The Book of Abraham is a text published by Joseph Smith, Jr. and thought by many within Mormonism to be the translated writings of the patriarch Abraham. Some Latter Day Saint denominations, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, accept the book as part of their canon. Other denominations, such as the Community of Christ, and many Mormon scholars and individuals, consider it to be a work of inspired (or even non-inspired) fiction.

Contents

1 Origin 2 Analysis and criticism 3 Content 4 Hypocephalus 5 External links 5.1 Critical links

Origin

The work is based on a set of Egyptian papyri that Joseph Smith obtained in July 1835, which he claimed were "written by Abraham's own hand." (See the book's title page.) During the remainder of July, Smith reportedly "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." History of the Church, Vol. 2, Ch. 17, p. 238. Then he proceeded to dictate a translation. The text gives an account of Abraham's life and is strikingly similar to the account given in the Book of Jasher (not to be confused with (Book of Jasher (Pseudo-Jasher)) as it relates to Abraham's relationship with his father. The text provided justification for important Mormon doctrines, including the exaltation of man, plurality of gods (which some compare to polytheism), priesthood and pre-mortal existence.

Smith originally published the facsimiles and the Book of Abraham as a serial in the Mormon newspaper Times and Seasons of Nauvoo, Illinois. Three etched facsimiles of hieroglyphics found with the mummy were also published in conjunction with the Book of Abraham, and often receive more attention than the Book itself. For each of these facsimiles, Smith offered a detailed caption, as a translation of various elements on the papyrus and fragments. He characterized his "explanation" of Facsimile 2 as an incomplete translation.

The book along with the facsimiles was published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as part of its Pearl of Great Price in Liverpool, England, in 1852; the denomination eventually canonized that book.

The papyri were thought to have been destroyed in a fire in Chicago in 1871. However, some portions of them were rediscovered in 1967 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and presented to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which made them available for study by scholars.

Analysis and criticism

Academic Egyptologists have generally concluded that the remaining papyrus fragments were portions of a 1st Century A.D. Book of Breathings (or a manual for handling the "Book of Breathings" on a mummy) prepared for a deceased priest of the Egyptian god Amon, accompanied by a portion of the Book of the Dead, which gives instructions how the deceased should behave towards various gods to progress through the afterlife. One section of the papyrus deals with farm life near the Nile. There has been found no standard translation of the recovered papyrus that tracks Smith's purported translation, or that refers to Abraham, and not all of the papyrus available to Smith was recovered.

Nevertheless, several Mormon apologists have suggested a number of theories explaining how the translated work might still be the original writings of Abraham. The most popular theories include the following:

1. The papyrus fragments were not the same as fragments used by Smith in his translation
2. There are large sections of the papyri that are missing that could contain the text Joseph Smith based the Book of Abraham on
3. Abraham's writings are esoterically encoded within the Egyptian funery scrolls
4. The scrolls were merely a starting point for Smith to reconstruct the original writings of Abraham, which Smith did not have access to or had been destroyed
5. Smith 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).

There is some dispute about the claim that Abraham lived in the land of the Chaldeans - many feel this is an error, although it appears in both the Book of Genesis, the Book of Jasher (not to be confused with Book of Jasher (Pseudo-Jasher) and other traditions and manuscripts.

The account in Genesis mentions his home city as "Ur of the Chaldees". The phrase "of the Chaldees" is often thought to be either an anachronism, or an interpolated clarification of where Ur was located, which some historians belive Abraham himself would not have been added since many historians do not believe that the Chaldeans lived in Ur until many years after the time of Abraham.

Content

The Book of Abraham contains information not found in other texts published by Joseph Smith, Jr. concerning the pre-existence of spirits and the nature of deity. The portion of the text at 1:21-27 (http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/1/21-27#21) has been widely interpreted as justficiation for the Church's former practice of denying the priesthood to those of African descent; however, the passage in question does not speak of Sub-Saharan Africans, but Canaanites and Egyptians. As time passes, the former interpretation is being more widely seen as Mormon "folk doctrine" rather than a legitimate reading.

Hypocephalus

Both Mormon and non-Mormons have expressed large amount of interest in the large circular facsimile often printed in the Pearl of Great Price with the Book of Abraham. This figure is known as the Hypocephalus, and is believed by Egyptologists to have been 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 after death (a sort of cheat sheet). These personalized instructions often accompany the Book of the Dead, but are either over-gerneralized in its text or passed over completely in highly individulized Books of the Dead.

External links

• The book of Abraham (http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/contents) (from lds.org)

• http://www.whyprophets.com/prophets/documents.htm

Critical links

• Book of Abraham at lds-mormon.com (http://www.lds-mormon.com/book_of_abraham.shtml)

• SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF THE JOSEPH SMITH PAPYRI By Jerald and Sandra Tanner (a sceptical analysis) (http://www.buchabraham.mormonismus-online.de/index.htm?slcmsgn82.htm)

• Did Joseph Smith Invent the Book of Abraham Because He Learned Hebrew? Research by Kerry A. Shirts (http://www.bibleman.net/Joseph_Smith_inventing_book_of_Abraham.htm)

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