History: What was the “brass” of the “brass plates”? Following standard early modern English—which would have been the seventeenth-century English used in the King James Version—“brass” likely refers to the alloy of copper and tin that we currently call bronze, rather than the alloy of copper and zinc now known as brass. William J. Hamblin surveys the history of writing on metal plates in the Mediterranean culture area from around 2000 B.C. through the time of Christ. He found that:
Specific Hebrew examples of writing on metal plates are relatively limited in number, but clearly attest to the practice. There are five major examples:
1.1. The oldest example of Hebrew writing on metal is the engraved gold plate attached to the front of the turban of the high priest. According to Exodus 28:36, Moses was ordered to “make a plate (tzitz) of pure gold, and engrave upon it as an engraved seal (khotem), “Holy to Yahweh.”
1.2. Excavations in the late 1970s uncovered First Temple period tombs at Ketef Hinnom, near Jerusalem. Among the artifacts discovered in this dig were two small silver plates dating to the seventh century B.C., containing the priestly benedictions found in Numbers 6:24–26 and representing “the earliest known fragments of the biblical text.”
1.3. In 161 B.C. Judas Maccabaeus concluded a treaty with the Romans which “the Romans engraved on bronze tables and sent to Jerusalem for the Jews to keep there as a record” (1 Maccabees 8:22). Josephus’s account states, however, that the Jews themselves engraved the document in bronze. In his analysis of this incident Jonathan Goldstein concludes that since there are no other known instances of Romans sending bronze treaties to their allies (as opposed to keeping copies of the treaties on bronze plates in Rome), Josephus’s account is probably more accurate. Later, in 140 B.C., when Simon was proclaimed by the Jews as both high priest and prince, “they ordered that this text [of Simon’s privileges and responsibilities] be drawn up on bronze tablets and set up in the precinct of the sanctuary [of the temple] in a conspicuous place and that copies of the tablets be placed in the treasury [of the temple] so as to be available for Simon and his sons.” These examples clearly indicate that, following the common practice of most other cultures of the eastern Mediterranean, the Jews kept records of important historical documents on bronze plates in their temple.
1.4. The most well-known example of Hebrew writing on metal plates is the famous Copper Scroll (3C15) from Qumran (1C A.D.), containing a list of hidden temple treasures. Although the origin and purpose of the Copper Scroll is widely debated, it is a clear example of an attempt to preserve an important sacred record by writing on copper/bronze (Heb. nechushah) plates and then hiding the document.
1.5. The Hebrew ritual magic and ascension text Sefer ha-Razim (late 3C A.D.) contains numerous references to writing on metal plates or amulets (Heb. tzitz).
In conclusion, the evidence leaves no doubt that the Hebrews had a longstanding tradition dating at least to the First Temple Period (i.e., well before 587 B.C.) of writing sacred texts on metal plates for amulets, inscriptions, and literary documents.
While the tradition of writing important documents on bronze plates may be accepted to explain the plates themselves, there is somewhat more to the brass plates in that they may have been written in a language requiring the learning of the Egyptians to read them (Mosiah 1:4).
The possibility that the brass plates were written in some form of Egyptian script but encoded the Hebrew language is not without historical precedent. Hamblin cites the example of the Byblos Syllabic texts:
The earliest known example of mixing a Semitic language with modified Egyptian hieroglyphic characters is the Byblos Syllabic inscriptions (eighteenth century B.C.), from the city of Byblos on the Phoenician coast. This script is described as a “syllabary [that] is clearly inspired by the Egyptian hieroglyphic system, and in fact is the most important link known between the hieroglyphs and the Canaanite alphabet.” Interestingly enough, most Byblos Syllabic texts were written on copper plates. Thus, it would not be unreasonable to describe the Byblos Syllabic texts as a Semitic language written on metal plates in “reformed Egyptian characters,” which is precisely what the Book of Mormon describes.
The Byblos Syllabic texts preceded the Book of Mormon in time. Thus, there is a precedent sufficiently early that shows both a record on metal plates and a combination of Egyptian and Hebrew. However, it would be anachronistic to call such a combination “reformed Egyptian.” That term does not appear in the Book of Mormon until Mormon 9:32, specifically in the context of a modification of whatever was meant by “Egyptian.”
Furthermore, the very fact that the brass plates were written in the “language of the Egyptians” is the most likely reason why the Book of Mormon itself would be written that way. The concept and tradition of expressing in syllabic characters the words of a different language were likely part of the inheritance. The concept of recording on metal plates is also part of the cultural inheritance that crossed the sea. More than just the record of Lehi’s ancestors, and more than the preservation of the religious history, the brass plates were probably the model for Nephi’s and Lehi’s records, both in the materials and in the conceptual script. As I have argued in Behind the Text: Chapter 6, “The Physical Plates,” Mormon also followed the brass-plates model in creating the Book of Mormon plates. (See also commentary accompanying 1 Nephi 5:14–16.)