Book of Abraham

The Book of Abraham is an 1835 work produced by Joseph Smith that he said was based on 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". Smith's translation of the papyri describes a story of Abraham's early life, including a vision of the cosmos. The work was canonized in 1880 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as part of its Pearl of Great Price. Thus, it forms a doctrinal foundation for the LDS Church and Mormon fundamentalist denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is not considered a religious text by the Community of Christ. Other groups in the Latter Day Saint movement have various opinions regarding the Book of Abraham, with some rejecting and some accepting the text as inspired scripture. The book contains several doctrines that are unique to Mormonism, such as the concept of God organizing eternal, pre-existing elements to create the universe instead of creating it ex nihilo. The Book of Abraham papyri were thought lost in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. However, in 1966 several fragments of the papyri were found in the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and in the LDS Church archives. They are now referred to as the Joseph Smith Papyri. Upon examination by professional Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists, these fragments were found to bear no resemblance to Smith's interpretation, and were identified as common Egyptian funerary texts, dating to about the first century BC. As a result, the Book of Abraham has been the source of significant controversy, with Mormon apologists having presented a number of theories in defense of the authenticity of the Book of Abraham. Origin: Several papyri and eleven mummies were discovered near the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes by Antonio Lebolo between 1818 and 1822. Sometime between 1822 and his death on February 19, 1830, Lebolo arranged to have them sold. In 1833, the mummies were shipped to New York and collected by Michael Chandler, who made the unsubstantiated claim of being Lebolo's nephew. Over the next two years Chandler toured the eastern United States, displaying and selling some of the mummies. 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 was not 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 $2,400. 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. 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. 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." Smith's journal entry for October 1, 1835, reads: "This afternoon labored on the Egyptan alphabet, in company with brsr. O. Cowdery, and W.W.Phelps..." The documents associated with this effort are referred to as the Kirtland Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar (EAG) or the Kirtland Egyptian Papers (KEP). The complete work was first published serially in the Latter Day Saint movement newspaper Times and Seasons in 1842. and later canonized in 1880 by the LDS Church as part of its Pearl of Great Price. Content of the work- 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, the premortal existence, and the creation of the world. 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 attempted 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 and the premortal existence, the creation of the world, and the creation of man. Facsimiles: Three images (facsimiles of vignettes on the papyri) and Joseph Smith's explanations of them are included with the text of the Book of Abraham. According to Egyptologists, Facsimile No. 1 and Facsimile No. 3 are part of the Scroll of Hor, which contained Joseph Smith Papyrus I, X and XI. Facsimile No. 2 is the hypocephalus of Sheshonq. The location of its source is currently unknown. According to 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". 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 a part of the larger scriptural work, The Pearl of Great Price. The Book of Abraham text is a source of some distinct Latter-day Saint doctrines such as the exaltation of humanity, the plurality of gods, priesthood, pre-mortal existence, and the existence of other inhabited worlds in the cosmos. 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. Community of Christ: The Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, does not accept the Book of Abraham as canonical, although it was referenced in early church publications. 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. Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints holds to the canonicity of the Book of Abraham. 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 have also asserted 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. Translations of the papyri revealed that the rediscovered portions bore no relation to the Book of Abraham text. LDS apologist Hugh Nibley and Brigham Young University Egyptologists John L. Gee and Michael D. Rhodes subsequently offered detailed rebuttals to some criticisms. University of Chicago Egyptologist Robert K. Ritner concluded in 2014 that the source of the Book of Abraham "is the 'Breathing Permit of Hôr,' misunderstood and mistranslated by Joseph Smith." In 2014, the LDS Church published an essay on its website which acknowledged that Joseph Smith's notes concerning the meaning of some Egyptian characters are inconsistent with "those recognized by Egyptologists today." The essay concluded that "the truth of the Book of Abraham is ultimately found through careful study of its teachings, sincere prayer, and the confirmation of the Spirit" and "cannot be settled by scholarly debate concerning the book’s translation and historicity." In response, Egyptologist Robert K. Ritner noted that the Book of Abraham is now "confirmed as a perhaps well-meaning, but erroneous invention by Joseph Smith," and "despite its inauthenticity as a genuine historical narrative, the Book of Abraham remains a valuable witness to early American religious history and to the recourse to ancient texts as sources of modern religious faith and speculation." The facsimiles and criticism- Early criticism of the facsimiles: 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. In 1873, 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. Additionally, in 1912, Reverend Franklin S. Spalding sent copies of the three facsimiles to eight Egyptologists and semitists 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 recognized the facsimiles as portions of ordinary funerary documents, and some harshly condemned Smith's interpretation: Egyptologist 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." Flinders Petrie of London University wrote: "It may be safely said that there is not one single word that is true in these explanations". Archibald Sayce, Oxford professor of Egyptology, stated: “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.” The tables below demonstrate the difference between Smith's interpretations and the standard translations made by Egyptologists. Questionable reconstruction of lacunae: Several Egyptologists, including Deveria, Klaus Baer, Richard Anthony Parker, and Albert Lythgoe noted that portions of Facsimile No. 1 appeared to be incorrect, based on comparison with other similar Egyptian vignettes, and suspected that they had been reconstructed from lacunae (gaps) in the original papyri. The papyri containing Facsimile No. 1 is acknowledged by Egyptologists to be a version of The Book of Breathings. Lythgoe 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." Other alleged misconstructions were also noted by these Egyptologists. Later, when the original papyri were discovered (see section below), it was apparent that these portions were indeed missing as the Egyptologists had predicted, including the head of the standing figure, and suggested that Smith had filled in the missing portions in the published version of the facsimile. Egyptologists have also criticized Facsimile No. 2 for containing false reconstruction of lacunae, suggesting that Smith reconstructed portions of the vignette with characters from another papyrus. Critics note that an incomplete version of Facsimile No. 2 is found among the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, part of which are in Smith's handwriting. Comparing the published version of Facsimile No. 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 No. 2, with some of the characters being upside down. Mormon apologists allege that the statements by these Egyptologists are speculation and that Smith's reconstruction was either correct, were filled in to make the images more aesthetically pleasing, or inconsequential to the original interpretation. Lacunae in Facsimile No. 2: Michael Rhodes stated: "A careful examination of Facsimile No. 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." Facsimile No. 3: Joseph Smith claimed that Facsimile No. 3 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 Smith, though Deveria postulates that he did. 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. Hieroglyphics at the bottom of the scroll identify Horus, the deceased. 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, Horus (identified by hieroglyphics above his head), and behind Horus stands Anubis, the god of embalming. Apologist response to criticism: Some apologists believe that there are differences between the vignette and other comparable vignettes that render the standard interpretation incorrect. Apologists have also challenged the Egyptologists' means of interpretation of the facsimiles, stating that the papyri may have been created by a Jewish redactor, adapting Egyptian sources of the time. Apologists give examples of such Jewish adaptations to help explain how the facsimiles can support Smith's possible translation of the book. Hugh Nibley of Brigham Young University notes that the seemingly misidentified characters in Facsimile No. 3 may have been participating in a ritual where both men and women can be represented by the opposite sex. Nibley also notes that in court scenes, the man standing in the center is usually identified as the servant. Apologists also cite parallels between the Book of Abraham and several ancient documents and other Jewish writings, maintaining that there is no evidence that Smith studied or even had access to these sources. Examples include the attempted sacrifice of Abraham, Abraham teaching the Egyptian Pharaoh astronomy, and God teaching astronomy to Abraham. 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. 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 Abel Combs on May 26, 1856. Ten weeks later, two of the mummies and some of the papyri were being displayed in St. Louis by Edward Wyman. 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's 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 when he recognized one as the vignette known as Facsmile 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. These fragments, originally called the Sensen Papyrus, were designated Joseph Smith Papyrus I, X, and XI. 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. 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. Some LDS scholars have argued that much of the original papyrus collection is missing, but others have challenged this notion, contending that the majority of the papyri have been recovered. 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. Analysis and translation of the papyrus: 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. The LDS Church published sepia photographs of the papyri in its magazine "Improvement Era" in February 1968, although a translation was not provided at the time. 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 Anthony Parker (Director of the Department of Egyptology, Brown University). Their translations were published in Dialogue in its Summer and Autumn 1968 issues. Other translations and analyses have been performed at various times since 1968 by Mormon and non-Mormon scholars, including Michael D. Rhodes (BYU), John Gee (BYU), and Robert K. Ritner (University of Chicago). The translations among all of these scholars are consistent. 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). Egyptologist 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 ... The lower middle section of the Joseph Smith Papyrus fragment Facsimile No. 1 was initially translated by Parker. His translation is as follows: This great pool of Khonsu Osiris Hor, justified, born of Taykhebyt, a man likewise. After (his) two arms are fastened 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 souls of the gods for ever and ever. 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. -Smith’s explanation of the facsimiles and interpretation (as contained in the Book of Abraham text) does not parallel Egyptologists' transliterations or explanations of the text or images on the papyri. -The Joseph Smith Papyri have been dated to the late Ptolemaic or early Roman period, 1500 years after Abraham’s supposed lifetime. Critics feel this is relevant because of 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. -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. Critics further assert that the “Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar” indicates that Smith did attempt a direct, literal, comprehensive translation. 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. -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. Defense of the book: 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; -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. -The facsimiles in Egyptian funerary scrolls may have been a mnemonic device. -The facsimiles were not penned by Abraham, but by a Jewish redactor many centuries later. -The facsimiles represent a corrupted version of a document originally written by Abraham, with Smith giving the interpretation of the original document. -There are other messages and meanings embedded in the text along with the Egyptologist's translations that are unknown to us, and could be where Smith found his message and interpretation. -The papyri may be copies of an original which was written personally by Abraham. -The remaining papyrus fragments are only part of the complete original papyri, or the fragments may have been a starting point for reconstruction. In July 2014, the LDS Church published an essay stating that the Book of Abraham is inspired scripture, but perhaps not a literal word-for-word translation of the Egyptian papyrus scrolls by Joseph Smith, and that the papyri may have merely served as a catalyst for revelation by Smith that led to his expanding on the biblical account of Abraham. The essay also points out that it was not uncommon for ancient Egyptian vignettes to be placed some distance from their associated commentary, thus text adjacent to and surrounding facsimile 1 may not be a source for the text of the Book of Abraham. 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.