The promise was clear. When we gathered together in Jesus’ name, His Spirit would be with us.
In the last presentation of last week’s Seminar, it became clear that our collaborative efforts were much more than the sum of our individual efforts. We witnessed how the language of the Egyptians, as found from the “Caractors” Document of Church history, connected directly to specific verses in the English translation of the Book of Mormon.
| In recent years the best historians of the Church wrote on the internet at the Joseph Smith Papers “Caractors”. “Although John Whitmer likely created the document just before he left New York for Ohio, no evidence exists to date this text definitively, and it is possible the creation date was earlier or later. The earliest John Whitmer could have produced this document was after he first met Joseph Smith in June 1829, when his brother David helped Joseph Smith move into the home of their father, Peter Whitmer Sr., in Fayette, New York. It was there that John Whitmer briefly assisted Joseph Smith as a scribe in the translation of the Book of Mormon. Whitmer also may have created the document after he relocated to Missouri in 1831, or sometime during 1835 or 1836 when he returned for a time to Ohio. During that later time, members of the church had renewed interest in ancient records and in the characters. Between 1836, when Whitmer returned to Missouri, and his ex-communication less than two years later, it is unlikely that he had access to copies of characters from which he could have created this document “Eighty years ago, Ariel L. Crowley clearly identified the characters in the transcripts as Egyptian. To be specific, the scripts are Demotic Egyptian, a shorthand form for rapid writing that came into popular use about a hundred years before Lehi’s family left Jerusalem. Here are three photos that show the results of Crowley’s research. The English translation of the “Caractors” is a significant development. The details of the linguistic connection to specific verses will soon be ready for the world to examine. We offer this as a testament to how God’s grace is sufficient for us in our weakness when we gather together in His name. Stand by, and we will all see how God’s hand is in this work.   Ariel L. Crowley, “The Identification of Characters as Egyptian“, The Improvement Era, February, 1942.  Ariel L. Crowley, “The Identification of Characters as Egyptian”, The Improvement Era, February, 1942.  Ariel L. Crowley, “The Identification of Characters as Egyptian”, The Improvement Era, February, 1942. ©2021 Heart Land Research Group | 2681 Milan Street Easton, PA 18045 |
The information below is from Jeff Downs
Jerry D. Grover Jr. proposes a translation for the “Caractors” document. Though tinged with Mesoamerica ideology (as evidenced by his inclusion of place names in brackets), his research and work are impressive. His book can be viewed for free:
https://www.academia.edu/39910374/Translation_of_the_Caractors_Document_Revised_and_Updated
And a 30-minute overview can be seen at https://youtu.be/yciPd61VHaY
His book was reviewed by an expert with advanced qualifications in the ancient Egyptian language and script and the following comment was provided:
“I found the Egyptian identified was hieratic with a small amount of Demotic. The meanings associated with the glyphs are correct in the sense that the glyph meanings are all found in standard acceptable academic Egyptian sources.”
Note the following that I have included in my own notes as well:
The characters copied on paper were Hieratic and Demotic Egyptian Hieroglyphics expressing Hebrew thought (1 Nephi 1:2). It is one thing to copy Hieroglyphics, it is quite another to then have them express Hebrew thought, poetry, and wording unique to Hebrew (found throughout the Book of Mormon). Hieroglyphs were highly artistic—picture writing—with a 1,000-glyph alphabet. The Hieratic Egyptian alphabet was made up of 45 simplified characters (3,100 BC to 300 AD). Demotic Egyptian (the people’s alphabet) was the common means by which the people communicated. It was more simplified alphabet used for social/business purposes (650 to 400 BC). Demotic means “popular”. It was a “reformed” Hieratic Egyptian. 1 Nephi 3:19 makes it clear that the Brass Plates were obtained to “preserve unto our children the language of our fathers.” That language would have been Egyptian (The Brass Plates belonged to the House of Joseph who lived in Egypt). The descendants of Lehi were proud their fathers knew their native tongue (Hebrew) but also had the capacity to read and write Hieratic and Demotic Egyptian (common among wealthy trading classes of which Lehi was a member). The reformed Egyptian was used to conserve space (Mormon 9: 33).
The first section is a preface to the Book of Mosiah. The second section is a prophetic calendar running from five years prior to Christ (perhaps the reason the characters appear smaller). After an exhausted explanation on how the translation was done, Jerry presents the following:
