View source for Book of Mormon/Metals/Steel

{{FairMormon}}  
<onlyinclude>
{{H2
|L=Book of Mormon/Metals/Steel
|H=Steel in the Book of Mormon
|S=
|L1=Question: What was known about steel in ancient America?
|L2=Madden et al.: "by the beginning of the tenth century B.C. blacksmiths were intentionally steeling iron"
|L3=Roper: "For example, an iron knife was found in an eleventh century Philistine tomb showed evidence of deliberate carburization"
|L4=Roper: "archaeologists have discovered a carburized iron sword near Jericho"
|L5=Sorenson: "By 1400 BC, smiths in Armenia had discovered how to carburize iron by prolonged heating in contact with carbon"
|L6=Hamblin: "there are no references to Nephite steel after 400 B.C."
}}
</onlyinclude>

Steel is produced by applying an alloy (usually carbon) to iron to harden it. "Steel" is mentioned in the Book of Mormon 5 times. It is mentioned that Laban's sword was made of steel, and a few more references until about 200 years later, then it stopped. Critics have complained that steel was not invented until much later, therefore used as evidence against the Book of Mormon. Now archaeologists have found many steel artifacts from many parts of the world.

{{Epigraph|
The absence of evidence is not proof. Here’s one small example. Matthew Roper, in a [https://www.fairmormon.org/blog/2013/06/17/labans-sword-of-most-precious-steel-howlers-5-2 FairMormon Blog on June 17, 2013], writes about a criticism that was repeated many times over the years about the mention of steel in the Book of Mormon. In 1884, one critic wrote, “Laban’s sword was steel, when it is a notorious fact that the Israelites knew nothing of steel for hundreds of years afterwards. Who, but as ignorant a person as Rigdon, would have perpetuated all these blunders.” More recently Thomas O’Dey, in 1957, stated, “Every commentator on the Book of Mormon has pointed out the many cultural and historical anachronisms, such as steel. A steel sword of Laban in 600 B.C.” <br>
We had no answer to these critics at the time, but, as often happens in these matters, new discoveries in later years shed new light. Roper reports, “it is increasingly apparent that the practice of hardening iron through deliberate carburization, quenching and tempering was well known to the ancient world from which Nephi came “It seems evident” notes one recent authority, “that by the beginning of the tenth century B.C. blacksmiths were intentionally steeling iron.” In 1987, the Ensign reported that archaeologists had unearthed a long steel sword near Jericho dating back to the late 7th century B.C., probably to the reign of King Josiah, who died shortly before Lehi began to prophesy. This sword is now on display at Jerusalem’s Israel Museum, and the museum’s explanatory sign reads in part, “the sword is made of iron hardened into steel.” <br><br>
&mdash;Elder D. Todd Christofferson, "The Prophet Joseph Smith", Devotional Address, BYU Idaho, September 24, 2013. 
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{{parabreak}}
{{:Question: What was known about steel in ancient America?}}
{{:Source:Roper:Laban’s Sword of “Most Precious Steel”:archaeologists have discovered a carburized iron sword near Jericho}}
{{:Source:Madden et al:How the Iron Age Began:Scientific American 237:4:by the beginning of the tenth century B.C. blacksmiths were intentionally steeling iron}}
{{:Source:Sorenson:JBMS 15:2:By 1400 BC, smiths in Armenia had discovered how to carburize iron by prolonged heating in contact with carbon}}
{{:Source:Roper:Laban’s Sword of “Most Precious Steel”:Sophisticated iron technology}}
{{:Source:Hamblin:Steel in the Book of Mormon:there are no references to Nephite steel after 400 B.C.}}
{{FMEBar
|category=Book_of_Mormon/Metals/Steel
|subject=More on steel in the Book of Mormon
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[https://bookofmormoncentral.org/qa/how-could-laban-have-possessed-a-sword-of-%E2%80%9Cmost-precious-steel%E2%80%9D Book of Mormon Central further discusses Steel in the Book of Mormon here] 
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