated with the Church until June 1829, while the Anthon Transcript was taken to New York in the winter of 1828.

Smith said that when this sample was presented by Smith's colleague [[Martin Harris (Latter Day Saints)|Martin Harris]] to [[Columbia College, Columbia University|Columbia College]] professor [[Charles Anthon]], a noted classical scholar, that Anthon had attested to the characters' authenticity in writing but had then ripped up his certification after hearing that the plates had been revealed by an angel.<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/pgp/js-h/1.63-65?lang=eng 1:63–65].</ref> Anthon wrote, to the contrary, that he had believed from the first that Harris was the victim of fraud.<ref>See ''Early Mormon Documents'' 4:377–86.</ref>

In 1844, [[Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints)|Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] published a [[broadside (printing)|broadside]] about the Book of Mormon called "The Stick of Joseph" that reprinted some "reformed Egyptian" characters that resemble those on the first three lines of the "Caractors" document. The broadside said that the characters were those that had been shown to Anthon.<ref>[[James B. Allen (historian)|James B. Allen]] and [[Glen M. Leonard]], ''[[The Story of the Latter-day Saints]]'' (Salt Lake City: [[Deseret Book]], 1992), 57.</ref> However, it is unlikely that the characters on the broadside came directly from the "Caractors" document because Whitmer was excommunicated in 1838 and took his papers with him.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Appendix 2, Document 3. Stick of Joseph, 1844 |url=https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-2-document-3-stick-of-joseph-1844/1 |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=www.josephsmithpapers.org}}</ref>

==Scholarly view of reformed Egyptian==
Standard language reference works contain no reference to "reformed Egyptian"<ref name="standard language references"/> and it is described with this term only in the Book of Mormon. No non-Mormon scholars acknowledge the existence of either a "reformed Egyptian" language or a "reformed Egyptian" script as it has been described in Mormon belief. For instance, in 1966, [[John A. Wilson (Egyptologist)|John A. Wilson]], professor of Egyptology at the [[University of Chicago]], wrote, "From time to time there are allegations that picture writing has been found in America{{nbsp}}[...] In no case has a professional Egyptologist been able to recognize these characters as Egyptian hieroglyphs. From our standpoint there is no such language as 'reformed Egyptian'."<ref>John A. Wilson, March 16, 1966, cited in [[Jerald and Sandra Tanner]], [http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech5c.htm ''The Changing World of Mormonism''] (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), ch. 5. Richard A. Parker, department of Egyptology at Brown University, wrote, "No Egyptian writing has been found in this [Western] hemisphere to my knowledge". Parker to Marvin Cowan, March 22, 1966, in [[Jerald and Sandra Tanner]] [http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech5c.htm ''The Changing World of Mormonism''] (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), ch. 5. In the same letter Parker said, "I do not know of any language such as Reformed Egyptian". In 1959, Mormon archaeologist [[Ross T. Christensen]] said that "'reformed' Egyptian" is a "form of writing which we have not yet identified in the archaeological material available to us". [[Book of Mormon Institute]], December 5, 1959, BYU, 1964 ed., p. 10, cited in [[Jerald and Sandra Tanner]] [http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech5c.htm ''The Changing World of Mormonism''] (Chicago: Moody Press, 1979), ch. 5.

In 1956 a request for review of the Caractors Document was made to three recognized Egyptologists, Sir [[Alan Gardiner]], [[William C. Hayes]], and [[John A. Wilson (Egyptologist)|John A. Wilson]]. Gardiner replied that he saw no resemblance with "any form of Egyptian writing." Hayes stated that it might be an inaccurate copy of something in [[hieratic script]] and that "some groups look like hieratic numerals," adding that "I imagine, however, that the inscription bears a superficial resemblance to other scripts, both ancient and modern, of which I have no knowledge." Wilson gave the most detailed reply, saying that "This is not Egyptian writing, as known to the Egyptologist. It obviously is not hieroglyphic, nor the "cursive hieroglyphic" as used in the Book of the Dead. It is not Coptic, which took over Greek characters to write Egyptian. Nor does it belong to one of the cursive stages of ancient Egyptian writing: hieratic, abnormal hieratic, or demotic."  Wilson added that "it does not conform to the normal pattern of cursive," and that because it was purported to be altered it may "remove this context from the professional analysis by the Egyptologist." https://www.academia.edu/31894670/1956_Statements_of_Egyptologists_on_the_Caractors_Document. Earlier in 1956 Hayes had provided his analysis of his assertion of hieratic numerals within the Caractors Document. https://www.academia.edu/38458222/2002_Sunstone_article_Dr._Hayes_analysis_of_Caractors_Document_characters_as_numerals;</ref> Anthropologist [[Michael D. Coe]] of Yale University, an expert in [[pre-Columbian]] [[Mesoamerican]] studies, wrote, "Of all the peoples of the pre-Columbian New World, only the ancient [[Maya civilization|Maya]] had a complete script."<ref>Michael D. Coe, ''Breaking the Maya Code'', (London: Thames and Hudson, 1999), preface.</ref> Fifteen examples of distinct writing systems have been identified in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, many from a single inscription.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Macri |first1=Martha J. |title="Maya and Other Mesoamerican Scripts," in The World's Writing Systems |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford |location=England |pages=172–182}}</ref>

{{blockquote|1=[...] and no non-Mormon linguists have recognized any direct contact between New World and Old World languages.<ref name="q788">{{cite book | last=Hardy | first=Grant | title=The Annotated Book of Mormon | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2023 | isbn=978-0-19-008222-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n27REAAAQBAJ&dq=%2522+it+became+clear+that+some+of+the+plants,+animals,+%2522&pg=PA804 | access-date=20 May 2025 | pages=804–805}}</ref>|2=Grant Hardy (2023)}}

==Mormon studies of reformed Egyptian==
{{fringe-section|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Reformed Egyptian Characters Oliver Cowdery.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|left|Reformed Egyptian characters copied by Joseph Smith's scribe, [[Oliver Cowdery]], written in the early 1830s<ref>"Appendix 2, Document 2a. Characters Copied by Oliver Cowdery, circa 1835–1836," p. [1], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed February 16, 2020, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-2-document-2a-characters-copied-by-oliver-cowdery-circa-1835-1836/1</ref>]]
[[File:Reformed Egyptian Characters Frederick G Williams.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|left|Reformed Egyptian characters copied by Joseph Smith's scribe, [[Frederick G. Williams]]<ref>"Appendix 2, Document 2b. Writings and Characters Copied by Frederick G. Williams, circa Early to Mid-1830s," p. [1], The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed February 16, 2020, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-2-document-2b-writings-and-characters-copied-by-frederick-g-williams-circa-early-to-mid-1830s/1</ref>]]

Since no outside evidence exists, Mormon studies of reformed Egyptian are limited to whatever linguistic evidence can be obtained from the text of the Book of Mormon plus the extant seven-line "Caractors" document believed by some to be the symbols copied from the gold plates.<ref>Some Mormons also accept the Kirtland Egyptian papers and Frederick G. Williams note as genuine. {{cite web|url = http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/byustudies&CISOPTR=14&REC=2&CISOSHOW|title = BYU}}</ref> Four Mormon non-linguist translators with varying levels of education have attempted to decipher the "Caractors" document.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shields |first1=Steven L. |title=The Quest for "Reformed Egyptian" |journal=The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal |date=2021 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=101–125 |url=https://www.academia.edu/85016162}} The four translators identified are Blair B. Bryant, Jerry D. Grover, Jr, Mary Jo Jackel and Stanley Q. Johnson.</ref> According to [[Brigham Young University]] Egyptologist [[John Gee]], "the corpus is not large enough to render decipherment feasible."<ref>See [http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1451&index=3 Some Notes on the Anthon Transcript] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924083835/http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1451&index=3 |date=2016-09-24 }} by John Gee. Various LDS Church authors have made the attempt. In the February 1942 issue of ''[[Improvement Era]]'', Ariel L. Crowley, a Mormon attorney from Boise, Idaho, presented evidence that the "Caractors" document characters could be of Egyptian origin. See [https://www.shields-research.org/Scriptures/BoM/Anthon_Transcript-Crowley/Anthon_Transcript-Crowley.htm The Anthon Transcript]. He discussed Chaldaic, Assyriac, and Arabic in relation to hieratic and demotic Egyptian, the "Caractors" document characters, and Martin Harris's report that Anthon mentioned those languages when he reviewed the transcript. He also presented 194 pairs of photographs comparing characters from the Anthon Transcript with similar or identical characters in recognized Egyptian works such as the ''Book of the Dead'' and the Rosetta Stone. Stan and Polly Johnson, in the book ''Translating the Anthon Transcript'' (Parowan, Utah: Ivory Books, 1999) argue that the Anthon transcript corresponds to [[Book of Ether|Ether]] 6:3–13 in the present Book of Mormon. However, John Gee notes that if the so-called Anthon transcript is the actual piece of paper that Martin Harris took to Charles Anthon, it is safe to assume that the characters came from the text they were then translating (the 116 missing manuscript pages, which contained a record from the time of Lehi to the time of King Benjamin). Thus, Ether should not be a logical source for the transcript's contents. See [http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1451&index=3 Some Notes on the Anthon Transcript] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924083835/http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1451&index=3 |date=2016-09-24 }}  by John Gee.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Latter Day Saint movement}}
*[[Anthon Transcript forgery]]
*[[Book of Abraham]]

==Notes and references==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[[John Gee]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20160924083835/http://publications.mi.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1451&index=3 Some Notes on the Anthon Transcript], Mormon apologetics.
*[[William J. Hamblin]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225939/http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/response/bom/Reformed_Egyptian.htm Reformed Egyptian], Mormon apologetics.
*Richard G. Grant, [https://web.archive.org/web/20060131124928/http://www.cometozarahemla.org/egyptian/reformedegyptian.html Reformed Egyptian: 'In the Language of My Fathers'], Mormon apologetics.
*[[Jerald and Sandra Tanner]], [http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech5c.htm A book excerpt critical of Book of Mormon archeology]
*[https://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n13.htm Martin Harris testimony in "Times and Seasons"].
*Summary of skeptical material about the Anthon Transcript from [http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/anthon.htm Utah Lighthouse Ministries].

{{Latter Day Saint movement}}
{{Latter-day Saints}}

[[Category:Book of Mormon studies]]
[[Category:Language and mysticism]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon words and phrases]]
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