From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Book of Abraham is a purported translation made in 1835^[1] by Joseph Smith, Jr. of a set of Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records....purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus".^[2] Smith's translation of the papyri describes a story of Abraham's early life, including a vision of the cosmos.

The complete work was first published serially in the Latter Day Saint movement newspaper Times and Seasons in 1842.^[3] and later canonized in 1880 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as part of their Pearl of Great Price.^[1] Thus, it forms a doctrinal foundation for the LDS Church and Mormon fundamentalist denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is not, however, considered to be a religious text by the Community of Christ or other groups deriving from the teachings of Joseph Smith.

The Book of Abraham papyri were thought lost in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. However, in 1966 ten fragments of the papyri were found in the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Subsequently, an additional fragment was located in the LDS Church Historian's Office. They are now referred to as the Joseph Smith Papyri. Some Mormon Egyptologists have speculated that the Book of Abraham may not be a literal translation of these papyri, and that the papyri were not written by the hand of Abraham. Non-Mormon Egyptologists generally consider the Book of Abraham to be unrelated to the text of the papyri which are portions of Egyptian funerary texts, dating to about the first century BC.^[4] Non-Mormon Egyptologists say the papyri text bears no resemblance to the translation given by Joseph Smith, although Mormon apologists have argued there are several parallels. As a result, the interpretation of the texts has been the source of significant controversy with Mormon critics and apologists differing on the reasons for the discrepancy. Critics view the discrepancy as evidence that the Book of Abraham is solely a 19th century work by Joseph Smith. Apologists suggest several other theories, such as that Smith used the funerary texts as inspiration to construct an older work, that the texts are a corrupted version of an original written by Abraham centuries earlier, or that Smith's translation was based on fragments of papyri that were lost.

Origin

Several papyri and eleven mummies were discovered in Thebes by Antonio Lebolo between 1818 and 1822. Sometime between 1822 and his death on February 19, 1830, Lebolo arranged to have them sold. The mummies were shipped to New York, where they were purchased by Michael Chandler in 1833. Over the next two years Chandler toured the eastern United States, displaying and selling some of the mummies.^[5][6]

In July 1835, Chandler brought the remaining four mummies and associated papyri to Kirtland, Ohio, then home of the Latter-Day Saints. Although the Rosetta Stone had been discovered in 1799, the ability to read Egyptian wasn't well developed until the 1850s. Chandler asked Joseph Smith to look at the scrolls and give some insight into what was written on them, due to Smith's notoriety and claim to have translated the golden plates of the Book of Mormon. After examining the scrolls, Smith, Joseph Coe and Simeon Andrews purchased the four mummies and at least five papyrus documents for $2400^[7] Smith stated:

... with W.W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery as scribes, I commenced the translation of some of the characters or hieroglyphics, and much to our joy found that one of the rolls contained the writings of Abraham, another the writings of Joseph of Egypt, etc. — a more full account of which will appear in its place, as I proceed to examine or unfold them.^[6]

Joseph Smith ostensibly translated the majority of the Book of Abraham text in July and a few days in November 1835 and did some minor revisions in March 1842.^[8] By October, he had also begun

"...translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients."^[9]

Smith's journal entry for Thursday October 1, 1835 reads:

"This afternoon labored on the Egyptan alphabet, in company with brsr. O. Cowdery, and W.W.Phelps..."^[10]

The documents associated with this effort are referred to as the Kirtland Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar (EAG) or the Kirtland Egyptian Papers (KEP).

As with Smith's ostensible translation of the golden plates, Smith's ostensible translation of the Book of Abraham papyri included the use of at least one of his seer stones.^[11]

Content

Book of Abraham Text

The Book of Abraham tells a story of Abraham's life, travels to Canaan and Egypt and a vision he received concerning the universe and the creation of the world.^[12] The book has five chapters; chapters 1 and 2 address Abraham’s early life and his fight against the idolatry in his family and society. It recounts how pagan priests tried to sacrifice Abraham and that an angel came to his rescue. Chapter 2 includes information about God’s covenant with Abraham and how it would be fulfilled. Chapters 3 through 5 contain the vision about astronomy, the creation of the world, and the creation of man.

Facsimiles

Three images and Joseph Smith's explanations of them are included with the text of the Book of Abraham. Facsimile No. 1 and Facsimile No. 3 are part of the Scroll of Hor, which contained Joseph Smith Papyrus I, X and XI.^[13] Facsimile No. 2 is the Hypocephalus of Sheshonq. The location of its source is currently unknown.^[14] At least two artists, including engraver Reuben Hedlock, created woodcuts of these images, which were used to print the articles which appeared in the Times and Seasons in 1842.

According to Joseph Smith's explanations, Facsimile No. 1 portrays Abraham fastened to an altar, with the idolatrous priest of Elkenah attempting to sacrifice him. Facsimile No. 2 contains representations of celestial objects including; the heavens and earth, 15 other planets or stars, the sun and moon, the number 1000 and God revealing the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood. Facsimile No. 3 portrays Abraham in the court of Pharaoh "reasoning upon the principles of Astronomy".

Facsimile No. 1 from the Book of Abraham

Facsimile No. 2 from the Book of Abraham

Facsimile No. 3 from the Book of Abraham

Interpretations and contributions to the Latter Day Saint Movement

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Book of Abraham was canonized in 1880 by the LDS church, and it remains an important part of the larger scriptural work, The Pearl of Great Price. The Book of Abraham text is a source of some unique Latter-day Saint doctrines such as the exaltation of humanity,^[15] the plurality of gods,^[16] priesthood,^[17] pre-mortal existence,^[18] and other inhabited worlds in the cosmos.^[19] The Book of Abraham also contains the only reference in the Latter-day Saint canon to the star Kolob, which, according to the text, is the star closest to where God lives^[20].

Community of Christ

The Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), has not accepted the Book of Abraham as canonical.^[21]

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite)

The Strangite branch of the movement does not take an official position on the Book of Abraham.^[22]

Controversy and Criticism

Since its publication in 1842, the Book of Abraham has been a source of controversy. Non Mormon Egyptologists, beginning with Theodule Deveria in the late 19th century, have disagreed with Joseph Smith's explanations of the facsimiles. They also assert that damaged portions of the papyri have been reconstructed incorrectly. The controversy intensified in the late 1960s when portions of the Joseph Smith Papyri were located. Translation of the Egyptian text revealed that it did not resemble the Book of Abraham text. Latter-Day Saint linguists and Egyptologists including noted Mormon scholar Hugh Nibley, BYU Egyptologist John Gee, Michael D. Rhodes^[23] and Brian Hauglid have offered detailed rebuttals to the criticisms and explanations of the differences.

Early criticism of the facsimiles

Facsimile No. 1

Facsimile No. 1 from the Book of Abraham

Extant papyri showing original vignette considered the source of Facsimile 1. Note the lacuna, or missing portions of the vignette.

Joseph Smith gave explanations for 12 elements of this image. Critics argue his statements are inaccurate, based on interpretations by non LDS Egyptologists.

Lacunae in Facsimile No. 1

Three Egyptologists who have analyzed the facsimile noted that the image was inconsistent with similarly known scenes elsewhere in Egyptology. They believed that the missing portions were erroneously restored from lacunae in the original papyri (which was absent at the time), either by Smith or someone else. These alleged mis-reconstructions occur in areas where the original papyri are damaged. When the original papyri were later discovered (See section below: Loss and rediscovery of the papyri), comparison of the facsimiles to the Kirtland Egyptian Papers lent credence to the Egyptologists' conclusions.

Latter-day Saint Egyptologist John Gee, however, argues that eyewitnesses descriptions during Joseph Smith's lifetime described a complete document, free of lacunae. The facsimile, Gee argues, was an accurate reproduction of an original document that has since suffered significant damage. Gee gives as an example "the man with a drawn knife", a portion that is no longer extant but was reported in both apologetic and critical writings of the time.^[30]

Facsimile No. 2

Facsimile No. 2 from the Book of Abraham

Facsimile 2 as found in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers. Note the lacuna, or missing portions in this facsimile. Whether the missing material existed in the papyri Smith had in his possession is also a matter of speculation.

The figure represented by Facsimile 2 is a common Egyptian artifact called a hypocephalus. Hypocephali are placed under the head or feet of the mummified person to assist them in remembering what to say and do in relation to the trials they would face after death.

As with Facsimile No. 1, Smith's explanation differs from the standard interpretation as shown below.

Lacunae in facsimile 2

Michael Rhodes stated; "A careful examination of Facsimile 2 shows that there is a difference between most of the hieroglyphic signs and the signs on the right third of the figure on the outer edge as well as the outer portions of the sections numbered 12-15. These signs are hieratic, not hieroglyphic, and are inverted, or upside down, to the rest of the text. In fact, they are a fairly accurate copy of lines 2, 3, and 4 of the Joseph Smith Papyrus XI, which contains a portion of the Book of Breathings. Especially clear is the word snsn, in section 14, and part of the name of the mother of the owner of the papyrus, (tay-)uby.t, repeated twice on the outer edge. An ink drawing of the hypocephalus in the Church Historian's office shows these same areas as being blank. It is likely that these portions were destroyed on the original hypocephalus and someone (the engraver, one of Joseph Smith's associates, or Joseph himself) copied the lines from the Book of Breathings papyrus for aesthetic purposes."^[33]

Facsimile No. 3

Joseph Smith claimed that this image represented Abraham sitting on the Pharaoh's throne teaching the principles of astronomy to the Egyptian court. Unlike the other two facsimiles, it is unclear if any lacunae were reconstructed by Joseph Smith, though Deveria postulates that he did (See figure 6 below). As with the other two facsimiles, his interpretation is at odds with Egyptologists, as shown below:

Egyptologists interpret this as a typical scene of The Book of the Dead which accompanied the Book of Breathings of the owner of the scroll, in which the deceased person for whom the scroll was made is presented before the Egyptian god, Osiris.^[34] Hieroglyphics at the bottom of the scroll identify the owner of the scroll, a priest named Hor^[35]. Osiris is seated on a throne, wearing the Atef crown and holding a sceptre and a flail. Behind him stands Isis, wearing the Horned Sun Disk headdress. To the right are Ma'at, with the feather headdress, Hor (deceased owner of the scroll) and behind Hor stands Anubis the god of embalming.^[36]

Facsimile No. 3 from the Book of Abraham.

General statements by Egyptologists

Sometime in 1856, Theodule Deveria, an Egyptologist at the Louvre, had the opportunity to examine the facsimiles published as part of the Book of Abraham.^[39] His interpretation, juxtaposed with Smith's interpretation was published in T.B.H. Stenhouse's Book The Rocky Mountain Saints: A Full and Complete History of the Mormons in 1873.^[26] Additionally, later in 1912, Reverend Franklin S. Spalding sent copies of the three facsimiles to eight Egyptologists and Semetists soliciting their interpretation of the facsimiles, the results of which were published in Spalding's work Joseph Smith, Jr. As a Translator. Deveria, and each of the eight scholars immediately recognized the facsimiles as portions of ordinary funerary documents, and some harshly condemned Joseph Smith's interpretation, as shown below:

Egyptologist Dr. James H. Breasted, of the University of Chicago noted:

"... these three facsimiles of Egyptian documents in the ‘Pearl of Great Price’ depict the most common objects in the Mortuary religion of Egypt. Joseph Smith’s interpretations of them as part of a unique revelation through Abraham, therefore, very clearly demonstrates that he was totally unacquainted with the significance of these documents and absolutely ignorant of the simplest facts of Egyptian writing and civilization."^[40]

Dr. W.M. Flinders Petrie of London University wrote:

"It may be safely said that there is not one single word that is true in these explanations"^[41]

Dr. A.H. Sayce, Oxford professor of Egyptology,

“It is difficult to deal seriously with Joseph Smith’s impudent fraud.... Smith has turned the goddess [Isis in Facsimile No. 3] into a king and Osiris into Abraham.”^[42]

Alleged false reconstruction of lacunae

Several Egyptologists, including Theodule Deveria, Klaus Baer, Rickard A. Parker, and Dr. ALbert Lythgoe noted that portions of Facsimile 1 appeared to be incorrect, based on comparison with other similar Egyptian vignettes, and suspected that they had been reconstructed from lacunae in the original papyri.^[43] The papyri containing Facsimile 1 is acknowledged by Egyptologists to be a version of The Book of Breathings.^{[44][45][46][47][48]} Lythgoe well summarized the consensus among these egyptologists:

"the god Anubus, bending over the mummy, was shown with a human and strangely un-Egyptian head, instead of a jackal's head usual to the scene."^[49]

Other alleged misconstructions were also noted by these Egyptologists.^[50] Later, when the original papyri were discovered (see section below), critics quickly noted that these portions were indeed missing, including the head of the standing figure, and suggested that Joseph Smith had filled in the missing portions in the published version of the facsimile.

Mormon apologists allege that the statements by these Egyptologists are speculation and that Joseph Smith's reconstruction was either correct, or inconsequential to the original interpretation.^[51]

Scholars and Egyptologists have also criticized Facsimile 2 for containing false reconstruction of lacunae, suggesting that Joseph Smith reconstructed portions of the vignette with characters from another papyrus.^[52] Critics note that an incomplete version of facsimile 2 is found among the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, part of which are in the handwriting of Joseph Smith. Comparing the published version of Facsimile 2 with the version from the Kirtland Egyptian Papers and the newly rediscovered papyri, critics note that characters from the original papyri appear to have been used to fill in the missing portions of Facsimile 2, with some of the characters being upside down.^[53]

Some Mormon apologists have proposed that the facsimiles were filled in to make the images more aesthetically pleasing, and have little to do with the actual interpretation of them. Others note that it is unclear if Joseph Smith himself filled in the facsimiles, although he was the editor of Times and Seasons, the periodical in which the facsimiles first appeared, and as such would have approved any images that were included.

Apologist perspectives

Egyptologists' explanation challenged

Apologists note that there are differences between the vignette and other comparable vignettes, which might render the standard interpretation incorrect. As John Gee and Michael R. Ash pointed out:

The late Klaus Baer, a non-LDS Egyptologist from the University of Chicago, claimed the Facsimile 1 and 3 are unusual and it would be erroneous to claim that dozens of similar examples could be found. "Facsimile 3," he went on to note, "is not a judgment scene [as often claimed by critics] and exact parallels may be hard to find."^[54]

Other Comments

Kerry Shirts noted the presence of the name hieroglyph for Chnum-Re (Khnum-Re) above the figure labeled 1. Chnm-Re is the Egyptian "First Creator" the god who organized everything out of the primordial chaos.^[55] Also noted is the amulet of Osiris, or level and square, immediately behind the head of the seated figure labeled 7, in the form of a plumb level and square, as described by Petrie.^[56][57] and Budge^[58]

John Gee provided comparisons of the meanings of the figures in Facsimile No. 2 in his article "Towards an Interpretation of Hypocephali" which illustrate the importance of using the associated text as well as the images when interpreting the meaning of the images on hypocephali.^[59] In reference to criticism of the interpretation of the Hypocephalus he stated: "If we ignore the ancient Egyptian identifications of the various figures in the hypocephali, we will construct an understanding of hypocephali that bears no resemblance to the ancient Egyptian understanding. We will, in short, not understand [hypocephali] at all."^[60]

Michael D. Rhodes explains that "Although we can, with the help of other similar texts, reconstruct the text and figures of the Joseph Smith Hypocephalus with a fair degree of accuracy, we are still far from completely understanding the message which the Egyptians meant to convey by it. The text of the hypocephalus itself seems to be an address to Osiris, the god of the Dead, on behalf of the deceased, Sheshonk. As is the case with most Egyptian texts (especially religious text), it is full of references to matters either obscure or unknown to us, although undoubtedly clear to the Egyptians. Needless to say, much work is still to be done before we can fully understand the import of the Joseph Smith Hypocephalus, and hypocephali in general."^[61]

Loss and rediscovery of the papyrus

After Joseph Smith's death, the Egyptian artifacts were in the possession of his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, until her death on May 14, 1856. Joseph Smith's widow, Emma Hale Smith Bidamon, her second husband Lewis C. Bidamon, and her son Joseph Smith III, sold "four Egyptian mummies with the records with them" to Mr. Abel Combs on May 26, 1856.^[62][63] Ten weeks later two of the mummies and some of the papyri were being displayed in St. Louis by a Mr. Edward Wyman.^[64] The St. Louis Museum was closed in July 1863 and its collection moved to the Chicago Museum, which was sold to Joseph H. Wood in 1864. The renamed Wood's Museum was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

Combs kept at least some of the mounted papyri fragments, which passed into the possession of Combs' housekeeper, Charlotte Weaver Huntsman, and then to her daughter, Alice Combs Weaver Heusser. In 1918, Alice Heusser approached the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) with some papyri in her possession, which the museum declined. In 1947, Ludlow Bull, associate curator of Department of Egyptian Art at the MMA, acquired them from Edward Heusser, Alice's widower.

In May 1966, Aziz Suryal Atiya of the University of Utah discovered ten of the eleven known papyri fragments in the MMA archives^[65] when he recognized one as the vignette known as Facsmile No. 1 from the Pearl of Great Price. According to Henry G. Fischer, curator of the Egyptian Collection at the MMA, an anonymous donation to the MMA made it possible for the LDS church to acquire the papyri.^[66] These fragments, originally called the Sensen Papyrus, were designated Joseph Smith Papyrus I, X, and XI.^[67] Other fragments, designated JSP II, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII, are thought by critics to be the Book of Joseph that Smith referred to. Egyptologist John A. Wilson stated that the recovered fragments indicate the existence of at least six to eight separate documents.^[68]

The eleventh fragment was discovered in the LDS Church Historian's office and was dubbed the "Church Historian's Fragment". Disclosed by the church in 1968, the fragment was designated JSP IX.

LDS scholars believe that much of the original papyri is missing, while critics tend to believe that the majority of the papyri have been recovered. In 1968, it was estimated by Walter Whipple that the fragments constituted roughly one-third of Joseph Smith's original collection of papyri.^[69] In 2000, Mormon Egyptologist John Gee provided a graphical comparison of the relative extent of the known fragments to other complete examples of similar scrolls^[70] which indicated the total at about twenty percent. These estimates have been disputed by critics. Charles Larson believes that the recovered papyri represent the majority of the original set.

There is broad agreement that the recovered papyri are portions of the originals, partly based on the fact that they were pasted onto paper which had "drawings of a temple and maps of the Kirtland, Ohio area" on the back and an accompanying affidavit by Emma Smith, stating that they had been in the possession of Joseph Smith.^[71]

Analysis and translation of the papyrus

Two fragments from the Joseph Smith Papyri which were translated by Egyptologists. The modern translation of the papyri differs from Joseph Smith's original interpretation.

In November 1967 the LDS church asked Hugh Nibley, a professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University (BYU), to study the fragments. Nibley was a linguist, but not an Egyptologist, and subsequently studied under John A. Wilson and Klaus Baer in an attempt to learn enough about the Egyptian characters to translate them himself.^[72] The LDS church published sepia photographs of the papyri in its magazine "The Improvement Era" in February 1968, although a translation was not provided at the time.^[73] The editors of an independent quarterly journal Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, arranged a translation of the papyri from the photographs by three American Egyptologists; John A. Wilson (University of Chicago, Oriental Institute), Klaus Baer (University of Chicago, Oriental Institute), and Richard A. Parker (Director of the Department of Egyptology, Brown University).^[74] Their translations were published in Dialogue in the summer and autumn of 1968.

Other translations and analyses have been performed at various times since 1968 by Mormon and non-Mormon scholars, including Michael D. Rhodes (BYU)^[75], John Gee (BYU)^[76], and Robert K. Ritner (University of Chicago)^[77]. The translations among all of these scholars are consistent.

In 2005, the publishing company, Shadow Mountain, released an exhaustive review of the papyri and a discussion of the relationship between the extant fragments and The Book of Abraham. This book, titled Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment,^[78] was produced, updating Hugh Nibley's 1975 text.

Translation Excerpts

The translation by both Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists bears no resemblance to the text of the Book of Abraham as purportedly translated by Joseph Smith. Several excerpts of these modern translations are shown below.

BYU scholar Michael Rhodes summarized the content of the papyri as follows:

"The Hor Book of Breathings is a part of eleven papyri fragments... from three separate papyri scrolls. Joseph Smith Papyri I, X, and XI are from the Book of Breathings belonging to Hor (Hr) the son of Usirwer. Joseph Smith Papyri II, IV, V, VI, VII, and IX all came from a Book of the Dead belonging to Tshemmim (Ts-sri.t Min.), the daughter of Eskhons (Ns-Hnsw). Finally, Joseph Smith Papyrus III is part of Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead belonging to Neferirtnub (Nfr-ir(.t)-nbw).^[79]

Egytologist Klaus Baer translated the writing flanking the vignette which was the source of Facsimile No. 1 as follows:

... the prophet of Amonrasonter, prophet [?] of Min Bull-of-his-Mother, prophet [?] of Khons the Governor... Hor, justified, son of the holder of the same titles, master of secrets, and purifier of the gods Osorwer, justified [?]... Tikhebyt, justified. May your ba live among them, and may you be buried in the West...May you give him a good, splendid burial on the West of Thebes just like ...^[80]

(Hor is the name of the mummified deceased and Tikhebyt is the name of Hor’s mother. The ba is his spirit.)

The lower middle section of the Joseph Smith Papyrus fragment Facsimile No. 1 was initially translated by Richard Parker of Brown University. His translation is as follows:

this great pool of Khonsu [Osiris Hor, justified], born of Taykhebyt, a man likewise. After (his) two arms are [fast]ened to his breast, one wraps the Book of Breathings, which is with writing both inside and outside of it, with royal linen, it being placed (at) his left arm near his heart, this having been done at his wrapping and outside it. If this book be recited for him, then he will breathe like the soul[s of the gods] for ever and ever.^[81]

Criticism and response

The arguments concerning the Book of Abraham primarily concern the source of the text of the Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith's method of interpretation and his explanations of the meanings of the vignettes. Currently there is little argument concerning the transliteration of the Egyptian writing on the fragments, as evidenced by the broad agreement in the translations by LDS and non LDS Egyptologists. Critics primarily use inerrancy and identification of texts as their primary arguments against the Book of Abraham's authenticity;

• Transliterated text from the recovered papyri and facsimiles published in the Book of Abraham contain no direct references, either historical or textual, to Abraham. Rather, they parallel other texts from the Egyptian Book of the Dead and Book of Breathings.

• Abraham's name does not appear anywhere in the papyri or the facsimiles.^[82]

• Joseph Smith’s explanation of the facsimiles and interpretation (as contained in the BoA text) does not parallel Egyptologists' transliterations or explanations of the text or images on the papyri.^[83]

• The Joseph Smith Papyri have been dated to the late Ptolemaic or early Roman period, 1500 years after Abraham’s supposed lifetime.^[84] Critics feel this is relevant because of Joseph Smith's statement that the papyri were "written by [Abraham's] own hand upon papyrus."

• Anachronisms exist in the Book of Abraham which indicate that it was not written in Abraham’s time.^[85]

• The "Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar", also known as the "Kirtland Egyptian Papers", contain an arrangement of correlated characters from the papyri and text from the Book of Abraham that some critics suggest indicates that the Book of Abraham text came entirely from the existing papyrus fragments.^[86]

A number of theories have been presented in defense of the official LDS Church position that the work is a revelation from God, through Joseph Smith, which tells a true story of actual events from the life of Abraham;

• There are dozens of unique thematic elements of the Book of Abraham story with which parallels are drawn from extra-biblical traditions. These elements are argued to have been unavailable to Joseph Smith.^[87]

• At least two demotic papyri discovered in Thebes in the 1800s contain images that associate the name Abraham with a lion couch and the Wedjat eye of Horus, as depicted in Facsimiles, No.1 and No. 2.^[33]

• Joseph Smith's explanations of one element of facsimile 2 parallels Egyptian ritual themes which are symbolicaly expressed in the images.^[88] This parallel is disputed by Egyptologist Stephen E. Thompson.

• The remaining papyrus fragments are only part of the complete original papyri, or the fragments may have been a starting point for reconstruction.^[89] Critics argue that Facsimile No. 1 matches the vignette in the existing papyrus and that there is a direct textual reference to it in the Book of Abraham.^[90]

• The papyri may be copies of an original which was written personally by Abraham. At least one Egyptian scroll from the same time period as the JSP contains the name of Abraham.^[91]

• Joseph Smith interpreted the documents by revelation, rather than a standard "translation" of text from one language to another, in a process similar to his translation of the Bible.^[92] Critics assert that the “Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar” indicates that Smith did attempt a direct, literal, comprehensive, translation.^[93] Critics interpret Smith's statements to mean that the Book of Abraham is a conventional translation of an original handwritten manuscript and not a revelation.^[94]

• The facsimiles in Egyptian funerary scrolls may have been a mnemonic device.^[95]

• The facsimiles were not penned by Abraham, but by a Jewish redactor many centuries later.^[96]

Book of Joseph

As noted above, a second untranslated work was identified by Joseph Smith after scrutinizing the original papyri. He said that one scroll contained "the writings of Joseph of Egypt". Based on descriptions by Oliver Cowdery, some, including Charles M. Larson, believe that the fragments Joseph Smith II, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII are the source of this work.

See also

Latter-day Saints portal

• Mormon cosmology
• Criticism of the Latter Day Saint movement
• Kirtland Egyptian Papers

Notes

References

• Ashment, Edward H (December 1979), "The Facsimilies of the Book of Abraham: A Reappraisal", Sunstone 17.18, http://www.sunstoneonline.com/magazine/searchable/mag-text17.18.asp#Page33, retrieved 2007-05-31  .
• Ashment, Edward H (December 2000), "Joseph Smith's Identification of "Abraham" in Papyrus JS1, the "Breathing Permit of Hor"", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 33 (4): 121–126, http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=%2Fdialogue&CISOPTR=8716&REC=10&CISOBOX=Ashment  .
• Baer, Klaus (November 1968), "The Breathing Permit of Hor: A Translation of the Apparent Source of the Book of Abraham", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 3 (3), http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=1014&REC=11, retrieved 2007-05-30  .
• Barney, Kevin (2006), "The Facsimiles and Semitic Adaptation of Existing Sources", in Gee, John; Hauglid, Brian M, Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, ISBN 0934893764, http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/bookschapter.php?chapid=168  .
• Gee, John (1999), The Ancient Owners of the Joseph Smith Papyri, Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies  .
• Gee, John (2000), A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri, Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, ISBN 0-934893-54-3  .
• Gee, John (1991), Notes on the Sons of Horus, Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies  .
• Gee, John (1992), "A Tragedy of Errors (Review of By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri by Charles M. Larson)", FARMS Review of Books (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies) 4 (1): 93–119, http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=92, retrieved 2007-05-30  .
• Larson, Charles M. (1985), By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Institute of Religious Research  .
• Nibley, Hugh (1975), The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Co.  .
• Parker, Richard A (August 1968), "The Joseph Smith Papyri: A Preliminary Report", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=1659&REC=10, retrieved 2007-05-18  .
• Peterson, H. Donl (1995), Story of the Book of Abraham: Mummies, Manuscripts, and Mormonism, Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book  .
• Quinn, D. Michael (1998), Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (2nd ed.), Salt Lake City: Signature Books, ISBN 1-56085-089-2  .
• Rhodes, Michael D, The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus...Twenty Years Later, http://home.comcast.net/~michael.rhodes/JosephSmithHypocephalus.pdf, retrieved 2007-12-04  .
• Rhodes, Michael D (2005), The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary, Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, ISBN 0934893632  .
• Rhodes, Michael D (1992), "The Book of Abraham: Divinely Inspired Scripture", FARMS Review of Books (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies) 4 (1): 120–126, http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=review&id=93, retrieved 2007-05-30  .
• Ritner, Robert K (December 2000), "The "Breathing Permit of Hor" Thirty Four Years Later", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 33 (4), http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=8716&REC=10, retrieved 2007-05-30  .
• Ritner, Robert K (July 2003), "'The Breathing Permit of Hôr' Among the Joseph Smith Papyri", Journal of Near Eastern Studies  .
• Smith, Joseph, III; Smith, Heman C. (1896), The History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2, Lamoni, Iowa: Herald Publishing House  .
• Smith, Joseph, Jr. (n.d.), History of the Church, 2  .
• Smith, Joseph, Jr. (March 1, 1842), "Truth Will Prevail", Times and Seasons (Nauvoo, IL) 3 (9): 704, http://www.centerplace.org/history/ts/v3n09.htm  
• Smith, Milan D. Jr (December 1990), ""That is the Handwriting of Abraham"", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 23 (4): 167–169, http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=21741&REC=10  .
• Spaulding, F. S. (n.d.), Joseph Smith Jun As a Translator.
• Stenhouse, Thomas B. H. (1878), The Rocky Mountain Saints: A Full and Complete History of the Mormons, New York: D. Appleton and Company, http://books.google.com/books?id=UEgOAAAAIAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=the+rocky+mountain+saints+a+full+and+complete+history+of+the+mormons&source=gbs_summary_r  .
• Thompson, Stephen E (May 1995), "Egyptology and the Book of Abraham", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 28 (1): 143–160, http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=26881&REC=7, retrieved 2007-05-30  .
• Todd, Jay (n.d.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism: "Papyri, Joseph Smith", 3  
• Wilson, John A (August 1968), "A Summary Report", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 3 (2): 67–85, http://content.lib.utah.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/dialogue&CISOPTR=1659&REC=10, retrieved 2007-06-02  .

External links

Neutral perspectives

• The Pearl of Great Price (containing the Book of Abraham) from The LDS Church website
• Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Egyptology Page An online guide to general hieroglyphic meanings.
• Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought independent Mormon journal with scholarly works on the Book of Abraham.
• Breathing Permit of Horus (H. Michael Marquardt)
• The Book of Abraham Revisited (H. Michael Marquardt)

Apologists' perspectives

• Brigham Young University: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies: Book of Abraham: links to many discussions from apologists' perspectives
• The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus...Twenty Years Later, by Michael D. Rhodes. Views of differences and similarities in translations and meanings by one Mormon scholar.
• Book of Abraham project
• Critical analysis of the hypocephalus, argues for the validity of Smith's translations.
• Symbolism of the Book of Abraham Pro-Mormon Website
• Joseph Smith's Use of Hebrew, background information on Joseph Smith's use of Hebrew in, among other places, the Book of Abraham.
• The Jewish Origin of the Book of Abraham A critical look at The Jewish Origin of the Book of Abraham

Critical perspectives

• The Book of Abraham Info Clearinghouse, a website "devoted to the idea that the Book of Abraham...is not what it purports to be."
• The Book of Abraham: reaction from Egyptologists since 1860
• The Mormons and Egyptology Page An opinion by an egyptologist including other related links.
• Examining the Book of Abraham A nine-part essay that is a fairly detailed overview of the critics' perspective of the Book of Abraham.
• By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri, by Charles M. Larson
• Solving the Mystery of the Joseph Smith Papyri, from Jerald and Sandra Tanner's newsletter archive

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints History Joseph Smith, Jr. • First Vision • Oliver Cowdery • Sidney Rigdon • Brigham Young • Pioneers • Handcart companies • Wars and massacres • Mormon Battalion • Statistical membership • Incorporation • Historic sites • In popular media Beliefs and Practices Godhead • Apostasy • Restoration • Revelation • Priesthood • Ordinances • Plan of salvation • Plurality of gods • Celestial marriage • Family Home Evening • Perfection • Sexuality • Calling Sacred Texts Bible: King James Version, Joseph Smith Translation • Book of Mormon • Doctrine and Covenants • Pearl of Great Price: Book of Moses, Book of Abraham, Articles of Faith • The Family: A Proclamation to the World Worship and Culture Temples • General conference • Missionary service • Scouting • Worship services • Sunday School • Humanitarian Services • Brigham Young University • Pageants • Mormon Tabernacle Choir • Deseret Industries Organization Relief Society • Young Men • Young Women • Primary • Church Educational System Leadership President • Thomas S. Monson • First Presidency • Quorum of the Twelve Apostles • Presiding Bishop • Quorums of the Seventy Criticism and Controversy Criticism of the LDS church • Criticism of the LDS movement • Joseph Smith and polygamy • Blacks and the Church • Book of Mormon: Genetics, Historicity, Origin, Linguistics • September Six Other Related Articles Mormon • Mormon Fundamentalism • Mormonism and Christianity • Finances • Anthon Transcript • Salamander letter • Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies

From Wikisource

Chapter 1

¹ In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence;

² And, finding there was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.

³ It was conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning, or before the foundation of the earth, down to the present time, even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is Adam, or first father, through the fathers unto me.

⁴ I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood according to the appointment of God unto the fathers concerning the seed.

⁵ My fathers having turned from their righteousness, and from the holy commandments which the Lord their God had given unto them, unto the worshiping of the gods of the heathen, utterly refused to hearken to my voice;

⁶ For their hearts were set to do evil, and were wholly turned to the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt;

⁷ Therefore they turned their hearts to the sacrifice of the heathen in offering up their children unto these dumb idols, and hearkened not unto my voice, but endeavored to take away my life by the hand of the priest of Elkenah. The priest of Elkenah was also the priest of Pharaoh.

⁸ Now, at this time it was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar which was built in the land of Chaldea, for the offering unto these strange gods, men, women, and children.

⁹ And it came to pass that the priest made an offering unto the god of Pharaoh, and also unto the god of Shagreel, even after the manner of the Egyptians. Now the god of Shagreel was the sun.

¹⁰ Even the thank-offering of a child did the priest of Pharaoh offer upon the altar which stood by the hill called Potiphar's Hill, at the head of the plain of Olishem.

¹¹ Now, this priest had offered upon this altar three virgins at one time, who were the daughters of Onitah, one of the royal descent directly from the loins of Ham. These virgins were offered up because of their virtue; they would not bow down to worship gods of wood or of stone, therefore they were killed upon this altar, and it was done after the manner of the Egyptians.

¹² And it came to pass that the priests laid violence upon me, that they might slay me also, as they did those virgins upon this altar; and that you may have a knowledge of this altar, I will refer you to the representation at the commencement of this record.

¹³ It was made after the form of a bedstead, such as was had among the Chaldeans, and it stood before the gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash, and also a god like unto that of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

¹⁴ That you may have an understanding of these gods, I have given you the fashion of them in the figures at the beginning, which manner of figures is called by the Chaldeans Rahleenos, which signifies hieroglyphics.

¹⁵ And as they lifted up their hands upon me, that they might offer me up and take away my life, behold, I lifted up my voice unto the Lord my God, and the Lord hearkened and heard, and he filled me with the vision of the Almighty, and the angel of his presence stood by me, and immediately unloosed my bands;

¹⁶ And his voice was unto me: Abraham, Abraham, behold, my name is Jehovah, and I have heard thee, and have come down to deliver thee, and to take thee away from thy father's house, and from all thy kinsfolk, into a strange land which thou knowest not of;

¹⁷ And this because they have turned their hearts away from me, to worship the god of Elkenah, and the god of Libnah, and the god of Mahmackrah, and the god of Korash, and the god of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; therefore I have come down to visit them, and to destroy him who hath lifted up his hand against thee, Abraham, my son, to take away thy life.

¹⁸ Behold, I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee.

¹⁹ As it was with Noah so shall it be with thee; but through thy ministry my name shall be known in the earth forever, for I am thy God.

²⁰ Behold, Potiphar's Hill was in the land of Ur, of Chaldea. And the Lord broke down the altar of Elkenah, and of the gods of the land, and utterly destroyed them, and smote the priest that he died; and there was great mourning in Chaldea, and also in the court of Pharaoh; which Pharaoh signifies king by royal blood.

²¹ Now this king of Egypt was a descendant from the loins of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites by birth.

²² From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land.

²³ The land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus, which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies that which is forbidden;

²⁴ When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land.

²⁵ Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal.

²⁶ Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood.

²⁷ Now, Pharaoh being of that lineage by which he could not have the right of Priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my father was led away by their idolatry;

²⁸ But I shall endeavor, hereafter, to delineate the chronology running back from myself to the beginning of the creation, for the records have come into my hands, which I hold unto this present time.

²⁹ Now, after the priest of Elkenah was smitten that he died, there came a fulfilment of those things which were said unto me concerning the land of Chaldea, that there should be a famine in the land.

³⁰ Accordingly a famine prevailed throughout all the land of Chaldea, and my father was sorely tormented because of the famine, and he repented of the evil which he had determined against me, to take away my life.

³¹ But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day, and I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me.

Chapter 2

¹ Now the Lord God caused the famine to wax sore in the land of Ur, insomuch that Haran, my brother, died; but Terah, my father, yet lived in the land of Ur, of the Chaldees.

² And it came to pass that I, Abraham, took Sarai to wife, and Nahor, my brother, took Milcah to wife, who was the daughter of Haran.

³ Now the Lord had said unto me: Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee.

⁴ Therefore I left the land of Ur, of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and I took Lot, my brother's son, and his wife, and Sarai my wife; and also my father followed after me, unto the land which we denominated Haran.

⁵ And the famine abated; and my father tarried in Haran and dwelt there, as there were many flocks in Haran; and my father turned again unto his idolatry, therefore he continued in Haran.

⁶ But I, Abraham, and Lot, my brother's son, prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord appeared unto me, and said unto me: Arise, and take Lot with thee; for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession, when they hearken to my voice.

⁷ For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven; the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountainsDepart henceand behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly.

⁸ My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.

⁹ And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;

¹⁰ And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;

¹¹ And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.

¹² Now, after the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart: Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee;

¹³ Thou didst send thine angel to deliver me from the gods of Elkenah, and I will do well to hearken unto thy voice, therefore let thy servant rise up and depart in peace.

¹⁴ So I, Abraham, departed as the Lord had said unto me, and Lot with me; and I, Abraham, was sixty and two years old when I departed out of Haran.

¹⁵ And I took Sarai, whom I took to wife when I was in Ur, in Chaldea, and Lot, my brother's son, and all our substance that we had gathered, and the souls that we had won in Haran, and came forth in the way to the land of Canaan, and dwelt in tents as we came on our way;

¹⁶ Therefore, eternity was our covering and our rock and our salvation, as we journeyed from Haran by the way of Jershon, to come to the land of Canaan.

¹⁷ Now I, Abraham, built an altar in the land of Jershon, and made an offering unto the Lord, and prayed that the famine might be turned away from my father's house, that they might not perish.

¹⁸ And then we passed from Jershon through the land unto the place of Sechem; it was situated in the plains of Moreh, and we had already come into the borders of the land of the Canaanites, and I offered sacrifice there in the plains of Moreh, and called on the Lord devoutly, because we had already come into the land of this idolatrous nation.

¹⁹ And the Lord appeared unto me in answer to my prayers, and said unto me: Unto thy seed will I give this land.

²⁰ And I, Abraham, arose from the place of the altar which I had built unto the Lord, and removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched my tent there, Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east; and there I built another altar unto the Lord, and called again upon the name of the Lord.

²¹ And I, Abraham, journeyed, going on still towards the south; and there was a continuation of a famine in the land; and I, Abraham, concluded to go down into Egypt, to sojourn there, for the famine became very grievous.

²² And it came to pass when I was come near to enter into Egypt, the Lord said unto me: Behold, Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon;

²³ Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see her, they will sayShe is his wife; and they will kill you, but they will save her alive; therefore see that ye do on this wise:

²⁴ Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy soul shall live.

²⁵ And it came to pass that I, Abraham, told Sarai, my wife, all that the Lord had said unto meTherefore say unto them, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee.

Chapter 3

¹ And I, Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees;

² And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it;

³ And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

⁴ And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord's time, according to the reckoning of Kolob.

⁵ And the Lord said unto me: The planet which is the lesser light, lesser than that which is to rule the day, even the night, is above or greater than that upon which thou standest in point of reckoning, for it moveth in order more slow; this is in order because it standeth above the earth upon which thou standest, therefore the reckoning of its time is not so many as to its number of days, and of months, and of years.

⁶ And the Lord said unto me: Now, Abraham, these two facts exist, behold thine eyes see it; it is given unto thee to know the times of reckoning, and the set time, yea, the set time of the earth upon which thou standest, and the set time of the greater light which is set to rule the day, and the set time of the lesser light which is set to rule the night.

⁷ Now the set time of the lesser light is a longer time as to its reckoning than the reckoning of the time of the earth upon which thou standest.

⁸ And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still;

⁹ And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord's time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

¹⁰ And it is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God.

¹¹ Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;

¹² And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof.

¹³ And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.

¹⁴ And it was in the night time when the Lord spake these words unto me: I will multiply thee, and thy seed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the number of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds.

¹⁵ And the Lord said unto me: Abraham, I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words.

¹⁶ If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me.

¹⁷ Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it; and there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it.

¹⁸ Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal.

¹⁹ And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all.

²⁰ The Lord thy God sent his angel to deliver thee from the hands of the priest of Elkenah.

²¹ I dwell in the midst of them all; I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to declare unto thee the works which my hands have made, wherein my wisdom excelleth them all, for I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence, over all the intelligences thine eyes have seen from the beginning; I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen.

²² Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

²³ And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

²⁴ And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

²⁵ And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

²⁶ And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

²⁷ And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.

²⁸ And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.

Chapter 4

¹ And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth.

² And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters.

³ And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light.

⁴ And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness.

⁵ And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called night; and from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was the first, or the beginning, of that which they called day and night.

⁶ And the Gods also said: Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and it shall divide the waters from the waters.

⁷ And the Gods ordered the expanse, so that it divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so, even as they ordered.

⁸ And the Gods called the expanse, Heaven. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and this was the second time that they called night and day.

⁹ And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered;

¹⁰ And the Gods pronounced the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, Great Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.

¹¹ And the Gods said: Let us prepare the earth to bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed in itself yieldeth its own likeness upon the earth; and it was so, even as they ordered.

¹² And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth grass from its own seed, and the herb to bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind; and the earth to bring forth the tree from its own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring forth the same in itself, after his kind; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.

¹³ And it came to pass that they numbered the days; from the evening until the morning they called night; and it came to pass, from the morning until the evening they called day; and it was the third time.

¹⁴ And the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven, and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years;

¹⁵ And organized them to be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so.

¹⁶ And the Gods organized the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; with the lesser light they set the stars also;

¹⁷ And the Gods set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to cause to divide the light from the darkness.

¹⁸ And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed.

¹⁹ And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day; and it was the fourth time.

²⁰ And the Gods said: Let us prepare the waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life; and the fowl, that they may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven.

²¹ And the Gods prepared the waters that they might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters were to bring forth abundantly after their kind; and every winged fowl after their kind. And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed, and that their plan was good.

²² And the Gods said: We will bless them, and cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas or great waters; and cause the fowl to multiply in the earth.

²³ And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and it was the fifth time.

²⁴ And the Gods prepared the earth to bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind; and it was so, as they had said.

²⁵ And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth the beasts after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and the Gods saw they would obey.

²⁶ And the Gods took counsel among themselves and said: Let us go down and form man in our image, after our likeness; and we will give them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

²⁷ So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them.

²⁸ And the Gods said: We will bless them. And the Gods said: We will cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

²⁹ And the Gods said: Behold, we will give them every herb bearing seed that shall come upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which shall have fruit upon it; yea, the fruit of the tree yielding seed to them we will give it; it shall be for their meat.

³⁰ And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, behold, we will give them life, and also we will give to them every green herb for meat, and all these things shall be thus organized.

³¹ And the Gods said: We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and they numbered the sixth time.

Chapter 5

¹ And thus we will finish the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of them.

² And the Gods said among themselves: On the seventh time we will end our work, which we have counseled; and we will rest on the seventh time from all our work which we have counseled.

³ And the Gods concluded upon the seventh time, because that on the seventh time they would rest from all their works which they (the Gods) counseled among themselves to form; and sanctified it. And thus were their decisions at the time that they counseled among themselves to form the heavens and the earth.

⁴ And the Gods came down and formed these the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were formed in the day that the Gods formed the earth and the heavens,

⁵ According to all that which they had said concerning every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for the Gods had not caused it to rain upon the earth when they counseled to do them, and had not formed a man to till the ground.

⁶ But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

⁷ And the Gods formed man from the dust of the ground, and took his spirit (that is, the man's spirit), and put it into him; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

⁸ And the Gods planted a garden, eastward in Eden, and there they put the man, whose spirit they had put into the body which they had formed.

⁹ And out of the ground made the Gods to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life, also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

¹⁰ There was a river running out of Eden, to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads.

¹¹ And the Gods took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it.

¹² And the Gods commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,

¹³ But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the time that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now I, Abraham, saw that it was after the Lord's time, which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning.

¹⁴ And the Gods said: Let us make an help meet for the man, for it is not good that the man should be alone, therefore we will form an help meet for him.

¹⁵ And the Gods caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and they took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof;

¹⁶ And of the rib which the Gods had taken from man, formed they a woman, and brought her unto the man.

¹⁷ And Adam said: This was bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; now she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man;

¹⁸ Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

¹⁹ And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

²⁰ And out of the ground the Gods formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that should be the name thereof.

²¹ And Adam gave names to all cattle, to the fowl of the air, to every beast of the field; and for Adam, there was found an help meet for him.

Facsimile No. 1

Explanation

1. The Angel of the Lord.
2. Abraham fastened upon an altar.
3. The idolatrous priest of Elkenah attempting to offer up Abraham as a sacrifice.
4. The altar for sacrifice by the idolatrous priests, standing before the gods of Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, Korash, and Pharaoh.
5. The idolatrous god of Elkenah.
6. The idolatrous god of Libnah.
7. The idolatrous god of Mahmackrah.
8. The idolatrous god of Korash.
9. The idolatrous god of Pharaoh.
10. Abraham in Egypt.
11. Designed to represent the pillars of heaven, as understood by the Egyptians.
12. Raukeeyang, signifying expanse, or the firmament over our heads; but in this case, in relation to this subject, the Egyptians meant it to signify Shaumau, to be high, or the heavens, answering to the Hebrew word, Shaumahyeem.

Facsimile No. 2

Explanation

1. Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh.
2. Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians Oliblish, which is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides; holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets; as revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord.
3. Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.
4. Answers to the Hebrew word Raukeeyang, signifying expanse, or the firmament of the heavens; also a numerical figure, in Egyptian signifying one thousand; answering to the measuring of the time of Oliblish, which is equal with Kolob in its revolution and in its measuring of time.
5. Is called in Egyptian Enish-go-on-dosh; this is one of the governing planets also, and is said by the Egyptians to be the Sun, and to borrow its light from Kolob through the medium of Kae-e-vanrash, which is the grand Key, or, in other words, the governing power, which governs fifteen other fixed planets or stars, as also Floeese or the Moon, the Earth and the Sun in their annual revolutions. This planet receives its power through the medium of Kli-flos-is-es, or Hah-ko-kau-beam, the stars represented by numbers 22 and 23, receiving light from the revolutions of Kolob.
6. Represents this earth in its four quarters.
7. Represents God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood; as, also, the sign of the Holy Ghost unto Abraham, in the form of a dove.
8. Contains writings that cannot be revealed unto the world; but is to be had in the Holy Temple of God.
9. Ought not to be revealed at the present time.
10. Also.
11. Also. If the world can find out these numbers, so let it be. Amen.

Figures 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 will be given in the own due time of the Lord.

The above translation is given as far as we have any right to give at the present time.

Facsimile No. 3

Explanation

1. Abraham sitting upon Pharaoh’s throne, by the politeness of the king, with a crown upon his head, representing the Priesthood, as emblematical of the grand Presidency in Heaven; with the scepter of justice and judgment in his hand.
2. King Pharaoh, whose name is given in the characters above his head.
3. Signifies Abraham in Egypt as given also in Figure 10 of Facsimile No. 1.
4. Prince of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, as written above the hand.
5. Shulem, one of the king’s principal waiters, as represented by the characters above his hand.
6. Olimlah, a slave belonging to the prince.

Abraham is reasoning upon the principles of Astronomy, in the king’s court.