ANCIENT RECORDS ON METAL PLATES

ANCIENT RECORDS ON METAL PLATES
Tuesday night Scripture Study: ANCIENT RECORDS ON METAL PLATES, by Chris Moran
Is this picture really true?
Picture from a 1957 Publication
Keep in Mind
True faith in the Book of Mormon (or the Bible) does not require Archaeological evidence, or evidence of writing on other ancient metal plates. Early believers in the Book of Mormon had no knowledge of other ancient writing on metal plates. At the same time, it is interesting and worth our time to consider recent Archaeology and external evidence that we can use to support the Book of Mormon.
The criticism of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon plates:
Quote from THE GOLDEN BIBLE, by M.T. Lamb, published in 1887:
Every good honest Mormon says “Yes,” and believes it fully. He believes that the Book of Mormon is a true historical record of God’s dealings with this ancient people upon this continent; that its contents were “given by inspiration of God,” and “confirmed by the ministering of angels;” that the men who composed its pages wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost; that Joseph Smith translated it “by the gift and power of God;” that it is, and was designed to be, a revelation of God’s will to men, and a “guide in faith and practice.”
But after a very careful study of the book, a conscientious and painstaking examination of all the evidences he has been able to gather both for and against it, the author of these pages has been forced to reject every one of the above claims. He is compelled to believe that no such people as are described in the Book of Mormon ever lived upon this continent; that no such records were ever engraved upon golden plates, or any other plates, in the early ages; that no such men as Mormon or Moroni or any other of the prophets or kings or wise men mentioned in the book, ever existed in this country; that Jesus Christ never appeared upon this continent in person, or had a people here before its discovery by Columbus.
Quote from Stuart Martin, The Mystery of Mormonism (London: Odhams, 1920):
It does not seem to have been pointed out to the youth that gold will corrode if left in the earth for the number of years those plates were supposed to have been buried.
Some examples of the use of engraved plates in the Book of Mormon
Plates of Brass:
1 Nephi 1:61 – “For behold, Laban hath the record of the Jews, and also a genealogy of my forefathers, and they are engraven upon plates of brass.”
Plates of Nephi:
1 Nephi 5:218 – “And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore, I did make plates of ore, that I might engraven upon them the record of my people.”
Plates of Ether:
Mosiah 5:60-64 – “60 And the king saith unto him, I being grieved for the afflictions of my people, I caused that forty and three of my people should take a journey into the wilderness, that thereby they might find the land of Zarahemla; that we might appeal unto our brethren to deliver us out of bondage; 61 And they were lost in the wilderness, for the space of many days, yet they were diligent, and found not the land of Zarahemla, but returned to this land, having traveled in a land among many waters; 62 Having discovered a land which was covered with bones of men, and of beasts, etc., and was also covered with ruins of buildings of every kind: 63 Having discovered a land which had been peopled with a people which were as numerous as the hosts of Israel. 64 And for a testimony that the things that they have said are true, they have brought twenty-four plates, which are filled with engravings; and they are of pure gold.”
Mosiah 9:166-169 – “166 Now King Limhi had sent, previous to the coming of Ammon, a small number of men to search for the land of Zarahemla; but they could not find it, and they were lost in the wilderness. 167 Nevertheless they did find a land which had been peopled; yea, a land which was covered with dry bones; yea, a land which had been peopled, and which had been destroyed; 168 And they having supposed it to be the land of Zarahemla, returned to the land of Nephi, having arrived in the borders of the land not many days before the coming of Ammon. 169 And they brought a record with them, even a record of the people whose bones they had found; and they were engraven on plates of ore.”
The plates Joseph Smith received:
The plates Joseph Smith received had been buried in a stone box by Moroni. These plates that Moroni assembled were translated by Joseph Smith. They consisted of the following records:
Plates of Mormon (content independently written and content abridged by Mormon, including the large plates of Nephi) The small plates of Nephi An abridgment of the plates of Ether by Moroni A sealed portion containing the vision of the Brother of Jared Writings of Moroni
What Joseph Smith said regarding the plates:
“He [Moroni] said there was a book deposited written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang.” (Times and Seasons, May 1842)
The following quotes regarding the plates Joseph Smith received are from http://en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Mormon/Translation/Description_of_the_plates
(Source references can be found there)
Material
“which have the appearance of gold” – Eight Witnesses “golden plates” – David Whitmer
Some have suggested that the plates were an alloy of gold/silver, or gold/copper.
Alma 17:31-35 – “31 And now my son Helaman, I command you that ye take the records which have been entrusted with me; and I also command you that ye shall keep a record of this people, according as I have done, upon the plates of Nephi, and keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them: for it is for a wise purpose that they are kept; 32 And these plates of brass which contain these engravings, which have the records of the holy scriptures upon them, which have the genealogy of our forefathers, even from the beginning. 33 And behold, it hath been prophesied by our fathers, that they should be kept and handed down from one generation to another, and be kept and preserved by the hand of the Lord, until they shall go forth unto every nation, kindred, tongue and people, that they shall know of the mysteries contained thereon. 34 And now behold, if they are kept, they must retain their brightness; yea, and they will retain their brightness; yea, and also shall all the plates which do contain that which is holy writ. 35 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things, are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances, doth confound the wise.”
Per Wikipedia.org:
“Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal.”
“Its high malleability, ductility, resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions, and conductivity of electricity led to many uses of gold, including electric wiring, colored-glass production and gold leafing.”
Note also that gold is un-reactive metal. It does not break down when exposed to the environment for long periods of time. It does not react with water, oxygen (air), or acid. So if under the ground, it will not react with anything.
Size of each plate
“7 inches in length, 6 inches in breadth” – Oliver Cowdery “six inches wide by eight inches long” – Joseph Smith Jr. “seven inches wide by eight inches in length” – Martin Harris “about eight inches long, seven inches wide” – David Whitmer
Thickness of each plate
“of the thickness of tin” – Oliver Cowdery “of the thickness of plates of tin” – Martin Harris “thin leaves of gold” – Martin Harris “about as thick as parchment” – David Whitmer “They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metalic [sic] sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book.” – Emma Smith
Thickness of the whole volume
“a pile about 6 inches deep.” – Oliver Cowdery “The volume was something near six inches in thickness” – Joseph Smith “[W]hen piled one above the other, they were altogether about four inches thick.” – Martin Harris
Regarding the thickness, it is not noted whether they are commenting on the unsealed portion, or the combination of the sealed and unsealed portions.
Weight
“weighing altogether from forty to sixty lbs.” – Martin Harris “I was permitted to lift them. . . . They weighed about sixty pounds according to the best of my judgement.” – William Smith (younger brother of Joseph Smith Jr.) “I hefted the plates, and I knew from the heft that they were lead or gold.” – Martin Harris
Note that 24K gold (100% purity) with a density of 19.282 grams per cubic centimeter weighs 0.697 lbs. per cubic inch. Assuming 6” x 8” dimensions of each plate, assuming no gaps between plates/pages, and assuming a thickness of 6”, this volume would weigh 6 inch x 8 inch x 6 inch x (0.697 lbs. / inch3) = 200.736 lbs. Again, this is with no gaps between the plates/pages, and 24K gold. If 50% of the space consisted of air (gaps), this would result in about 100 lbs. If the volume was not quite 6 inches in height, the weight would be even less.
According to Michael R. Ash (http://www.mormonfortress.com/gweight.html):
Heather Lechtman, in a 1984 article in Scientific America, addressed the recent discovery of several large metal objects in South America… Lechtman explains that the most important alloy discovered at these South American sites was a mixture of copper and gold known as “tumbaga.” When copper and gold are melted together they mix, and stay mixed after they cool and solidify. This alloy was known not only in South America, but in Mesoamerica as well. Tumbaga ranged from 97 percent gold to 97 percent copper with traces of up to 18 percent of other metals, impurities, or silver. Once the gold finish was applied to the tumbaga it would appear to be made of solid gold. Putnam explains that tumbaga “the magic metal, can be cast, drawn, hammered, gilded, soldered, welded, plated, hardened, annealed, polished, engraved, embossed, and inlaid.” Nevertheless, tumbaga will destroy itself if it is not stored properly. It is therefore interesting to note that the Book of Mormon plates were laid atop two stones which lay across the bottom of the stone box so that the plates would not be exposed to water or dirt.
Too little gold in the Book of Mormon plates would have made them brittle, and too much gold would have made them too heavy as well as increasing the danger of distortion during engraving. Thus, according to Putnam’s calculations, the Book of Mormon plates (which were probably tumbaga) were between 8 and 12 carat gold and thus would have weighed between 53 and 86 pounds. To the eye, however, the tumbaga plates would have had the appearance of pure gold. The research of Robert F. Smith reveals that “if the plates were made of the tumbaga alloy, other details fit into place. Take the color of the plates: The plates are consistently described as ‘gold’ and ‘golden.’ When tumbaga (which is red) is treated with any simple acid (citric acid will do), the copper in the alloy is removed from its surface leaving a brilliant .0006 inch twenty-three karat gilt coating. Indeed, this process was used in ancient America. Plus, this surface covering is much easier to engrave. Likewise, pure gold would be too soft to make useful plates. But tumbaga is remarkably tough and resilient....” Not only did Joseph Smith hit the nail on the head with the claim that the Book of Mormon was engraven upon metal plates, but the Nephites could have chosen no better material to vindicate their sacred scripture than tumbaga which has the “appearance of gold.”
We do not know if tumbaga was used for the Book of Mormon plates, but it seems likely that they would’ve been made of an alloy of some sort that included gold.
Sealed vs. unsealed
“A large portion of the leaves were so securely bound together that it was impossible to separate them.” – David Whitmer “What there was sealed appeared as solid to my view as wood. About the half of the book was sealed.” – David Whitmer
Rings
“[T]hey were fastened with rings thus [a sketch shows a ring in the shape of a capital D with six lines drawn through the straight side of the letter to represent the leaves of the record].” – David Whitmer “bound together like the leaves of a book by massive rings passing through the back edges” – David Whitmer “They were bound together in the shape of a book by three gold rings.” – David Whitmer “put together on the back by three silver rings, so that they would open like a book” – Martin Harris “bound together in a volume, as the leaves of a book with three rings running through the whole” – Joseph Smith
Engravings
“[The plates] were filled with . . . Egyptian characters. . . . The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many marks of antiquity in its construction and much skill in the art of engraving.” – Joseph Smith Jr. “We also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship.” – Eight Witnesses “There were fine engravings on both sides.” – John Whitmer
Engraved Plates in the Bible
Exodus 28:36-38 – “And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre; upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.”
Now to consider other plates found in the world…
Darius Plates Where Discovered: Found at Audience Hall (Apadana) in Persepolis, Iran Description: Regarding the Darius Plates, the book Ancient Writing on Metal Plates states that they were “trilingual, in duplicate on two gold and two silver plates; ten lines Old Persian, seven lines Elamite, and eight lines Akkadian sealed in a stone box. Apparently the author thought the message was important and needed to be preserved because the same message was found at Hamadan in one gold and one silver plate... Discovered in 1938”.
Reference: Cheesman, Paul R. (1985), Ancient Writing on Metal Plates: Archaeological Findings Support Mormon Claims, Boutiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers & Distributors, Incorporated.
Photos of the Darius Plates and associated stone box can be found at the website for the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Pyrgi Tablets Where Discovered: Pyrgi, Italy Description: The Pyrgi Tablets were found in ancient Pyrgi, Italy (modern day Santa Severa). According to J.T. Hooker, “Shorter, but very important because of their historical implications and because they provide us with the closest thing to a bilingual inscription, are the texts inscribed on the three gold tablets found at Pyrgi, the harbour of Caere (Cerveteri), (Because of their great value they are kept in a bank vault in Rome. …) Two are in Etruscan, one in Phoenician. A fourth tablet, in bronze and fragmentary, also had an Etruscan inscription … The tables date from about 500 BC.”
Reference: Hooker, J.T. (1990), Reading the Past: Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the Alphabet, Great Britain: The Bath Press.
Note that though the tables date from 500 B.C., the Pyrgi tablets are in excellent condition.
Book on Gold Plates at Bulgaria Where Discovered: Found near Strouma River in south-western Bulgaria Description: According to BBC News, “The world's oldest multiple-page book - in the lost Etruscan language - … contains six bound sheets of 24 carat gold … The small manuscript, which is more than two-and-a-half millennia old, was discovered 60 years ago in a tomb uncovered during digging for a canal along the Strouma river in south-western Bulgaria. … The authenticity of the book has been confirmed by two experts in Sofia and London, museum director Bojidar Dimitrov said quoted by AFP. There are around 30 similar pages known in the world, Ms Penkova said”.
Reference: BBC News (2003), “Unique book goes on display”. Retrieved April 25, 2011, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2939362.stm.
Interestingly, the book dates to 600 B.C., which is exactly when Lehi's family in the Book of Mormon left Jerusalem (and had plates of their own). This book has no signs of corrosion.
Diamond Sutra Gold Plates Where Discovered: Five Storied Stone Pagoda in Wanggung-ri, Iksan, South Korea Description: According to the website “Book of Mormon Research”, “In 1965, a set of gold plates engraved with the Buddhist “Diamond Sutra” was found in the five-story stone pagoda at Wanggung-ri, Iksan, Chollubak province, Korea. Dating to the 8th century AD (the Goryeo era ), they were placed inside a brass box measuring 10.3 cm in height that was placed inside a stone box. The chest and solid gold sheets are designated National Treasure No. 123 and are housed in the National Museum of Korea in Seoul. The sheets are connected by hinges and hence comprise a book or “screen.” ”
Reference: http://bookofmormonresearch.org/site_index/metal-records/far-east/korean-diamond-sutra
Jewish Gold Lamella
Where Discovered: Halbturn, Austria
Description: In 2006, archaeologists at the University of Vienna’s Institute of Prehistory and Early History found an inscribed gold plate in a third-century AD Roman cemetery in Halbturn, Austria. One gold and three silver-plated amulets inscribed with pagan magical texts were found in a stone sarcophagus in the cemetery. The gold-plated Jewish amulet, rather than bearing a magical text, is inscribed with the Jewish prayer known as the Shema (“hear”), found in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.” Like the text inscribed on the gold plates of the Book of Mormon, it is scriptural in nature. The inscription shares another feature with the Nephite record: though the text is Hebrew, it is written using a non-Hebrew alphabet, in this case Greek. (The Book of Mormon used reformed-Egyptian characters in its composition.)
Reference:
http://bookofmormonresearch.org/site_index/metal-records/israelitejewish/jewish-gold-lamella
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080316124416.htm
Roman Bronze Plates Where Discovered: Ancient Roman Dacia province (now Romania) Description: A pair of ancient Roman military diplomas inscribed on bronze plates were discovered in 1986 in present day Romania.
The following content is from “Two Ancient Roman Plates”, by John W. Welch and Kelsey D. Lambert.
https://byustudies.byu.edu/PDFLibrary/45.2WelchLambertRoman-5cb374e2-ef73-48ea-9634-745d6d3ea9f8.pdf
The plates are 4.8 inches (12.2 cm) by 6.4 inches (16.2 cm). Each plate is 1 to 1.1 millimeter thick, about the thickness of thin cardboard, and weighs about seventy grams, or two and a half ounces.
A small hole is found in two of the corners of each plate. Metal rings inserted through these matched holes attached the two plates. They “acted as hinges to the tablets,” so that the pair of plates could be opened and closed like a book. Similar holes are found on all plates up until the beginning of the reign of Hadrian (ad 117–38).
The plates were examined over several months. They were determined to be an authentic Roman military diploma from AD 109.
Drawing of the method used to bind and seal the plates. (1) The two plates were attached with a ring in two of the corners. (2) The pair was then closed up. (3) A wire was strung through two holes in the middle of both plates. (4) The wire was twisted to fasten the plates snugly together. (5) Wax was poured over the wire and impressions of the witnesses’ seals were attached. (6) A metal box was secured over the seals for their protection. Drawings by Michael P. Lyon.
Regarding the similarities to the Book of Mormon plates:
Beyond the fact that these plates offer one of the finest examples found anywhere of ancient writing on metal plates, several specific similarities evoke comparisons between these Roman bronze plates and the gold plates from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon.
The Roman plates are a little less than five inches by seven inches. Based on statements by various witnesses who saw or handled the gold plates, the individual leaves were estimated to be six to six and a half inches wide and eight inches long, close to the same size.
The Roman plates are about one sixteenth of an inch thick, slightly thicker than the Book of Mormon plates, which Joseph Smith described as “not quite so thick as common tin,” and Emma Smith called “pliable like thick paper.”
Pairs of Roman military diplomas were typically put together with two rings, one in each of the two corners on the right-hand side of the first plate. The plates of Mormon consisted of a large stack of plates and thus were bound together through the back with three large rings.
In both cases, one part of the text was open and the other sealed, although in different ways. The Roman plates were sealed to each other by a wire running through holes punched down the middle of the plates. The lower section of the Book of Mormon plates was sealed securely together and appeared to some to be as closed as a block of wood.
Ashur Gold Tablet
Where Discovered: Ashur, now Qual'at Serouat, Iraq
Description: The gold tablet was found during an excavation around the city of Ashur, now Qual'at Serouat, Iraq, by a team of German archeologists led by Walter Andrae. The inscribed tablet, which was discovered in the foundation of the Ishta Temple, is actually a construction document, according to the judge. It dates to the reign of the Assyrian King Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243-1207 BCE) who expanded the Assyrian empire but was later killed by his son.
Reference: http://bookofmormonblog.org/category/gold-plates/
Regarding the Ashur table, notice the fineness of the characters and the many that fit on this very small piece of gold (approximately 1” x 1.5” estimate based on the picture).
Sargon II Plate
Where Discovered: Iraq
Description: The Louvre Museum in Paris has some ancient plates on display. Some are gold; others are made from other metals. They were discovered during the excavation of the palace of Sargon II, the Assyrian king from 721-705 BC. The site is known as Khorsabad, for the modern-day Iraqi city nearby.
Reference: http://bookofmormonblog.org/category/gold-plates/
Silver Scrolls Where Discovered: Ketef Hinnom, west of old city of Jerusalem Description: In 1979, two silver scrolls, or amulets, were found in Ketef Hinnom next to the Scottish Church of St. Andrew in Jerusalem. The scrolls contain an inscription of the Preistly Benediction from Numbers 6:24-26. The scrolls are dated 7th century B.C..
Reference: Yudkin, Gila. (2005, 2009), "Holy Sites: Gila's Highlights - Let's see where the Priestly Benediction was found". From http://www.itsgila.com/highlightspriestly.htm.
Mayan Gold Discs
Where Discovered: Chichen Itza, Yucatan Description: During the 1950s the Peabody Museum participated in a project at Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula. Alfred Tozzer directed a team which dredged the sacred well (cenote) at this site, and found a number of embossed gold discs among the offerings which had been thrown into the sacrificial well. One of these, in particular, bears in inscription in Mayan glyphs around the edge of the disc. This is an excellent example of writing on metal – one which scholars accept as genuine, insofar as the New World is concerned.
Reference: Cheesman, Paul R. (1985), Ancient Writing on Metal Plates: Archaeological Findings Support Mormon Claims, Boutiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers & Distributors, Incorporated.
Orphic Gold Tablets
Where Discovered: Southern Europe, Gravesites
Description: A series of small gold tablets/plates that have been discovered in southern Europe buried with the dead. They include instructions regarding what they should do and say when they reach the Afterlife. They are written on thin plates of gold. The label “Orphic” is here referring to the Orphic religion popular in the ancient Greek and Thracian world. They vary in date between 400 B.C. and 260 A.D.
Reference: http://www.heavenlyascents.com/2009/06/18/instructions-for-the-netherworld-the-orphic-gold-tablets/
Copper Scroll
Where Discovered: The copper scroll was found in cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran. Description: The copper scroll contains inscribed ancient writing. The copper scroll consists of two rolls of copper found at cave 3 near Qumran. The scroll lists locations for gold and silver treasures. The photo below shows a picture of an original copper roll before it was cut into sections (top right), the original copper scroll fragments after being cut (now oxidized), the pot where the scroll was kept (left), and a framed reproduction of the scroll.
Consider the following quote
“The Book of Mormon will remain in the realm of faith. It has a bodyguard of scholars who now surround it and protect it from the frail attacks often made on it. But even so, it's the witness of the Spirit that matters most.”
Neal A. Maxwell
Thank you Chris!