LDS Old Testament Notes 07: The Book of Abraham

2014, Mike Parker http://bit.ly/ldsarc For personal use only. Not a Church publication.
Old Testament
Week 7: The Book of Abraham
1) This week were going to step away from our usual lesson schedule to talk about the Book of
Abrahamspecifically, how we got it and why its important.
1

2) Origins of the Book of Abraham.
a) Were going to start with the discovery of some ancient manuscripts.
i) [SLIDE 2] The French conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt in 1798. When
his expedition returned, the scientists and artists he had taken with him began to
publish about what they saw, and this soon fueled a wave of Egyptomania among
Europeans in the early 19th century.
ii) The intense demand for Egyptian artifacts spurred men like Antonio Lebolo.
(1) [SLIDE 3] Lebolo, an Italian who had previously served in Napoleons army,
moved to Egypt where he was employed by Bernardino Drovetti to oversee
excavations in Upper Egypt.
(2) [SLIDE 4] Sometime around the year 1820, Lebolo excavated eleven well-
preserved mummies and some documents written on papyrus from a pit tomb
near the ancient city of Thebes (modern Luxor).
(a) He shipped these mummies to Italy, where they were consigned for sale.
Eventually, after Lebolos death, they were sent to New York, where they were
purchased in 1833 by an American entrepreneur named Michael H.
Chandler.
2

iii) Chandler went on an exhibition tour of the northeastern United States, charging
people to see the mummies and occasionally selling off items from the collection.
(1) [SLIDE 5] In July 1835 he came to Kirtland, Ohio, and sold what remained of the
collectionfour mummies, several rolls of papyri, and some loose papyrus
sheetsto a group of Latter-day Saints who purchased them for $2,400 on behalf
of Joseph Smith and the Church.
3

(2) Not long after Joseph announced that the papyri contained writings of the
biblical patriarchs Abraham and Joseph.
4
Various entries in his journal indicate
that Joseph immediately began working on a translation of the Abraham
material.
b) [SLIDE 6] Between July and December 1835, Joseph and his scribes
5
created a
collection of around 16 documents related to the Book of Abraham translation project,

1
Some of the material for this lesson is drawn from Kevin L. Barney, The Book of Abraham, ByCommonConsent.com, 27
June 2013 (http://bycommonconsent.com/2013/06/27/the-book-of-abraham). Kevin has written and published extensively
on the Book of Abraham, and I am grateful to him for allowing me to borrow liberally from this blog post.
2
Chandler himself claimed that he was Lebolos nephew, and that the mummies and other items had been willed to him
after Lebolos death. This was the story he told to the Saints in Kirtland, and they reprinted it in The Latter Day Saints
Messenger and Advocate 2/3 (December 1835), 234 (http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/NCMP1820-
1846/id/7189). Chandlers story, however, was not true.
3
Thats approximately $52,000 in 2012 dollars. (Calculation by http://www.westegg.com/inflation.)
4
History of the Church 2:236 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/2/18.html#236).
5
Josephs scribes on the Book of Abraham project were W.W. Phelps, Warren Parrish, Oliver Cowdery, Frederick G.
Williams and Willard Richards.
Hurricane Utah Adult Religion Class Old Testament: The Book of Abraham Week 7, Page 2
totaling about 120 written pages. These are referred to today collectively as the Kirtland
Egyptian Papers (KEP).
i) The Kirtland Egyptian Papers contain two types of documents:
(1) [SLIDE 7] Six documents contain the first couple of chapters of the manuscript
for the Book of Abraham.
6

(2) [SLIDE 8] Ten of the KEP documents are an attempt to create an Egyptian
alphabet and grammar of some sort. The most extensive of these is a bound book
titled Grammar & Aphabet [sic] of the Egyptian Language.
7

(a) Some of these documents have Egyptian symbols in the left hand margin of
each paragraph of text.
(b) The KEP were never explained or published, and after they were brought out
west they were placed among the papers of the Church Historians office and
eventually forgotten, until they were rediscovered well into the twentieth
century.
8

c) [SLIDE 9] What we know today as the Book of Abraham was first published as a series
of three articles in the Times and Seasons at Nauvoo in the spring of 1842.
9

i) In February 1843 Joseph indicated that more of the Book of Abraham would be
published,
10
but none ever was, and no manuscript evidence of additional text has
been discovered.
11

6
Photo images of the extant Book of Abraham manuscripts are available on the website of the Joseph Smith Papers
Project (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/william-w-phelps-and-warren-parrish-copy-of-abraham-manuscript-
summer-fall-1835-abraham-11-218?p=1).
7
The Grammar & aphabet contains 34 nonconsecutive pages of writing, interspersed by 186 blank pages (an average of
three written pages being followed by 18 to 20 blank pages). Photo images of this book are available on the website of the
Joseph Smith Papers Project (http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/grammar-and-alphabet-of-the-egyptian-
language-circa-july-circa-december-1835?p=7).
8
The meaning of the KEP has been hotly debated. Most Mormon scholars believe that they were an attempt by Joseph and
his associates to reverse engineer an Egyptian grammar from the manuscripts; in other words, with the Book of Abraham
manuscript finished (or at least in process), they were trying to match up the Egyptian characters with the English text and
create a sort of Rosetta Stone. Critics of the Church, on the other hand, assert that the KEP were written first, and that the
English text of the Book of Abraham was written later, thus demonstrating that Joseph Smith could not translate Egyptian.
There are problems with both theories, however: The Egyptian symbols in the KEP arent in any discernible sequence, but are
from different, random locations in the papyri. Also, most of the symbols arent even Egyptian, but appear instead to have been
made up or drawn from Masonic ciphers. For more on this, see Samuel Brown, Joseph (Smith) in Egypt: Babel, Hieroglyphs,
and the Pure Language of Eden, Church History 78/1 (March 2009), 2665; William Schryver, The Meaning of the Kirtland
Egyptian Papers, FAIR Apologetics Conference, 6 August 2010 (video: http://bit.ly/SchryverKEPvid / text:
http://bit.ly/SchryverKEPtext).
9
See The Book of Abraham in Times and Seasons 3/9 (1 March 1842), 70306
(http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/NCMP1820-1846,9800) (= Abraham 1:12:18 + Facsimile 1); 3/10 (15 March 1842), 71922
(http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/NCMP1820-1846,9811) (=Abraham 2:195:21 + Facsimile 2); 3/14 (16 May 1842), 78384
(http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/NCMP1820-1846,9849) (= Facsimile 3).
The material was republished in England under the same title in The Latter-Day Saints Millennial Star 3/3 (July 1842),
33 (http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/MStar/id/20841) (= Facsimile 1), 3436
(http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/MStar/id/20842) (= Abraham 1:12:18); 3/4 (August 1842), 4953
(http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/MStar/id/20850) (=Abraham 2:195:21). The Millennial Star edition
introduced a number of textual and punctuation changes.
The Book of Abraham was next included in The Pearl of Great Price, a tract published in Liverpool, England in 1851 by
Elder Franklin D. Richards (pp. 1829; http://thebookofabraham.blogspot.com/2010/01/pearl-of-great-price-1851.html).
The 1878 edition of The Pearl of Great Price (containing the Book of Abraham on pp. 3247;
http://archive.org/stream/pearlgreatprice02smitgoog#page/n40) was canonized by action of the First Presidency in General
Conference on 10 October 1880.
10
Notice, Times and Seasons 4/6 (1 February 1843), 95 (http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/NCMP1820-1846,8432).
11
There is, however, the journal entry of Anson Call, made in Far West in 1837 or 1838, in which he indicated that he
delivered some book s to Joseph Smiths office, whereupon, he recorded: There we found Joseph and six or seven other
3) [SLIDE 10] Contents of the Book of Abraham.
a) The Book of Abraham comprises five chapters of text and three facsimiles.
b) The text:
i) Chapter 1 details Abrahams early life in the idolatrous Chaldean city of Ur, where he
was almost killed as a sacrifice, but saved at the last moment by an angel of the Lord.
This chapter also includes a brief folk history of the origins of Egypt.
12

ii) Chapter 2 describes Abrahams flight from Ur to the land of Canaan, and from there
to Egypt. The Lord entered into a covenant with Abraham. (Compare Genesis 11:27
12:20).
iii) In Chapter 3 Abraham described a vision that he received through an Urim and
Thummim describing the cosmos, the graded nature of intelligence, the premortal
world, and the Council in Heaven.
iv) Chapters 4 and 5 contain an account of the creation similar to the one found in
Genesis chapters 1 and 2.
13

c) The facsimiles:
i) A facsimile is an exact copy of something. The Book of Abraham contains copies of
three vignettes from the Egyptian papyri Joseph Smith had in his collection, along
with explanations of the symbols and how they relate to the text of the Book of
Abraham:
(1) Facsimile 1 represents Abraham upon the altar (figure 2), about to be sacrificed
by an idolatrous priest (figure 3), and the angel of the Lord appearing above him
(figure 1).
(a) This is the only facsimile that is actually mentioned in the text of the Book of
Abraham (see Abraham 1:12b).
(2) Facsimile 2 is an image whose overall purpose is not explained, but contains
symbols that relate to the Egyptian cosmology described in Abraham chapter 3.
(a) The facsimile itself is not, however, mentioned in the Book of Abraham text.
(3) Facsimile 3 represents Abraham sitting upon Pharaohs throne, by the politeness
of the king (figure 1).
(a) This facsimile is not mentioned in the Book of Abraham, and a description of
the event is not found in its text.
14

ii) The facsimiles themselves are interesting for several reasons:

brethren. Joseph was much pleased with the arrival of the books, and said to us, Sit down and we will read to you from the
Translations of the Book of Abraham. Oliver Cowdery then read until he was tired when Thomas Marsh read making
altogether about two hours. I was much interested in the work. (Anson Call, Manuscript, entitled Copied from the Journal of
Anson Call, dated February 1879, 34, MS 4783, Church Historical Department.) What is interesting about this is that the text
of the Book of Abraham, as published, can be read aloud in about 30 minutes, yet Anson Call reported that it took about two
hours to go through it. This may be indirect evidence that the translated material Joseph Smith had was longer than what has
been published.
12
By folk history I mean the description of the founding of Egypt by Egyptus, granddaughter of Noah (Abraham 1:21
28), is based on legend or common belief, rather than on rigorous historical methodology. Virtually all the historical accounts
in ancient scripture are folk histories based on oral tradition.
13
See the handout for Old Testament lesson 3 (http://bit.ly/ldsarcot03h).
14
Its possible that the story of Abraham meeting the Pharaoh may have been included in additional text that Joseph
Smith said he would publish, but never did (see footnote 10).
(1) These are the only illustrations that are canonized as part of Mormon scripture.
(2) They contain no teachings that are a part of Mormon doctrine.
15

(3) The explanations attached to them are not translations in the strict sense of the
word.
(a) At the time Joseph worked with the Egyptian papyri (1835), Egyptology was
in its infancy. Only a few people in the world could translate the materials
Joseph had, and none of them lived in the United States.
16
Its only since then
that weve come to understand the original purpose and meaning of the
facsimiles. (This is something well get to in just a bit.)
4) [SLIDE 11] What became of Joseph Smiths collection of papyri?
a) [11.1] After Joseph Smith was killed in 1844, his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, took
possession of the Egyptian antiquities. She exhibited them for money, which she used to
support her modest living.
b) [11.2] Soon after Lucys death in 1856, Emma Smith Bidamon and her second husband,
Lewis Bidamon, sold the collection to a man named Abel Combs.
i) [11.3] It was long believed that Combs in turn sold the entire collection to the St.
Louis Museum, which was transferred to the Woods Museum in Chicago, and that all
of the materials were lost when the Woods was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire
of 1871. (And indeed, much of itincluding the mummiesprobably was.)
ii) [11.4] As it turns out, however, Combs had given a portion of the papyri collection
to his nurse, Charlotte Weaver Huntsman. In 1947 her son-in-law sold the materials
they had to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
iii) The curators of the Metropolitan Museum knew that these pieces were connected to
Joseph Smith, but they did not inform the Church of their existence.
iv) [SLIDE 12] In 1966 the museums curator of the Department of Egyptian Art,
working through a mediator,
17
approached the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints to see if they wanted the papyri. After negotiations the collection
was presented to the Church in November 1967.
18

c) The portion of Joseph Smiths collection that was returned to the Church are collectively
referred to as the Joseph Smith Papyri (JSP). The collection consists of eleven
pieces.
19

15
The explanation for Facsimile 2, figure 8 claims that those writings are to be had in the Temple of God, but they are
not a part of any LDS temple ordinance.
16
The breakthrough in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics came with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 and its
translation by Jean-Franois Champollion in Paris in 1822. It was several decades after that before scholars were able to read
ancient Egyptian with any confidence.
17
The curator was Henry Fisher, and the mediator was Dr. Aziz S. Atiya, who had previously been director of the
University of Utahs Middle East Center.
18
See Jay M. Todd, Egyptian Papyri Rediscovered, Improvement Era 71/01 (January 1968), 1216
(https://archive.org/stream/improvementera7101unse#page/n13). The most accurate version of the story of the recovery of
the papyri is in John Gees introduction to Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Abraham (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book
and Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2009), xxixxvi.
19
High-resolution photographs of the entire collection are available on the website of the Joseph Smith Papers Project:
http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/egyptian-papyri
i) [SLIDE 13] The documents are ancient Egyptian funerary texts,
20
books that were
buried with the dead that contained instructions on how to be resurrected and
progress through judgment, and then take their place in heaven among the gods.
ii) Three of the documents were originally part of a single scroll that belonged to an
Egyptian priest named Hor.
21
This text is called a Book of Breathings.
22

(1) One of the three is the original of Facsimile 1. (This is the only recovered
document that can be directly connected to the Book of Abraham.)
(2) The original of Facsimile 3 was not recovered, but it also belonged to the
collection owned by Hor.
iii) [SLIDES 14 & 15] The remaining eight documents are fragments of two other
Egyptian Book of the Dead scrolls belonging to two individuals.
23

iv) [SLIDE 16] We know that Joseph had at least one additional scroll that has not been
recovered, because there is a copy of some hieroglyphics in the Kirtland Egyptian
Papers with the name of a fourth individual.
24

v) [SLIDE 17] The original of Facsimile 2 was also not recovered, but the hieroglyphics
on the front indicate that it belonged to Sheshonq, a wealthy member of an Egyptian
priestly family.
25
This type of document is called a hypocephalus (more on that
later).
vi) These materials all date from Egypts Ptolemaic Era, a few centuries before Christ.
vii) [SLIDE 18] From the recovered material and from the eyewitness accounts of the
collection during Joseph Smiths lifetime, we know that Joseph had at least four
scrolls (plus the hypocephalus), and that the scrolls were quite long.
26

(1) If the scroll lengths were similar to other Egyptian Books of the Dead, then the
material recovered from the Metropolitan Museum represents, at most, only 13%
of the original papyri that Joseph Smith had in his possession.
27

20
This fact has never been denied nor concealed by the Church. The Improvement Era article announcing the acquisition
of the collection explained, Some of the pieces of papyrus apparently include conventional hieroglyphics (sacred inscriptions,
resembling picture-drawing) and hieratic (a cursive shorthand version of hieroglyphics) Egyptian funerary texts, which were
commonly buried with Egyptian mummies. Often the funerary texts contained passages from the Book of the Dead, a book
that was to assist in the safe passage of the dead person into the spirit world. Todd, 1213.
21
From the names, titles, and genealogies written on the papyri, we know their ancient owners were Egyptian priests who
lived in Thebes in Egypt. They were wealthy individuals who came from important political families. For example, the father of
Hor (the owner of JSP I) was the great governor of Thebes. Their official positions were often hereditary. John Gee, A Guide
to the Joseph Smith Papyri (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2000), 15
(http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1125&index=4).
22
The Book of Breathings is also sometimes referred to as the Sensen Papyrus, as sensen is the Egyptian word for
breathing.
23
These are fragments from a Book of the Dead belonging to Tshemmin, and a psychostasy (soul weighing) scene
vignette relating to Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead belonging to Neferirnub. BYU scholar Michael D. Rhodes has
published the most recent translations of the recovered material in The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and
Commentary (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002) and Books of the Dead Belonging to Tshemmin and Neferirnun: A Translation
and Commentary (Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2010).
24
Valuable Discovery of hiden reccords that have been obtained from the ancient buring place of the Egyptians, page 1
(http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/valuable-discovery-of-hiden-records-circa-july-circa-december-1835?p=3).
The individuals name was Amenhotep.
25
Gee, A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri, 57.
26
John Gee, A Tragedy of Errors, Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 4/1 (1992), 10809 and 106 fn. 36
(http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1427&index=15). The quote in footnote 36 is important,
because it contains President Joseph F. Smiths 1906 recollection of seeing one of the unrolled scrolls in Nauvoo as a child, and
when unrolled on the floor [it] extended through two rooms of the Mansion House.
5) Criticism of the Book of Abraham.
a) [SLIDE 19] Critics have been attacking the Book of Abraham since the mid-19th
century.
28
Many of them consider it to be proof that Joseph Smith was not a prophet.
Their case basically comes down to three arguments:
i) We have Joseph Smiths Egyptian papyri, and they contain common Egyptian
funerary documents, not the text of the Book of Abraham.
ii) Modern Egyptologists can translate the Book of Abraham facsimiles, and Joseph
Smiths explanations of the symbols dont match what the Egyptologists say they
mean.
iii) The Book of Abraham claims to have been written by [Abrahams] own hand, upon
papyrus.
29
But the Joseph Smith Papyri dont date to Abrahams time (c. 2000 B.C.),
but rather were written between 300 B.C. and A.D. 100.
b) Im going to examine each of those claims. My hope in doing so is to not only answer
their charges, but also explain how the Joseph Smith Papyri relate to the Book of
Abraham.
c) [SLIDE 20] Criticism #1: The Book of Abraham is not on the Joseph Smith Papyri.
i) There are three different ways that Latter-day Saints have responded to this charge:
(1) The first is to claim that the Egyptologists are wrong and that Joseph Smith was
right. In other words, the Book of Abraham is on the recovered papyri, but
scholars of Egyptology havent translated them correctly.
(a) Unfortunately, this argument simply doesnt hold up. Egyptology is a very
small academic discipline, and there is a great deal of disagreement among
Egyptologists about the meanings and messages of Egyptian culture and
language, but we do know enough to rule out the possibility that the Book of
Abraham is on the Joseph Smith Papyri that were recovered in 1967. [20.1]
(2) The second response is that the Book of Abraham was on some of the papyri that
Joseph Smith had in his possession, but that portion is not in the collection found
at the Metropolitan Museum.
(a) This is known as the missing papyrus theory.
(b) I mentioned earlier that we have, at most, 13% of the scroll material that
Joseph Smith had. This theory argues that the text of the Book of Abraham
was somewhere in the other 87%.

27
Gee, A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri, 23
28
The first attacks came from French Egyptologists beginning in 1860. Most of these did not receive notice at the time in
the United States, but criticisms of the facsimiles by French Egyptologist Monsieur Thodule Charles Devria were published
in English by T. B. H. Stenhouse in his 1873 anti-Mormon book, The Rocky Mountain Saints: A Full and Complete History of
the Mormons, 51019 (https://archive.org/stream/rockymountainsai00stenrich#page/510).
In 1912, when Franklin S. Spalding, the Episcopal bishop of Utah, sent copies of the Book of Abraham facsimiles to eight
prominent Egyptologists of the day, along with Josephs published explanations. The Egyptologists gave standard egyptological
explanations of the facsimiles and concluded that Josephs explanations were not correct. The publication of this pamphlet led
to a long series of responses from Mormon scholars that appeared in the Improvement Era between 1912 and 1918.
The
29
The phrase written by his own hand upon papyrus first appears at the top of the first page of the Book of Abraham
manuscript, which was written by William W. Phelps and Warren Parrish Copy in the summer of 1835 (photo image here:
http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/william-w-phelps-and-warren-parrish-copy-of-abraham-manuscript-summer-
fall-1835-abraham-11-218?p=1).
(c) This is certainly a possibility, although there are some challenges to it. All the
material that we know Joseph Smith had appears to be Egyptian funerary
documents.
(i) However, there is evidence that suggests that Biblical stories and
characters were used in Egyptian religious texts, so the missing papyrus
theory is not without some scholarly support.
30

ii) The third response is that the Book of Abraham was not contained in any of the
documents that Joseph Smith had, but rather that the documents themselves were a
stimulus that lead Joseph to ask the Lord and receive a revelation about Abraham
and Egypt.
(1) This is known as the catalyst or revealed text theory.
(2) One reason why this theory is plausible is that Joseph often used the word
translation to describe revelations he received.
31

(a) For example, D&C 7 is a translation of a parchment written and hid up by
the Apostle John.
32
But Joseph Smith never actually had the parchment in his
possession; he received D&C 7 by revelation through the Urim and Thummim.
(b) Likewise, Joseph referred to his revision of the Bible as a translation, even
though he didnt work with ancient languages or manuscripts.
33
The entire
project was received purely by inspiration.
(3) The biggest weakness of this theory could be that Joseph and his scribes almost
certainly believed that the Book of Abraham was on the papyri. However, they
may have misunderstood the relationship between the text of Book of Abraham
and the Egyptian material.
(a) Since we dont believe that Joseph Smith was omniscient (all-knowing), this
doesnt present too much of a challenge.
iii) So which of these theories is the correct one?
(1) As I said, I dont think the first one has much merit.
(2) The second is certainly a possibility.
(3) Personally I gravitate toward the catalyst theory, although Im open to the
missing papyrus theory. As with many unknowns in Church history, I prefer to
keep an open mind.
iv) In short, however, that fact that we do not have the original text of the Book of
Abraham is not a serious challenge to its authenticity.

30
Kerry Muhlestein, The Religious and Cultural Background of Joseph Smith Papyrus I, Journal of the Book of Mormon
and Other Restoration Scripture 22/1 (2013), 2033
(http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=2330&index=2). Muhlestein, an Egyptologist at BYU,
previously published his findings in a non-LDS academic journal: Abraham, Isaac, and Osiris-Michael: The Use of Biblical
Figures in Egyptian Religion, A Survey, in Achievements and Problems of Modern Egyptology: Proceedings of the
International Conference Held in Moscow on September 29October 2, 2009, ed. Galina A. Belova (Moscow: Russian
Academy of Sciences, Center for Egyptological Studies, 2011), 24659.
31
The fullest explanation of this theory is Karl Sandberg, Knowing Brother Joseph Again: The Book of Abraham and
Joseph Smith as Translator, Dialogue 22/4 (2009), 1737 (http://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-
content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V22N04_19.pdf).
32
History of the Church 1:36 (http://byustudies.byu.edu/hc/1/6.html#36).
33
See Doctrine and Covenants lesson 15, page5 (https://sites.google.com/site/hwsarc/home/dc/week15).
d) [SLIDE 21] Criticism #2: Scholarly translations of the facsimiles dont match Joseph
Smiths published explanations.
i) To answer this, we need to look at the original purposes and meanings of the
facsimiles and how they were repurposed to serve the Abraham text.
(1) As I mentioned earlier, the original purpose of these Egyptian texts was to serve
as instructions for the dead on how to be resurrected and successfully pass
through divine judgment, and then take their place in heaven among the gods.
(2) [SLIDE 22] Facsimile 1, in its original context, is a lion couch scene.
(a) These types of scenes are common in Egyptian Books of the Dead. They
usually represent the deceased person being embalmed on a table-like couch.
The jackal-headed god Anubis, who is associated with mummification and the
afterlife, stands nearby. The deceased persons ba, which is the part of his soul
that represents his character or personality, hovers overhead.
34
Underneath
the table are four canopic jars that store and preserve the deceased persons
internal organs for use in the afterlife.
35
[SLIDE 23]
(b) [SLIDE 24] The lion couch scene depicted in Facsimile 1 is a little unique in
that it doesnt represent the deceased personHor, an Egyptian priest (figure
4)being embalmed, but rather being resurrected by Anubis (figure 3), with
Hors ba nearby returning to his body (figure 1).
36

(c) Youll notice that there are some other inconsistencies here: In Facsimile 1,
Anubis has a human head instead of a jackals head, and Hors ba has a birds
head instead of a human head.
(i) [SLIDE 25] This is likely because the original vignette was probably
damaged when Joseph Smith obtained it. The originalnow called Joseph
Smith Papyrus Iis missing Anubis head and left hand, Hors torso and
arms, and the top of the head of Hors ba.
(ii) [SLIDE 26] Joseph Smith or one of his scribes penciled in what they
thought should be in the missing portion. Some of those conjectural
emendations were included by Reuben Hedlock, who did the woodcuts on
which the Book of Abraham facsimiles were based.
37

(iii) [26.1] What did the original vignette look like? We dont know for
certain, but if it was in line with other lion couch scenes, Anubis would
have a jackals head. The object in his left hand looks like a knife, but its
actually the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth (more on that when we
get to Facsimile 3).
38

34
Ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ib or heart (the seat of emotion, thought,
will and intention), the Sheut or shadow, the Ren or name, the Ba or personality, and the Ka or vital essence.
35
Each jar was shaped in the form of the head of an Egyptian god: Hapi, the baboon-headed god representing the north
(lungs); Duamutef, the jackal-headed god representing the east (stomach); Imseti, the human-headed god representing the
south (liver); and Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god representing the west (intestines).
36
Hor is not in a sarcophagus, his eyes are open, and his hands and feet are raised.
37
Note that Hedlock left out the sketch of an upraised knife in Anubis right hand, and placed the knife instead in his left
hand, over Hors groin. Also notice that the head on Anubis is nearly an exact copy of Hors head.
38
Theres been some debate over what was originally in Anubis left hand in the original. However, at least two
eyewitnesses from the Nauvoo period described the figure holding a knife. See John Gee, Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical
Evidence of the Joseph Smith Papyri, in The Disciple As Witness: Essays on Latter-Day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor
(d) At some point this vignette was given new meaning for use with the Book of
Abraham. Hor became Abraham on the altar, Anubis became the priest of
Elkenah who was attempting to sacrifice Abraham, and Hors ba became the
angel of the Lord who appeared to save Abraham. (Well discuss in a moment
who gave it this new context and why.)
(i) Just because Josephs explanation doesnt completely match the
Egyptologists doesnt mean he got everything wrong. In fact, there are a
number of depictions in the facsimiles that he got exactly right (this, in a
day when no one could understand these symbols).
1. [SLIDE 27] For example, Joseph explained the crocodile (figure 9) as
the idolatrous god of Pharaoh. In its original context, the crocodile is
the Egyptian god Sobek. The Egyptian Pyramid Texts praise the
pharaoh as living incarnation of the crocodile god.
39

2. [SLIDE 28] There is also a lion couch scene in the Egyptian Leiden
Papyrus I 384 with the word Abraham written in Greek just below
the couch. This papyrus is particularly important because it dates to
the same time period as the Joseph Smith Papyri (3rd or 2nd century
B.C.) and was discovered at Thebes, the same city where the JSP were
found,
40
demonstrating that lion couch scenes referring to Abraham
are right at home in the time and place where Facsimile 1 came from.
(3) [SLIDE 29] Facsimile 3, in its original context is a throne scene. It was part of the
same scroll as Facsimile 1.
(a) In this vignette, the deceased person Hor (figure 5) is being introduced to
Osiris, the god of the afterlife and the dead (figure 1) by Maat, the goddess of
truth (figure 4) and Anubis, the god of mummification (figure 6). Behind
Osiris stands Isis, the mother-goddess and sister-wife of Osiris (figure 2).
Their names are attested in the hieroglyphics over their heads.
41

(i) [SLIDE 30] In this similar throne scene, the deceased individual is being
introduced to Osiris after having been declared innocent in the Hall of the
Two Truths, where his heart has been weighed by Anubis against the
feather of Maat (seen in Facsimile 1). Because his heart is true, he is

of Richard Lloyd Anderson, Richard Lloyd Anderson, Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges, eds. (Provo,
Utah: FARMS, 2000), 18486 (http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1092&index=8).
39
On the relationship between the idolatrous god of pharaoh in Facsimile 1 and Sobek, the Egyptian crocodile god, see
Quinten Barney, Sobek: The Idolatrous God of Pharaoh Amenemhet III, Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other
Restoration Scripture 22/2 (2013), 2227 (http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=2891&index=2).
40
For more on the Leiden Papyrus I 384, see John Gee, References to Abraham Found in Two Egyptian Texts, Insights:
An Ancient Window 11/5 (September 1991), 1, 7
See also http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/dmp/dmp03.htm
41
To the right of Isis (figure 2), one column: The great Isis, mother of the god.
To the right of Osiris (figure 1), three columns: Words spoken by Osiris, the foremost of the westerners: / May you, Osiris
Hor, abide at / the side of the throne of his greatness.
To the left of Maat (figure 4), one column: Maat, lady of the west.
To the left of Hor (figure 5), two columns: Osiris Hor, the / justified forever.
To the left of Anubis (figure 6), three columns: Words spoken by Anubis who make protection / lord of heaven, foremost
of / the westerners.
At the bottom, one row: The gods of the west, the gods of the cavern, the gods of the south, north, west, and east say: May
Osiris Hor, justified, born of Taykhebyt, prosper.
Translation by Michael D. Rhodes.
worthy to enter into the presence of Osiris, where he will live forever as
one of the gods.
(b) [SLIDE 31] This vignette has also been repurposed for use with the Book of
Abraham. Abraham (figure 1) is seated on Pharaohs throne, with Pharaoh
(figure 2) standing behind him.
42

(4) [SLIDE 32] Facsimile 2, in its original context, is a hypocephalus. Specifically
this hypocephalus belonged to wealthy man named Sheshonq.
43

(a) [SLIDE 32] Hypocephalus is a Greek word meaning under the head
(). An Egyptian hypocephalus was a round disk, made of papyrus,
wood, bronze, or other material, that was placed under the head of a mummy.
It contained a spell that would cause a flame to appear under the head of the
deceased that would provide protection and warmth to the body until it could
be resurrected.
44

(b) [SLIDE 33] About 100 examples of hypocepheli have been discovered. Most
of them have the same stock themes in eight panels. Their round shape (a
universal concept of completeness) represents the pupil of an eye, and also
the sun, human life, and reproduction.
(c) We dont have the original hypocephalus from Joseph Smiths collection; all
we have are drawings of it.
(i) [SLIDE 34] We do know, from a drawing in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers,
that the original was missing substantial portions.
45

1. [34.1] Comparing this to other hypocepheli, it appears that whoever
reconstructed it got many things right, including the placement of R
in the upper right-hand panel (figure 3).
46

2. However, the hieroglyphics around the outside edge were not
reconstructed correctly. A scribe, working in Joseph Smiths time,
inserted hieratic characters in their place instead.
47

(d) As with Facsimile 1, Joseph Smith did translate some of the figures correctly:
(i) His explanation for figure 3 is God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with
power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head. This

42
A description of some of the connections between this vignette and ancient traditions about Abraham may be found at
http://en.fairmormon.org/Book_of_Abraham/Joseph_Smith_Papyri/Facsimiles/Facsimile_3
43
Sheshonqs name is attested in hieroglyphics in the panel marked figure 8 in Facsimile 2.
44
Hugh Nibley and Michael D. Rhodes, One Eternal Round (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and Provo, Utah: FARMS,
2010), 207-09.
45
This drawing was made by Willard Richards in early 1842. See
http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/explanation-of-facsimile-of-papyrus-drawing-early-1842
46
Its possible that panel was copied from a nearly identical image of R found in JSP IV. If thats the case, whoever copied
it was correct in placing it where he did in the hypocephalus. Kevin Barney writes, Reuben Hedlock, the engraver of the
Facsimiles, filled in lacunae in the papyri as best he could in order to present complete pictures for purposes of publication.
This wasnt done to deceive anyone, but for stylistic reasons. We wouldnt try to fill in the holes in a publication of the
Facsimiles today, but its unfair to judge what Hedlock did in his engravings by our modern sensibilities rather than those that
prevailed at the time.
47
The outer ring, beginning at the top and reading counterclockwise, reads: I am the Provider in the Sun Temple in
Heliopolis. [I am] most exalted and very glorious. [I am] a virile bull without equal. [I am] that Mighty God in the Sun Temple
in Heliopolis. <Missing text, probably May the Osiris Sheshonq live forever> with that Mighty God in Heliopolis.
Translation by Michael D. Rhodes, The Joseph Smith HypocephalusTwenty Years Later (1997), 5
(http://home.comcast.net/~michael.rhodes/JosephSmithHypocephalus.pdf).
matches its original representation of R, the sun god on his solar boat,
with a sun-disk over his head.
(ii) Josephs explanation for figure 6 is this earth in its four quarters. The
four figures there are the sons of Horusthe Egyptian gods Hapi,
Duamutef, Imseti, Qebehsenuefwho do indeed represent the north, east,
south, and west.
48

(e) In connection with the Book of Abraham, Facsimile 2 contains symbols
representing the astronomical bodies described in Abraham chapter 3.
ii) [SLIDE 35] So why does Josephs explanation for the symbols in the facsimiles differ
with their original meanings?
(1) The most probable explanation is that these documents began their lives as
Egyptian funerary documents, but someone gave them a new context, purpose,
and meaning at some point, and attached them to the text of the Book of
Abraham.
(a) One theory is that the person who did this was an ancient Jewish Egyptian
scribe.
49

(b) Its also possible that Joseph Smith himself was the one who adapted these
illustrations to the Book of Abraham text.
iii) In summary, yes, the explanations of the facsimiles published by Joseph Smith dont
match the translations done by Egyptologists, but so what? Symbols and icons are
fluid and can be recycled and given new meaning; thats exactly what happened here.
e) [SLIDE 36] Criticism #3: Joseph Smith claimed that the text of the Book of Abraham
was written by his own hand, upon papyrus.
i) Its fairly certain that Joseph Smith believed that Abraham himself wrote the papyri
he owned.
50
But what if he was wrong? So what? Theres no indication that he
received that specific piece of information by revelation.
ii) Ultimately what matters is the content of the Book of Abraham, not what Joseph
Smith believed about its origins.
iii) This is one reason why I prefer the catalyst theory: The Egyptian material Joseph
had was not the source of the Book of Abraham, but it was the spark for the
revelation he received.
6) [SLIDE 37] The message of the Book of Abraham.
a) Critics of the Book of Abraham like to focus on the exotic Egyptian material, but what
about the English text Book of Abraham? That had to come from somewhere, and its an
impressive text.

48
These are the same gods represented on the canopic jars in Facsimile 1. See footnote 35.
49
This is the argument of LDS scholar Kevin Barney, who assigned this ancient Egyptian Jew the name J-Red (for Jewish
Redactor). See Barney, The Facsimiles and Semitic Adaptation of Existing Sources, in Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant,
John Gee and Brian Hauglid, eds. (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2005), 10730
(http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1098&index=10). In his paper Barney gives other examples of
Jews living in Egypt just before the time of Christ who adopted or adapted Egyptian iconography to their own purposes as
illustrations of their own stories.
50
Note, however, that the phrase as it appears in Times and Seasons 3/9 (1 March 1842), 704 (link in footnote 9), cautions
that the papyri are purporting to be to the writings of Abraham.
i) Many details in the Book of Abraham, having to do with matters like the attempt to
sacrifice the young Abraham and Abraham teaching astronomy to the Egyptians, are
things that are not found in the Bible, but that are found in other ancient religious
texts that Joseph Smith could not have known about.
51

b) Beyond the ancient connections, the Book of Abraham is important to Latter-day Saint
belief because of its unique teachings, including:
i) Abrahams account of how he desired to have the priesthood, despite the idolatry
and wickedness that was all around him (Abraham 1:17), and the connection
between the priesthood and the Abrahamic covenant (2:811).
ii) It is one of the only revelationsand certainly the most expliciton the nature of
premortal life and the Council in Heaven (3:1828).
c) We are blessed to have the Book of Abraham. It is a small book, but it is a work of
infinite importance. The concepts found between its pages are of ancient origin, and
teach us truths not found in any other book of scripture.
7) There will be no class next week.
a) When we return in two weeks, well study the life of the prophet Abraham. The reading
for that lesson is Abraham 12 and Genesis 1223.

51
There is a 565-page book that has numerous examples of ancient material similar to what we have in the Book of
Abraham: Traditions about the Early Life of Abraham, John A. Tvedtnes, Brian M. Hauglid, and John Gee, eds. (Provo, Utah:
FARMS, 2001).

LDS Old Testament Notes 07: The Book of Abraham

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