For mature audiences only
In the second part of our series on the facsimiles from The Book of Abraham I would now like to focus our attention on Facsimile No.2. This will be the main focus of our attention from this point on. Let’s look at Facsimile No.2 that comes from the Book of the Dead and is contained in The Book of Abraham.
Facsimile no.2
Just like Facsimile No.1, this has been proven by Egyptologists to be a common funerary amulet called a hypocephalus. It was placed under a mummy’s head to supposedly keep the dead person warm and for protection against grave robbers who might want to desecrate the body. There is no known photograph of the original papyrus of Facsimile No.2. What Joseph Smith had purchased from Michael Chandler had been damaged and contained missing pieces just like Facsimile No.1. In the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar papers, published in 1966, there was a remarkably good drawing of Facsimile No.2 completed in pen and ink. This drawing showed that much of the right side on the top and bottom were blank due to being missing. Just like Facsimile No.1, this meant that Joseph Smith would have to fill in the missing parts. When Joseph Smith completed his drawings were they close to what actual copies of this common funerary amulet look like? No, they weren’t. For followers of Joseph Smith who didn’t know anything about these amulets they looked genuine. For Egyptologists they aren’t.
Here is a picture of the kind of hypocephalus that is seen in museums around the world:
I would now like to draw your attention to a certain part of this facsimile. Here we have a picture of a man/bird sitting in a chair with an erect penis. The explanation of Figure 7 is listed in the Book of Abraham.
(In at least the 1973 edition of the Church-published Pearl of Great Price, the erection was removed from Facsimile 2.)
When I first saw this character I thought it might have been Horus. In Facsimile No.1 Osiris and Isis procreate and Isis has a son called “Horus” according to Egyptian legend. Their son, Horus, is portrayed as a man with the head of a falcon. Horus is half-man and half-falcon because of his mother, Isis, had taken the form of a falcon and his father, Osiris, who was in the form of a man. However, it’s clear in the picture in Facsimile No.2, Figure 7, that this is not the head of a falcon. However, the character does have the tail of a hawk so it’s similar to Horus in that respect. (Personally, it looks like the head of a penguin, but I doubt that would be in any Egyptian pictures since no Egyptian would have ever seen a penguin anywhere near Egypt!) The bird/man in Figure 7 has the head of a dove. Here is what Horus looks like according to Egyptologists:
Horus
Egyptologists confidently state this character in Facsimile No.2, Figure 7 is the Egyptian god named “Min”. He is the god of fertility and sexuality. He is mostly portrayed as a male with an erect penis as can be seen in the picture above from Facsimile No.2. However, what is different about this picture in Facsimile No.2, Figure 7, is that the only thing visible that Joseph Smith saw with this character was the head of the dove. Joseph Smith had to fill in the rest and he did not do it correctly. The classic and well known rendition of this common scene in the funerary amulet is pictured below and is known as Leyden AMS 62. Compare this photo with the actual amulet of the hypocephalus pictured above in the color photo from a museum. Which does Leyden AMS 62 resemble most?
Leyden ams 62
Here is the pagan god Min. Caroline Seawright explains:
“In Egyptian times, he was usually an ithyphallic bearded mummified man, standing with both legs together, an arm raised holding his symbol or a flail and wearing the same low crown with twin plumes as Amen. (The way he holds the flail forms the V while his upraised forearm seems to thrust inside the V.) The Egyptian paintings and reliefs on tomb walls and temples didn’t show Min’s other arm, but the statues of the god show him with his hand encircling the base of his penis.” (Min, God of Fertility, Power and the Eastern Desert).
Joseph Smith also got the character standing in front of Min wrong. Joseph Smith has a bird being representative of the Holy Ghost while in fact in Leyden AMS 62 it is supposed to be a serpent with legs with an erect penis as well, the Egyptian god Nehebka, presenting to Min the wedjat-eye which is the symbol of good gifts. In addition to being a fertility god, Min was also the god of male fertility giving mankind the ability to procreate. He was also an agricultural god. He was the god of the Eastern Desert. He was a god who would protect those who were traveling including merchants who were involved in trading. He was worshipped by miners and men who worked the stone quarries. Min was also a moon god, but he is mainly known at the fertility god. He was also known for being very destructive despite his creative abilities in the area of fertility. LDS Scholar Dr. Hugh Nibley says this about Min:
“As the supreme sex symbol of gods and men, Min behaves with shocking promiscuity, which is hardly relieved by its ritual nature…His sacred plants were aphrodisiacal [lettuce]…and he is everywhere represented as indulging in incestuous relationships with those of his immediate family; he had the most numerous and varied religious entourage of all the gods, consisting mostly of his huge harem…The hymns, or rather chanting of his worshippers were accompanied with lewd dancing and carousing…to the exciting stimulus of a band of sistrum-shaking damsels” (Abraham in Egypt, p. 210)
After reading all of the above I was curious as to what the LDS Church had to say about figure 7 from Facsimile No.2 in their Church manual called, The Pearl of Great Price Student Manual – Religion 327:
“…the explanations for figures 3, 7 and 8 establish a clear relationship between the contents of facsimile 2 and the ordinances of the temple.” (p. 39)
“Facsimile 2, figures 7-8. Returning to God’s Presence: Egyptologists suggest that the hypocephali contain information to help deceased persons return to the presence of God. Similarly, the Lord has given Latter-day Saints divine help to return to His presence. President Brigham Young taught: ‘Your [temple] endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angles who stand as sentinels’ (Discourses of Brigham Young, 416)”. (p. 40)
That’s it? Where’s the rest of it? Surprisingly enough, that was all this LDS Church manual had to say about figure 7 despite all the other information from knowledgeable Egyptologists on what this figure is all about. Here is what the good professors over at BYU had to say about Joseph Smith’s drawing and explanation of what is taking place in figure 7:
“Joseph Smith mentions here the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove and God ‘revealing through the heavens the grand key-words of the priesthood.’ The procreative forces, receiving unusual accentuation throughout the representation, may stand for many divine generative powers, not least of which might be conjoined with blessing of the Priesthood in one’s posterity eternally” (BYU Studies, Spring 1977, p. 273)
What does all of this talk about Min have to do with the Mormon god? Is there any similarity? Why is the correlation made with the sexually active Min? Mormonism does teach that their god is united in celestial marriage to (at least one) “mother in heaven”:
“God the Father is married and there is a Mother God” (Answers to Gospel Questions, Joseph Fielding Smith, Vol. 3, pp. 143-144).
In the second part of our series on the facsimiles from The Book of Abraham I would now like to focus our attention on Facsimile No.2 and this will be the main focus of our attention from this point on. Let’s look at Facsimile No.2 that comes from the Book of the Dead and is contained in The Book of Abraham.
Last Testimony of Martin Harris
One of the Witnesses of the Book of Mormon
While at Clarkston a short time before he died, Martin Harris bore strong testimonies as a witness of the Book of Mormon. Ola A. Jenson, ward clerk of Clarkston at the time gives a signed statement of the following testimony of Martin Harris.
It was in Clarkston, Utah, July 1875. Early in the morning a, thought come to my mind that I would go and see how Brother Martin Harris was feeling. It was only three blocks from my home. I heard he was not feeling well. People came from other towns to see Brother Harris and hear him bear his testimony on the Book of Mormon. When I arrived there were two men present. Brother Harris lay on his bed leaning on his elbow. I said, “How are you?” Brother Harris answered slowly, “Pretty well.” “We came to hear your testimony on the Book of Mormon.” “Yes,” he said in a loud voice as he sat up in bed, “I wish that I could speak loud enough that the whole world could hear my testimony. Brother stand over so I can see you.” Then he stretched out his hand and said, “Brother I believe there is an Angel to hear what I shall tell you, and you shall never forget what I shall say. The Prophet, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and myself went into a little grove to pray to obtain a promise that we should behold it with our own eyes. That we could testify of it to the world. We prayed two or three times and a length the angel stood before Oliver and David and showed them the plates. But behold I had gone by myself to pray and in my desperation I asked the Prophet to kneel down with me and pray for me that I may also see the plates. And we did so and immediately the Angel stood before me and said, “Look” and when I glanced at him I fell but I stood on my feet and saw the Angel turn the golden leaves over and I said, “It is enough my Lord and my God.” Then I heard the voice of God say the Book is true and translate correctly!”
Micheal said
Micheal, I can provide you with quotes showing at least two LDS prophets/presidents claim they believe that the D and C or the BoM or they themselves are more important that the Bible.
So while your correct in most LDS do believe the Bible to be the Most important, sadly Not all do. Rick b
HankSaint
Thanks for putting that quote on here.
What it tells me?
1. The second-sight/vision thing is accurate, and the boys, like we already knew, are playing with spirits.
2. Harris thought there was an angel by him as he was dying. Probably the reason he was wanting to give testimony to the plates.
3. “I heard the voice of God say the Book is true and translated correctly!” Why, again then, has it been changed???
setfree,
There is absolutely no doubt that Joseph Smith and his fellow spiritists were tapping into something. So we go back to my bottom line question to anyone claiming spiritual and mystical happenings. That is, describe your god to me. Once I know who their god is, then I know the spiritual entity they are operating under.
Mormons are operating under the Egyptian pagan god Min as revealed by Joseph Smith in facsimile #2 and canonized by the SLC LDS church. Joseph Smith was an occultist who claimed to see buried treasure in the ground with his magic rock. This magic rock played a significant role in the creation of the BoM.
I have documented at length the occurrences of “spirits” in the Mormon temples, revealed in the book “Temple Manifestations”. This includes the appearance of the signers of the Declaration of Independence to Mormon prophet Wilford Woodruff. So if our Mormon friend wants to claim that these things really happened, we know the source and we know the spirit that guides him.
Remember our struggle isn’t against flesh and blood but spiritual forces in the heavenlies. What Mormons (past and present) are tapping into is verified by the BoA.
HankSaint, it would be hypocritical of me to immediately dismiss these visions of the witnesses. This is because I readily accept visions by Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. I accept that the Bible records things such as, “Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth”(Jeremiah 1:9). We also have the vision of Matthew at the Transfiguration, and the Apostle Paul gives this account as to his receiving the gospel, “But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:11,12). I do not discount the visions of the Apostle John in Revelation. So who am I to refute the visions of an LDS witness or the claimed visions of JS?
We both believe the Bible to be the Word of God. I will even agree that an accurate translation from the original language the Biblical text was written in to English is most important (8th Article of Faith). But you also believe in extra-biblical revelation in your BoM , the BoA, and other revelations of JS. Because those revelations contradict the Bible, either the Bible is true, or the revelations of JS and the doctrine of the LDS church are true. They cannot both be true. This amounts to a different gospel being preached, which the Apostle Paul specifically warns about in Galatians 1:6-8. This is to be followed even if the Apostle Paul himself or an Angel from heaven preaches it. Are you getting the understanding that Paul stands by what he and the other Apostles in the Bible taught as the true gospel of Jesus Christ? My problem is first and foremost the fact that the means of salvation in the LDS church are contrary to the means of salvation according to the Bible. The means of salvation is the good news (gospel).
Hank, that’s a nice story, but what does it tell us?
Rick, I know and understand. I am being generous for the sake of discussion.
Most LDS, I am guessing, would at least say something akin to the Bible is the most important but since it has been corrupted, it not as important as it once was.
I also acknowledge the LDS use of the Bible seems to be minimal, even if they give the lip service of its importance.
I believe that it was on this blog that people were asking for evidence of reformed Egyptian. Well they are not calling it reformed Egyptian, but in April this year scientists found what they think is a written language from the ancient Indus. It has similarities to Mesopotamia, Sumarian and Old Tamil. The link is here – http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/apr/23/indus-civilisation-language-symbols
They are finding new cultures and languages every now and then. For example in 2007 they found a ‘new’ tribe in Brazil that was previously unknown and had no contact with the outside world. In Wikipedia they list many of the ‘uncontacted peoples’ in many countries. These are people that either have had no contact with the outside world but are known by the outside world, or those who have decided to shun outside influence. With the tribes that have had no outside contact at all, especially those not yet found/known, who’s to say that they have an unknown language as well?
So just because reformed Egyptian cannot be found does not mean it did not exist, especially with the evidence I have given here.
LOL,
Setfree states, “There is absolutely no doubt that Joseph Smith and his fellow spiritists were tapping into something. So we go back to my bottom line question to anyone claiming spiritual and mystical happenings”.
So now I will repeat what the eight witness stated:
Not only did the Eight Witnesses see the characters and turn over the leaves, but they reported seeing a sealed part. They described the plates as bound with “D”-shaped rings, saying a perpendicular center ran through the plates, like a loose-leaf notebook, and then the ring curved in a half circle across the spine.
Yep, evil spirits, with a visionary eye, yet they turn over the leaves of the Plates. Hmmm, and they all testified that this happened. So now what? Now you almost have to claim they lied, were part of a plot to commit fraud, etc, etc. Be nice if you could come up with at least one story and stick by it. Interesting. LOL at your frustration.
Richard.
Actually, Richard, that was your buddy Falcon. Give credit where credit is due. 😛
Ralph and everyone: wanna hear what Joseph Smith said about Reformed Egyptian?
“On the 523rd page of the fourth edition, it reads: “And now, behold we have written this record according to our knowledge in the characters which are called among us the Reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech; and if our plates had been sufficiently large, we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record. But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; therefore He hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof.”
Here, then, the subject is put to silence; for “none other people knoweth our language;” therefore the Lord, and not man, had to interpret, after the people were all dead.“
Setfree,
Yes and …?
No one knew how to read/translate ancient Egyptian when it was first found until the Rosetta stone was found. Other ancient language scripts that have been found, including the one I referenced in my last post, were not able to be interpreted when first found – it took years for them to be able to start interpretations. If you read the news article I referred to it actually states that they have not yet cracked the language as there is not enough to learn the meaning of the characters/etc to understand how to read it. It may take them years to be able to translate it, or, as the article states, they may never be able to read it if they can’t find any more text. So we can say about ancient Egyptian and the ancient Indus text when they were first found ‘none other people knoweth our language’.
So no, it does not put the subject to silence.
Setfree,
What in the above do you not understand? Lets say that Lehi and his family actually made this journey from Jerusalem, Nephi his son states,
“I make a record in the language of my father, which consists of the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians” (1 Nephi 1:2).
Nearly a thousand years later, when the Nephite nation had been destroyed, a survivor, Moroni, writes:
And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.
And if our plates had been sufficiently large, we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record. But the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language. (Mormon 9:32—34)
Lets take a look at the form and meaning in linguistic expression or natural expressions. The above can be looked at as being quiet normal or plausible, right? when the Nephites left Jerusalem they may have had an active speaking knowledge of Egyptian, and so far as their knowledge of Hebrew was concerned, it was that of Palestinian natives. But a thousand years later their descendants, Mormon and Moroni, can scarcely be expected to have had an active speaking knowledge of Egyptian.
So stay with me, 1000 years later Mormon and Moroni, the last to have written in the BOM, and Mormon admitted he abridged the many other plates into one book. Their knowledge of Egyptian would probably be limited to a passive reading knowledge of the same. In my opinion, within a few generations following the days of Nephi and Lehi, a knowledge of Egyptian would have been limited to comparatively few of their descendants—mainly scribes and men of good education.
Continued.
Ralph,
The “here, then, the subject is put to silence…” was still part of the Joseph Smith quote.
I just wanted to show what he wrote, when challenged about it.
continued:
could it be that “reformed” which is a adjective, “Egyptian”, was like what we consider as a form of shorthand, combining certain features of both the Egyptian and Hebrew alphabets
“None other people knoweth our language” (Mormon 9:34). Hence, the need for an inspired translator.
So in keeping with your inability to prove it wrong, now questioning certain linguistic, which is secondary to the literary one.
Noteworthy is he many Typical Hebrew Expressions seen throughout the BOM. But that is another topic.
Regards, Richard.
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I know very little about Egyptology and the initial state of the BoA, so I just want to comment on what this article is trying to say. It is trying to say that because [JS/whoever wrote the BoA] used an Egyptian picture as a source of reference but changed the symbology to suit their needs, that we LDS actually believe in the Egyptian god Min as our God. Now anyone who has truly and sincerely studied the LDS church, even if they do not believe in it, will know that this assertion is not true. Although Andy has done a lot of study into this and has tried to make it a professional presentation does not make it true.
If we were to use the logic here and look at a section of the Bible what would we find? Acts 17:22-23 “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”
Paul saw the altar and idol of the Unknown God and said “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” Now on face value he is saying that the true God is already being worshipped by the Greeks, he is now going to tell them about Him. Does this mean that the true God is one of the Greek pantheon idols? No. As Paul goes into the explanation, he describes a God that is not an idol. He describes the true God in total.
This is what is happening in the BoA. Someone has decided that the Egyptian pictures can carry their meaning by interpreting the symbols differently and has placed their meaning of these in the text. It also describes a different god to the one in the picture (Min), regardless of what the picture originally represented. So trying to equate Min as the LDS God because of a picture, when the description is given in full in the text and the beliefs of the LDS church is a grave misrepresentation of the truth.
Ralph wrote “So trying to equate Min as the LDS God because of a picture, when the description is given in full in the text and the beliefs of the LDS church is a grave misrepresentation of the truth.”
Ralph,
Are you saying that the text of the BoA is not a translation of the papyri?
It seems you are at odds with Joseph Smith, who obviously wanted us to believe that it was a translation, in the strictest sense of the word.
Martin,
Have you read the argument that from eye witness accounts we have only found about 1 eighth of the papyri that JS had? Also that what we have now does not match the description of the papyrus that JS used for the translation of the BoA? Now if these eyewitness accounts are true, then what I said does not contradict JS. If he translated from a papyrus that we do not have now and that papyrus refers to the figures, then of course it can be a literal translation from the papyri in JS possession.
What I was saying was whoever wrote the BoA (be it JS or Abraham or a biographer of Abraham who lived hundreds of years ago – Just saying it like this so as not to cause an argument about who the author is) used the Egyptian figure and changed its symbology to mean something else while writing the text of the BoA. Because of this, the figure has 2 meanings, one Egyptian and the other ‘BoA’/LDS. Because it is the ‘BoA’/LDS version that we use and not the Egyptian, then it should be read in that manner, not in the Egyptian manner which is how Andy is doing it. So the figure is not equating Min as the LDS God no matter what Andy tries to say.
Every one who is sincere in representing the LDS church, whether LDS or not, knows that this is the case – we do not acknowledge Min as our God. For someone who says that they have done much research into the LDS church, to try and tell us and others that know nothing about our religion that we serve/worship Min, is a grave misrepresentation of the truth.
Or does the Christian community really worship one of the Greek pantheon idols (Acts 17:22-23)?