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TitleMetal Plates in the British Museum
Publication TypeMagazine Article
Year of Publication1936
AuthorsHinckley, Gordon B.
MagazineImprovement Era
Volume39
Issue Number3
Pagination154
Date PublishedMarch 1936
KeywordsAncient America - Mesoamerica; Ancient Egypt; Ancient Near East; Metal Plates; Metallurgy; Recordkeeping
Abstract

Research has shown that the Egyptians, Hebrews, and Greeks used tablets of metal to record important documents. The Inca-ruled natives of Peru and the Aztecs of Mexico engraved records on metal sheets. Engraved records are also found among relics of North American Indians. The British Museum possesses a set of twenty-five silver plates containing Buddha’s first sermon and a gold tablet containing the dedication of the temple to Osiris by Ptolemy Eureregetes, 242-222 B.C.