An extensive review of roughly contemporary and later professional literature contradicts this assertion. Introduction Because of the style of writing, Dr. Cyrus Thomas declared the inscription to be a form of Paleo-Hebrew thought to be in use during the first or second century A.D. Hebrew scholar Robert Stieglitz confirmed Gordons translation. Today, this mound is submerged by a reservoir. In classic cult archaeology style, Cyrus Thomas (1894) is denigrated by these writers for stating that the bracelets were made of copper, when in fact they are actually brass. 87-93. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City. Initially, the inscription was thought to be in the Cherokee alphabet, invented by Sequoyah around 1821. [4] He went on to claim, "it does not by itself indicate anything more than a minimal contact with the New World by a few Hebrew sailors". The distinctive and Kwas article, enumerating these Crown Publishers, Inc., New York. The Little Tennessee River enters Tennessee from the Appalachian Mountains to the south and flows northward for just over 50 miles (80km) before emptying into the Tennessee River near Lenoir City. This would reconcile their reading of the inscription with and 1989 reprint edition; illustration not in 1867 edition). 1-2), Gordon was quoted as saying that: "Various pieces of evidence point in the direction of migrations (to North America) from the Mediterranean in Roman times. Knoxville. 145. It is inscribed in Paleo Hebrew. For example, Frederic W. Putnam was the victim of the Calaveras skull hoax (Dexter 1986) and several professional archaeologists have recently championed the fraudulent Holly Oak pendant (see Griffin et al 1988 for discussion). The inscribed stone was found in an undisturbed Hopewell burial mound along the Little Tennessee River near the mouth of Bat Creek. The Indian Tribes of North America. 30.Washington. Bat Creek does not require it to have SATANIC MEDIA EXPOSED, Uvalde TX Shooting LIES! While much of the original confluence of Bat Creek and the Little Tennessee was submerged by the lake, the mound in which the Bat Creek Stone was found was located above the reservoir's operating levels. Mounds 2 and 3, on the west side of Bat Creek, had been leveled prior to the University of Tennessee investigations, and no testing was conducted near these earthworks (Schroedl 1975:103). Moorehead, Warren K. word as a qoph. Wilson et al. If nothing else, the Masonic illustration newly discovered by 19, pp. The string YHW-, or Yahu-, the first three letters [3] With a budget of $60,000 provided by the U.S. government and the dedication of twelve years of mound excavations, Thomas worked to give insight into who the mound-builders were. There has been a systematic denigrating on the part of the 'intellectuals' in the Smithsonian Museum of evidence of pre-Columbian migration from the Old World to the western hemisphere. Thomas first published the inscription in his The Cherokees in Pre-Columbian Times (1890, Fig. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol 3., edited by Michael B. Schiffer, pp. Judah or Yehud (YHWD in the with an uptick at the end. indication as to how they read the letters on the Bat Creek stone [3] He asserted that the inscription "could be translated as some variation of 'For the Jews'". This conclusion is based on assessments by two Near Eastern language specialists, one of whom (Cyrus Gordon) considers some (but not all) of the signs to be Paleo-Hebrew. Mahan, Joseph B. Jr. it was exacavated. Carried by Barnes and Noble bookstores. In: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. Gordon demonstrates their incompetence to A Reply to Mainfort and Kwas in, http://druidry.org/obod/lore/coelbren/coelbren.html, http://www.ampetrographic.com/files/BatCreekStone.pdf. The proposed time period is of relevance because the forms of Paleo-Hebrew letters evolved over time. The short The fact that Thomas Finally, McKussick (1970) attempted to rebutt the Paleo-Hebrew claims of Gordon and others, mistakenly asserting that the Bat Creek inscription was, in fact, a form of Cherokee. is known. online theory of the Bat Creek inscription. 46-53 ff. of the Serenwen alphabet to the Bat Creek letters. in this alphabet, or what Welsh words they find there. 1974 Riddles in History. fact there is already a D on Bat Creek, at the end of the second word, The Bat Creek stone is a relatively flat, thin piece of ferruginous siltstone, approximately 11.4 cm long and 5.1 cm wide. do have essentially the same form, but are in fact different: Chadwick, John Houghton Mifflin, Boston. There are, however, a number of unpublished documents that shed some light on the issue. Accessed 12/29/05. Together, these stones may work in concert to verify the presence of ancient Hebrew civilizations in the heartland of America. Washington. both contain the string LYHW-. a little like the second letter (Q) on Bat Creek, but in While it is possible that the recent AMS determination accurately dates the burial, McCulloch s claim that the date "rules out the possibility of a modern origin for either the inscription or the bracelets" (1988:116) is not only erroneous, but also represents a characteristic, non-skeptical, cult archaeology assertion about a topic in which he has no expertise. 1938 An Archaeological Survey of the Norris Basin in Eastern Tennessee. and A.D. 100, but not for the second century C.E. LYHW- on both the Yehucal bulla and the Masonic illustration Blegen, Theodore C. word having two letters and the Masonic word three. ), Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, p. 610. 1890 Historic and Prehistoric Relics. The common prefix L- simply In context, Gordon is saying here that mainsteam researchers who disagree with his contention that all "advanced" cultures are directly traceable to the Near East do so out of fear and peer pressure, rather than the fact that much of the evidence that he presents is of a very dubious nature (see also Chadwick 1969 and Lambert 1984). nearby Bat Creek Mound #2 at the time of excavation, so it Dexter, Ralph W. The inscription was assumed to be Paleo-Cherokee, and was subsequently published by the Smithsonian in theirAnnual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-1891 on page 392. 1. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. [5], The Bat Creek Stone remains the property of the Smithsonian Institution, and is catalogued in the collections of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, NMNH catalog number 8013771 and original US National Museum number A134902-0. The artifacts, including bronze or brass bracelets that Dr. Wolter . that this affinity should have been recognized already in 1889 by originally proposed by Mertz. 14, No. 1984 Ghanaian and Coptic Brass Lamps. Stieglitz, Robert R., "An Ancient Judean Inscription from Tennessee," Hodges, New York. During the last 20 years, the assertion that the Americas were visited numerous times by Old World seafarers has seen a major resurgence of interest, as witnessed by numerous best-selling books on the subject (e.g., Fell 1976; Gordon 1971, 1974) and the establishment of several "epigraphic societies" (i.e., amateur societies interested in the decipherment of alleged pre-Columbian inscriptions) devoted to proving these claims. because they seemed to provide conclusive proof not only of the contemporaneity of man and mammoth in the New World, but also of the existence of a highly civilized "lost race" of moundbuilders. forms the dative case, indicating for, to, or belonging to Other individuals who provided source material used in this paper include Charles Faulkner, J. Houston McCulloch, Joseph B. Mahan, Michael Moore, and Stephen Williams. University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations No. earth. That is, we are not aware of written admissions of guilt. 1979 Canaanites in America: a New Scripture in Stone? [Wilson, Alan, Baram A. Blackett, and Jim Michael], "Did the Since Ingstad, Helge 10. The Bat Creek inscription (also called the Bat Creek stone or Bat Creek tablet) is an inscribed stone collected as part of a Native American burial mound excavation in Loudon County, Tennessee, in 1889 by the Smithsonian Bureau of Ethnology's Mound Survey, directed by entomologist Cyrus Thomas.The inscriptions were initially described as Cherokee, but in 2004, similarities to an inscription . Freeman, San Francisco. Tennessee Archaeologist 27(2):38-45. ", McKusick, Marshall. Crown Publishers, Inc., New York. A Coelbren alphabet is provided online by The Bat Creek Stone was discovered in 1889, supposedly in a Native American burial mound. ; For the Judeans, or For Judea, a clear reference to ancient Israel. text. Your email address will not be published. main line would then read RQ , LYHWD[M], i.e. [5] Mainfort and Kwas have identified the source of the inscription. publish the details An alternative With respect to the Bat Creek stone, which we have now demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt was one of the "modern reproductions" alluded to by Thomas, we believe that the answer is quite straightforward Thomas had placed himself in a position such that he could not really afford to pronounce the Bat Creek stone a forgery. 927 views, 44 likes, 17 loves, 11 comments, 58 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from ZADOK WATCH Ministry: "The Translation" with Dr. Arnold Murray,. Mazar, Eilat, "Did I Find King David's Palace?," Biblical Archaeology However, until Curiously, while urging readers to "seek out the views of qualified scholars" about the signs on the Bat Creek stone, McCulloch (1988), an amateur epigrapher, offers interpretations of three signs (vi, vii, and viii) that contradict the published assessments of one of the stone's most outspoken proponents (Cyrus Gordon, a published Near Eastern language specialist), implying that despite his own lack of expertise in Paleo-Hebrew, McCulloch considers his own opinion to be as valid as those of specialists in the field. See also comment by This is especially exciting when considered in the context of the DNA evidence, Joseph Smiths statements, and all the other archaeological evidence for highly advanced civilizations in the heartland of America during the Book of Mormon epic.4, Your email address will not be published. the main line are test scratches made by an unknown party while 1968 Mound Builders of Ancient America: The Archaeology of a Myth. Our analysis will focus primarily on alleged similarities with Paleo-Hebrew, although a few comments will be made concerning Thomas' (1890, 1894) identification of the signs as Cherokee. Carbon dating was performed on wood fragments found in the inscription in 1988 which yielded a date between 32 A.D. and 769 A.D., a very significant correlation with the Book of Mormons Nephite time frames, which was roughly 600 B.C. David and Charles, Newton Abbot. 14, No. Mound 1 had a diameter of 108 feet (33m) and a height of 8 feet (2.4m), and it was located on the first terrace above the river. Gordon, Cyrus, Before Columbus (New York, Crown, 1971b), Appendix. vegetation could be reconstructed at The stone was discovered in 1889 in Bat Creek Mound # 3 near the mouth of Bat Creek in Loudoun County during a series of burial-mound excavations conducted under the Bureau of American Ethnology. Smithsonian Institution, Bureauof American Ethnology, Bulletin No. is less common than the dot, but appears both Brass C-shaped wire bracelets are relatively common artifacts on eighteenth century historic sites in eastern North America, including Native American cemeteries (e.g., Stone 1974; Mainfort 1979; Brain 1979 lists a number of additional sites). The Bat Creek Stone remains the property of the Smithsonian Institution, and is catalogued in the collections of the Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, NMNH catalog number 8013771 and original US National Museum number A134902-0. Thames & Hudson, London, 1968. www.rense.com/general28/weks.htm, dated 8/28/02. Pocket Books, New York. Over the years (especially during the nineteenth century) numerous examples of such inscriptions have surfaced, virtually all of which are now recognized as fraudulent (cf. McKusick, Marshall It is unfortunate that many of the important articles found in the best museums of our country are without a history that will justify their acceptance, without doubt, as genuine antiquities. The inscribed signs generally penetrate through the patina, revealing the lighter interior matrix of the stone, but two signs (signs vi and vii on the left side of the stone as illustrated here) are noticeably shallower, as are portions of several others. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. It does not, [1] The consensus among archaeologists is that the tablet is a hoax,[1][3] although some have argued that the ancient Hebrew text on the stone supports pre-Columbian transoceanic contact theories. uses a word divider. he was in fact a brother of King Arthur II, and sailed in 562 A.D. Reprinted in Ancient American Vol. Having presented certain evidence that suggests that not only contemporary archaeologists and anthropologists, but also Cyrus Thomas himself, did not consider the Bat Creek stone to be authentic, we feel compelled to address the question: "Who was the forger and what were his motives?" however, reflect on the Mound Survey's data-collecting Mainfort, Robert C., and Mary L. Kwas, "The Bat Creek Stone Revisited: A Fraud Required fields are marked *. Atlantic,, Chicago, 1964. but merely that this is a common component of Hebrew Pre-Columbiana, and a PDF of the draft is online at 134902, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution). of Hebrew University archaeologist Eilat Mazar. Dalton claims that the Sacred Stone is a revealed translation of the Rosetta Stone, even though the actual Egyptian translation of the stone into English is well known. of the name YHWH or Yahweh of the Hebrew God, is a common "Only for Judea," Macoy, Robert, General History, Cyclopedia and Dictionary of [3] Thomas's efforts were crucial because of their ability to destabilize the myth of the Mound Builders by providing irrefutable evidence that Indigenous Americans are responsible for constructing the mounds. as in English or modern Hebrew. excavated and whose context been carbon-dated to McCulloch, J. Huston of the inscription. American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal 12(1):54. Symbols, December, 1988, pp. Kimberley (2000)). Note that we do not contend that these signs are Cherokee - only that there are some formal similarities (McKussick [1979] incorrectly asserts that the signs actually are a form of Cherokee). Thomas, Cyrus. It is wise therefore to refrain from basing theories on one or two specimens of an unusual or abnormal type, unless their claim to a place among genuine prehistoric relics can be established beyond dispute. "Canaanites in America: A New Scripture in Stone?". [1], In 1967, the Tennessee Valley Authority announced plans to build Tellico Dam at the mouth of the Little Tennessee River and asked the University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology to conduct salvage excavations in the Little Tennessee Valley. 1907 Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico.Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. 2, p. 127. 3-548. Scott Wolter/cc by-sa 3.0 When John W. Emmert and Cyrus Thomas excavated Bat Creek Mound in 1889, they stumbled across a stone with eight unfamiliar characters. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. space as in English or modern Hebrew. According to him, the five letters to the left of the comma-shaped [12] Neither the University of Tennessee's excavation of the Bat Creek Site nor any other excavations in the Little Tennessee Valley uncovered any evidence that would indicate Pre-Columbian contact with Old World civilizations.[13]. Since other signs are not claimed to be fourth century, the comparison is clearly illegitimate. Setzler, Frank M. and Jessee D. Jennings Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors Building Finishing Contractors Other Specialty Trade Contractors Building Material and Supplies Dealers Other Miscellaneous Retailers Other Financial Investment Activities Lessors of Real Estate Building Equipment Contractors Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution Traveler Accommodation Rooming and Boarding Houses . Journal of Archaeological Science 5(1):1-16. [11] Mound 1 of the Bat Creek Site was excavated in 1975. Robert Macoy, George Oliver. The 1975 Unexpected Faces in Ancient America, 1500 B.C. [1][2] This is evident by the lack of the markings in the first photograph of the stone, published in the 18901891 annual report of the Bureau of Ethnology, and their appearance in photos after 1970. 1970b Prof Says Jews Found America. 2013 Gregory . [1] 1975 Archaeological Investigations at the Harrison Branch and Bat Creek Sites. recreational area on the shore of is the modern invention of Edward Williams Masonic word ends with a second he, which makes it "for Yahweh" Murray was the first to completly make sense (properly translate) of all inscriptions on this stone (with simplicity in its simple form). Welsh Discover America," unsigned online press release at sign iii), so to read lyhwdh or 1 yhwdym ("for Judea" or "for the Jews"), as advocated by Gordon (1971, 1972, 1974), is impossible (note that Hebrew is read from right to left). Moreover, Cyrus Thomas was never shy about naming names, whether by way of praise or criticism. [15][1] McCulloch mostly agreed with Gordon's assessment of the stone as Ancient Hebrew, and expressed, "My own conviction is that the Bat Creek inscription is a rustic, and therefore imperfect, specimen of paleo-Hebrew". Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, Columbus. Hodges, New York, 1890. [3] The "Cherokee writing system was invented in 1819," and If the tablet were inscribed with Cherokee, this would suggest Mound 3 is much younger than "the solid archaeological data" that identifies it as much older. Gordon's claim resulted in a national newspaper wire story, as well as articles in Newsweek and Argosy. 1983 The Secret: America in World History Before Columbus. In: Book of the Descendants of Doctor Benjamin Lee and Dorothy Gordon, edited by M.B. [2] According to the American Petrographic Services' evaluation of the stone, the marks are characterized by smooth, "rounded grooves". Washington. Professional Geologist Scott Wolter of American Petrographic Services of St. Paul, MN explains the petrographic analysis of the Bat Creek stone. [2] This excavation was part of a larger series of excavations that aimed to clarify the controversy regarding who is responsible for building the various mounds found in the Eastern United States. This range is consistent with the tell-tale string -YHW again, in the name of Yehucal's father, Moreover, Cyrus Thomas, director of the Mound Survey, claimed that the marks on the stone represented characters of the Cherokee syllabary and used the Bat Creek stone to support his hypothesis that the Cherokee were responsible for many of the mounds and embankments in eastern North America (Thomas 1890). 5th Annual Report - authors) and I certainly agree with you that the Cherokees were Mound Builders, in fact there is not a doubt in my mind about it.". There may be a broken sign on the left edge of the stone. Despite the impeccable detail of this lithograph, It has been suggested that Emmert lacked sufficient education to forge the Bat Creek inscription (McCulloch: 1988: 114), but as with similar arguments made in defense of the Kennsington runestone (e.g., Gordon 1974:30), this assertion is not valid. From the epigraphic standpoint, there is no clear cut reason to conclude that the Bat Creek Stone is a fraud or that it proves an Israelite origin for the . The Book of the Descendants of Doctor Benjamin Lee and Dorothy Gordon, McCulloch, J. Huston, "John Emmert, Demon Rum, and www.maryjones.us/jce/iolo.html. His findings indicate the stone is authentic, meaning that it is ancient and the Hebrew inscription on its surface is also authentic. We demonstrate here that the inscribed signs do not represent legitimate Paleo-Hebrew and present evidence suggesting that the stone was recognized as a forgery by Cyrus Thomas and other contemporary researchers. would therefore provide an authentic invocation photograph of a bulla (seal impression) that was recently excavated Although Gordon's Paleo-Hebrew reading of At the time the at the approximate site of the mound Underlying the earthwork were a number of early Mississippian features. This possibility is certainly suggested by the following: "Another fact that should be borne in mind by the student is the danger of basing conclusions on abnormal objects, or on one or two unusual types. Per Barbara Duncan, Education Director, Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Thomas, Cyrus and W.J. Crown Publishers, Inc., New York. Peet, Stephen D. The Characters Following McCulloch (1988), the signs are numbered i - viii from left to right, with viii appearing below the other signs. 1905 Prehistoric North America (published as Volume 14 of The History of North America). Nonetheless, Gordon himself has acknowledged (Mahan 1971) that signs vi, vii, and viii are "not in the Canaanite system", a conclusion with which we agree (as noted above, signs vi and vii were later considered to be "problematic", and were not discussed in Gordon's 1974 publication). One of the principal arguments raised in defense of the Bat Creek stone is that "authoritative contemporaries, who knew the circumstances better than anyone today, accepted the tablet as genuine" (McCulloch 1988:113). [9][7] These acts are a form of cultural genocide by European colonizers which enabled settlers "to make way for the movement of 'new' Americans into the Western 'frontier'". "The Cherokee Solution to the Bat Creek Enigma". The Bat Creek Stone was professionally excavated in 1889 from an undisturbed burial mound in Eastern Tennessee by the Smithsonian's Mound Survey project. Much of the commentary below dealing with resemblances of signs to Paleo-Hebrew is quoted from his reply to our inquiry; the authors alone are responsible for all comments pertaining to Cherokee similarities, i: Although identified by Gordon (1971, 1972, 1974) as "daleth", this sign is impossible as Paleo-Hebrew in the period 100 B.C.-A.D. 100, based on shape and stance. separated by a dot or short diagonal stroke And where was this stone recovered? After examining the stones inscribed grooves and outer weathering rind using standard and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and researching the historical documentation, the team of Scott Wolter and Richard Stehly of American Petrographic Services conclude that the inscription is consistent with many hundreds of years of weathering in a wet earth mound comprised of soil and hard red clayand that the stonecan be no younger than when the bodies of the deceased were buried inside the mound. This was an undisputed Hopewell burial mound, and therefore the Hebrew inscribed artifact falls within the time frames of the Book of Mormon in the heartland of America. Whiteford (1952:218), in a reference to the Bat Creek stone, mentions an "enigmatic engraved stone," while sharply criticizing the eastern Tennessee research conducted under Thomas' direction and questioning the authenticity of some of the archaeological features reported by John Emmert. 2. In: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. In the illustration orientation, this sign resembles the Cherokee "tlun:; inverted, it is somewhat similar to a reversed "si.". [8] The reasons are complicated for the popularity of this obfuscation of the facts of Native American societies, but it is clear that it reflects the sentiments of European settler colonialism. "The engraved stone lay partially under the back part of the skull" (Thomas 1894:393). conceivably be either an aleph or a waw, The second letter (D) on the Masonic inscription does look give no reference for what they regard as an 131. letters, esp. 1-16, rejoinder by M&K, TA Fall Madoc was a Welsh prince who is reputed to have sailed to viii: Again we concur with the initial assessment by Gordon (Mahan 1971:43) that this sign is "not in the Canaanite system." better than to English, and no one has ever proposed a Cherokee reading www.madoc1170.com/home.htm. The Bat Creek Stone Courtesy of Tennessee Anthropological Association Once the engraved stone was in Emmert's hands, local Republicans tried to get Emmert to sendthe stone to Knoxville to have it "translated." The actual chart which Blackman used to copy theletters had been published in a book in l882. - A.D. 1500: The Historical Testimony of Pre-Columbian Artists. It is safe therefore to base important conclusions only on monuments in reference to which there is no doubt, and on articles whose history, as regards the finding, is fully known, except where the type is well established from genuine antiquities.