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Joseph Smith Papers, Revelations and Translations, V. 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts
Revelations and Translations, Volume 4 presents three sets of the surviving fragments of the papyri purchased by Joseph Smith and his associates in 1835, the documents they made as they tried to decipher Egyptian characters from the papyri, and the manuscripts and first published version of the Book of Abraham. This book marks the first time that full-color photographs and typographic facsimiles of all these documents have been published in a single volume.
448 pages, Hardcover
Published October 29, 2018
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October 29, 2018
While this volume contains very little that has already been made accessible elsewhere, this collation makes it much easier to see the relationships between all the Egyptological projects of 1835 and 1842. The editors follow the same rigor and standards of the previous JSPP volumes. I was particularly impressed by their use of sources in contextualizing and explaining the mummies and papyri in their introduction. Not only do we have the research of Michael Rhodes and John Gee (well known Mormon apologists) represented, but also that of Robert Ritner and Christopher Smith (more critical voices).
There was little written in the section introductions, etc. to this volume that could be seen as more apologetic than scholarly. For instance, the editors somewhat put to rest notions that much beyond Abraham 2:18 was translated prior to Nauvoo. They even state that "Between 1835, when JS suspended his work on the Book of Abraham, and 1842, when he resumed the translation, he expanded upon or taught several new doctrines -- regarding the nature of God, the Godhead, and the premortal existence of souls -- that are also found in the 1842 Book of Abraham text" (page 244). They also state, "it is likely that JS knew and approved of the work Phelps and Parrish were doing" [on the Grammar and Alphabet volume] (page 112), which hopefully lays to rest other sloppy apologetics. They also acknowledge that "Most scholars who have studied the Book of Breathing for Horos, one of the papyrus rolls purchased in 1835, estimate that it originally measured between 150 and 156 centimeters", (page xiv) though they still give breathing room for John Gee's somewhat ridiculous contention that it could have been 1300 centimeters long. Fortunately, Gee's contention is relegated to footnotes.
The editors' deepest foray into apologetic rather than scholarly content happens on pages 3 and 4, where in one instance they say "Some scholars" view the Book of Breathing for Horos as having been 150-156cm, rather than repeating "most" as they, quite accurately, stated earlier. Admittedly this is minor. More seriously, on page 4, the editors claim without qualification that "This vignette (Facsimile 1), which was the opening illustration of the Book of Breathing, is unique -- it does not appear on any other known copy of the Book of Breathing". This is all the more unfortunate because Lanny Bell's 2005 essay (found in the "Egypt and Beyond" tribute to Leonard Lesko) is referenced in their bibliography, in which we learn several clarifying points, such as that there are only 33 known Books of Breathing still extant. Also, "All versions [of the Book of Breathings] seem to have originated in the Theban area [where JS's collection of papyri originated]". Also, "The distinctive text [of the book]... is fixed, with very little deviation. In marked contrast, the few vignettes accompanying this text are not standardized, but display great variation", including at least 12 of which don't even have accompanying vignettes. Bell also quotes Baer in a footnote, saying, "I doubt that one could find many instances of exactly identical scenes in Egyptian art". So Facsimile 1's "unique" presence in the church-owned Book of Breathing is a bit of a red herring to be sure, which the editors could have done better to avoid sensationalizing.
I was happy with how forthcoming the editors were with the conclusions their research in preparing this volume led to, and how well they contextualized this work of the early Latter-day Saints. They explain how Joseph Smith and his associates "assumed that the Egyptian language contained a series of complex systems and symbols, each of which held multiple meanings; they believed the meaning of each character was shaped by its position in a language hierarchy made of five tiers..., and they thought marks such as underlining could be added to a character to change its meaning" (page xvii), hopefully mostly putting to rest unsupportable contentions otherwise. They sympathetically contextualized Joseph Smith and his associates' efforts in the following, "like many similar efforts of the time to unravel the mysteries of the Egyptian language, these attempts are considered by modern Egyptologist -- both Latter-day Saints and others -- to be of no actual value in understanding Egyptian" (page xxv). They even pointed the way for new research to be done in ascertaining from where Joseph's 5 degree system could have derived. One thing I particularly appreciated was their laying out their source for the notion that Joseph Smith used his seer stone to translate at least the Nauvoo portion of the Book of Abraham. They relied on faulty evidence in arguing that Joseph probably didn't use his seer stone to translate everything -- I think at best the editors should have left it at, we don't know for sure how the Kirtland portion was translated, rather than using the absence of evidence from quite belated recollections of the Kirtland translation period as evidence of absence.
It was a pleasure unraveling the "ka ke ki ko ku" ("cha che chi cho chu") pronunciation system that worked alongside those particular 5 degrees (as opposed to the related multiply-by-5 system), and finding that Joseph Smith and his associates perhaps assumed that Onitah and Katumin lived around the 3000th year of the world, giving the early church young earth cosmology an extra 1000 years between Adam and Abraham versus the rest of the conservative Christian world. I also enjoyed learning the "Egyptian" and non-Egyptian (Chaldean? Adamic? They didn't specify!) names of the 15 grand governing stars in Joseph Smith's cosmology. I was also pleased that the editors openly pointed out that "The Egyptian Counting document is built on a base-ten number system. It is unknown where the characters originated, but they appear to be adapted versions of Arabic numerals rather than Egyptian characters" (page 95). All these documents could be perused elsewhere (including, right now, on the Papers website), but it was nice having them all together. I especially liked having a photocopy of the Horos Book of Breathings on which to annotate its connections to the Book of Abraham manuscripts.
Some wishlist items that I think would have made the book even more superb. When they lay out the surviving Book of Abraham papyri, it would have been nice to have a ruler printed alongside them so the exact dimensions could be known for certain (ignoring camera and lens effects). In the final appendix which shows side by side comparisons of all the symbols and where applicable, papyri fragments, it would have been nice for the editors to state which of the 5 categories they came up with, hieroglyph, hieratic, "pure language", unknown, or composite, each figure belongs to, as well as degree of confidence or perhaps sources that assert the category. Disclosure: I was offered a review copy of this, and given that I own many books related to the Book of Abraham and its papyri, I would wholeheartedly recommending owning and reading Rhodes and Ritner, and then turning to this if you have continued interest AND you want to learn of an interesting connection between John Wilkes Booth and Joseph Smith!
There was little written in the section introductions, etc. to this volume that could be seen as more apologetic than scholarly. For instance, the editors somewhat put to rest notions that much beyond Abraham 2:18 was translated prior to Nauvoo. They even state that "Between 1835, when JS suspended his work on the Book of Abraham, and 1842, when he resumed the translation, he expanded upon or taught several new doctrines -- regarding the nature of God, the Godhead, and the premortal existence of souls -- that are also found in the 1842 Book of Abraham text" (page 244). They also state, "it is likely that JS knew and approved of the work Phelps and Parrish were doing" [on the Grammar and Alphabet volume] (page 112), which hopefully lays to rest other sloppy apologetics. They also acknowledge that "Most scholars who have studied the Book of Breathing for Horos, one of the papyrus rolls purchased in 1835, estimate that it originally measured between 150 and 156 centimeters", (page xiv) though they still give breathing room for John Gee's somewhat ridiculous contention that it could have been 1300 centimeters long. Fortunately, Gee's contention is relegated to footnotes.
The editors' deepest foray into apologetic rather than scholarly content happens on pages 3 and 4, where in one instance they say "Some scholars" view the Book of Breathing for Horos as having been 150-156cm, rather than repeating "most" as they, quite accurately, stated earlier. Admittedly this is minor. More seriously, on page 4, the editors claim without qualification that "This vignette (Facsimile 1), which was the opening illustration of the Book of Breathing, is unique -- it does not appear on any other known copy of the Book of Breathing". This is all the more unfortunate because Lanny Bell's 2005 essay (found in the "Egypt and Beyond" tribute to Leonard Lesko) is referenced in their bibliography, in which we learn several clarifying points, such as that there are only 33 known Books of Breathing still extant. Also, "All versions [of the Book of Breathings] seem to have originated in the Theban area [where JS's collection of papyri originated]". Also, "The distinctive text [of the book]... is fixed, with very little deviation. In marked contrast, the few vignettes accompanying this text are not standardized, but display great variation", including at least 12 of which don't even have accompanying vignettes. Bell also quotes Baer in a footnote, saying, "I doubt that one could find many instances of exactly identical scenes in Egyptian art". So Facsimile 1's "unique" presence in the church-owned Book of Breathing is a bit of a red herring to be sure, which the editors could have done better to avoid sensationalizing.
I was happy with how forthcoming the editors were with the conclusions their research in preparing this volume led to, and how well they contextualized this work of the early Latter-day Saints. They explain how Joseph Smith and his associates "assumed that the Egyptian language contained a series of complex systems and symbols, each of which held multiple meanings; they believed the meaning of each character was shaped by its position in a language hierarchy made of five tiers..., and they thought marks such as underlining could be added to a character to change its meaning" (page xvii), hopefully mostly putting to rest unsupportable contentions otherwise. They sympathetically contextualized Joseph Smith and his associates' efforts in the following, "like many similar efforts of the time to unravel the mysteries of the Egyptian language, these attempts are considered by modern Egyptologist -- both Latter-day Saints and others -- to be of no actual value in understanding Egyptian" (page xxv). They even pointed the way for new research to be done in ascertaining from where Joseph's 5 degree system could have derived. One thing I particularly appreciated was their laying out their source for the notion that Joseph Smith used his seer stone to translate at least the Nauvoo portion of the Book of Abraham. They relied on faulty evidence in arguing that Joseph probably didn't use his seer stone to translate everything -- I think at best the editors should have left it at, we don't know for sure how the Kirtland portion was translated, rather than using the absence of evidence from quite belated recollections of the Kirtland translation period as evidence of absence.
It was a pleasure unraveling the "ka ke ki ko ku" ("cha che chi cho chu") pronunciation system that worked alongside those particular 5 degrees (as opposed to the related multiply-by-5 system), and finding that Joseph Smith and his associates perhaps assumed that Onitah and Katumin lived around the 3000th year of the world, giving the early church young earth cosmology an extra 1000 years between Adam and Abraham versus the rest of the conservative Christian world. I also enjoyed learning the "Egyptian" and non-Egyptian (Chaldean? Adamic? They didn't specify!) names of the 15 grand governing stars in Joseph Smith's cosmology. I was also pleased that the editors openly pointed out that "The Egyptian Counting document is built on a base-ten number system. It is unknown where the characters originated, but they appear to be adapted versions of Arabic numerals rather than Egyptian characters" (page 95). All these documents could be perused elsewhere (including, right now, on the Papers website), but it was nice having them all together. I especially liked having a photocopy of the Horos Book of Breathings on which to annotate its connections to the Book of Abraham manuscripts.
Some wishlist items that I think would have made the book even more superb. When they lay out the surviving Book of Abraham papyri, it would have been nice to have a ruler printed alongside them so the exact dimensions could be known for certain (ignoring camera and lens effects). In the final appendix which shows side by side comparisons of all the symbols and where applicable, papyri fragments, it would have been nice for the editors to state which of the 5 categories they came up with, hieroglyph, hieratic, "pure language", unknown, or composite, each figure belongs to, as well as degree of confidence or perhaps sources that assert the category. Disclosure: I was offered a review copy of this, and given that I own many books related to the Book of Abraham and its papyri, I would wholeheartedly recommending owning and reading Rhodes and Ritner, and then turning to this if you have continued interest AND you want to learn of an interesting connection between John Wilkes Booth and Joseph Smith!
December 5, 2018
This new volume of the Joseph Smith Papers is another Facsimile Edition, which means it is an oversized volume (approx. 12 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches, matching the other Facsimile Editions in the series) with all of the items related to the Book of Abraham available to the public for the first time in full color. It contains photos of the extant papyri, the collection of documents commonly known as the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, and the Book of Abraham as first published in the Times and Seasons, along with the printing plates that were used.
As with all the books in the JSP series, there is a great volume introduction that gives the historical background and an overview of what the volume contains. It explains how the mummies and papyri came into the possession of Joseph Smith, what the various sets of documents are and how they might relate, and how revelation and translation were understood at the time by Joseph and the Saints. This is important since it has been known since the extant fragments were recovered in the 1960s that they actually contain common funerary texts (see https://archive.org/stream/improvemen...). There are two theories that explain this discrepancy – either the scriptural text was on the much larger portion of papyri that was lost, or it was revealed without regard to what the papyri actually contain (see https://www.lds.org/topics/translatio...) – the introduction focuses on the latter.
There is also a brief introduction to each section, explaining what it contains and the related history, along with a physical description of the items, including measurements (this is particularly important because the photos are not to scale, although there are 2 pages that do show fragments of the Book of Breathing and the Book of the Dead in relationship with each other). At the end is a reference material section, which contains a “Book of Abraham Chronology for the Years 1835 and 184s,” “Works Cited,” and “Comparison of Characters.” This last item is a chart spanning 30 pages which “allows readers to compare the instances of a character and its associated information across all the documents in which that character appears” (page 350.) This chart is likely to be a helpful resource used in future research.
The documents are available online now, but the “Comparison of Characters,” volume introduction, and the notes are currently only available in the book. And, as always, the notes contain very helpful and interesting information. It is evident that a lot of time was spent in careful studying of the documents to produce the notes.
The first part of the book, with the Egyptian papyri, speaks of them as an Egyptologist would view and translate them today. The remainder of the book speaks of the documents produced by Joseph Smith and his associates as they saw them, and tries to make sense of what they might have been doing, as they appear to have either been “study[ing] it out in [their] mind[s]” (see D&C 9:7-8) before and during the translation, which is the approach this book takes, or trying to reverse engineer the translation after it was done (another common theory).
This volume does have a number of flaws, such as the image on page 47 being upside down, and there is already an errata page online that lists some of them. But it was quite an ambitious endeavor that many of us never expected to see in print. For anyone interested in the study of the Book of Abraham beyond the scriptural text, this volume is a must have.
As with all the books in the JSP series, there is a great volume introduction that gives the historical background and an overview of what the volume contains. It explains how the mummies and papyri came into the possession of Joseph Smith, what the various sets of documents are and how they might relate, and how revelation and translation were understood at the time by Joseph and the Saints. This is important since it has been known since the extant fragments were recovered in the 1960s that they actually contain common funerary texts (see https://archive.org/stream/improvemen...). There are two theories that explain this discrepancy – either the scriptural text was on the much larger portion of papyri that was lost, or it was revealed without regard to what the papyri actually contain (see https://www.lds.org/topics/translatio...) – the introduction focuses on the latter.
There is also a brief introduction to each section, explaining what it contains and the related history, along with a physical description of the items, including measurements (this is particularly important because the photos are not to scale, although there are 2 pages that do show fragments of the Book of Breathing and the Book of the Dead in relationship with each other). At the end is a reference material section, which contains a “Book of Abraham Chronology for the Years 1835 and 184s,” “Works Cited,” and “Comparison of Characters.” This last item is a chart spanning 30 pages which “allows readers to compare the instances of a character and its associated information across all the documents in which that character appears” (page 350.) This chart is likely to be a helpful resource used in future research.
The documents are available online now, but the “Comparison of Characters,” volume introduction, and the notes are currently only available in the book. And, as always, the notes contain very helpful and interesting information. It is evident that a lot of time was spent in careful studying of the documents to produce the notes.
The first part of the book, with the Egyptian papyri, speaks of them as an Egyptologist would view and translate them today. The remainder of the book speaks of the documents produced by Joseph Smith and his associates as they saw them, and tries to make sense of what they might have been doing, as they appear to have either been “study[ing] it out in [their] mind[s]” (see D&C 9:7-8) before and during the translation, which is the approach this book takes, or trying to reverse engineer the translation after it was done (another common theory).
This volume does have a number of flaws, such as the image on page 47 being upside down, and there is already an errata page online that lists some of them. But it was quite an ambitious endeavor that many of us never expected to see in print. For anyone interested in the study of the Book of Abraham beyond the scriptural text, this volume is a must have.
October 29, 2018
This may be the thinnest volume of the Joseph Smith Papers thus far, but it is packed with fascinating documents and interesting historical background and information. This volume contains photos and transcriptions of all documents related directly to the papyrus scrolls that Joseph Smith purchased with several mummies from Michael Chandler in Kirtland, Ohio in 1835. The types of documents in this book span the early documents containing characters that Joseph Smith and others copied from the papyri, to the "Egyptian Alphabet" and "Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar" created in an apparent effort to decipher the characters on the papyri in a systematic way, and the manuscripts of the Book of Abraham itself, at least portions of which appear to be the original copies scribes wrote as Joseph dictated his "translation." The book even includes pictures of the surviving portions of the papyri containing the images from which the facsimiles appearing in the Book of Abraham were taken, as well as the printing plates used when publishing those facsimiles. The introductions for each of these types of documents are very informative, providing clear explanations of what historians know about what Joseph Smith and his associates were attempting to do when creating the documents and acknowledging the gaps in that knowledge. In fact, there is much that we simply do not know about these documents, particularly the "Alphabet" and the "Alphabet and Grammar."
But this book provides a solid foundation on which historians and other scholars may begin to fill in those gaps with more than just speculation. Most helpful in that effort is a chart at the end of the book that collects all of the appearances of each unique character throughout the volume. Each character is assigned a number, and the chart provides the definition or explanation, if any, that the Joseph or his associated provided for the character. The transcription of each document identifies each of the characters with the number it is assigned in the chart, making it easy to track a particular character's appearance through the documents, from the alphabet to the early transcripts of the Book of Abraham. I look forward to reading what scholars are able to find with this book as a resource.
The pictures in the book are very high quality, and the annotations are top-notch, as with all of the prior volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers. My only complaint is that the editors apparently were not able to find a way to keep the footnotes on the same page as the text the footnotes are annotating. I had to use two bookmarks to keep track of where I was in the text of the document and to review footnotes describing variant readings or alternate wording in similar texts. In a volume of this size, flipping back and forth between the pages could get a little cumbersome. Other than this minor complaint, I found the book to be yet another outstanding entry in this ongoing series.
But this book provides a solid foundation on which historians and other scholars may begin to fill in those gaps with more than just speculation. Most helpful in that effort is a chart at the end of the book that collects all of the appearances of each unique character throughout the volume. Each character is assigned a number, and the chart provides the definition or explanation, if any, that the Joseph or his associated provided for the character. The transcription of each document identifies each of the characters with the number it is assigned in the chart, making it easy to track a particular character's appearance through the documents, from the alphabet to the early transcripts of the Book of Abraham. I look forward to reading what scholars are able to find with this book as a resource.
The pictures in the book are very high quality, and the annotations are top-notch, as with all of the prior volumes of the Joseph Smith Papers. My only complaint is that the editors apparently were not able to find a way to keep the footnotes on the same page as the text the footnotes are annotating. I had to use two bookmarks to keep track of where I was in the text of the document and to review footnotes describing variant readings or alternate wording in similar texts. In a volume of this size, flipping back and forth between the pages could get a little cumbersome. Other than this minor complaint, I found the book to be yet another outstanding entry in this ongoing series.
November 19, 2018
Whether you are a scholar, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a member of one of the other restoration churches springing from Joseph Smith, or just an interested student of 19th century religious movements, the JSP Revelations and Translations vol. 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts is a book you will want to own.
It is a “Facsimile Edition,” in the same vein as three of the other JSP publications in the Revelations & Translations series. In other words, it is oversized (measuring 9” x 12”), printed on nice heavy paper, with photographic images of the extant original documents on one page accompanied by the transcription on the opposite page. It is professionally bound with a handsome presentation.
The photographed images are well done with terrific resolution. Making them easy to read (if you don’t want to read the transcriptions) and fascinating to look at. Because it is unlikely most people will have the opportunity to view the original documents, this volume is quite positively the next best thing. The images and transcriptions are broken into eight sections. For brevity they include the extant Egyptian papyri, documents related to Joseph Smith’s attempts to learn Egyptian, extant Book of Abraham manuscripts, and facsimile printing plates.
While the images are fun to study, it is likely that many readers will find the real value of the volume in the introductory material. For me, the narrative regarding the fascination with Egyptology in 19th century America and how Joseph Smith came into possession of the papyri is succinct and interesting. That said, the introduction also has an invaluable discussion on the process by which the Book of Abraham was produced by Joseph Smith. Some members of the LDS faith have struggled upon learning that the extant papyri have little to nothing to do with the content of the Book of Abraham. In the introduction, the word “translation” as understood by Joseph Smith and his contemporaries is explained and described. In short, modern readers have a very certain definition of what translation means. However, Joseph Smith defined translation has something that could include transliteration of a text from one language to another, but also divine inspiration from heaven. Several witnesses describe the translation of the Book of Abraham as Joseph receiving the text by revelation. Appreciating this word (“translation”) and what it meant to the Prophet Joseph Smith and others is helpful in understanding the Book of Abraham.
I absolutely commend this volume to anyone who is interested. Some may purchase it simply to complete their set of the other JSP volumes. To be sure, they certainly do look good on a shelf. Though, the true value of this volume is not what it looks like on the outside, but what is contains and teaches on the inside.
It is a “Facsimile Edition,” in the same vein as three of the other JSP publications in the Revelations & Translations series. In other words, it is oversized (measuring 9” x 12”), printed on nice heavy paper, with photographic images of the extant original documents on one page accompanied by the transcription on the opposite page. It is professionally bound with a handsome presentation.
The photographed images are well done with terrific resolution. Making them easy to read (if you don’t want to read the transcriptions) and fascinating to look at. Because it is unlikely most people will have the opportunity to view the original documents, this volume is quite positively the next best thing. The images and transcriptions are broken into eight sections. For brevity they include the extant Egyptian papyri, documents related to Joseph Smith’s attempts to learn Egyptian, extant Book of Abraham manuscripts, and facsimile printing plates.
While the images are fun to study, it is likely that many readers will find the real value of the volume in the introductory material. For me, the narrative regarding the fascination with Egyptology in 19th century America and how Joseph Smith came into possession of the papyri is succinct and interesting. That said, the introduction also has an invaluable discussion on the process by which the Book of Abraham was produced by Joseph Smith. Some members of the LDS faith have struggled upon learning that the extant papyri have little to nothing to do with the content of the Book of Abraham. In the introduction, the word “translation” as understood by Joseph Smith and his contemporaries is explained and described. In short, modern readers have a very certain definition of what translation means. However, Joseph Smith defined translation has something that could include transliteration of a text from one language to another, but also divine inspiration from heaven. Several witnesses describe the translation of the Book of Abraham as Joseph receiving the text by revelation. Appreciating this word (“translation”) and what it meant to the Prophet Joseph Smith and others is helpful in understanding the Book of Abraham.
I absolutely commend this volume to anyone who is interested. Some may purchase it simply to complete their set of the other JSP volumes. To be sure, they certainly do look good on a shelf. Though, the true value of this volume is not what it looks like on the outside, but what is contains and teaches on the inside.
October 29, 2018
The Joseph Smith Papers: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts is the latest published volume of the Joseph Smith papers Project and the newest volume of the Revelations and Translations series. As with the earlier volumes of this series, the reader is presented with full-page photographic images of the documents in question. The reader has the opportunity of seeing reproductions of all the surviving papyrus fragments, as well as of the manuscript pages of Joseph Smith’s studies of the Egyptian language and his “translation” of the Book of Abraham. Each manuscript image is accompanied with a meticulous transcription on the facing page.
As in previous volumes published in the Joseph Smith Papers Project, the historical introductions, not only to the volume itself, but to each set of documents, is invaluable. I particularly found the Volume Introduction, outlining the background to the mummies and papyri acquired by Joseph Smith in 1835, to be useful and informative.
Joseph Smith’s interest in Egyptology was a natural outgrowth of his experience in the restoration of ancient records, beginning with the Book of Mormon. His studies in the Egyptian language were brief, taking place only during the last half of 1835. What is most fascinating to me from this period of language exploration was the concept of five tiers of meaning assigned to the individual Egyptian characters. The translation of a particular character becomes more specific and detailed as it moves through the five levels. This is an intriguing concept from a linguistic point of view.
It has long been understood that the actual fragments of papyrus that Joseph Smith had in his possession were from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. It is obvious that Joseph Smith did not “translate” the Book of Abraham from these texts in the conventional sense. Instead, these texts appear to have provided a catalyst for Joseph Smith to produce the Book of Abraham. As is stated in the introduction to the Book of Abraham Manuscripts (p.191), “As with JS’s work on the Book of Mormon, the translation of the Book of Abraham was not a process in which someone proficient in two languages converted text from one language to the other. Rather, JS and those around him understood his translation work to be a revelatory process.”
The publication of this volume allows the reader to come closer to Joseph Smith’s thinking as he encountered the ancient Egyptian documents and artifacts that came into his possession. It allows us to see this extraordinary man more fully.
As in previous volumes published in the Joseph Smith Papers Project, the historical introductions, not only to the volume itself, but to each set of documents, is invaluable. I particularly found the Volume Introduction, outlining the background to the mummies and papyri acquired by Joseph Smith in 1835, to be useful and informative.
Joseph Smith’s interest in Egyptology was a natural outgrowth of his experience in the restoration of ancient records, beginning with the Book of Mormon. His studies in the Egyptian language were brief, taking place only during the last half of 1835. What is most fascinating to me from this period of language exploration was the concept of five tiers of meaning assigned to the individual Egyptian characters. The translation of a particular character becomes more specific and detailed as it moves through the five levels. This is an intriguing concept from a linguistic point of view.
It has long been understood that the actual fragments of papyrus that Joseph Smith had in his possession were from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. It is obvious that Joseph Smith did not “translate” the Book of Abraham from these texts in the conventional sense. Instead, these texts appear to have provided a catalyst for Joseph Smith to produce the Book of Abraham. As is stated in the introduction to the Book of Abraham Manuscripts (p.191), “As with JS’s work on the Book of Mormon, the translation of the Book of Abraham was not a process in which someone proficient in two languages converted text from one language to the other. Rather, JS and those around him understood his translation work to be a revelatory process.”
The publication of this volume allows the reader to come closer to Joseph Smith’s thinking as he encountered the ancient Egyptian documents and artifacts that came into his possession. It allows us to see this extraordinary man more fully.
October 31, 2018
I was extremely excited when I received my copy of Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts from the Revelations and Translations collection. This Facsimile Edition is truly impressive in its “textual photographs” even though the resolution for the images were reduced for publication there was no cutting corners in this monumental work. Flipping through the pages and seeing the Egyptian papyri the reader becomes the translator.
The Introduction of the book was written in a clear and concise manner. The reader is hooked from the beginning and will seek to understand the history of The Book of Abraham and its translation process. Even though its’ history had been shrouded in the past “the entire collection of documents is reproduced here for the first time in photographic and, when possible, typographic facsimiles” (pg. xiv). The Egyptian papyri, the “Egyptian-language documents” and the manuscripts are exposed to the reader to explore and reflect on in its entirety. Nothing is left amiss.
We are told that “there is no evidence that Joseph Smith or his associates had read contemporary works of French or English Egyptological scholarship, but they nevertheless seemed to approach the papyri with many assumptions that were espoused by scholars who wrote before Champollion” (pg. xvii). The Egyptian-language documents produced by Joseph Smith and his associates published within this volume reveals how they went through this translating process. The Egyptian Alphabet documents, the Egyptian Counting document and the manufactured book of ruled paper called the Grammar and Alphabet produced by William W. Phelps and Warren Parish reveals the depth of their study in seeking out to fully grasp this inspired ancient text.
This Volume did not disappoint in revealing the Book of Abraham! It highlights the handwritten works of all those involved in the translating process. Through their exhaustive use of references and footnotes the editors of this volume has brought an enigmatic book to light and many documents for the reader to explore on their own.
The editors get props for their work!
The Introduction of the book was written in a clear and concise manner. The reader is hooked from the beginning and will seek to understand the history of The Book of Abraham and its translation process. Even though its’ history had been shrouded in the past “the entire collection of documents is reproduced here for the first time in photographic and, when possible, typographic facsimiles” (pg. xiv). The Egyptian papyri, the “Egyptian-language documents” and the manuscripts are exposed to the reader to explore and reflect on in its entirety. Nothing is left amiss.
We are told that “there is no evidence that Joseph Smith or his associates had read contemporary works of French or English Egyptological scholarship, but they nevertheless seemed to approach the papyri with many assumptions that were espoused by scholars who wrote before Champollion” (pg. xvii). The Egyptian-language documents produced by Joseph Smith and his associates published within this volume reveals how they went through this translating process. The Egyptian Alphabet documents, the Egyptian Counting document and the manufactured book of ruled paper called the Grammar and Alphabet produced by William W. Phelps and Warren Parish reveals the depth of their study in seeking out to fully grasp this inspired ancient text.
This Volume did not disappoint in revealing the Book of Abraham! It highlights the handwritten works of all those involved in the translating process. Through their exhaustive use of references and footnotes the editors of this volume has brought an enigmatic book to light and many documents for the reader to explore on their own.
The editors get props for their work!
October 31, 2018
The Book of Abraham and the history of the documents, the Egyptian papyri, is one of the most critical and important books translated by Joseph Smith. I have personally viewed some of the documents at the Church History Museum and found this publication to accurately produce for the reader these sames documents. It is fascinating to see the actual documents and then to view them in this published book. The layout and content is so professional and visually appealing, this is a book you want to leave out on a table for others to peruse. There are actually three sets of documents contained including the extant fragments of the papyri purchased by Joseph Smith; the "egyptian -language documents' and the manuscripts and first publication of the Book of Abraham. The history of the Book of Abraham is described and provides the reader an accurate and historical context for understanding the time of Joseph Smith and events surrounding the translation. If nothing else, this is a publication well worth having to leave out and allow others to peruse. Highly recommended.
October 29, 2018
It is a unique experience to see for the 1st time the existing, surviving papyri that were acquired by Joseph Smith and his associates. Seeing the notebooks or manuscripts were impressive as well. The pictures were wonderfully clear, the printing of the text next to the pictures were a splendid addition to this work.
The contribution of this scholarly work stands as a marker and standard which others would do well to repeat and emulate.
For member and non-member alike, it is a volume that is evidence of the marvelous work of the Lord in the last days working through a prophet of God to reveal Himself.
This most recent volume is one of the most insightful and compelling books I have ever read.
The contribution of this scholarly work stands as a marker and standard which others would do well to repeat and emulate.
For member and non-member alike, it is a volume that is evidence of the marvelous work of the Lord in the last days working through a prophet of God to reveal Himself.
This most recent volume is one of the most insightful and compelling books I have ever read.
May 11, 2019
The Joseph Smith Papers Revelations and Translations Series, Volume 4: Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts is an attractive oversize volume in this excellent series. It contains all the Book of Abraham transcripts and reproduces all the papyri fragments and associated “Egyptian Alphabet”, “Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language”, and “Notebooks of Copied Egyptian Characters documents.
The papyri are beautifully reproduced in color plates with size indications as are the other documents presented in the volume. The documents feature text transcriptions alongside the respective color plates and contain helpful annotation notes at the end of each section with further detailed information and source material identification. The color photographs of Ruben Hedlock’s plates used for publication of the facsimiles in the Time and Seasons newspaper were a treat for this reader to see.
Of particular interest is the Volume Introduction, which contains a section on the “Rediscovery of Ancient Egypt” that places the acquisition of the papyri from Chandler in historical context. It informs the reader about the both the American enthusiasm for relics from Egypt, as well as the suppositions of pre-Champollion scholarship on Egyptian language.
For researchers this volume is an indispensable source of all the documents associated with The Book of Abraham collected in one place. The editors have also provided a section that reproduces every character found in the documents and references everywhere that character can be found throughout the papers.
For those with general interest in Joseph Smith, The Book of Abraham and the associated Egyptian papers this volume is a beautiful addition to your library that will serve as an essential primary reference source when reading any work on the meaning and context of The Book of Abraham.
Highly recommended!
The papyri are beautifully reproduced in color plates with size indications as are the other documents presented in the volume. The documents feature text transcriptions alongside the respective color plates and contain helpful annotation notes at the end of each section with further detailed information and source material identification. The color photographs of Ruben Hedlock’s plates used for publication of the facsimiles in the Time and Seasons newspaper were a treat for this reader to see.
Of particular interest is the Volume Introduction, which contains a section on the “Rediscovery of Ancient Egypt” that places the acquisition of the papyri from Chandler in historical context. It informs the reader about the both the American enthusiasm for relics from Egypt, as well as the suppositions of pre-Champollion scholarship on Egyptian language.
For researchers this volume is an indispensable source of all the documents associated with The Book of Abraham collected in one place. The editors have also provided a section that reproduces every character found in the documents and references everywhere that character can be found throughout the papers.
For those with general interest in Joseph Smith, The Book of Abraham and the associated Egyptian papers this volume is a beautiful addition to your library that will serve as an essential primary reference source when reading any work on the meaning and context of The Book of Abraham.
Highly recommended!
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