Evidence #494 | May 14, 2025
Book of Mormon Evidence: Metal Plates and Robbers
Post contributed by
Scripture Central
Abstract
Copper plates from Java and Bali, like the Book of Mormon, provide historical information about robbers and plundering of communities.Mormon, in his account of the people of Nephi, indicates there were “records of every kind” which spoke of the wickedness of the people, including “their murders and their robbings, and their plundering” (Helaman 3:14–15). One group, in particular, known as the Gadianton Robbers, caused tremendous difficulties among the people (Helaman 11:25–27). They “did do great destruction unto them; yea, did kill many, and did carry away others captive into the wilderness, yea, and more especially their women and their children” (Helaman 11:33).
Not long before the appearance of Jesus Christ to the Nephites, the robbers of Gadianton had become so bold and numerous and “did slay so many of the people, and did lay waste so many cities, and did spread so much death and carnage throughout the land that it became expedient that all the people, both the Nephites and the Lamanites, should take up arms against them” (3 Nephi 2:11). At a later time, Mormon relates that the curse of the robbers became too great, making it impossible for the people to preserve their treasures and other possessions (Mormon 1:18; 2:10).
References to Robbers on Plates in Java and Bali
Like the Book of Mormon, other records kept on metal plates in pre-modern times also speak of the troublesome menace of robbers and plundering. The Kaladi Copper Plate Inscription is a set of eight plates from eastern Java, an island in Indonesia. It is a royal land grant issued by King Balitung dating to AD 909, establishing the settlement of lands between the communities of Gunanta and Kamula, which, at the time, were wild and uncultivated.1 The inscription states that this part of the region was “said to be fearsome, infested with mariwung, which endangered traders and people from downstream by day and by night.”2 The word mariwung can refer to “demons” or more likely “bandits.”3 The settlement and development of these wild regions was apparently thought to make it unsuitable as a hideout for such criminals or plunderers.
The Sembiran inscriptions are a set of twenty copper plates belonging to the communities of Julah and Sembiran in northern Bali, another Indonesian island.4 They preserve a series of six edicts issued by the rulers of Bali to the coastal community of Julah between the tenth and thirteenth centuries AD. These records state that the community of Julah was sometimes troubled by attacks from “robbers” (possibly pirates) who raided the coastal region. The plates record several edicts given to the people of Julah by the kings and rulers of Bali.
One edict was issued by King Ugrasena and dates to AD 922. It indicates that robbers destroyed the town and carried away many of the people of the village. As a result, the king remitted the villagers’ obligation to pay taxes.5 Another edict dates to AD 975 and was issued by King Sri Janasadhu Warmadewa. It sets forth various taxes to be paid by the community and commands the people to repair public bathing places, temples, and monasteries that may have been damaged. They were also admonished to defend and protect a local monastery against any attacks from robbers.6
An inscription dated to AD 1016 issued by the Bali ruler Raja Sri Sang Ajnadewi relates that the village of Julah had again been destroyed by robbers. Many of its people had been killed while the survivors escaped to other settlements. According to this inscription, previous to the attack, the community had included over five hundred families, but only fifty families were left in the aftermath of the banditry. Due to this reduction in population, the people petitioned the king to be freed from taxes.7
Another edict issued by King Raja Anak Wung dates to AD 1065 and sets forth the rights and obligations of the people of Julah. It commands them to defend the community against further attacks from robbers, stating that they should do so with whatever weapons they had. Thus, such attacks appear to have been an ongoing challenge for the community.8
Conclusion
Copper plate inscriptions from Java and Bali make references to marauders or bandits who destroyed villages, slaughtered people, and carried away captives. While these Indonesian plates are significantly separated in time and space from the accounts described in the Book of Mormon, they nevertheless offer an interesting analog to a specific type of historical content within the Nephite record. They also demonstrate that accounts of robbers are not unprecedented in pre-modern metal inscriptions. This is just one of many types of content within the Book of Mormon that can be found in other ancient or pre-modern metal documents.9
Daniel C. Peterson, “The Gadianton Robbers as Guerrilla Warriors,” in Warfare in the Book of Mormon, ed. Stephen D. Ricks and William J. Hamblin (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies; Deseret Book, 1990).
John W. Welch, “Theft and Robbery in the Book of Mormon and Ancient Near Eastern Law,” FARMS Preliminary Report (1985), 1–41.
Ray C. Hillam, “The Gadianton Robbers and Protracted War,” BYU Studies Quarterly 15, no. 2 (1975): 215–224.
- 1. Antoinette M. Barrett Jones, Early Tenth Century Java from the Inscriptions (Foris Publications Holland, 1984), 178–194.
- 2. Barrett Jones, Early Tenth Century Java from the Inscriptions, 181.
- 3. Barrett Jones, Early Tenth Century Java from the Inscriptions, 194, n. 5.
- 4. Brigitta Hauser-Schaublin, “The Diversion of the Village Gods: A Criminal Turn in the Bibliography of Balinese Copperplate Inscriptions,” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 168, no. 1 (2012): 74–99; Brigitta Hauser-Schaublin and I Wayan Ardika, eds., Burials, Texts, and Rituals: Ethnoarchaeological Investigations in North Bali, Indonesia (Gottinger Beitrage zur Ethnologie (Universitatsverlag Gottingen, 2008), 9–68; Wayan Ardika, “Archaeological Research in Northeastern Bali Indonesia,” (Doctors Thesis, Australian National University, 1991). 138–149.
- 5. I. Ketut Setiawan, “Socio-Political Aspects of Ancient Julah,” in Burials, Texts, and Rituals, 216; Hauser-Schaublin and Ardika, “Appendix: Sembiran Inscriptions,” in Burials, Texts, and Rituals, 231–238.
- 6. Setiawan, “Socio-Political Aspects of Ancient Julah,” 217; Hauser-Schaublin and Ardika, “Appendix: Sembiran Inscriptions,” 244–252.
- 7. Setiawan, “Socio-Political Aspects of Ancient Julah,” 218; Hauser-Schaublin and Ardika, “Appendix: Sembiran Inscriptions,” 253–259.
- 8. Setiawan, “Socio-Political Aspects of Ancient Julah,” 218; Hauser-Schaublin and Ardika, “Appendix: Sembiran Inscriptions,” 260–279.
- 9. See Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Metal Plates and History,” Evidence 266 (November 8, 2021); Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Metal Plates and Warfare,” Evidence 275 (November 29, 2021); Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Plates and Genealogies,” Evidence 227 (August 16, 2021); Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Indian Copper Plate Grants,” Evidence 246 (September 28, 2021); Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Thieves vs. Robbers,” Evidence 87 (September 19, 2020); Scripture Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Guerrilla Warfare,” Evidence 91 (September 19, 2020).