As other ancient civilizations also discovered, whatever was engraved on metal plates could be preserved indefinitely. In contrast, our modern civilization for many years has specialized in preserving valuable records on plastic, which has a relatively brief life.
Book of Mormon scholar Paul R. Cheesman wrote that “it is evident that a knowledge of any ancient culture writing on metal, anywhere in the world, was not public knowledge at [the time of Joseph Smith]… .
“… In America, Joseph Smith stood alone in his bold declaration that he had found:
• an ancient record written in an Egyptian language which had been reformed and condensed.
• a record engraved on thin sheets of gold.
• a record bound with metal rings.
• a record placed in a stone box.” 6
Every one of Joseph Smith’s claims has been substantiated by archaeological evidence and the discovery of items of material culture. After a four-month tour of European and Asian museums, Brother Cheesman wrote that an “exciting feature of almost any large European museum for Latter-day Saints is the surprisingly large number of metal plates or tablets with writing engraved on them.” 7 From the Louvre to the Vatican Library to repositories in Seoul, there are hundreds of samples of metal plates (gold, silver, copper, and bronze) that have survived, inscribed with ancient languages dating from the third millennium b.c. Metal rings to hold several metal leaves together have now been discovered, along with stone boxes to hold plates. Brother Cheesman wrote that the “Plates of Darius I, ruler of Persia from 518–515 b.c., are the closest parallel to the Book of Mormon yet discovered. Two tablets, one of gold and one of silver, were placed in each stone box to be buried at the four corners of his palace. They describe the boundaries of his kingdom, praise Ahuramazda, ‘the greatest of all the gods,’ and pray protection upon Darius ‘and [his] royal house.’ They were discovered by an archaeological team in 1938.” 8 They are now housed in the National Archaeological Museum, Tehran, Iran.
Jacob explained his desire to record important events and lessons from his life so that his children and “beloved brethren” could “learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first parents.” We believe that Jacob’s message and example teach powerfully the value of carefully preparing a personal journal—so that many generations may come to know their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on; so that we can share something with our children that will inspire and uplift and encourage; so that they may have an example of a flawed character, a person with weaknesses, who was nevertheless trying hard to overcome his or her flaws.