 |
| This golden disk found in Peru is an contains an inscription of a calendar system. |
"Who didn't write on metal plates?"
The benefits of engraving on metal are obvious. Metal plate writing was a extremely good way of preserving information over time. Different metals would have had different properties and benefits. Copper, bronze, silver, lead, and gold are all metals that are known to have been engraved on in different cultures. Gold would have been a soft material that would not oxidize over time, making it ideal for long-term preservation. Lead, though even easier to write on, can lose its shape because it is so soft. Other metals such as lead, silver, bronze, and copper all have oxidation problems and are not as durable. All of these metals were used though according to availability and purpose of the documents. These documents were often placed in stone or metal boxes for preservation purposes.
 |
| Copper Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls |
The Hebrews are known to have engraved writing on metal plates from at least the 10th century BC. Exodus 28:36 tells of how Moses commanded to take a metal plate and engrave holy words upon it to atatch to a priest's garb. Isaiah 1:8 speaks of a "roll" and "pen" which are probably mistranslations of the original Greek words for a metal plate and engraving tool. (Check out these cool articles here and here) Probably one of the most famous examples of Hebrew metal engraving are the two copper scrolls that were found in Qumran. They are part of what we now know as the "Dead Sea Scrolls" - one of the most important religious and historical discoveries of the last century.
 |
| One of the Orphic Tablets |
Metal plates were used by the Greeks as far back as 500 B.C. Lead was used by Greeks and Romans as well as bronze for more official documents. During the reign of Emperor Vespasian, there is said to have been as many as 3000 bronze documents which were burned. (see Cheesman 47-48) The Orphic gold tablets are a famous set of ancient Greek inscriptions from the Orphic religious movement with instructions on what to do in the afterlife.
 |
| Korean Plates |
Metal plates were not just a European development, Asian civilizations are also known to have written documents on golden plates, such as these which are a collection of Korean plates written in chinese calligraphy and hinged and wrapped in two golden bands.
 |
| Mayan Gold Engraving |
We even have evidence of metal engravings on the other side of the world. Metal documents have been found in Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico, among others. The gold disk to the left is a Mayan engraving found in an ancient sacrificial well in Yucatan, Mexico.
I could probably go on and on about the importance of metal plate engravings in different civilizations, but I have already dragged this out way too long. What other benefits or purposes of this form of writing do you think their are? Why do you think this is such a universal practice, even without interaction of the civilizations?
In Biology we talk a lot about the different ways that the same structures can exist in different organisms. There are two main explanations, disregarding vestigial and adavistic characteristics, analogy and homology. Homology is when there is a characteristic that is the same because they all evolved from a common ancestor. Analogy is the result of convergent evolution. The same characteristic evolves independently more than once. A good example of this is cephalopod eyes and vertebrate eyes or possibly writing on metal plates.
ReplyDeleteI think not only was writing on metal more durable and long lasting, but it was probably easier to come by and easier to make. Like we talked about in class on Tuesday (and today), to make one piece of parchment meant that one had to go through process of killing, skinning and stretching the skin. This by itself took a long time, let alone creating a whole book and then actually writing in it. Whereas metal just needs to be melted and shaped. Then it can be used to write on. It is also reusable and can be remelted, unlike parchment.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed class today about the preservation methods to history and the dissipation of knowledge. I was wondering throughout the lecture and today about how detached we are today. It is so less tactal than it used to be. There is the classic holding, turning and smelling a book vs reading it from a Kindle. We also do not appreciate how much effort and care went into preserving stuff on plates, I mean it takes two seconds (plus ten hours waiting around at the DMV) to print a license and the Romans carved theres! Anyway I love technologoy but I do feel we miss out on a lot of sensory experience or we don't connect with our information on a deeper level. I don't entirely know what I am trying to say but I do know that on a general level we don't appreciate things, especially how we obtain information, as much as we should.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if I would agree with the statement that metal plates were easy to make, though they may have been slightly easier than parchment or papyrus. I think Nephi and several other prophets actually mention the challenge of writing on metal plates, and that Nephi realizes that it is so difficult when the Lord asks him to make two sets of plates. Like all the tiny books in the middle; I think those exist because the authors didn't think they had anything useful enough to contribute to spend all the effort writing down. And here I go, ruining Mike's great, ACCESSIBLE post with references to our religion. Nephi is a prophet of Ancient America whose writings are in the Book of Mormon, a book of scripture for Latter-day Saints.
ReplyDeleteMetal Plates are definitely a cool writing medium though. Especially to learn about because we don't have a very similar medium today, like we do with parchment or papyrus. Interesting that we find other ways to make things "permanent", though I am not sure that exists in our technological age.
Ya. I agree morgan. metal plates were probably not just as easy as "melting them down and carving stuff in them". although maybe the process would require less technological advances (or maybe not, i have no idea how they process metal) than paper or parchment. Have you ever tried going to the mountains and finding some ore? Ya, me neither. Metal probably came before parchment but I wouldn't call it easy.
ReplyDeleteUm let's talk a little about what technologies go into metal plate, there seems to be some confusion about that. Here is a website that goes through the process for aluminum, though it is similar for other metals http://www.istc.illinois.edu/info/library_docs/manuals/primmetals/chapter4.htm. To "make" metal you have to be able to smelt it out of rock. That means that first you have to find the rocks that contain metal ore. Then you heat the rocks to temperatures high enough that the rock starts to melt. The metal runs out. Then you go through a process of refining the metal. This means heating in at removing impurities that have different melting points as well as adding different chemicals to the metal. Ideally the next step is pouring the ore into a mold, often made out of sand, and then smithing the rough shape you get out of the mold into a more exact form. The initial investment is at least as great s making parchment, but I agree with Misa the reuse is easier for metal than parchment. The only problem is that would destroy the highly praised permanence of records written on the plates.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. I enjoyed how you focused on one specific technology rather than on a civilization. It was a refreshing break from what has kind of become our pattern.
ReplyDeleteI have a note on something completely separate though. You said "metal plate writings might be of special interest because the Book of Mormon is said to have been translated from an ancient record engraved on golden plates." I don't mean to be nagging at you at all, because I really do think you did a great job here, but I just wanted to mention--Even though we were asked to make sure that we frame things in a context that a general population can understand, I don't think that means that we need to use phrases that necessarily cast doubt upon our beliefs or discount them in anyway. Phrases like "said to have been" kind of do that. Again, I really don't want to sound like I'm accusing you of a crime here; I just want to mention that had you said "because the Book of Mormon was written on golden plates," I would feel fine about that.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBefore we start into the finer points of rhetoric let's fix the theirs and theres, rites and rights, its and it's.
ReplyDeleteRhetoric is a powerful tool to convey exact meanings and color statements to have maximal impact. Learning accurately articulate a position has been one of my main goals in my years at the university. I think everyone is learning how best to do that and experimentation is one of the chief ways of learning.
I would caution you against correcting flighty rhetoric. I think most people are very mindful of the way they phrase things, especially in regard to their personal beliefs. By correcting them--turning an "I feel" to an "I know" a "was" to a "may have been"--you are restricting the freedom of truthful expression, contributing to the oft bemoaned perceived forced homogeneity of the BYU campus. If a statement is not strong enough for you add statements of your own assurity; don't correct another's convictions even if it is just phraseology.