I know of three occurrences in North America of ancient Hebrew renditions of the Ten Commandments in what is called “block Hebrew”. I have a replica of one of those we saw in a museum in Ohio with the inscription of Moses in block Hebrew at the top. Glottology is the science of linguistics. As Brian D. Stubbs shares, “Written records unearthed in the Americas have often labeled hoaxes … but… languages… show specific ties from ancient to modern time, and thousands of speakers of the related languages are beyond fabrication.” Many label artifacts as hoaxes because they don’t conform to their paradigm for their being Hebrew and Egyptian relics in North America. David Hocking in the video link below shares a fascinating Hebrew language link to North America with the numerous Hebrew names ending in “ah.” Many of these are also found in the Book of Mormon – a religious record of the Native American Indians. These Native American Indians are Hebrews.
In The Tops of the Mountains
Utah is a Ute Indian word meaning “In the tops of the Mountains,” and obviously ending in “ah.” So, using the Ute Indian word in Isaiah 2:2-3, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in [Utah] the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths:”
Great Lakes Artifacts
I have made friends with Brian Nettles, who is becoming an expert in reading from several of the artifacts in the Great Lakes area of North America where the Hebrew descendants used ancient Egyptian, as this was their language when they left Jerusalem in 600 B.C. to come to America. I’ll share more about Brian’s exciting work below.
Book of Mormon – Ancient Hebrew History
The Prophet Mormon was born in 311 A.D. He and his son, Moroni, abridged from their ancient writings what we now have in the Book of Mormon from Mosiah to Moroni along with their own personal writings, which is the last part of the book. The language they wrote in was called “Reformed Egyptian.” The gifted linguist, the late Professor Felix Mijnhardt of Pretoria University, deduced that when he was asked to translate the Book of Mormon into Afrikaans in the 1970s. He deduced that it was written in “ancient Egyptian with Hebrew nouns added.” Which is exactly what happened. Professor Mijnhardt testified that the Book of Mormon was authentic scripture and that Joseph Smith had to be a Prophet of God to bring forth such a record, even though he was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church.
Egyptian Translation Confirmed
After Joseph received the gold plates from the Angel Moroni, Joseph copied off some of the characters and their translation, and Martin Harris took them to Charles Anthon; Martin records: “I went to the city of New York and presented the characters which had been translated, with the translation thereof, to Professor Charles Anthon, a gentleman celebrated for his literary attainments. Professor Anthon stated that the translation was correct, more so than any he had before seen translated from the Egyptian…” Professor Anthon gave him a certificate so indicating this, but when he learned Joseph had received the record from an angel, the Professor tore up the certificate.
Changes In The Egyptian Writing System
As explained in the following link: https://itsabouttimebook.com/new-book-of-mormon-miracles/, the first part of the Book of Mormon was translated last in Fayette, NY. They had translated the last part of the Book of Mormon about 100 miles to the south in Harmony, PA. In Fayette, Joseph was given a new set of plates – called the “these plates” or the small plates, and this was not an abridgment like the rest of the Book of Mormon, but directly written by those responsible before the Lord to keep the records. After they left Jerusalem in 600 B.C., it was 40 years later the Lord told Nephi to make the small plates, which include 1 Nephi through Omni and the Words of Mormon as a bridge between the first part and the last part.
Interestingly, in 600 B.C. the Egyptians were transitioning their writing system from hieratic to demotic Egyptian. My amazing friend, Brian Nettles, who is learning how to read these ancient languages; has his website: https://bookofmormonheartland.com describing some of his work. The following characters were copied from the small plates in Fayette, NY, and are not “Reformed Egyptian.” These characters were copied by John Whitmer, who also helped as a scribe while Joseph Smith was translating from the small plates in Fayette, NY, (1 Nephi through Omni). Unlike the Anthon transcript, the “Caractor” document does not include a translation of the characters. Brian Nettles, a good friend, has studied Demotic Egyptian and a “translation” of those “Characters” is now being made. Brian focused on 1 Nephi 2-3 as John Whitmer’s handwriting is found in the Original Manuscript throughout those chapters. This image is from Brian’s website, and I quote from him.
“This document is now mostly translated. It is a mix of early demotic with hieratic Egyptian.”
Witness of the Book of Mormon Accuracy
Over nearly a thousand years the language evolved into what we now call “Reformed Egyptian,” which is what Mormon and Moroni wrote in. We see that glottology leads us to some fascinating truths. The main truth is that the Book of Mormon is another witness that Jesus is the Christ along with the Bible and that the resurrected Lord visited these ancient Americans and totally changed their lives, and they became a Zion people with all things in common. We have the marvelous gospel message that He can and does change ours as we come unto Him.
The following is the fascinating video of David Hocking’s on the glottology of Hebrew in the Book of Mormon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzePol7YM4s&t=2s The following two are two of my blog articles sharing some other exciting results about the Native Americans amazing earthworks near Newark, Ohio, which tie to Egypt as well: https://itsabouttimebook.com/newark-ohio-earthworks/ and https://itsabouttimebook.com/hebrew-midrash-and-the-book-of-mormon/ .
There are those who believe the Book of Mormon geography was in Mesoamerica. We find no Hebrew writings there, while our good friend, Wayne May, has thousands of plates found in the Hopewell Heartland of America and Great Lakes region that have both Hebrew and Egyptian ancient writings. Furthermore, the following article — logically and scientifically — proves the validity of the Heartland Model for the Book of Mormon: https://itsabouttimebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/does-it-matter-where-the-book-of-mormon-took-place.pdf, which removes confusion and contention.
David Hocking and Rod Meldrum’s “Annotated Edition of the Book of Mormon,” for me is the best book on the planet to bring people to Christ and to know where the Book of Mormon took place and as a second witness along with the Bible of our resurrected Lord and His perfect and infinite atonement for us all. This “Annotated Edition” is available at https://BeaconLightBooks.com/, https://BookofMormonEvidence.org/. https://www.digitalegend.com/catalog/ and at COSTCO.
The Truth Shall Make You Free
The Savior said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) I find the above truths very exciting and validating of our Savior’s mission of salvation and exaltation.
Faithfully yours,
David W. Allan (14 Feb. 2022) HAPPY VALENTINES DAY
PS. Brian shared with me his research on the language of the Michigan Artifacts. Here is his presentation. He states, “I think I prove that the artifacts are using a form of Reformed Egyptian. And I love the last artifact where the uncovered language has an artifact of the army of “N” (Nephites) facing up against the army of “L” (Lamanites).
Here is a link that supports the Hebrews being here in early America.