Book of Abraham

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The Book of Abraham is a scriptural text for some denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. According to Joseph Smith, Jr., the movement's founder, the text is a partial translation of the words of Abraham, in his own hand, written on a set of Egyptian papyri purchased by the religion in 1835 from a traveling mummy show, although subsequent examination of those papyri has called that claim into question. The work was originally published in the Latter Day Saint movement newspaper Times and Seasons together with facsimiles of vignettes from the papyrus, with Smith's interpretations. Later, it was republished as part of the Pearl of Great Price, which has been canonized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as one of its four scriptural works.

According to Smith, the papyri recounts the story of Abraham's early life as well as a vision he received concerning the creation of the world. The book is a source of some distinctive and controversial Latter-day Saint doctrines such as the exaltation of humanity, the plurality of gods, priesthood, and pre-mortal existence. Some denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, such as the Community of Christ, do not consider the book to be scripture.

For many years the original papyri were considered lost. In 1966 at least some (and possibly all) of the papyrus scrolls were found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Based on this rediscovered source material of the Book of Abraham, non-Latter Day Saint Egyptologists say that the illustrations and the original text of the Book of Abraham are funerary texts, dating to about the first century BC, that describe events in the afterlife of deceased Egyptians. Latter Day Saint scholars have presented a number of theories in defense of the authenticity of the Book of Abraham.

Contents

Pearl of Great Price, 1888 Edition, containing the Book of Abraham
Pearl of Great Price, 1888 Edition, containing the Book of Abraham

In July 1835, an Irishman named Michael Chandler brought a traveling exhibition of four Egyptian mummies and papyri to Kirtland, Ohio, then home of the Mormons. The papyri contained Egyptian hieroglyphics. Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, examined the scrolls in the exhibit and noted that some of the text was recognizable because of their similarity to the text from the golden plates of the Book of Mormon. The church purchased the four mummies and the papyri for $2400.

After closer examination, Smith declared

... with William Wines 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.[1]

During the remainder of July, Joseph Smith said that he

... was continually engaged in translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients.[2]

He proceeded to dictate a translation. In 1842 the text was published in serials in the Latter Day Saint newspaper Times and Seasons in Nauvoo, Illinois. In 1851, the Book of Abraham and other Mormon scriptures were compiled into a single volume called the Pearl of Great Price. One faction of the Latter Day Saint movement, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints adopted it as part of the church's canon on October 10, 1880.[3]

The ability to translate Egyptian hieroglyphs stems from the discovery in 1799 of the Rosetta Stone, a large granite tablet which contained a message written in two languages, Egyptian and Greek. Since Greek was well known, the stone made the translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs possible for the first time since antiquity. However, this knowledge was not well disseminated to the United States at the time Joseph Smith made his translation, hence his translated text could not be verified by scholars for accuracy.

The Book of Abraham has five chapters. Chapters 1 through 2 include details about Abraham’s early life and his fight against the idolatry of his society and even of his own family. It recounts how pagan priests tried to sacrifice him to their god, but an angel appeared and rescued him. Chapter 2 includes information about God’s covenant with Abraham, and how it would be fulfilled. Chapters 3 through 5 are a vision in which God reveals much about astronomy, the creation of the world, and the creation of man.[4]

At least two artists, including woodcutter Reuben Hedlock created facsimiles of three funerary vignettes which were part of the papyri collection found with the mummies. These facsimiles, which include hieroglyphics and hieratic writing, were published in conjunction with the Book of Abraham in Times and Seasons. Joseph Smith offered a detailed explanation or interpretation of various elements of the ancient Egyptian iconography and writings. Non-LDS Egyptologists disagree with Smith's interpretations of these facsimiles.[5] Some believe that under his direction missing or destroyed portions of the fragments were restored in order to make the image complete and aesthetically pleasing.[6]

Facsimile No. 1 from the Book of Abraham.
Facsimile No. 1 from the Book of Abraham.

According to Smith’s interpretation, this depicts the attempted human sacrifice of Abraham. Abraham is fastened to an altar with the “idolatrous priest of Elkenah” about to sacrifice him. He interpreted the four shapes underneath the altar as four idolatrous gods with the names Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, and Korash.[7]

Egyptologists note that the four shapes represent four canopic jars. The facsimile, they say, shows the embalming procedure or the creation of a mummy. Canopic jars are used to hold the viscera of the mummified corpse. The four sons of Horus are normally depicted on the jars, each son shown (from left to right) as a human, a baboon, a jackal, and a falcon, named Imset, Hapi, Duamatef and Qebehsenuf.[8] Examples of such jars can be found in various art museums.[9]

Facsimile No. 2 from the Book of Abraham.
Facsimile No. 2 from the Book of Abraham.

Smith gave interpretations for several figures in this facsimile. The central figure represented Kolob, the star closest to the residence of God. He gave other astronomical interpretations for some of the figures and for the others he stated that their interpretations “will be given in the own due time of the Lord”.[10]

For Egyptologists, this figure is a hypocephalus. It is placed under the head of the deceased in case he forgot some of the personalized detail needed to know what to say and how to behave in relation to 'gods' and trials after death. These personalized instructions often accompany the Book of the Dead and Book of Breathings, and are a synopsis of information in the highly individualized Books of the Dead. No two hypocephali are the same. There is a very similar one (which appears to be nothing more than a copy of Smith's, with expanded translation) on this website: http://essenes.net/hypo.htm [11]

Facsimile No. 3 from the Book of Abraham.
Facsimile No. 3 from the Book of Abraham.

Smith believed this image represents Abraham sitting on the Pharaoh's throne teaching the principles of astronomy to the Egyptian court. Smith stated that the figure behind "Abraham in Egypt" is "King Pharaoh, whose name is given in the characters above his head." The figure before "Abraham" is "Prince of Pharaoh, King of Egypt". The dark character is "Olimlah, a slave belonging to the prince" and in between is "Shulem, one of the king’s principal waiters".[12]

Egyptologists interpret this as the judgment of the dead before the occupied throne of the Egyptian god, Osiris.[13] The picture of Osiris shows his typical headdress or crown and his arms are placed in a typical position in which he holds a sceptre and a flail. Examples can be found in several tombs.[14] In front of Osiris, but with her face turned away, is Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess of justice, truth and order wearing her traditional feather on her head.

After Joseph Smith's death, the Egyptian artifacts were held principally by his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, and after her death on May 14, 1856, by his widow, Emma Hale Smith. On May 25, 1856, Emma sold four Egyptian mummies with the records with them to Mr. Abel Combs.[15] Combs then sold two mummies with some papyri, which were sent to the St. Louis Museum. In 1863 they went to the Chicago Museum, where they were apparently burned in the Great Chicago Fire. The fate of Combs's two other mummies is unknown, but some papyri survived. In 1918 Mrs. Alice Heusser of Brooklyn, a daughter of Combs's housekeeper, approached the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) with the papyri. In 1947 the MMA acquired them from her widower. Aziz S. Atiya of the University of Utah found eleven of these fragments in May 1966.[16] The papyri were fragmentary, of origin from the late Ptolemaic period, and of very familiar Egyptian texts. Thus they were of little value to a museum. According to Henry G. Fischer, curator of the Egyptian Collection at the MMA, an anonymous donation to the MMA made it possible for the church to acquire the papyri.[17]

It was clear that Smith had once owned these papyri because the back of the papyrus fragments were pasted down to paper with "drawings of a temple and maps of the Kirtland, Ohio area." There was also an affidavit from Emma Smith that these papyri had been in the possession of Joseph Smith.[18]

With the rediscovery of these papyri, fragments of the original Egyptian text from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham appeared to have been recovered. Also the illustrations including the original of facsimile 1 were now available to professional Egyptologists for analysis.

The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), an institution supported by the church, is producing a series of conferences and publications on the Joseph Smith papyri and the Book of Abraham.[19]

Upon the return of the papyri in November 1967, the LDS church asked Hugh Nibley, a professor of ancient scripture at the church-supported Brigham Young University (BYU) to study them. Hugh Nibley was a scholar of scriptures and languages, but he was not an Egyptologist nor an expert in the Egyptian language. The LDS church published sepia photographs of the papyri in its church magazine although a translation was not provided.[20] Instead, the editors of an independent quarterly journal among Latter-day Saint academic circles, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, requested a translation of the papyri on the basis of these photographs from three distinguished 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).[21] They produced translations that were published in the journal in 1968.

The Book of Abraham papyrus scroll containing facsimile 1 is divided into three parts. Klaus Baer was the first person to publish a translation of the writing flanking the original of facsimile 1. His translation is 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 ...[22]

Hor is the name of the mummified deceased and Tikhebyt is the name of Hor’s mother. The ba is his spirit. Updated translations consistent with Klaus Baer have been provided by others including BYU researcher Michael D. Rhodes,[23] BYU Egyptologist, John Gee,[24] and another University of Chicago Egyptologist, Robert K. Ritner.[25]

The middle section of the Book of Abraham papyrus following facsimile 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 breath like the soul[s of the gods] for ever and ever.[26]

Translations of this section have also been made by Baer,[27] Nibley,[28] and Ritner[29] and they are consistent with Parker's.

For the third section, Klaus Baer noted that Hor’s Book of Breathings would end with facsimile 3, however the vignette is missing or lost in the original papyrus. Using the facsimile, the following translations have been made by Robert K. Ritner.[30]

Label for Osiris (text to the right of figure 1 of facsimile 3):

Recitation by Osiris, Foremost of the Westerners, Lord of Abydos(?), the great god forever and ever(?).

Label for Isis (text to the right of figure 2 of facsimile 3):

Isis the great, the god's mother.

Label for Maat (text to the left of figure 4 of facsimile 3):

Maat, mistress of the gods.

Label for Hor the deceased (text in front of figure 5 of facsimile 3):

The Osiris Hor, justified forever.

Label for Anubis (text in front of figure 6 of facsimile 3):

Recitation by Anubis, who makes protection(?), foremost of the embalming booth,...

Invocation (text at bottom line below the illustration):

O gods of the necropolis, gods of the caverns, gods of the south, north, west, and east grant salvation to the Osiris Hor, the justified, born by Taikhibit.

The link of facsimile 3 with facsimile 1 and the papyrus scroll is established by the translation of the name of the deceased, Hor and the name of his mother, Taikhibit . Another translation of facsimile 3 has been made by Rhodes[31] which is consistent with Ritner's.

The identification of texts is used by critics as evidence against the Book of Abraham's authenticity. The main arguments are:

  • Neither the recovered papyri nor the facsimiles published with the Book of Abraham bear any direct connection, either historical or textual, to Abraham. Abraham's name does not appear anywhere in the papyri or the facsimiles.[32]
  • Joseph Smith’s interpretation of the facsimiles do not bear any similarity to modern Egyptologists' translations of the text in these figures.[33] Apologists respond that some of Joseph Smith's translations restore the original author's symbolic representations and not the literal Egyptian translations.[34]
  • The Joseph Smith Papyri have been determined to be from the late Ptolemaic or early Roman period which is at least 1500 years after Abraham’s lifetime.[35] Apologists respond that the papryi need only be copies of the original written by Abraham and also claim that there exist some Egyptian scrolls from the same time period that contain the name of Abraham.[36]
  • Anachronisms exist in the Book of Abraham which indicate that it was not written in Abraham’s time.[37]
  • Within a series of documents written by Joseph Smith's scribes, the "Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar", also known as the "Kirtland Egyptian Papers", some manuscripts support the notion that the Book of Abraham was wrongly translated from extant papyrus.[38]

Mormon apologists have presented a number of theories in defense of the authenticity of the Book of Abraham. The most popular theories argue the following:

  • The remaining papyrus fragments are not the ones Smith used to translate the Book of Abraham or the fragments may have merely been a starting point for Smith's reconstruction and that the bulk of the original papyri had been destroyed.[39] Critics respond noting that facsimile 1 matches the vignette in the existing papyrus and there is a direct reference in the Book of Abraham to facsimile 1.[40]
  • Joseph Smith may have received the account by revelation, rather than a standard "translation" of text from one language to another, in a process similar to his translation of the Bible.[41] Critics note that the existence of the “Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar” shows that Smith did attempt a direct translation.[42] Others note that the revelation theory contradicts Smith's own statements that the Book of Abraham is a translation as described in the original handwritten manuscript of the book as well as in other church documents.[43]
  • Abraham's writings may be esoterically encoded within the Egyptian funerary scrolls, such as through a mnemonic device.[44]
  • The facsimiles were not penned by Abraham, but by a Jewish redactor many centuries later.[45]

The text of the Book of Abraham provides justification for important Latter-day Saint doctrines, including the exaltation of man, plurality of gods, priesthood, and pre-mortal existence. Some of these justifications are not found in any of the other canonized scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Community of Christ, formerly known as Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), has not accepted the Book of Abraham as canonical. In 1896, the leaders of the church at the time, Joseph Smith III and Herman C. Smith made the following observation on the Book of Abraham,

The church has never to our knowledge taken any action on this work, either to indorse [sic] or condemn; so it cannot be said to be a church publication; nor can the church be held to answer for the correctness of its teaching. Joseph Smith, as the translator, is committed of course to the correctness of the translation, but not necessarily to the indorsement [sic] of its historical or doctrinal contents.[46]

  1. ^ History of the Church, Vol. 2, Ch. 17, p. 236. July 1835
  2. ^ History of the Church, Vol. 2, Ch. 17, p. 238
  3. ^ Introductory Note to the Pearl of Great Price. Retrieved on 2006-12-15.
  4. ^ Book of Abraham from MormonWiki.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  5. ^ Klaus Baer, "The Breathing Permit of Hor", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 3 (Autumn 1968):117-19. See also Edward H. Ashment, "The Book of Abraham Facsimiles: A Reappraisal", Sunstone 4-6 (1979): 33-48 and Stephen E. Thompson, "Egyptology and the Book of Abraham", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 28/1 (1995): 143-160
  6. ^ Edward H. Ashment, "The Book of Abraham Facsimiles: A Reappraisal", Sunstone 4-6 (1979) p. 44
  7. ^ Facsimile No. 1. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  8. ^ Richard A. Parker, "The Joseph Smith Papyri: A Preliminary Report", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1968, p. 86
  9. ^ For example, see Detroit Institute of Arts Galleries - Canopic Jars. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  10. ^ Facsimile No. 2. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  11. ^ Other images or actual hypocephali may be found at http://www.bowers.org/mummies/spells_image5.html and http://essenes.net/hypo.htm. Although the latter site does not appear to be reliable, the image varies from the Book of Abraham hypocephalus. (since the plate is referred to as the "second facsimile of Abraham," and claim it is contained in the Pearl of Great Price, the name of a Mormon book of scripture, it seems this plate, and translation, are derived from Smith's)
  12. ^ Facsimile No. 3. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  13. ^ See for example The Judgment of the Dead. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  14. ^ Osiris. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  15. ^ The Improvement Era, Jan. 1968, pp. 12-16
  16. ^ Jay Todd, "Papyri, Joseph Smith”, Encyclopedia of Mormonism Vol. 3
  17. ^ "The Facsimile Found: The Recovery of Joseph Smith's Papyrus Manuscripts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Winter 1967), p. 64
  18. ^ The Deseret News, Salt Lake City, November 27, 1967
  19. ^ Insights, FARMS newsletter, The Book of Abraham: An Ongoing Research Focus. Retrieved on 2006-08-07., vol. 24 issue 5, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, 2004
  20. ^ The Improvement Era, February 1968
  21. ^ Abstract of "The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1968, p. 67 and Robert K. Ritner, "The ‘Breathing Permit of Hôr’ Thirty-four Years Later" Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 33 (Winter 2000) p. 97
  22. ^ Klaus Baer, "The Breathing Permit of Hor," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 3 (Autumn 1968):116-17
  23. ^ Michael D. Rhodes, The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary [Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2002], 21, 23
  24. ^ John Gee, The Ancient Owners of the Joseph Smith Papyri [Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1999], 5
  25. ^ Robert K. Ritner, "'The Breathing Permit of Hôr' Among the Joseph Smith Papyri," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 169 (July 2003)
  26. ^ Richard A. Parker, "The Joseph Smith Papyri: A Preliminary Report", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1968, p. 98.
  27. ^ Klaus Baer, "The Breathing Permit of Hor", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 3 [Autumn 1968]:119-20
  28. ^ Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1975], 19-23
  29. ^ Robert K. Ritner, "'The Breathing Permit of Hôr' Among the Joseph Smith Papyri," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 169-170 (July 2003)
  30. ^ Robert K. Ritner, "'The Breathing Permit of Hôr' Among the Joseph Smith Papyri," Journal of Near Eastern Studies 176-177 (July 2003)
  31. ^ Michael D. Rhodes, The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary [Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2002], 25
  32. ^ Edward H. Ashment "Joseph Smith’s Identification of ‘Abraham’ in Papyrus JS 1, ‘The Breathing Permit of Hor.’" Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought (Winter 2000) p. 126. See also translations by Ritner, op. cit., Baer, op. cit., and Parker, op. cit.
  33. ^ Stephen E. Thompson, "Egyptology and the Book of Abraham", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 28/1 (Spring 1995): 148-152
  34. ^ The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus ... Twenty Years Later. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. In this article, Michael D. Rhodes examines facsimile 2, the hypocephalus, and notes that the four sons of Horus (figure 6) plausibly fits with Joseph Smith's explanation that the figure "represents this earth in its four quarters".
  35. ^ Klaus Baer, "The Breathing Permit of Hor," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 3 (Autumn 1968):111 and Richard A. Parker, The Joseph Smith Papyri: A Preliminary Report, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1968, p. 98. Also in Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1975], p. 3, where Nibley noted the 1st century A.D. for the dating of the papyrus. See also Michael D. Rhodes, The Ensign, July 1988, pp. 51-53.
  36. ^ Could there have been a real Egyptian scroll that actually, literally discussed Abraham?. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  37. ^ Stephen E. Thompson, "Egyptology and the Book of Abraham", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 28/1 (Spring 1995): 152-156. Thompson notes at least "four anachronistic names in the text; Chaldea, Potiphar, Egyptus, and probably Pharaoh".
  38. ^ Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  39. ^ John Gee, "A Tragedy of Errors" FARMS Review of Books 4/1 (1992): 93–119 and Michael D. Rhodes, "The Book of Abraham: Divinely Inspired Scripture" FARMS Review of Books 4/1 (1992): 120–126
  40. ^ Stephen E. Thompson, "Egyptology and the Book of Abraham", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 28/1 (Spring 1995): 154. The link between the Book of Abraham text and facsimile 1 can be found in Abraham 1:12-14, where Abraham purportedly wrote, "... I will refer you to the representation at the commencement of this record. 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. 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."
  41. ^ Michael D. Rhodes and John Gee, Interview on KSL Radio on January 29, 2006 and Michael D. Rhodes, The Ensign, July 1988, pp. 52-53.
  42. ^ Milan D. Smith, Jr. “`That Is the Handwriting of Abraham.’”, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 23 (4) Winter 1990: 167-169. The title of the article refers to an incident where Josiah Quincy, the famous mayor of Boston, met Joseph Smith and was shown the papyrus. Quincy stated, "Some parchments inscribed with hieroglyphics were then offered us. They were preserved under glass and handled with great respect. `That is the handwriting of Abraham, the father of the Faithful,’ said the prophet." See Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past, 3rd. ed. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883.
  43. ^ Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Salt Lake City Messenger, issue 82, September 1992, Salt Lake City, Utah. Retrieved on 2006-08-07. At the beginning of the handwritten manuscript of the Book of Abraham, Joseph Smith asserted that it was a "Translation of the Book of Abraham written by his own hand upon papyrus and found in the catacombs of Egypt." In the History of the Church, vol. 2, pp. 236, 286, and 320, Smith describes his work on the translation of Egyptian records from the papyrus.
  44. ^ Mnemonic Device of the Joseph Smith Papyri, Egyptian Alphabet & Grammar & the Book of Abraham. Retrieved on 2006-08-07.
  45. ^ Kevin L. Barney, "The Facsimiles and Semitic Adaptation of Existing Sources," Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant, 115–116.
  46. ^ Joseph Smith III and Herman C. Smith, The History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Vol. II, p. 569, Lamoni, Iowa: Herald Publishing House, 1896

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