Newark Holy Stones

The Newark Holy Stones refer to a set of artifacts allegedly discovered by David Wyrick in 1860 within a cluster of ancient Indian burial mounds near Newark, Ohio. The set consists of the Keystone, a stone bowl, and the Decalogue with its sandstone box. They can be viewed at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Coshocton, Ohio.^[1] The site where the objects were found is known as The Newark Earthworks, one of the biggest collections from an ancient American Indian culture known as the Hopewell that existed from approximately 100 BC to AD 500.^[2] The events surrounding the discovery and authenticity of the artifacts is a highly contested subject of controversy.

Discovery

The Decalogue

The first of these artifacts, popularly known as the Keystone due to its shape, was excavated in June 1860. Unlike other ancient artifacts found previously in this region, the Keystone was inscribed with Hebrew.^[3] It contains one phrase on each side:

• Holy of Holies
• King of the Earth
• The Law of God
• The Word of God

The second find came later in November 1860 when Wyrick and his excavation team came across a sandstone box which contained a small, black limestone rock within^[4] (the type of rock was identified by geologists Dave Hawkins and Ken Bork of Denison University^[5]). This rock was carved with post-Exilic square Hebrew letters on all sides translated to be a condensed version of the Ten Commandments.^[6] The name Decalogue Stone, comes from the translation of the Hebrew letters that outline the religious and moral codes described in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21, which refer to the Decalogue or Ten Commandments. The inscription begins on the front at the top of an arch above the figure of a bearded man who is wearing a turban, robe, and appears to be holding a tablet. It runs down the left side, continues around all sides, and makes its way back to the front up the right side to where it began. This pattern indicates that the inscription was meant to be read repetitively. Right above the figure of the man is a separate inscription which translates to "Moses".^[6] Also found nearby during the same excavation was a small stone bowl about the size of a tea cup, which is also on display with the other artifacts.^[4]

The Keystone

Skepticism

The Newark Holy Stones are viewed with a vast amount of skepticism. The idea that there is a connection between the ancient Hopewell mound builders and Jewish settlers that were in the Americas before Columbus is considered by some to be a form of pseudoarchaeology. Many skeptics believe that David Wyrick's discoveries are an attempt to link these artifacts to a Lost Tribe of Israel. The inscriptions on the artifacts were post-Exilic Hebrew which originated in the time of Ezra. However, a Lost Tribe of Israel would have written in pre-Exilic form.^[6]

Another possibility is that the Newark Holy Stones were forged to support a political viewpoint. Brad Lepper, of the Ohio Historical Society who has extensively studied the Hopewell culture, suggests that the artifacts might have been scientifically forged to help advance the theory on monogenism.^[7] In 1860, slavery was a subject of poignant interest and heated debate that was reaching a critical point in American society. Anthropology and other forms of science were often used in defense or opposition.^[8] Discussions promoting monogenism, for example, were often used to oppose slavery and segregation.^[8]

Further speculation is added by the prevalence of hoaxes and inconsistent testimony in similar areas of study regarding the Cardiff Giant, the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone and the Beringer stones.

Who made them?

There is some speculation as to who made the stones, one would assume Wyrick created them in order to prove his theory, yet some feel otherwise. In 1861 Wyrick published a pamphlet which describes his account of the discoveries; it included woodcuts of the inscriptions found on the stones. When comparing Wyrick's woodcuts of the Decalogue to the actual inscription found on the stone Wyrick made 38 or more errors out of the 256 Hebrew letters, in which he either made a legible letter illegible, even omitting some letters. Some believe that whoever created the stone had an imperfect knowledge of the language, and given that Wyrick made this many errors in addition, proves he had a far worse understanding, and therefore could not be the author. In addition to that, his woodcut of Moses presented similar inconsistencies. Wyrick's Moses is wearing a beret instead of a turban and is also in a 19th century dress, not a flowering robe as shown on the stone. Beverley H. Moseley, Jr., former art director of the Ohio Historical Society, has compared the carving of Moses on the stone to Wyrick's woodcut copy. It is his opinion as a professional artist that the same person could not have made these two images. Whether or not these inconsistencies were intentionally done by Wyrick to disprove his involvement is unknown, yet after his death Colonel Charles Whittlesey published a paper in which he discovered personal items such as a Hebrew Bible, engraving tools, and some black rock were found suggesting his involvement in the hoax.

Wyrick’s Hoax

Among some of the hoax theories is that Wyrick, the discoverer of the stone, planted it at the site. Because Wyrick was an archaeologist and had access to the site, he could have easily placed the stone in an area of his choosing and simply “discovered” it the next day. However, there are other points that are highly contested.

It is asserted that Wyrick believed that the Lost Tribes of Israel had crossed into America and settled there (see mound builders), and because he believed this theory, it is asserted that he would be driven to plant fake artifacts to verify it. This conjecture is postulated, though not solely, by archaeologist Stephen Williams in his book Fantastic Archaeology, though not necessarily supported. However, others assert that since Wyrick did not mention his belief in the Lost Tribes theory in any of his pamphlets or essays on the artifact, Wyrick did not hold such beliefs.

The inscriptions on the stone are another point of contention. Though Wyrick was a man familiar with Hebrew and various types of artifacts, it is unlikely that he wrote the symbols or the image of Moses. In his pamphlets and woodcarvings of the artifact, Wyrick made 38 errors when copying the inscription from the Decalogue Stone. Also, though the language on the Stone is not perfect post-Exilic Hebrew, the errors are at regular intervals, so it could either be a dialect or the particular style of an individual. However, the letters being in post-Exilic cannot be right if the inscription is supposed to be from a Lost Tribe. To be from a Lost Tribe of Israel, the letters should have been in pre-Exilic. If Wyrick was going to bother making a believable hoax, he would have used pre-Exilic. Furthermore, there is his later discovery of the Keystone, a wedge shaped stone—like a large thick arrowhead—made from novaculite and inscribed with fairly Modern Hebrew letters. There is very little reason for Wyrick to change the lettering from one artifact to another. Also, Modern Hebrew has taken a millennium to develop from pre-Exilic and post-Exilic. The idea that almost identical letters could develop isolated from each other is highly unlikely. Finally, in regards to the figure depicted on the artifact, when Beverley H. Moseley, Jr., a former art director from the Ohio Historical Society, compared the images of Moses in Wyrick’s woodcarvings (these woodcarvings were used to preserve 3D representations of the Stone) and the artifact he found that the stylistic aspects were too different for the artists to be the same.

From this, many draw the conclusion that Wyrick is in fact innocent of falsifying evidence, and that he is the subject of someone else's hoax. In fact, Wyrick himself, in 1863—a year before his death—expressed in a letter to Joseph Henry that he might have been a victim of a hoax.

Rev. John W. McCarty’s and stonecutter Elijah Sutton’s Hoax

Rev. John W. McCarty and Elijah Sutton were both residents of Newark when the Decalogue Stone (and the Keystone) was found. Elijah Sutton was a stonecutter with no other direct link to the event other than his part in carving Wyrick’s headstone when he died. However, it is asserted that because the Decalogue Stone is made from similar materials and is of the same width (thickness) as his headstones, he must have cut the stone. As for Rev. John W. McCarty, he played a more direct role in the artifact’s discovery.

It was with the help of McCarty that the stone was translated. Upon receiving the stone McCarty was able to translate it within hours. It is also likely that many Christian clergy supported the idea of the Lost Tribes myth during the 1800s, for it not only validated the Biblical tale of the Lost Tribes but also implied their religious right to continue colonize America and their Christianization of the Native Americans. However, it is not uncommon for a member of the clergy to be well versed in Hebrew and thus be able to decipher an inscription with relative ease. Also, McCarty did not get the translation right the first time. When deciphering the letters above the figure’s head, McCarty first believed that it read “Messiah” and thus thought the figure was Jesus. Upon further study, he realized it read “Moses” instead, and released a second translation.

Related Discoveries

There were other stones found at the Newark site, like the Keystone. Two other stones were also found at Newark shortly after Wyrick’s death (they have since been lost). However, they were quickly dismissed as fakes when the local dentist, John H. Nicol, claimed that he had carved and introduced the stones to the site. Finally, a fifth stone was found at the same site as the Decalogue stone two years later by David M. Johnson, a banker, and Dr. Nathaniel Roe Bradner, a physician. This fifth stone, named the Johnson-Bradner Stone, was also inscribed with post-Exilic Hebrew. The Johnson-Bradner Stone has since been lost.

See also

• Los Lunas Decalogue Stone

References

1. ^ "Collections". Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum. http://www.jhmuseum.org/holy_stone_about.htm. Retrieved 31 January 2011. 
2. ^ "Hopewell Culture". Ohio History Central. http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1283. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
3. ^ J. Huston McCulloch. "View of the Keystone". Archaeological Outliers: Adventures in Underground Archaeology. Ohio State University. http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/keyviews.htm. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "The UnMuseum: The Decalogue Stones". The UnMuseum. http://www.unmuseum.org/decalog.htm. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
5. ^ Marder, William (2005). Indians in the Americas: The Untold Story. San Diego, CA: The Book Tree. p. 48. ISBN 1-58509-104-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=Obgdz8auwkMC&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=%22dave+hawkins%22+%22ken+bork%22&source=bl&ots=c4aLtSw5-5&sig=ebRl4QlnsHBUDIXZEPukvLxUs9g&hl=en&ei=-Dh7TMNZg_uXB5DalPEK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAg. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} J. Huston McCulloch. "The Newark "Holy Stones"". Archaeological Outliers: Adventures in Underground Archaeology. Ohio State University. http://www.econ.ohio-state.edu/jhm/arch/decalog.html. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
7. ^ Hollon, Amy (20 August 2010). "Glenn Beck mention boosts Newark Earthworks". NewarkAdvocate.com. http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20100820/NEWS01/8200307/Glenn-Beck-mention-boosts-Newark-Earthworks. Retrieved 30 August 2010. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ ^{a b} "Anthropology, History of". Jacksonian America and Polygenism. http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/5954/Anthropology-History-of.html. Retrieved 30 August 2010. 

Further reading

1. Stephen Williams, Fantastic Archaeology. Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1991, pp. 167–75.
2. Charles Whittlesey. Archaeological Frauds: Inscriptions Attributed to the Mound Builders. Three Remarkable Forgeries. Western Reserve Historical Society Historical & Archaeological Tract #9, 1872.
3. The Newark, Ohio Decalogue Stone and Keystone
4. Wyrick's Letter to Joseph Henry