[wagglebee]

Egyptian scholars were definitely in short supply and Joseph Smith not only had a more exotic story, there were fewer people who could possibly debunk this fabrication.

Precisely! The Rosetta Stone was only in its earliest stages of translation (and had not yet been translated into English) when Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. It is likely that someone living in rural America was even aware of the Rosetta Stone's existence, let alone its significance.

[MarkBsnr]

***Precisely! The Rosetta Stone was only in its earliest stages of translation (and had not yet been translated into English) when Smith wrote the Book of Mormon. It is likely that someone living in rural America was even aware of the Rosetta Stone’s existence, let alone its significance.***

It is likely that some folks would have signed on. Look at the moderately well educated and one would suppose, reasonably intelligent individuals that have signed on for Scientology, for instance. But they almost certainly would have been far fewer given a robust debunking with good public knowledge.