Today is the 215th anniversary of the discovery of the rosetta stone. The rosetta stone had been discovered at just that time, but the man who was able to decipher the rosetta stone hadnt yet published his work, and no one could read egyptian hieroglyphs conveniently for smith. Why the kolbrin bible is the rosetta stone of planet x jenner, greg, masters, marshall on. To illustrate, he said that of all the scriptural citations in general conference since 1942, the book of abraham has been cited less than 1 percent of the time.
His book of abraham con depended on his credulous locals believing that egyptian hieroglyphics were just as inscrutabl. Joseph smith said that the papyrus contained the records of the ancient patriarchs abraham and joseph. Explores the joseph smith papyrus and demonstrates that joseph smiths claim that he had translated the book of abraham from it was a fabrication. Chandler presented the artifacts to joseph smith, whereupon to everyones wonder, the prophet revealed that one of the rolls contained the writings of abraham, another the writings of joseph of egypt. In october of 1880, the book of abraham was included in the pearl of great price which was officially canonized at the churchs semiannual general conference in salt lake city. The papyri used by joseph smith to produce the book of abraham were thought to be lost until some of them were discovered in the archives of the metropolitan museum of art in new york in 1966. This topic also reminds us of the problem when some of our own scholars who insist that the book of abraham was largely the fruit of nineteenthcentury egyptomania without knowledge of one of the main aspects of egyptomania.
What does the rosetta stone tell us about the bible. Bible history online rosetta stone biblical archaeology. Urim and thummim his magic translators had been permanently taken back by moroni a few years before. Abraham allegedly wrote in the book that he held the priesthood of god, centuries before the priesthood was instituted by moses. Dont rely on this alone, but in conjunction with another system, it may be a good resource to have on hand. Pearl of great price is the book of abraham a fake. The boa was the final straw for me the thing that swung the doubt into certainty the church was not true. Most of those citations are the seven verses in abraham 3. Egyptian papyri and the book of abraham a faithful, egyptological point of view kerry muhlestein. He claimed it was written in reformed egyptian and produced the book of abraham as the translation. The awardwinning language solution combines proven learning methods with the worlds best speech recognition technology. This website, the mormon curtain is a website that blogs the exmormon world.
According to the preface to the book of abraham, smith believed his document was actually written by abraham s own hand written upon papyrus. I was recently contacted by a member of the church who was ready to abandon his testimony after listening to a seminar at byu from the neal a. I was listening to an interesting talk by bruce porter on the book of abraham. In the book, god instructed abraham to lie to the egyptians by saying that his wife, sarai, was his sister. I had the privilege of seeing the rosetta stone last year, only a month or so after discovering the truth about the boa. Egyptologists react to the book of abraham zelph on the. Unlike rosetta stone, this book provides some basic grammar and usage rules, as well as a good view on cultural mores and potential tripups. John gee, an introduction to the book of abraham salt lake city.
This is a must read book for anyone who has a love of the ancient egyptian mysteries. The introduction to the book of abraham reads, the writings of abraham while he was in egypt, called the book of abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus. However, a great deal of material from the book of abraham was not included in genesis. The first english translation of the stone was completed in 1858 by the philomathean society of pennsylvania. English test 1 writing an analysis of a nonfiction text. I have turned time and time again to this rosetta stone of the galatz clan repeatedly to check a birthday or an anniversary. These developments involving the rosetta stone and champollion contributed to the coming forth of the book of abraham in a significant way. The rosetta stone is constructed from natural rock that dates back to the nineteenth century. He puts a stone in a hat, covers his face with it and says, abraham wrote this. Mormon handbook the book of abraham key dates 1799 rosetta stone discovered 1835 joseph smith begins translating egyptian papyri 1842 book of abraham published 1844 papyri sold after josephs death 1858 english translation of rosetta stone complete 1860 egyptologists identify book of abraham facsimiles as common funerary documents.
The book of abraham is a work produced between 1835 and 1842 by joseph smith based. The book of abraham issues translation problems mormonthink. In doing so, smith proclaimed that one of the roles contained the writings of abraham, another the writings of joseph of egypt documentary history of the church dhc 2. In so doing, they attempted to match up the translated text of the book of abraham with the egyptian characters on the papyri. Published in the book of abraham are three facsimiles copied from the papyrus along with josephs interpretations of them. Joseph smith when he released the book of abraham right before knowledge of the rosetta stone came to america that would prove him to be a false prophet. If you have reached this page from an outside source such as an internet search or forum referral, please note that this page the one you just landed on is an archive containing articles on book of abraham.
Chaldean priests then sacrifice three virgins to pagan gods of stone and wood, and one priest attempts to sacrifice abraham himself before an angel. The book of abraham is not central to the restored gospel of christ. The joseph smith papyri jsp are egyptian funerary papyrus fragments from ancient thebes dated between 300 to 100 bc which, along with four mummies, were once owned by joseph smith, the founder of the latter day saint movement. I return herewith, under separate cover, the pearl of great price. The book of abraham tells a story of abrahams life, travels to canaan and egypt and a vision he received concerning the universe and the creation of the world. Did joseph smith correctly translate facsimile 3 in the. The book of abraham is a book of lds scripture that joseph smith translated from a collection of ancient egyptian papyri the church purchased. Two professors in january 2019 shared their insights on the book of abraham based on their years of study in preparing a major volume on the subject for the joseph smith papers project.
The book of abraham, it is hardly necessary to say, is a pure fabrication. With the discovery of the rosetta stone, it finally became possible for scholars to decipher the egyptian language. Rosetta stone is the best way to learn a foreign language. As one writer put it, during the early 19th century worldwide interest in egyptian antiquities fanned itself to a searing blaze. Joseph smith begins translating egyptian papyri, 1842. The book of abraham translation came at a time that joseph was really big into language study. Joseph smith when he released the book of abraham right. If only he could have used his seer capabilities to learn about the future discovery of the rosetta stone, eh. This bibliography was generated on cite this for me on wednesday, february 25, 2015. Kerry muhlestein, egyptian papyri and the book of abraham. Why the kolbrin bible is the rosetta stone of planet x. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
Whether the book is doctrinally significant or not, it is apparent that joseph was incapable of correctly. Its unlikely that smith would have even attempted his ruse if he was aware of the rosetta stone or that it had been translated. The writing on it appeared very ancient, at the top of the stone were hieroglyphs reading right to left. Abraham, isaac, and jacob are actual historical figures. He did this all before all the egyptian language was deciphered with the rosetta stone, and very little was known about egyptians. In 1842, joseph smith published what he said was the first. The sun does not borrow light from other sourcesevery modernday scientist knows that. Photographic reproduction of the classic 1904 edition. Hieroglyphics remained unreadable in american academia, as the recently discovered rosetta stone was still a work in progress. We now know that the papyrus joseph smith purchased has nothing to do with abraham whatsoever as the rosetta stone was discovered. The rosetta stone, which was instrumental in allowing scholars to decipher the hieroglyphics, had only been recently found 1799 and whatever few experts. Joseph translated the papyri before scholars could confidently decipher the hieroglyphics of the rosetta stone, so nobody could challenge his translation. Egyptologists have examined the facsimiles since 1856. Joseph also appeared to be pretty weak, astronomywise.
I found my personal rosetta stone karen galatz the blogs. Budge was a ground breaker in understanding and discovering the early egyptian culture, religions and myths. Jeanfrancois champollion would only recently relatively speaking be completing his transliteration of the rosetta stone. With the discovery and cracking of the rosetta stone and the later rediscovery of the papyri, egyptologists have translated the actual text of the. Was this stone the key to deciphering the hieroglyphs of ancient egypt. The rosetta stone was the key to deciphering egyptian hieroglyphics. In 1912, a letter about the book of abraham was published by arthur cruttenden mace, assistant curator in the department of egyptian art in new yorks metropolitan museum of art.
With the discovery of the rosetta stone, it finally became possible for scholars to decipher the egyptian. Did joseph smith correctly translate facsimile 3 in the book of abraham. The writings of abraham while he was in egypt, called the book of abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus. The rosetta stone helped generate a large population of tourists interested in ancient egyptian artifacts. The book of abraham translation watchman fellowship, inc. A work by joseph smith, called the book of abraham, was supposedly a translation of ancient egyptian papyri. In this work, he provides a clear, dynamic and often debated understanding of the rosetta stone. The rosetta stone was found in 1799, which enabled scholars to eventually piece together the logic to start translating egyptian and now modern scholars can translate egyptian.
With the discovery and deciphering of the rosetta stone, ancient egyptian texts can now be accurately translated by egyptologists. Champollions rosetta stone translated the book of abraham. This black basalt stone slab was found in 1798 by french soldiers in the rubble of a wall near the egyptian town of rosetta. He explained that the prophet joseph was extremely generous in his use of the word translate, but that he did not call what he did with the facsimiles in abraham, translation. These are the sources and citations used to research rosetta stone. Charlton heston as moses in the ten commandments 1956. Disproves lds claims that joseph smith received the book of abraham through revelation and proves that joseph smiths source for his translation was a pagan egyptian text, the book of breathings. Two years later the rosetta stone translation becomes widely.
The video demonstrates that facsimile 1 from joseph smiths book of abraham comes from pagan egyptian funerary texts. The book jumps right in with full sentence structures and long vocab lists. The lds church admits on their website that the book of abraham is not a. This took place before the discovery and deciphering of the rosetta stone. According to the preface to the book of abraham, smith believed his document was actually written by abrahams own hand written upon papyrus. The book of commandments, smiths journal and william claytons journal all say smith used his brown peep stone for the book of abraham translation. Why is it said that joseph smith was unaware of the. The idea was apparently to use the book of abraham as a type of rosetta stone or sure translation nibley, judging and prejudging the book of abraham, p. In the book of abraham we read all about astronomy in the context of divine judgement and dominions. Joseph was able to receive the text of the book of abraham in the same manner that he did for the book of mormon, by revelation. The book of abraham hope, faith, and reading glasses.
445 86 987 1301 1463 1429 1614 255 1617 345 513 1060 1349 65 308 474 245 1333 1123 1419 1160 187 816 925 578 889 918 83 1268 228 898 1224 267 1449 1184 40 901 551 1424 912 344 1182