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*Latayne Colvett Scott, ''The Mormon Mirage : a former Mormon tells why she left the church'' (Grand Rapids : Zondervan Pub. House, 1979),63-4. | *Latayne Colvett Scott, ''The Mormon Mirage : a former Mormon tells why she left the church'' (Grand Rapids : Zondervan Pub. House, 1979),63-4. | ||
*Jerald and Sandra Tanner, ''The Changing World of Mormonism'' (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), 141-5. | *Jerald and Sandra Tanner, ''The Changing World of Mormonism'' (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), 141-5. | ||
− | *Kurt Van Gorden, ''Mormonism'' | + | *Kurt Van Gorden, ''Mormonism'' (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 8, footnote 7. |
==Response== | ==Response== | ||
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Moroni makes it clear that "reformed Egyptian" is the name which ''the Nephites'' have given to a script based upon Egyptian characters, and modified over the course of a thousand years (See [http://scriptures.lds.org/morm/9/32#32 Mormon 9:32]). So, it is no surprise that Egyptians or Jews have no script called "reformed Egyptian," as this was a Nephite term. | Moroni makes it clear that "reformed Egyptian" is the name which ''the Nephites'' have given to a script based upon Egyptian characters, and modified over the course of a thousand years (See [http://scriptures.lds.org/morm/9/32#32 Mormon 9:32]). So, it is no surprise that Egyptians or Jews have no script called "reformed Egyptian," as this was a Nephite term. | ||
− | There are, however, several varient Egyptian scrips which are "reformed" or altered from their earlier form. Hugh Nibley and others have pointed out that the change from Egyptian hieroglphics, to hieratic, to demotic is a good description of Egyptian being "reformed." By 600 BC, hieratic was used primarily for religious texts, while demotic was used for daily use.[http://www.ancientscripts.com/egyptian.html] | + | There are, however, several varient Egyptian scrips which are "reformed" or altered from their earlier form. Hugh Nibley and others have pointed out that the change from Egyptian hieroglphics, to hieratic, to demotic is a good description of Egyptian being "reformed." By 600 BC, hieratic was used primarily for religious texts, while demotic was used for daily use.[http://www.ancientscripts.com/egyptian.html *] |
− | [[Image:180px-Egyptian_hieroglyphs_Black_Schist_sarcophagus_Ankhnesneferibre.jpg|frame|left|'''Hieroglyphics''': Hieroglyphs from the Black Schist sarcophagus of Ankhnesneferibre. Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, about 530 BC, Thebes.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_language]]] | + | [[Image:180px-Egyptian_hieroglyphs_Black_Schist_sarcophagus_Ankhnesneferibre.jpg|frame|left|'''Hieroglyphics''': Hieroglyphs from the Black Schist sarcophagus of Ankhnesneferibre. Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, about 530 BC, Thebes.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_language *]]] |
− | [[Image:180px-Prisse_papyrus.jpg|frame|left|'''Hieratic''': A section of the Prisse papyrus from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, containing the ''Precepts of Kakemna'' and the ''Precepts of Ptahhotep'' in hieratic. [http://www.fairwiki.org/wiki/index.php/Image:800px-Prisse_papyrus.jpg Enlarge] ''Source'': Plate IV. ''The S.S. Teacher's Edition: The Holy Bible'', (New York: Henry Frowde, Publisher to the University of Oxford, 1896).[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieratic]]] | + | [[Image:180px-Prisse_papyrus.jpg|frame|left|'''Hieratic''': A section of the Prisse papyrus from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, containing the ''Precepts of Kakemna'' and the ''Precepts of Ptahhotep'' in hieratic. [http://www.fairwiki.org/wiki/index.php/Image:800px-Prisse_papyrus.jpg Enlarge] ''Source'': Plate IV. ''The S.S. Teacher's Edition: The Holy Bible'', (New York: Henry Frowde, Publisher to the University of Oxford, 1896).[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieratic *]]] |
− | [[Image:180px-DemoticScriptsRosettaStoneReplica.jpg|frame|left|'''Demotic''': Inscription from the Rosetta Stone in demotic.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_language]]] | + | [[Image:180px-DemoticScriptsRosettaStoneReplica.jpg|frame|left|'''Demotic''': Inscription from the Rosetta Stone in demotic.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_language *]]] |
<br style="clear:both;"> <!--This line keeps text from wrapping around the photos --> | <br style="clear:both;"> <!--This line keeps text from wrapping around the photos --> | ||
One can see how hieroglphics developed into the more stylized hieratic, and this process continued with the demotic: | One can see how hieroglphics developed into the more stylized hieratic, and this process continued with the demotic: | ||
− | [[Image:Hieratic Script.png|center|frame|Development of hieratic script from hieroglyphs; after Jean-François Champollion.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieratic]]] | + | [[Image:Hieratic Script.png|center|frame|Development of hieratic script from hieroglyphs; after Jean-François Champollion.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieratic *]]] |
What could be a better term for this than an Egyptian script that has been "reformed"? | What could be a better term for this than an Egyptian script that has been "reformed"? | ||
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*John L. Sorenson, "Digging into the Book of Mormon: Our Changing Understanding of Ancient America and Its Scripture, Part 2," ''Ensign'' (October 1984): 17.[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1984.htm/ensign%20october%201984%20.htm/digging%20into%20the%20book%20of%20mormon%20our%20changing%20understanding%20of%20ancient%20america%20and%20its%20scripture%20part%202%20.htm] | *John L. Sorenson, "Digging into the Book of Mormon: Our Changing Understanding of Ancient America and Its Scripture, Part 2," ''Ensign'' (October 1984): 17.[http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1984.htm/ensign%20october%201984%20.htm/digging%20into%20the%20book%20of%20mormon%20our%20changing%20understanding%20of%20ancient%20america%20and%20its%20scripture%20part%202%20.htm] | ||
* John A. Tvedtnes and Stephen D. Ricks, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' 5:2 (1996): 156–163.[http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?id=128&table=jbms] | * John A. Tvedtnes and Stephen D. Ricks, "Jewish and Other Semitic Texts Written in Egyptian Characters," ''Journal of Book of Mormon Studies'' 5:2 (1996): 156–163.[http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?id=128&table=jbms] | ||
+ | * , "One Small Step," ''FARMS Review of Books'' 15:1 (2003): 147 | ||
+ | * {{FARMSReview| author=John A. Tvedtnes and Matthew Roper|article=One Small Step|vol=15|num=1|date=2003|start=147|end=199}} | ||
===Printed material=== | ===Printed material=== |
Critics claim that
The claim that Israelites would not use Egyptian is clearly false. By the ninth to sixth centuries before Christ, Israelites used Egyptian numerals mingled with Hebrew text. The Papyrus Amherst 63 contains a text of Psalms 20:2-6 written in Aramaic (the language of Jesus) using Egyptian characters. This text was originally dated to the second century B.C., but this has since been extended to the 4th century B.C.[1]
Moroni makes it clear that "reformed Egyptian" is the name which the Nephites have given to a script based upon Egyptian characters, and modified over the course of a thousand years (See Mormon 9:32). So, it is no surprise that Egyptians or Jews have no script called "reformed Egyptian," as this was a Nephite term.
There are, however, several varient Egyptian scrips which are "reformed" or altered from their earlier form. Hugh Nibley and others have pointed out that the change from Egyptian hieroglphics, to hieratic, to demotic is a good description of Egyptian being "reformed." By 600 BC, hieratic was used primarily for religious texts, while demotic was used for daily use.*
One can see how hieroglphics developed into the more stylized hieratic, and this process continued with the demotic:
What could be a better term for this than an Egyptian script that has been "reformed"?
There was a clear evolution of Egyptian script in the Old World, and these modified scrips were in use in Lehi's day. People of Lehi's time and place did use both Hebrew and Egyptian, just as Nephi claimed (See 1 Nephi 1:2).
Given that Moroni says the Nephites then modified the scripts further, "reformed Egyptian" is an elegant description of both the Old World phenomenon, and what Moroni says happened among the Nephites.
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