Reformed Egyptian
language or writing system, from which the Book of Mormon was allegedly translated
The Book of Mormon, a work of scripture of the Latter Day Saint movement, is described by both itself and Joseph Smith, the founder of the movement, as having originally been written in the Reformed Egyptian characters.
Scholarly reference works on languages do not acknowledge the existence of either a "reformed Egyptian" language or "reformed Egyptian" script as it was described by Joseph Smith. There is no archaeological, linguistic, or other evidence of the use of Egyptian writing in the ancient Americas.
Reformed Egyptian and the Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon uses the term "reformed Egyptian" in Mormon 9:32 which says that "the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, [were] handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech" and that "none other people knoweth our language" (Mormon 9:32-34). The book also says that its first author, Nephi, used the "learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians" (1 Nephi 1:2) to write his record which constitutes the first two books of the Book of Mormon. The abridgment that the Book of Mormon says was prepared by Mormon and Moroni nearly a thousand years later in approximately 380 AD, containing most of the balance of the book, was said to have been written in "reformed Egyptian" because it supposedly took up less space than Hebrew.
Latter-day Saint apologists contend that reformed Egyptian is a form of Egyptian writing similar to other modified Egyptian scripts such as hieratic, a handwritten form of hieroglyphics thousands of years old by the first millennium BC, or early Demotic, a simplified derivative of hieratic, which was used in northern Egypt.
According to believers, Smith translated reformed Egyptian characters engraved on gold plates into English through various means, including the use of a seer stone or the interpreter stones, or both. Smith said when he had finished the translation, he returned the plates to the angel Moroni and as such they were unavailable for study, meaning all examples of the script are due solely to Smith and his associates' transcriptions.
The "Anthon Transcript"
The "Anthon Transcript" is a piece of paper on which Joseph Smith said he transcribed reformed Egyptian characters from the golden plates—the ancient record from which Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Reformed Egyptian” is language or writing system, from which the Book of Mormon was allegedly translated. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Reformed, Egyptian and language, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “language or writing system, from which the Book of Mormon was allegedly translated” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3238732. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Reformed Egyptian”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Reformed Egyptian primary sources, Reformed Egyptian archive and Reformed research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Reformed Egyptian”?
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- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Reformed Egyptian” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.