By Christine Frandsen
The Joseph Smith Building recently completed a new exhibit on artifacts of ancient America. The artifacts display and compare the revelations of Moroni to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Included in the artifacts are writings on metal, a hollow stone box and rare ancient historical records from Mayan societies.
Phillip Erickson, research assistant to Dr. Alan Parrish, and Rachel Pollock, an intern for the Museum of Peoples and Cultures, co-curated the exhibit.
Parrish, professor of ancient scripture, oversaw the project and hopes it will 'give evidence that what Moroni said is traceable.'
The theme of the exhibit is ancient writing in America. The exhibit is centered around the scripture, JS-H 1:33, when Moroni instructed Joseph Smith, 'There was a book deposited, written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former inhabitants of this continent, and the source from whence they sprang...'
The artifacts come from the collection of Paul R. Cheesman, a former religion professor at BYU.
Included in the display is a touch screen with movies of Cheesman''s research that show parallels in ancient American artifacts to the Book of Mormon. Artwork depicting Moroni and Joseph Smith are also included.