“Ziff”

According to John Sorenson, it is tempting to see "ziff" as another name for an ancient American metal called tumbaga, for it is mentioned twice in direct connection with brass and copper (Mosiah 11:3, 8). Several derivations of "ziff" are possible in Hebrew with two general senses--"bright" or "shining" on the one hand and "plated" on the other. Both meanings would be appropriate for an alloy with a gilded surface similar to tumbaga. But "ziff" could also have been tin, another metal known in Mesoamerica. In fact, even mercury is a possibility, for it too occurred. [John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., p. 284]

“Ziff”

According to Verneil Simmons, since the metallurgists of Mesoamerica used lead and tin, perhaps ziff refers to one of these metals. The word Zif or Ziv, probably of Caananite origin, was given to the second month of the early Hebrew calendar. Its supposed meaning is "brightness." Possibly this word was applied to the shiny white metal we call tin.

That metallurgy came late to Mesoamerica is a position firmly entrenched in the scientific mind and any reports of metal from an earlier period are regarded with suspicion. While metal objects are known from various sites they are few in number and, so far, dated to the Late Classic or Postclassic. It is the position of most archaeologists that the knowledge of metallurgy arrived, fully developed, from South America about A.D. 800-900. (Gold has been found in Peru in the Chavin culture--c. 1000 B.C.) However, Dr. Alfonso Caso, who discovered and excavated the famous treasure of Tomb 7 in Oaxaca, points out that the Oaxaca gold work was far superior to that of other regions of the American continent. This leads to the uncomfortable conclusion that within a very short time the goldsmiths of Oaxaca had far surpassed in craftsmanship those nations which had known metallurgy for over 1,500 years. [Verneil W. Simmons, Peoples, Places and Prophecies, p. 136]