Editing Anthon Transcript (section)

==Caractors Document==
The [[Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] (now known as Community of Christ) purchased a handwritten slip of paper from the heirs of [[David Whitmer]], then thought to be the ''Anthon Transcript''; this particular candidate is now called the ''Caractors Document''.<ref name=EoM/> Whitmer, who once owned the document, stated that it was this slip of paper that Harris showed to Anthon.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Both Mormon apologists and critics, however, indicate that it is not certain that the ''Caractors Document'' is the original ''Anthon Transcript,'' since Anthon had described that the characters on the slip he saw were arranged in vertical columns and ended in a "rude delineation of a circle divided into various compartments, decked with various strange marks, and evidently copied after the [[Aztec calendar]] given by Humboldt," (1834) or "a rude representation of the Mexican zodiac" (1841). In the spring of 1828, Martin Harris' wife Lucy colluded with an accomplice, Flanders Dyke, to steal the Anthon Transcript in order to discredit the Book of Mormon, thus the Caractors Document cannot be the Anthon Transcript.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Don |title=Lucy's Book: The Lost 116 Pages |date=2019 |publisher=Greg Kofford Books |location=Draper, Utah |isbn=978-1589587601 |page=73}}</ref>

Recent scholarship, including [[Graphology|handwriting analysis]], suggests the "''Caractors Document''" was written in or after 1829, by David Whitmer's brother [[John Whitmer]], and therefore would not have been available to show Anthon or others in 1828.<ref>[https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-2-document-1-characters-copied-by-john-whitmer-circa-1829-1831/1#source-note Appendix 2, Document 1. Characters Copied by John Whitmer, circa 1829–1831, p. 1], [[The Joseph Smith Papers]], accessed November 27, 2024</ref> The symbols on the document were published twice in 1844, after Smith's death, as characters that had been copied from the gold plates, one of them in the December&nbsp;21 issue of [[The Prophet (newspaper)|''The Prophet'']].<ref name=EoM/> In 1956 a request for review of the Caractors Document was made to three recognized egyptologists: Sir [[Alan Gardiner]], William C. Hayes, and John A. Wilson. Gardiner replied that he saw no resemblance with "any form of Egyptian writing." Hayes stated that it might be an inaccurate copy of something in [[hieratic script]] and that "some groups look like hieratic numerals", adding that "I imagine, however, that the inscription bears a superficial resemblance to other scripts, both ancient and modern, of which I have no knowledge."

Wilson gave the most detailed reply, saying that "This is not Egyptian writing, as known to the Egyptologist. It obviously is not hieroglyphic, nor the "cursive hieroglyphic" as used in the ''Book of the Dead''. It is not Coptic, which took over Greek characters to write Egyptian. Nor does it belong to one of the cursive stages of ancient Egyptian writing: hieratic, abnormal hieratic, or demotic."  Wilson added that "it does not conform to the normal pattern of cursive," and that because it was purported to be altered it may "remove this context from the professional analysis by the Egyptologist."<ref>{{cite web |title=1956 Statements of Egyptologists on the Caractors Document  |url=https://www.academia.edu/31894670 |last1=Grover |first1=Jerry }}</ref>

Four non-linguist Mormon translators with varying levels of education have attempted to decipher the "Caractors" document.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shields |first1=Steven L. |title=The Quest for "Reformed Egyptian" |journal=The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal |date=2021 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=101–125 |url=https://www.academia.edu/85016162}} The four translators identified are Blair B. Bryant, Jerry D. Grover, Jr, (https://www.academia.edu/39910374/Translation_of_the_Caractors_Document_Revised_and_Updated), Mary Jo Jackel and Stanley Q. Johnson.</ref> The document is portrayed in the 2004 film [[The Work and the Glory (film)|''The Work and the Glory'']].

The "''Caractors Document''" was sold in 2024 to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as part of a larger transfer of physical property between the two organizations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Faithfully Funding Our Future: Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://cofchrist.org/faithfully-funding-our-future-frequently-asked-questions/ |access-date=2024-03-06 |website=Community of Christ |language=en}}</ref>