Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham
No wonder the Lord wants the plan taught plainly and
repetitively. And why not? It is God’s plan—not ours! And, given the
unimpressive outcomes of man’s plans to solve the world’s problems, aren’t we glad.
1. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints embraces the book of Abraham as scripture. This
book, a record of the biblical prophet and patriarch Abraham, recounts how
Abraham 1) sought the blessings of the priesthood, 2) rejected the idolatry of
his father, 3) covenanted with Jehovah, 4) married Sarai, 5) moved to Canaan
and Egypt, and 6) received knowledge about the Creation. The book of Abraham
largely follows the biblical narrative but adds important information regarding
Abraham’s life and teachings.
2. The book of Abraham was
first published in 1842 and was canonized as part of the Pearl of Great Price
in 1880. The book originated with Egyptian papyri that Joseph Smith translated
beginning in 1835. Many people saw the papyri, but no eyewitness account of the
translation survives, making it impossible to reconstruct the process. Only
small fragments of the long papyrus scrolls once in Joseph Smith’s possession
exist today. The relationship between those fragments and the text we have
today is largely a matter of conjecture.
3. We do know some things
about the translation process. The word translation typically
assumes an expert knowledge of multiple languages. Joseph Smith claimed no
expertise in any language. He readily acknowledged that he was one of the “weak
things of the world,” called to speak words sent “from heaven.” Speaking of the translation of the Book of
Mormon, the Lord said, “You cannot write that which is sacred save it be given
you from me.” The same principle can be applied to the book of Abraham.
The Lord did not require Joseph Smith to have knowledge of Egyptian. By the
gift and power of God, Joseph received knowledge about the life and teachings
of Abraham.
4. On many particulars,
the book of Abraham is consistent with historical knowledge about the ancient
world. Some of this knowledge, which is discussed later in this essay, had
not yet been discovered or was not well known in 1842. But even this evidence
of ancient origins, substantial though it may be, cannot prove the truthfulness
of the book of Abraham any more than archaeological evidence can prove the
exodus of the Israelites from Egypt or the Resurrection of the Son of God. The
book of Abraham’s status as scripture ultimately rests on faith in the saving
truths found within the book itself as witnessed by the Holy Ghost.
5. Thousands of years ago,
the prophet Nephi learned that one purpose of the Book of Mormon was to
“establish the truth” of the Bible. In a similar way, the book of Abraham
supports, expands, and clarifies the biblical account of Abraham’s life. In the
biblical account, God covenants with Abraham to “make of thee a great
nation.” The book of Abraham provides
context for that covenant by showing that Abraham was a seeker of “great
knowledge” and a “follower of righteousness” who chose the right path in spite
of great hardship. He rejected the wickedness of his father’s household and
spurned the idols of the surrounding culture, despite the threat of death.
6. In the Bible, God’s
covenant with Abraham appears to begin during Abraham’s life. According to the
book of Abraham, the covenant began before the foundation of the earth and was
passed down through Adam, Noah, and other prophets. Abraham thus takes
his place in a long line of prophets and patriarchs whose mission is to
preserve and extend God’s covenant on earth. The heart of this covenant is the
priesthood, through which “the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal”
are conveyed.
7. The book of Abraham
clarifies several teachings that are obscure in the Bible. Life did not begin
at birth, as is commonly believed. Prior to coming to earth, individuals
existed as spirits. In a vision, Abraham saw that one of the spirits was “like
unto God.” This divine being, Jesus Christ, led other spirits in
organizing the earth out of “materials” or preexisting matter, not ex nihilo or
out of nothing, as many Christians later came to believe. Abraham further
learned that mortal life was crucial to the plan of happiness God would provide
for His children: “We will prove them herewith,” God stated, “to see if they
will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them,” adding a
promise to add glory forever upon the faithful.
Nowhere in the Bible is the purpose and potential of earth life stated so
clearly as in the book of Abraham.
8. The powerful truths
found in the book of Abraham emerged from a set of unique historical events. In
the summer of 1835, an entrepreneur named Michael Chandler arrived at Church
headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio, with four mummies and multiple scrolls of
papyrus. Chandler found a ready audience. Due partly to the exploits of
the French emperor Napoleon, the antiquities unearthed in the catacombs of
Egypt had created a fascination across the Western world. Chandler capitalized
on this interest by touring with ancient Egyptian artifacts and charging
visitors a fee to see them.
9. These artifacts had
been uncovered by Antonio Lebolo, a former cavalryman in the Italian army.
Lebolo, who oversaw some of the excavations for the consul general of France,
pulled 11 mummies from a tomb not far from the ancient city of Thebes. Lebolo
shipped the artifacts to Italy, and after his death, they ended up in New York.
At some point the mummies and scrolls came into Chandler’s possession.
10. By the time the
collection arrived in Kirtland, all but four mummies and several papyrus
scrolls had already been sold. A group of Latter-day Saints in Kirtland
purchased the remaining artifacts for the Church. After Joseph Smith examined
the papyri and commenced “the translation of some of the characters or
hieroglyphics,” his history recounts, “much to our joy [we] found that one of
the rolls contained the writings of Abraham.”
11. Joseph Smith worked on
the translation of the book of Abraham during the summer and fall of 1835, by
which time he completed at least the first chapter and part of the second
chapter. His journal next speaks of
translating the papyri in the spring of 1842, after the Saints had relocated to
Nauvoo, Illinois. All five chapters of the book of Abraham, along with three
illustrations (now known as facsimiles 1, 2, and 3), were published in
the Times and Seasons, the Church’s newspaper in Nauvoo,
between March and May 1842.
12. The book of Abraham
was the last of Joseph Smith’s translation efforts. In these inspired
translations, Joseph Smith did not claim to know the ancient languages of the
records he was translating. Much like the Book of Mormon, Joseph’s translation
of the book of Abraham was recorded in the language of the King James Bible.
This was the idiom of scripture familiar to early Latter-day Saints, and its
use was consistent with the Lord’s pattern of revealing His truths “after the
manner of their [His servants’] language, that they might come to
understanding.”
13. Joseph’s translations
took a variety of forms. Some of his translations, like that of the Book of
Mormon, utilized ancient documents in his possession. Other times, his
translations were not based on any known physical records. Joseph’s translation
of portions of the Bible, for example, included restoration of original text,
harmonization of contradictions within the Bible itself, and inspired
commentary.
14. Some evidence suggests
that Joseph studied the characters on the Egyptian papyri and attempted to
learn the Egyptian language. His history reports that, in July 1835, 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.” This
“grammar,” as it was called, consisted of columns of hieroglyphic characters
followed by English translations recorded in a large notebook by Joseph’s
scribe, William W. Phelps. Another manuscript, written by Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery, has Egyptian characters followed by explanations.
15. The relationship of
these documents to the book of Abraham is not fully understood. Neither the
rules nor the translations in the grammar book correspond to those recognized
by Egyptologists today. Whatever the role of the grammar book, it appears that
Joseph Smith began translating portions of the book of Abraham almost
immediately after the purchase of the papyri. Phelps apparently viewed
Joseph Smith as uniquely capable of understanding the Egyptian characters: “As
no one could translate these writings,” he told his wife, “they were presented
to President Smith. He soon knew what they were.”
16. After the Latter-day
Saints left Nauvoo, the Egyptian artifacts remained behind. Joseph Smith’s
family sold the papyri and the mummies in 1856. The papyri were divided up and
sold to various parties; historians believe that most were destroyed in the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Ten papyrus fragments once in Joseph Smith’s
possession ended up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In
1967, the museum transferred these fragments to the Church, which subsequently
published them in the Church’s magazine, the Improvement Era.
17. The discovery of the
papyrus fragments renewed debate about Joseph Smith’s translation. The
fragments included one vignette, or illustration, that appears in the book of
Abraham as facsimile 1. Long before the fragments were published by the Church,
some Egyptologists had said that Joseph Smith’s explanations of the various
elements of these facsimiles did not match their own interpretations of these
drawings. Joseph Smith had published the facsimiles as freestanding drawings,
cut off from the hieroglyphs or hieratic characters that originally surrounded
the vignettes. The discovery of the fragments meant that readers could now see
the hieroglyphs and characters immediately surrounding the vignette that became
facsimile 1.
18. None of the characters
on the papyrus fragments mentioned Abraham’s name or any of the events recorded
in the book of Abraham. Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists agree that the
characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of
Abraham, though there is not unanimity, even among non-Mormon scholars, about
the proper interpretation of the vignettes on these fragments. Scholars
have identified the papyrus fragments as parts of standard funerary texts that
were deposited with mummified bodies. These fragments date to between the third
century B.C.E. and the first century C.E., long after Abraham lived.
19. Of course, the
fragments do not have to be as old as Abraham for the book of Abraham and its
illustrations to be authentic. Ancient records are often transmitted as copies
or as copies of copies. The record of Abraham could have been edited or
redacted by later writers much as the Book of Mormon prophet-historians Mormon
and Moroni revised the writings of earlier peoples. Moreover, documents
initially composed for one context can be repackaged for another context or
purpose. Illustrations once connected with Abraham could have either
drifted or been dislodged from their original context and reinterpreted
hundreds of years later in terms of burial practices in a later period of
Egyptian history. The opposite could also be true: illustrations with no clear
connection to Abraham anciently could, by revelation, shed light on the life
and teachings of this prophetic figure.
20. Some have assumed that
the hieroglyphs adjacent to and surrounding facsimile 1 must be a source for
the text of the book of Abraham. But this claim rests on the assumption that a
vignette and its adjacent text must be associated in meaning. In fact, it was
not uncommon for ancient Egyptian vignettes to be placed some distance from
their associated commentary.
21. Neither the Lord nor
Joseph Smith explained the process of translation of the book of Abraham, but
some insight can be gained from the Lord’s instructions to Joseph regarding
translation. In April 1829, Joseph received a revelation for Oliver Cowdery
that taught that both intellectual work and revelation were essential to
translating sacred records. It was necessary to “study it out in your mind” and
then seek spiritual confirmation. Records indicate that Joseph and others
studied the papyri and that close observers also believed that the translation
came by revelation. As John Whitmer observed, “Joseph the Seer saw these
Record[s] and by the revelation of Jesus Christ could translate these records.”
It is likely futile to
assess Joseph’s ability to translate papyri when we now have only a fraction of
the papyri he had in his possession. Eyewitnesses spoke of “a long roll” or
multiple “rolls” of papyrus. Since only fragments survive, it is likely
that much of the papyri accessible to Joseph when he translated the book of
Abraham is not among these fragments. The loss of a significant portion of the
papyri means the relationship of the papyri to the published text cannot be
settled conclusively by reference to the papyri.
22. Alternatively,
Joseph’s study of the papyri may have led to a revelation about key events and
teachings in the life of Abraham, much as he had earlier received a revelation
about the life of Moses while studying the Bible. This view assumes a broader
definition of the words translator and translation. According
to this view, Joseph’s translation was not a literal rendering of the papyri as
a conventional translation would be. Rather, the physical artifacts provided an
occasion for meditation, reflection, and revelation. They catalyzed a process
whereby God gave to Joseph Smith a revelation about the life of Abraham, even
if that revelation did not directly correlate to the characters on the papyri.
23. A careful study of the
book of Abraham provides a better measure of the book’s merits than any
hypothesis that treats the text as a conventional translation. Evidence
suggests that elements of the book of Abraham fit comfortably in the ancient
world and supports the claim that the book of Abraham is an authentic record.
24. The book of Abraham
speaks disapprovingly of human sacrifice offered on an altar in Chaldea. Some
victims were placed on the altar as sacrifices because they rejected the idols
worshipped by their leaders. Recent scholarship has found instances of such
punishment dating to Abraham’s time. People who challenged the standing
religious order, either in Egypt or in the regions over which it had influence
(such as Canaan), could and did suffer execution for their offenses. The
conflict over the religion of Pharaoh, as described in Abraham 1:11–12, is an
example of punishment now known to have been meted out during the Abrahamic
era.
25. The book of Abraham
contains other details that are consistent with modern discoveries about the
ancient world. The book speaks of “the plain of Olishem,” a name not mentioned
in the Bible. An ancient inscription, not discovered and translated until the
20th century, mentions a town called “Ulisum,” located in northwestern Syria.37Further, Abraham 3:22–23 is written in a poetic
structure more characteristic of Near Eastern languages than early American
writing style.
26. Joseph Smith’s
explanations of the facsimiles of the book of Abraham contain additional
earmarks of the ancient world. Facsimile 1 and Abraham 1:17 mention the
idolatrous god Elkenah. This deity is not mentioned in the Bible, yet modern
scholars have identified it as being among the gods worshipped by ancient
Mesopotamians. Joseph Smith represented the four figures in figure 6 of
facsimile 2 as “this earth in its four quarters.” A similar interpretation has
been argued by scholars who study identical figures in other ancient Egyptian
texts. Facsimile 1 contains a crocodile deity swimming in what Joseph Smith
called “the firmament over our heads.” This interpretation makes sense in light
of scholarship that identifies Egyptian conceptions of heaven with “a heavenly
ocean.”
27. The book of Abraham is
consistent with various details found in nonbiblical stories about Abraham that
circulated in the ancient world around the time the papyri were likely created.
In the book of Abraham, God teaches Abraham about the sun, the moon, and the
stars. “I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt,” the Lord says,
“that ye may declare all these words.” Ancient texts repeatedly refer to
Abraham instructing the Egyptians in knowledge of the heavens. For example,
Eupolemus, who lived under Egyptian rule in the second century B.C.E., wrote
that Abraham taught astronomy and other sciences to the Egyptian
priests. A third-century papyrus from an Egyptian temple library connects
Abraham with an illustration similar to facsimile 1 in the book of
Abraham. A later Egyptian text, discovered in the 20th century, tells how the
Pharaoh tried to sacrifice Abraham, only to be foiled when Abraham was
delivered by an angel. Later, according to this text, Abraham taught members of
the Pharaoh’s court through astronomy. All these details are found in the book
of Abraham.
Other details in the book
of Abraham are found in ancient traditions located across the Near East. These
include Terah, Abraham’s father, being an idolator; a famine striking Abraham’s
homeland; Abraham’s familiarity with Egyptian idols; and Abraham's being
younger than 75 years old when he left Haran, as the biblical account states.
Some of these extra biblical elements were available in apocryphal books or
biblical commentaries in Joseph Smith’s lifetime, but others were confined to
nonbiblical traditions inaccessible or unknown to 19th-century Americans.
28. The veracity and value
of the book of Abraham cannot be settled by scholarly debate concerning the
book’s translation and historicity. The book’s status as scripture lies in the
eternal truths it teaches and the powerful spirit it conveys. The book of
Abraham imparts profound truths about the nature of God, His relationship to us
as His children, and the purpose of this mortal life. The truth of the book of
Abraham is ultimately found through careful study of its teachings, sincere
prayer, and the confirmation of the Spirit.
