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Claim
 Source
 Validation
 Source
The Book of Mormon was
found in a box of stones
cemented together.
 Joseph Smith - History 1:52
 The Mayans and Olmecs  
both built stone boxes and knew how to make cement.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 93 & 119
The Book of Mormon was
written using characters
reformed from Egyptian.  A sample was copied from the plates, and is available for comparison.
 Mormon 9:32
Joseph Smith - History
1:63-65
 Mesoamericans had several advanced writing systems, one of which resembles the characters copied from the Book of Mormon.
 The Lives and Travels of
Mormon and Moroni By
Ainsworth, P. 22 & 30
Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 79
The Book of Mormon was probably written in Hebrew using reformed Egyptian characters. "Yea, I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians." (1 Nephi 1:2) This odd practice is well documented historically.  Yiddish, for example, is a German dialect routinely written in Hebrew letters.  Hebrew was sometimes written using Arabic letters.  Review of Books on the Book of Mormon, Vol 5 1993, written by Daniel C. Peterson
The Book of Mormon was
found with a set of crystals, or seer stones.
 Joseph Smith - History 1:35
Alma 37:23,24
 Mayan priests were often
buried with their "vision
crystals"
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 153,154
The Book of Mormon was
written on golden plates.
 Joseph Smith - History
1:34,52
 Gold plates with ancient
writing have been found in Mesoamerica.
 Mesoamerica and the Bookof Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 83,92
The Lives and Travels of
Mormon and Moroni By
Ainsworth, P. 25
    A book, written on gold plates and bound with rings similar to those of Book of Mormon was recently discovered in Turkey.  It dated from Book of Mormon times. BBC News - Unique Book Goes On Display
    Tumbaga was a copper/gold alloy of the Maya, and had the appearance of gold
without the weight of gold.
 An Ancient American
Setting for the Book of
Mormon By Sorenson, P.
283
The written language of the Book of Mormon was known as Egyptian or Reformed Egyptian.
 1 Nephi 1:2, Mormon 9:32
 Two examples of reformed Egyptian script that were used in the time of Lehi are the Demotic and the Hieratic.
 Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D
emotic_(Egyptian)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi
eratic
The title page was found at the end of the book. History of the Church 1:71 This ancient practice is called subscriptio.  Walter Burkert traced this Greek practice to the middle east. The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age, by Walter Burkert
Lehi lived in Jerusalem with his family.
 1 Nephi 1:4
 The ancestral home of a
man named Lehi was
excavated in Jerusalem.
 Treasures from the Book of Mormon, Volume 1 by W. Cleon Skousen
Lehi traveled south from
Jerusalem for three days
and found a river, where he setup camp.
 1 Nephi 2:6
 Wadi Tayyib al-Ism has a
river which flows year-round into the Red Sea, and is located about three days journey from Jerusalem.
 "A New Candidate In Arabia for the Valley of Lemuel" by George D. Potter, Journal of Book of Mormon Studies,
Vol. 8, No. 1, 1999, pp.
54-63
Lehi built an altar and performed sacrifice at this camp - three days journey from Jerusalem.  1 Nephi 2:6-7 According to the Temple scroll, sacrifices within three days journey of Jerusalem had to be performed at Jerusalem.  Aharon Shemesh, "'Three-Days' Journey from the Temple': The Use of this Expression in the Temple Scroll," Dead Sea Discoveries 6/2 (1999): 126—38; and idem, "A New Reading of Temple Scroll 52:13—16. Does this Scroll Permit Sacrifices Outside the Land of Israel?" Proceedings of the International Congress, Fifty Years of the Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Emanuel Tov, and James C. Vanderkam (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2000), 400—410.
The brass plates or plates of Laban were kept in a treasury.  1 Nephi 4:20 It was a common practice in the middle east to keep books in a treasury. The Book of Mormon and Other Hidden Books by Tvedtnes, p. 155
The Book of Mormon
chronicles the immigration of several groups to the
Americas, two of which were Jewish or Israelite.
 1 Nephi 18, Ether 2, Omni
1:16
 Aharon Levi, a Jew and a
Levite, related his account being led (while he was in
Columbia) to a tribe of light skinned natives who
declared themselves to be descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  
 “Esto Es Esperansa de
Israel, Sobre el Origin de
Los Americanos” by
Menasseh Ben Israel,
published in 1650
    According to early 15th and 16th century Spanish Chronicles, Peru was
colonized by descendents of Ophir, and those who
traveled with him after the great flood.  Ophir was the great, great, great grandson
of Noah.
 “Miscelanea Antartica: Una Historia del Peru Antigua” by Miguel Cabello Valboa
written in 1586, published in 1951
“Memorias Antiguas
Historiales Y Politicas del
Peru” by Fernando de
Montesinos, written in 1642, published in 1909
“Nueva Coronica y Buen
Gobierno” by Felipe
Guaman Poma de Ayala
    A small portion of the DNA of Native Americans cannot be tied to Asian ancestors; but it is found among some Israelites.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 231
Emory University study.
    A decalogue, or inscription of the ten commandments, has
been found in the desert of New Mexico.  It is written in an ancient form of Hebrew.
 http://our.homewithgod.com/
bibletruths/LosLunas.html
    America may have been
settled by multiple maritime crossings.
 Charles Mann, speech at
annual meeting
American Association for
the Advancement of
Science, February 1998
    Stella 3 at La Venta shows the arrival of people in Mediterranean attire, circa 600 BC.
 The Lives and Travels of
Mormon and Moroni By
Ainsworth, P. 78
Lehi and his family sailed
across the ocean and found the promised land.
 1 Nephi 18:23
 Lehi is Hebrew for jawbone.  Two archaelogists, Linda
Schele and David Freidel,
have traced the geneology of the people of Chichen Itza to Lord Jawbone, who was the father of these people.
 Forest of Kings, by Linda Schele and David Freidel,
P.362
Lehi carried a device that he called a Liahoni, or compass or director.  It was round and made of brass, and had
spindles which pointed the way according to the user's faith.
 Alma 37:38-40
 A tapestry hanging in the
Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City shows a group of people arriving from the ocean, led by a man holding a curious round device.
 The Lives and Travels of
Mormon and Moroni By
Ainsworth, P. 86,87
Lehi and his family turned Eastward after burying
Ishmael at Nahom.
 1 Nephi 17:1
 The bedouins still use this name for a town and the
surrounding valley near the place where the
frankincense trail turns
Eastward.
 Discovering Lehi by Lynn
Hilton and Hope Hilton, p. 21
Lehi and his family
journeyed east until they
came to the ocean called
Irreantum.
   The Greeks of the 1st
century A.D. called this sea by a similar name: Erythraem.
 Discovering Lehi by Lynn
Hilton and Hope Hilton, p. 21
After Lehi arrived in the
Americas, and subsequently died, his sons split up into two groups.
 2 Nephi 5:6
 The Mayas are descended
from seven men who
fathered seven tribes.  They split into two groups, four tribes in one and three in the other.
 The Title of the Lords of
Totonicapan, P.169,170,172
Upon arriving, Lehi's group found the cow, and the ox, and the ass, and the horse, and the goat and the wild goat.  Gold, silver, and copper were also found.
 1 Nephi 18:25
 Gold, silver and copper
mines can be found
throughout Mesoamerica.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 127-131
    The remains of precolumbian horses have been found in the Yucatan.  Accompanying
artifacts have been dated to Book of Mormon times.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 248
    The Lacandon Maya claimed to have had horses, pigs, cattle and chickens before the coming of the spanish.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 250
    A carving of a horse can be found at Chichen Itza.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 243
    There are many ancient
drawings and carvings of
horses in North and South America.  Horse remains have been found in Canada which date to Book of Mormon times.
 http://www.2s2.com/chapman
research/user/documents/ho
rses.html
The parable of the Olive Tree, found in the fifth chapter of Jacob, contains detailed knowledge of olive husbandry. "And it came to pass that a long time passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we may labor in the vineyard." The villa was typically placed above the vineyards. The Allegory of the Olive Tree, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and John W. Welch, p. 223 & 224
  "Wherefore, go to, and call servants, that we may labor diligently with our might in the vineyard, that we may prepare the way, that I may bring forth again the natural fruit, which natural fruit is good and the most precious above all other fruit." Jacob 5:61 It was typical for the master of the vineyard to have several servants. Ibid.
  Planting, pruning, grafting, digging, nourishing and dunging are all mentioned in Jacob 5. These are all valid activities associated with ancient Olive husbandry.  Ibid.
 

"...And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned..."
Jacob 5:43

  A new grove could be established by burning the trees of an existing grove.  Burning also prevented the spread of vines which yielded undesireable fruit or which were diseased.  Ibid. p. 553
The city of Bountiful was
surrounded by a wall of
timbers and earth.
 Alma 53:4
 Palenque was surrounded by a large earthen wall, parts of which can still be seen today. The word palenque is Spanish for a wooden barrier or stockade.
 The Lives and Travels of
Mormon and Moroni By
Ainsworth, P. 108
Chiasmus, an ancient
Hebrew literary device, or
form of poetry, can be found throughout the Book of Mormon.
 2 Nephi 2:7
 Chiasmus was also used by the Maya.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 89
 The Nephites employed simile curses in the same way as their Hebrew ancestors. "And it shall come to pass that the life of king Noah shall be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace; for he shall know that I am the Lord"
Mosiah 12:3

This is one of the few examples from the Bible:
"I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down."
2 Kings 21:13

 Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities of the Book of Mormon by Donald W. Parry, Maxwell Institute
The Book of Mormon was
written by several people, none of which was Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, or
Oliver Cowdery.
 Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, preface to the Book of Mormon
Mormon 1:3
 The Book of Mormon has
been examined using Word Print Analysis, to determine authorship.  Multiple styles of writing were found, indicating
multiple authors, none of
which resemble the styles of Joseph Smith, Sidney
Rigdon, or Oliver Cowdery.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 90
The area north of the narrow neck of land was infested with poisonous snakes.
 Ether 9:31
 The Mexicas were given a
snake infested land by the Toltecs.  The Mexicas were saved from starvation by eating the snakes.  It was located North of the Isthmus
of Tehuantepec.
 Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 49,50
The Lamanites practiced idol
worship, human sacrifice,
and cannibalism.
 Moroni 9:18,19
Moroni 4:14
Moroni 9:8
 All three were part of the
Mayan/Mesoamerican
tradition.
 Mesoamerica and the Book
of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 150,151
In honor of King Nephi,
subsequent kings were also
named Nephi.
 Jacob 1:10,11
 The rulers of Palenque also followed this tradition, naming their rulers Pacal, Pacal II, Pacal III, etc.
 Mesoamerica and the Book
of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 146
The Nephites had prophets.
 Nephi, Jacob, Alma, etc.
 The Mayans also had
prophets.  Chilam Balam
prophesied that bearded
men would come from the east, carrying a raised
wooden standard, and force everyone to worship the one true God.
 Mesoamerica and the Book
of Mormon - Is this the Place
By Lund, P. 143
There was a cataclysmic
event that occured near the
death of Jeus Christ.
 3 Nephi 8:5-25
 Columbia and Nicaragua are areas of intense earthquake activity and home to over twenty volcanos, many of which have been active in
historical times..
 An Ancient American
Setting for the Book of
Mormon By Sorenson, P.
320,321
The city of Moroni was sunk into the depths of the sea.
 3 Nephi 8:9
 There are underwater ruins of a city near Belize.  Their submersion has been dated to aprox. 50 AD.
 The Lives and Travels of
Mormon and Moroni By
Ainsworth, P. 69-71
The city of Jerusalem was
covered by water.
 3 Nephi 9:7
 There are remains of a city underneath Lake Atitlan, which appears to have sunk very suddenly.
 http://www.ancientamerica.or
g/library/media/HTML/z7iz3h
xy/The%20Submergence%2
0of%20the%20City%20of%2
0Jerusalem%20in%20the%2
0Land%20of%20Nephi.htm?
n=0
The Nephites became expert in the working of cement circa 100 AD.
 Helaman 3:7
 Earliest examples of cement found in Central America date to around 100 AD.
 http://mi.byu.edu/publication
s/transcripts/?id=128
The Nephites had large market places. Helaman 7:10 Large marketplaces were a distinctivie Mesoamerican legacy. http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=4&num=2&id=107
The Book of Mormon often uses Hebrew grammar in place of proper English.  "I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true;"
(Moroni 10:4)		 In Hebrew, instead of asking if something is true, they often will ask if something is NOT true, meaning the exact same thing. Paul Joüon and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew (Roma: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblio, 1991), §161 b-c and 164 d.
    "And it came to pass that two hundred and thrity and eight years passed away."
(Jarom 1:13)
  In Hebrew, numbers and lists of objects are joined by an "and".  This is known as the repeated conjunction. Book of Mormon Evidences by John Hilton III, p. 41 & 42
   "And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood." In Hebrew, adjectives are often joined by the word "of".  This is known as the Construct State. Book of Mormon Evidences by John Hilton III, p. 38
  "Behold, I and my brethren will go forth into the lands of Zarahemla."
(Alma 27:15)
 In Hebrew, the author heads the list that includes any other people. Book of Mormon Evidences by John Hilton III, p. 39
   "Behold, I have dreamed a dream."
(1 Nephi 8:2)
  In Hebrew, the same word is often used as both noun and verb in the same phrase.  This form is known as the cognate accusative.  Book of Mormon Evidences by John Hilton III, p. 40
  "...there shall be bloodsheds...
(2 Nephi 1:12)
"...labor with all their mights..."
(Jacob 5:72)		 These are examples of Plural Amplification. Visions, Manifestations and Miracles of the Restoration by Trevan G. Hatch, p. 157
 

"And I, even I, whom ye call your king..."
(Mosiah 2:26)
"...and I, even I, in my old age..."
(Mosiah 10:10)

 These are examples of the Emphatic Pronoun. Visions, Manifestations and Miracles of the Restoration by Trevan G. Hatch, p. 158
  "I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord God gave these commandments unto his children."
(Alma 13:1)
 "In Hebrew, "forward" is used for past events, and "back" is used for future events."  Book of Mormon Evidences by John Hilton III, p. 40-41
  "And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: Behold, we will give up the land of Jershon, which is on the east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of the land Bountiful; and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance."
(Alma 27:22)
  Jershon is a Hebrew colophon.  The letters "on" are added to three consonants y-r-sh to create a name from a common Hebrew word. Y-r-sh means to inherit.  John A. Tvedtnes, "Colophones in the Book of Mormon," in John L. Sorenson and Melvin J. Thorne (eds.), Rediscovering the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Co. ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1991), 32–37
Many Hebrew idioms can be found in the Book of Mormon.

 To "reign under" means to reign in one's stead.
"...did reign under his father"
Alma 13:18

 Genesis 36:33, 1 Kings 5:1, 2 Kings 14:21
All of these verses are translated differently in the KJV, but "reign under" is the literal interpretation of the orginal Hebrew.

Hebrew Idioms in the Book of Mormon by Sidney B. Sperry
Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Vol. 4, Issue 1
 

 "by the hand of" can be found scattered throughout the Book of Mormon.
1 Nephi 5:14
1 Nephi 13:26
Mosiah 11:21
Alma 9:10

Some Bible examples can be found in ...
Genesis 38:20
Exodus 4:13

 Ibid.
 

 "from before" can be found in ...
1 Nephi 4:28
1 Nephi 11:12
3 Nephi 4:12
Mosiah 17:4
Alma 44:12
Mormon 4:20

The same idiom is translated a variety of ways in the KJV.
"from"  1 Samuel 19:8
"out of the presence of"
1 Samuel 19:10
"from the presence of"
Genesis 3:8
"because of" Genesis 7:7
"from the face of"
Exodus 2:15
"from before" Exodus 4:3

 Ibid.
 

 "by the mouth of" occurs at least 15 times in the Book of Mormon.
1 Nephi 3:20
1 Nephi 5:13
2 Nephi 25:1

"... that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished."
2 Chronicles 36:21–22

 Ibid.
 

 "stiffened their necks"
2 Nephi 6:10
2 Nephi 10:5
Jacob 2:13
Jarom 1:3

"... but he stiffened his neck."
2 Chronicles 36:13
"... made their neck stiff, that they might not hear." Jeremiah 17:23

 Ibid.
Many names in the Book of Mormon appear to have either a Hebrew or Egyptian origin.  Alma Once thought only to be a woman's name, recent discoveries have found it used as a male name in ancient Hebrew documents, dating before 600 BC. Matthew Roper, Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon2001 FAIR Conference
   Ammon This is the most common name of the Egyptian Empire. Hugh W. Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, the World of the Jaredites, There Were Jaredites
   Zarahemla It probably derives from the Hebrew Zerahemla, which translates to child of compassion. Joseph R. and Norrene V. Salonimer, I Know Thee by Name: Hebrew Roots of Lehi-ite Non-Biblical Names in the Book of Mormon (Independence, Mo.: Salonimer, 1995).
  Hem Hem is Egyptian for servant, particularly of Ammon Hugh W. Nibley, Lehi in the Desert, the World of the Jaredites, There Were Jaredites
  Lehi Lehi is Hebrew for jawbone.  Used only as a placename in the Bible, it has been established elsewhere as a male personal name. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, "Lehi in the Samaria Papyri and on an Ostracon from the Shore of the Red Sea," Journal of the Book of Mormon and Restoration Scripture 19/1 (2010): 14–21
  Sariah Sariah has been traced to 6th century BC Aramaic.  Ibid.
   Liahona The Liahona was a device wholly unknown by Lehi and his family, so they were the ones to name it Liahona, which probably derives from L-iah-ona, the Hebrew "the Lord is my whither", an apt name for a device that gives directions from God. Journal of Book of Mormon Studies: Volume 16, Issue 2, Pages: 60—67 Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2007
   Mosiah A Hebrew proper name that denotes hero or savior.  It was used at the Jewish community of Elephantine circa the 5th Century BC. John Sawyer, "What Was a Môšiac?" Vetus Testamentum 15 (1965): 475-86
What Was a Mosiah by John Welsh
   Mulek The Book of Mormon tells us that Mulek was a son of King Zedekiah who escaped to America.  It is probably a short version of Malkiyahu ben-Hamelek who experts now believe was a son of Zedekiah.  ben-Hamelek literally means son of the king. New Information About Mulek, Son of the King, by Robert F. Smith
  "And it came to pass that Ishmael died, and was buried in the place which was called Nahom."
(1 Nephi 16:34)

Nahom, or NHM is a Hebrew root which denotes comfort or consolation. 
A place by this name was recently discovered in southern Arabia with a grave yard dating to this period. 

H. Van Dyke Parunak, "A Semantic Survey of NHM," Biblica 56 (1975): 532.

S. Kent Brown, "New Light: "The Place That Was Called Nahom": New Light from Ancient Yemen," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 8/1 (1999): 66–67
The chief judge was killed by "a garb of secrecy".  Helaman 9:6 The Hebrew word for garb or garment is "beged".  It can also be translated as "very treacherously."  Modern English has a similar phrase, "cloak of secrecy." Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance
Letters typically observe the ancient Hebrew ettiquite of the superior correspondent always being listed first.   Alma 54:5–14
Alma 54:16–24
Alma 56:2–58:41
Alma 60:1–36
Alma 61:2–21
3 Nephi 3:2–10
 No clear examples can be found in the modern bible, but "preexilic nonbiblical Hebrew examples from Lachish and Tel Arad do show adherence to this requirement."

FARMS Review: Volume - 22, Issue - 2, Pages: 125-135

Ras Shamra Parallels: The Texts from Ugarit and the Hebrew Bible II (Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1975)
"And they did also carry with them deseret, which, by interpretation, is a honey bee;..."  Ether 2:3  An ancient Egyptian word for honey was "dsrt." "A Brief Survey of Ancient Near Eastern Beekeeping," by Ronan James Head, in "The FARMS Review," Vol. 20 No. 1, 2008, pages 57-66.
 The Book of Mormon follows the same naming conventions as the Bible. There are no surnames in the Book of Mormon, nor names that use the letters q, x, or w.  There are also no names that begin with "F".  There are 337 proper names in the Book of Mormon.   Hebraisms and Other Ancient Peculiarities of the Book of Mormon by Donald W. Parry, Maxwell Institute
Seven types of parallelisms that are found in the Bible are also found in the Book of Mormon.

An example of Synonymous Parallelism is the following verse from 2 Nephi 25:2
"their works were works of darkness, and their doings were doings of abominations..."

   Figures of Speech Used in the Bible by E.W. Bollinger
 

An example of Antithetic Parallelism is the following verse from 1 Nephi 17:45
"Ye are swift to do iniquity
but slow to remember the Lord your God."

   Figures of Speech Used in the Bible by E.W. Bollinger
 

An example of the Repeated Alternate can be found in 1 Nephi 19:10

   Figures of Speech Used in the Bible by E.W. Bollinger
The Book of Mormon claims to be a record of Israelite derivation, and claims to quote other Israelite books.

"And it came to pass that my father, Lehi, also found upon the plates of brass a genealogy of his fathers; wherefore he knew that he was a descendant of Joseph..."
1 Nephi 5:14

 The science of Documentary Hypothesis clearly shows the Book of Mormon to be of distinctly Israelite derivation. Ten More Amazing Discoveries by George Potter, p. 121