Book of Mormon/Language/Reformed Egyptian/Egyptian too bulky

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The use of Egyptian on the plates of the Book of Mormon

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• Question: Would Egyptian be too lengthy and bulky on the plates to account for the Book of Mormon?

Question: Would Egyptian be too lengthy and bulky on the plates to account for the Book of Mormon?

The Book of Mormon makes it clear that reformed Egyptian had been adapted by them for concise writing

It has been claimed that Egyptian would be too lengthy and bulky on the plates to account for the Book of Mormon:

[Egyptian would take] "perhaps four times, or even more than four times, as much room as the English, and it is quite certain that, as the Book of Mormon is 600 pages thick, it would take at least a thousand plates to hold in the Egyptian language, what is there written." (italics in original)

One hears little of this critique today; linguistic "fact" has caught up with the Book of Mormon, the critics have largely abandoned this approach.

At the time that this assertion was made, knowledge of Egyptian was in its infancy. Critics of the era knew little about Egyptian, because no one knew very much. The critics were probably thinking of Egyptian hieroglyphics. However, the Book of Mormon makes it clear that reformed Egyptian had been adapted by them for concise writing. As discussed in the main article, variant Old World forms of Egyptian (such as Demotic) were quite compact, and well-suited for writing with space constraints.

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Learn more about "Reformed Egyptian" in context of the Book of Mormon

FAIR links	FairMormon Topical Guide: Reformed Egyptian FairMormon link
Online	John Gee, "La Trahison des Clercs: On the Language and Translation of the Book of Mormon (Review of New Approaches to the Book of Mormon: Explorations in Critical Methodology by Brent Lee Metcalfe)," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 6/1 (1994): 79-83, 94-99. [51–120] link John Gee, "Two Notes on Egyptian Script," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/1 (1996). [162–176] link William J. Hamblin, "Reformed Egyptian," FARMS Review 19/1 (2007). [31–35] link William J. Hamblin, "Reformed Egyptian," criticism paper (Provo, Utah: The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1995), 8 pp. William J. Hamblin, "Review of Archaeology and the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner," Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 5/1 (1993). [250–272] link Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/2 (1996). [156–163] link Ariel Crowley, "The Anthon Transcript," Improvement Era, 45:1 (January 1942) and 45:2 (February 1942), 45:3 (March 1942). * John Gee and John A. Tvedtnes, "Ancient Manuscripts Fit Book of Mormon Pattern," Insights 19:2 (February 1999): 4–5.off-site William J. Hamblin, "Reformed Egyptian," FARMS Featured Papers, 1995. off-site William J. Hamblin, "Reformed Egyptian," FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 31–35. off-site wiki William J. Hamblin, "Review of Archaeology and the Book of Mormon by Jerald and Sandra Tanner," FARMS Review of Books 5/1 (1993): 250–272. off-site Paul Y. Hoskisson and Michael D. Rhodes, "Ancient Semitic in Egyptian Pyramids?," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 16/1 (2007). [74–75] link Stephen D. Ricks, "Language and Script in the Book of Mormon," Insights 12 no. 3 (March 1992), 2. direct off-site John L. Sorenson, "Digging into the Book of Mormon: Our Changing Understanding of Ancient America and Its Scripture, Part 2," Ensign (October 1984): 17.off-site Stephen D. Ricks and John A. Tvedtnes, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5/2 (1996). [156–163] link John A. Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper, "One Small Step (Review of: The New Mormon Challenge: Responding to the Latest Defenses of a Fast-Growing Movement)," FARMS Review 15/1 (2003): 147–199. off-site For parallels between Joseph Smith's "Anthon Transcript" characters and Egyptian writing see: Ariel Crowley, "The Anthon Transcript," Improvement Era, vol. 45, no. 1, January 1842; ibid., vol. 45, no. 2, February 1942; ibid., vol. 45, no. 3, March 1942.
Video	Part 11: The Book of Mormon and "reformed" Egyptian
Print	Carl H. Jones, "The 'Anthon Transcript' and Two Mesoamerican Cylinder Seals," Newsletter and Proceedings of the Society for Early Historical Archaeology, no. 122, September 1970, 1-8. Hugh W. Nibley, Since Cumorah, 2nd edition, (Vol. 7 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by John W. Welch, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988), 149. ISBN 0875791395.GL direct link John L. Sorenson, "Digging into the Book of Mormon: Part 2," Ensign, October 1984, 17
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Source(s) of the criticism

Critical sources

A Little Talk, Between John Robinson and his Master about Mormonism, Shewing its Origin, Absurdity, and Impiety (Bedford: W. White, 1840), 1–8. off-site Samuel Haining, Mormonism Weighed in the Balances of the Sanctuary, and Found Wanting: The Substance of Four Lectures (Douglas: Robert Fargher, 1840), 22. off-site La Roy Sunderland, “Mormonism,” Zion’s Watchman (New York) 3, no. 9 (3 March 1838): 34, citing Howe. off-site

Notes