{"id":102977,"date":"2023-12-07T22:46:14","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T05:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=102977"},"modified":"2023-12-07T22:46:14","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T05:46:14","slug":"approaching-the-facsimiles-of-the-book-of-abraham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2023\/12\/approaching-the-facsimiles-of-the-book-of-abraham.html","title":{"rendered":"Approaching the Facsimiles of the Book of Abraham"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Facs.<\/a>

Facsimile 1 in the Book of Abraham
(LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I return, yet again, to BYU Studies Quarterly<\/em> 61\/4 (2022), which is a special issue of the regular quarterly publication BYU Studies<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 It was created by four faithful Latter-day Saint Egyptologists \u2014 Stephen O. Smoot (Ph.D. candidate, Catholic University of America), John Gee (Ph.D., Yale University), Kerry Muhlestein (Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles), and John S. Thompson (Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania) \u2014 and bears its own unique title:\u00a0 A Guide to the Book of Abraham<\/em>.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve previously indicated, it represents something of a state-of-the-question survey from people who are thoroughly familiar with the topic and the issues. \u00a0I\u2019ve tried to state as clearly as I\u2019m capable of stating it that I am largely quoting bottom-line conclusions. \u00a0I am not<\/em> claiming to reproduce the evidence and the arguments on which those bottom-line conclusions are based. \u00a0For such evidence and arguments you should consult A Guide to the Book of Abraham<\/em> itself.<\/p>\n

"BofA<\/a>

Facsimile 2 from the Book of Abraham*
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
** *In a short section titled \u201cApproaching the Facsimiles\u201d (209-214), the authors first lay out a number of contrasting paradigms for understanding the Book of Abraham facsimiles and their relationship (or lack thereof) to the Book of Abraham itself. \u00a0They note the all of them have strengths, but that none by itself seems to account for all the data.<\/p>\n

"

Whichever paradigm one adopts, it seems clear that Joseph Smith\u2019s explanations of the facsimiles were original to himself (none of the explanation appear next to the illustrations on the papyri he possessed). \u00a0\u201cThere are aspects of [these explanations] that match what Egyptologists say they mean. \u00a0Some [of them] are quite compelling. . . . \u00a0However, as we look at the entirety of any of the facsimiles, an Egyptological interpretation does not match what Joseph Smith said about them.\u201d \u00a0This is complicated by the fact that even though not all of Joseph Smith\u2019s explanations of the facsimiles in their entirety agree with how modern Egyptologists understand these illustrations, in many instances they do accurately reflect Egyptian and Semitic concepts. \u00a0(211-212, quoting Professor Kerry Muhlestein)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n*
** *There is a fundamental problem in choosing between such paradigms or, thus far, in choosing to create an altogether new one:<\/p>\n

"

Despite some important advances in scholarship, \u201cwe [still] do not [entirely] know to what we really should compare the facsimiles.\u201d \u00a0For instance, we must ask if Joseph Smith meant to give us \u201can interpretation [of the facsimiles] that ancient Egyptians would have held, or one that only a small group of priests interested in Abraham would have held, or something another group altogether would have held.\u201d \u00a0Or, alternatively, \u201cwas he giving us an interpretation we needed to receive for our spiritual benefit regardless of how any ancient groups would have seen these?\u201d \u00a0The fact is that we don\u2019t know for sure. \u00a0While we \u201ccan make a pretty good case for the idea that some Egyptians could have viewed Facsimile 1 the way Joseph Smith presents it, [we are still] not sure that is the methodology we should be employing. \u00a0We just don\u2019t enough about what Joseph Smith was doing to be sure about any possible comparisons or lack thereof.\u201d \u00a0(213)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

"BofA<\/a>

Facsimile 3 from the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n*
** *Turning specifically to the third of the three Book of Abraham facsimiles, the authors write that<\/p>\n

"

\u201cFacsimile 3 has always been the most neglected of the three facsimiles in the Book of Abraham. \u00a0Unfortunately, most of what has been said about this facsimile is seriously wanting at best \u00a0and highly erroneous at worst.\u201d \u00a0Some valuable work in recent years . . . has helped . . . better situating this facsimile [Facsimile ] in its ancient Egyptian context. \u00a0As that context has become clearer, elements of Joseph Smith\u2019s explanations have become more plausible (although other elements remain at odds with current Egyptological theories). \u00a0(214, quoting Professor John Gee)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n*
** *And, finally, here is a very important point. \u00a0I\u2019ve italicized the last sentence in order to ensure that it isn\u2019t overlooked:<\/p>\n

"

Whichever theoretical paradigm one adopts in approaching the facsimiles, a respectable case can be made that with a number of his explanations Joseph Smith accurately captured ancient Egyptian concepts (and even scored a few bull\u2019s-eyes with his explanations) that would have otherwise been beyond his natural ability to know. \u00a0Any honest approach to the facsimiles must recognize this and take this into account. \u00a0(213)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

"From<\/a>*
** Ani kneeling before enthroned Osiris (facsimile of original dating to roughly 1300 BC)
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
** The immediately next section of the volume is \u201cA Semitic View of the Facsimiles\u201d (215-220), which is, to a \u00a0substantial degree, devoted to sympathetic consideration of Kevin L. Barney\u2019s important article \u201cThe Facsimiles and Semitic Adaptation of Existing Sources,\u201d in Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant, ed. John Gee and Brian M. Hauglid (Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2005): 107-130. \u00a0An important aspect of Barney\u2019s article is its treatment the judgment scene in the apocryphal Testament of Abraham, which seems to draw quite directly from the judgment imagery in chapter 125 of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.<\/p>\n
** "
** Barney argues that \u201cstudying only the Egyptian context of the facsimiles will never yield a complete explanation of the significance of Joseph\u2019s interpretations. \u00a0We need to be able to look at them the way [a hypothetical ancient Jewish redactor] did, as Semitized illustrations of the Book of Abraham. \u00a0When we see them from this perspective, our vision gains clarity, and the facsimiles and Joseph\u2019s interpretations come into focus.\u201d \u00a0(218-219, quoting Kevin Barney)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
** In conclusion to this section, the authors remark that<\/p>\n
** "
** Ultimately, there is still much to discuss and consider when it comes to the interpretation of the facsimiles of the Book of Abraham. \u00a0Barney\u2019s theory, while perhaps not definitive, is \u201cvaluable and attractive\u201d and offers important \u201cnew avenues for further research.\u201d \u00a0It also provides one way to understand Joseph Smith\u2019s interpretations of the facsimiles in a plausible ancient light. \u00a0(219, quoting Kerry Muhlestein)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
** Happily, the present volume\u2019s discussion of specific details of the Book of Abraham facsimiles continues for almost a hundred further pages \u2014 which will be covered here in due course.<\/p>\n
** \u00a0<\/p>\n
** \u00a0<\/p>\n
** \u00a0<\/p>\n
** \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
** \u00a0 I return, yet again, to BYU Studies Quarterly 61\/4 (2022), which is a special issue of the regular quarterly publication BYU Studies.\u00a0 It was created by four faithful Latter-day Saint Egyptologists \u2014 Stephen O. Smoot (Ph.D. candidate, Catholic University of America), John Gee (Ph.D., Yale University), Kerry Muhlestein (Ph.D., University of California at Los […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":17526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74,36977,2905,788,2028,3532],"class_list":["post-102977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-book-of-abraham","tag-facsimiles","tag-latter-day-saint","tag-mormon","tag-pearl-of-great-price","tag-scripture"],"yoast_head":"\nApproaching the Facsimiles of the Book of Abraham<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"  I return, yet again, to BYU Studies Quarterly 61\/4 (2022), which is a special issue of the regular quarterly publication BYU Studies.\u00a0 It was\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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