We trust this information from the Smithsonian Institute will cause sincere Mormon people to investigate and discover that the Mormon propaganda is inaccurate, and will show them that they should turn to the Bible, the Word of Almighty God, the Book that can be trusted. Therein they will discover the true message of salvation and eternal life as He has revealed it. God's Word is the only Source which can be trusted to determine our eternal destiny.

UTAH CHRISTIAN TRACT SOCIETY

P.O. Box 725, La Mesa. California 92041

Dr. Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr.

Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology

Washington 25, D.C.

Dear Dr. Roberts:

We enjoyed so very much our trip to your beautiful city of Washington this summer. One of the highlights of our visit being the many interesting and profitable hours we spent in the Smithsonian Institution and also our discussion with you in your office. Mrs. Budvarson and I want to thank you again for the courtesies you extended us.

Relative to our discussion concerning the Book Of Mormon and archeological research, we are writing as per your suggestion, to ask some specific questions in order that you might answer them for us.

As you know, there are many claims made for the Book of Mormon that it contains histories of nations of peoples who lived on the American continent, extending from approximately B.C. 2000 to A.D. 421.

If these claims were true, then it would seem to me, that practically every archaeological discovery dating from B.C. 2000 to A.D. 421, made on the American continent, would of necessity agree with the subject matter of the Book of Mormon.

Items named in the Book of Mormon story, which the people possessed and used, include such things as: Iron, steel, brass, gold coins, silver coins, swords, cimeters, breast plates, arm shields, armor, horses, and chariots, grain, silk. Also the following domesticated animals: cattle, oxen, cows, sheep, swine, horses, asses, elephants, cureloms, cumoms.

The story tells of: "many great and not able cities and inhabitants sunk in the depths of the sea" and "cities and inhabitants sunk in the depths of the earth."

The names of the cities mentioned in the Book of Mormon are: Ammonihah, Angola, Antiparah, Boaz, Bountiful, Cumeni, Desolation, Gad, Gadiandi, Gadiomnah, Gid, Gideon, Gilgal, Gimgimno, Helam, Jacob, Jacobugath, Jashon, Jerusalem, Jordan, Josh, Judea, Kishkumen, Laman, Lehi, Manti, Mocum, Morianton, Moroni, Moronihah, Mulek, Nephi, Nephihah, Noah, Omner, Onihah, Shem, Teancum, Zarahemla, Zeezrom.

Now the specific questions we wish to ask are as follows:

1. Have any of the above mentioned cities named in the Book of Mormon been discovered?

2. Does true archeological data of the New World agree with the subject matter of the Book of Mormon?

3. Has the Book of Mormon ever been used or recognized as a guide in archeological explorations?

4. Does the Book of Mormon have any value in connection with scientific investigations and archeological discoveries?

5. Has there been any Hebrew or Egyptian writings found in the ancient ruins discovered on the American continent?

6. What are cureloms and cumons? Have they ever been discovered? I have referred to numerous dictionaries and encyclopedias and I cannot find any reference to either of them.

Thank you very much, Dr. Roberts, for your time and consideration for us.

Sincerely, Arthur Budvarson, La Mesa, California

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

Bureau of American Ethnology

Washington 25, D.C.

Mr. Arthur Budvarson

La Mesa, California

Dear Mr. Budvarson:

I am pleased to hear that you and Mrs. Budvarson had such a pleasant trip last summer and that you apparently enjoyed very much the time you spent here in Washington.

With respect to some of the questions which you have raised pertaining to the story in the Book of Mormon relating to aboriginal occupation in the New World, I may say that thus far no iron, steel, brass, gold and silver coins, metal, swords, breast plates, arm shields, armor, horses and chariots, or silk have ever been found in pre-colonial archaeological sites. It is not until after the conquest of the New World by Europeans that materials in those categories appear in association with aboriginal artifacts. As a matter of fact there are not many such objects occurring in historic sites. Furthermore, cattle, sheep, swine, horses and asses, such as we know them, were introduced in the Americas by Europeans in post-Columbian times. No actual elephants have been found in any archaeological site. In the early stages of aboriginal development during late Pleistocene times the Paleo-Indians did occasionally hunt and kill the mammoth and mastodon, and in some cases appear to have killed and eaten the native horse. Those creatures, however, became extinct at least 10,000 years ago.

I do not know of any case where an archaeological site has been identified with any of the names of the cities mentioned in the Book of Mormon. The most likely ruined cities would be those in the Maya area, and they all have native names which do not correspond to those in your list. It is possible that some of the anthropologists at Brigham Young University who have done some work in the Maya area may have attempted such a correlation, but if so I have not seen it reported. None of the main workers in the field have made any reference to the possibility of one of the well-known ruins being those of a city mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

I am not thoroughly versed in the Book of Mormon, but have read it and have also read some books on Mormon archaeology and I have not found that any of the archaeological data as we know them correspond with the subject matter of the Book of Mormon. Unless perchance some of the people from Brigham Young University may have done so. I do not know of any use which has been made of the Book of Mormon as a guide in archaeological explorations.

To the best of my knowledge no authentic Hebrew or Egyptian writings have ever been found in the New World. A number of years ago the existence of an extensive Hebrew inscription was reported from New Mexico. It had been cut in the face of a cliff. Careful examination by linguists familiar with Hebrew writings indicated that the inscription was not genuine and probably was quite recent in age. I know the late Dr. Breasted of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago very well, and on several occasions heard him specifically state that he had never seen anything Egyptian in the New World. He was a recognized authority on Egypt and an outstanding scholar in Egyptian hieroglyphics. I was at the Maya city of Chichen Itza in Yucatan in 1932 when Dr. Breasted spent two weeks studying the ruins and inscriptions at that location as well as at several other cities in the area, and at the end of the period he was very emphatic about the total lack of evidence for any Egyptian influence.

I have no idea what cureloms and cummoms may be. I have had the same experience as you in that I have never been able to find either of the words in any dictionary or books of reference. I would presume that they are supposed to be some kind of animals, but certainly do not know what their nature may have been.

Trusting that the above may in part answer the questions which you have in mind, I am

Very truly yours, Frank H. R. Roberts, Jr. Director

(Note. The above letters are used by Permission)

Go back to top

______________________________

10 False Prophecies by Joseph Smith

The Missing Mormon Golden Plates

Return to the "Mormonism" Page

Back to Cults & False Doctrines

Return to Main Reading Room