FAIR Topical Guide

Guide Home > Scripture and Influential Writings > Book of Mormon > Textual Issues > Reformed Egyptian

Additional Topics

The following are additional topic areas related to Reformed Egyptian. If there is a bracket number after the topic, that number indicates how many actual articles there are related to that subject. If the link for the topic is not live, it simply means the topic is a 'planned area' for future growth.

• Metal & Metal Plates [25]

FAIR Resources

These links are either to Web pages hosted on the FAIR Website, or to FAIR Papers. FAIR Papers are short articles about specific topics or questions, written by members of FAIR. These articles can be downloaded and read in PDF format and are intended to be distributed by e-mail or print for the general use of our patrons. (To read FAIR Papers you will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader. It can be downloaded free from the Adobe Web site.) Click on a title below to visit a FAIR Web page or to read the latest version of a FAIR Paper.

"Book of Mormon anachronisms:Reformed Egyptian," FAIR Wiki (City Unknown: FAIR) This FAIR Wiki article examines the claim that there was never such a thing as "reformed Egyptian."

Benjamin McGuire, "Did Lehi Use Egyptian?," (Mesa, Arizona: FAIR, 22 October 2002) A minor criticism of the Book of Mormon is that no believing Jew, circa 600 B.C., would have used Egyptian to write anything--let alone a spiritual record! This FAIR Paper presents the facts--biblical and secular--concerning Egyptian use in the seventh century B.C.

Encyclopedia of Mormonism

The resources listed below are articles available in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. These links are to information not located on the FAIR Web site.

Brian D. Stubbs, "Book of Mormon Language," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan Publishing, 1992), 179-181

Ensign Articles

These articles cited below provide information on the topic of this page. The Ensign is one of the official publications of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When you click on one of the article links below, you are whisked to the article found in the archives of the Church's Web site.

John A. Tvedtnes, "Since the Book of Mormon is largely the record of a Hebrew people, is the writing characteristic of the Hebrew language?," Ensign, October 1986, 64.

Other Resources

The resources listed below are related items available on the Web that should be of interest. These links are to information not located on the FAIR Web site.

William J. Hamblin, "Reformed Egyptian," (Provo, Utah: FARMS) Critics of the Book of Mormon maintain that there is no language known as "reformed Egyptian."

William J. Hamblin, "Reformed Egyptian," FARMS Review (City Unknown: FARMS), 31-35 Hamblin demonstrates that the term "reformed Egyptian" is an accurate description of an altered Egyptian script, and he provides plently of examples of Semitic languages that have been written in a modified, or reformed, Egyptian script.

Jeff Lindsay, How Could Jews -- Enemies of the Egyptians -- Write Sacred Text in Egyptian Script as Claimed by the Book of Mormon?.

Jeff Lindsay, Writing in Reformed Egyptian? . One of the most common attacks against the Book of Mormon focuses on the use of "Reformed Egyptian" as the writing system for the golden plates (Mormon 9:32-34). It is alleged that the no self-respecting Israelite would ever use Egyptian to write sacred scripture, and it is alleged that no such language as "Reformed Egyptian" has ever existed. This article shows just how wrong that is.

Gerald Smith, Egyptian Hieratics and Reformed Egyptian.

Gary Smith, Hieratic Egyptian Language used in ancient Israel. Gary Smith points to an article, from the "Biblical Archaeology Review," that gives us an archaeological example of reformed Egyptian.

Gerald Smith, The Akedah Pendant and Reformed Egyptian.

John A. Tvedtnes and Stephen D. Ricks, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies (Provo: FARMS, 1996), 156-63 The Book of Mormon's "reformed Eygptian" is a frequent target of anti-Mormon criticisim. Tvedntes and Ricks show that types of reformed Egyptian were known and used anciently in Lehi's locale.

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Last Updated September 28, 2008
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