50 Issues with the Book of Abraham

BACKGROUND CONTEXT

Joseph Smith claimed to have the ability to translate ancient texts through divine assistance. He was originally thought to translate by looking at documents with clear rocks over his eyes (Urim and Thummim), but it later became more apparent that his main method of translation was by looking at a dark rock (seer stone) from within an old translucent white hat.

Some critics hypothesize that instead of seeing supernatural text from within a rock, Joseph Smith merely recited words written on parchment that were hidden within the hat. The translucent nature of the hat would allow light to enter the hat for legibility purposes. As any magician knows the importance of distraction, the rock was merely a red herring to distract others from the true method of "translation".

Joseph Smith claimed to be able to translate Reformed Egyptian from which the Book of Mormon was produced. When ancient Egyptian scrolls arrived in America, Joseph showed his followers that his abilities were not limitied to Reformed Egyptian, but that he could translate Egyptian as well. From these efforts came the Pearl of Great Price which included the Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham.

In Joseph Smith's day, few people understood the Egyptian language and so it was hard to challenge Joseph's claims. But with the discovery of the Rosetta stone, a new age in Egyptology was born. The stone contains a mechanism for translating Egyptian into Greek, and from Greek we could translate it into any other language. Suddenly Egyptian characters were no longer a mystery, and Joseph's claims to be a divine translator could be tested.

As you can see, Joseph Smith placed numerical markers on the Egyptian papyrus to identify specific sections for translation purposes. He then proceeded to describe the nature of both the images and Egyptian characters associated with the numbers. By drawing a 1 to 1 relationship between items within the Egyptian papyrus and their English tranlation, we can clearly see how Joseph is translating the characters. If Joseph's translations were correct, they should be substantiated by modern Egyptology. But we find that the opposite is true. Not only are the translations vastly incorrect, there are many other issues with Joseph's translations.

ISSUES WITH THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM

EPISODE 1

Mormon Stories #1339: Dr. Robert Ritner - An Expert Egyptologist Translates the Book of Abraham Pt 1

1.

Egyptian symbols change over time - you can tell when it was written by the style of the symbols.  Joseph Smith's Abraham papyrus is written using symbols from 100 BC (definitely not 2000 BC)

FACSIMILE 1

2.

Facsimile 1 is a burial text, wishing them a successful trip to the next life, not a murderous story about priest trying to sacrifice Abraham.

3.

Joseph Smith claimed that the Book of Mormon used Reformed Egyptian because it was easier to fit the words on the plates (the characters contain more meaning - more bang for their buck than Hebrew).  This was a common myth in American Egyptology in the 1800's but it is dead wrong.  The Egyptian language is phonetical so you don't get a bigger bang for your buck.

4.

The Book of Abraham imports errors from the Bible's book of Exodus. The first 5 books of the Bible are called the Torah and were written by Moses (after Abraham). Moses was around 1200 BC. But in Exodus, Abraham's great grandson Joseph meets an Egyptian named Potiphar. Potiphar is an Egyptian name that only started existing in 700 BC. Therefore, the scribes for Moses's book of Exodus must have forgotten the correct Egyptian name in oral tradition, so they later swapped in a modern name, which would be impossible to be accurate (the grammar for creating the name Potiphar had not been invented yet).  Yet, in the Book of Abraham (around 2000 BC, even before Moses), he finds a hill named Potiphar's hill - an impossible name for 2000 BC, but a logical name if someone is making stuff up and drawing upon the Bible as inspiration.  [Abraham 1:10 "Even the thank-offering of a child did the priest of Pharaoh offer upon the altar which stood by the hill called Potiphar’s Hill, at the head of the plain of Olishem."]

5.

Egypt never controlled the territory of Ur. [Abraham 1:20 "Behold, Potiphar’s Hill was in the land of Ur, of Chaldea."]

6.

Egyptian priests did not perform human sacrifices as claimed was the custom in the Book of Abraham.

7.

Only 1% of ancient Egyptians could read and write.  It took training in the temples to learn reading and writing.  Highly unlikely that Abraham could immigrate to Egypt and become a writer of the language.

8. 

The word "Abraham" is not mentioned anywhere on the papyrus.

9.

The papyrus Joseph used was missing a head, a hand, arms, and a belly.  Joseph Smith attached the papyrus to another parchment, and practiced drawing some lines to fill in the blanks.  The drawings are even different from the final version as he was playing with the idea of putting the knife in the left hand or the right hand - evidence that he is just making it up.

10.

This scene is a very common scene in Egyptian mythology.  There is always a black jackal that guides a dying body on the lion table to the afterlife.  Because it is so common we know that Joseph got many details wrong.

A. The body of the priest is black, but Joseph gives him a white human head.  It is supposed to be a black dog head (jackal).

B. There are not supposed to be two arms raised by Abraham defensively, one hand is raised (signifying the resurrecting of Osiris with life coming back into his arm), the other hand is supposed to be touching his penis, based on the legend of impregnating the bird goddess.

C. There is not supposed to be a knife because this lion table is used for funeral rituals to bless the dead on their way to the afterlife and is never used for human sacrifice.

D. The pots below the lion table are not idols, but rather jars to hold the organs of the dying individual for containment with mummification.

E. There are supposed to be two birds.  Joseph's papyrus includes the tip of the 2nd bird's wings, but Joseph mistook it for a hand, and filled in the gap with two arms instead of one arm and one bird wing.

11.

Joseph Smith claimed that the lion table was a sacrificial alter.  But, actually the lion table is well known two be the two headed lion god that represents the sky horizon.  By placing the dead body on top of the sky horizon god, it was symbolic of exalting the body to heaven - nothing to do with sacrifice.

12.

Joseph claimed the four jars represented four gods - Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, and Korash.  Yet, these names are not Egyptian and appear to be completely made up.

13.

Joseph claimed that the weird thing in front of the lion table was "Abraham in Egypt", but it is actually a little alter with lily flowers to bless the dead with rebirth, and wine jars beneath.  Hue Nibly tried to claim that the offerring on the mini alter was symbolic of Abraham in Egypt, but there are many funeral texts that all have the mini alter with lily flowers and wine.  It doesn't make sense that it would be symbolic of Abraham in every Egyptian text.

EPISODE 2

Mormon Stories #1340: Dr. Robert Ritner - An Expert Egyptologist Translates the Book of Abraham Pt 2

14.

The book of Abraham revolved around a story of religious human sacrifice to Pharaoh's gods.  This was not a tradition of the Egyptians.  John Gee claims that Dr. Ritner admits there is human sacrifice in his dissertation.  Dr. Ritner refutes this by saying that there was rare instances of killing humans involved with Egyptian ritual, but it was nothing like what is described in the Book of Abraham.  The key Egyptian ritual in point involves placing a voodoo doll of your enemies near a graveyard so that the angry ghosts of the graveyard can vicariously torture the enemy represented by the voodoo doll.  In rare circumstances a graveyard was unavailable so they would execute criminals to create a graveyard so the ritual may be performed.  The human was not ritually sacrificed to worship a god, but rather killed to enable a curse ritual.

15.

Egyptian culture was actually opposite of that which is described in the Book of Abraham.  Instead of performing human sacrifice on those who didn't worship their gods, they didn't care which gods you worshipped.   They were in the business of adding gods to their list of gods to worship not punishing people who have a different god not within their current list.  Egyptians eventually added Abraham's god "Yahweh" (named "Yao" in Egyptian) to their list of gods.  There was only one Egyptian king that embraced monotheism of the sun-disk god, and he was the only king who punished those who didn't worship his god, but that was only in 1300 BCE (Around the time of Moses, not Abraham).

FACSIMILE 2

16. 

Facsimile 2 is claimed to be paired with facsimile 1 in representing the story of Abraham, yet facsimile 2 actually comes from a separate mummy than the mummy in facsimile 1.  Additionally, facsimile 2 is a circle, and only comes in circle form (hypocephalus) because it is used as a pillow for the head of a mummy.  There is no way that it was included on a roll with facsimile 1, which is in scroll form.

17. 

The LDS church made it very hard for Dr. Ritner to get access to the original Egyptian documents for analysis.

18. 

Joseph Smith haD access to a scroll for a 3rd mummy.  He uses information from a 3rd mummy to fill in the blanks on the damaged portion of the circle shown in facsimile 2.

19.

The outer rim of the circle contains text relating to the genesis of creation in Egyptian mythology.  The text in the outer rim is standard text that is very common on these circle forms.  Part of the text is missing from the outer rim.  Instead of filling it in with the proper pattern of text that is known to be common there, text from facsimile 1 papyrus was injected into the blanks incorrectly.

20.

The three different documents come from three different mummies with different time periods of Egyptian language evolution.  By mixing and matching between them to fill in the blanks of each other, Joseph fraudulently included older Egyptian language with a newer Egyptian language document and vice versa.

21.

The center of facsimile 2 was blank in the original documents and then filled in inaccurately by Joseph Smith.  Normally a four-headed god would be attached to the central mound or the three mounds, the central mound functioning as the neck of the god.  Joseph Smith obviously wasn't aware that the mound functioned as the god's neck, so he copy and pasted the two headed god at the top of the circle and placed the two headed god next to the mound, but unattached.

22. 

Since these circles functioned as pillows to bless mummies, the imagery was fairly standard so they could be mass produced and the name of the mummy could be added.  Therefore we should expect Joseph Smiths corrections to match the traditional pattern, which it doesn't do very well.

23.

Chapter 3 of the Book of Abraham is based on facsimile 2.  Apologists are trying to claim that the Book of Abraham was a revelation inspired by receiving the papyrus but not necessarily directly related to it, yet the Book of Abraham specifically claims that "TRANSLATED FROM THE PAPYRUS, BY JOSEPH SMITH" and "*A Translation of some ancient Records that have fallen into our hands from the catacombs of Egypt. The writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus.*"

24. 

Kolob is not an Egyptian word, it seems to be related to a Hebrew construction of the word for "center", perhaps intentionally summoned by Joseph after his studies of Hebrew.

25.

The Egyptian pictographs contain nothing pertaining to 1000 years, or the location of God's throne.

26.

Jah-oh-eh, Oliblish, Raukeeyang, Enish-go-on-dosh, and ____ are not Egyptian words.

27. 

In figure 2 of facsimile 2, JS references Abraham via a Egyptian symbol representing an alter of lotus flowers and wine jars, yet this is merely JS copying over incorrect interpretation of from facsimile 1 into the blank spots of facsimile 2.

28.

Figure 3 of facsimile 2 is loosely correct in identifying the "sun" shaped object above the god's head as symbolic of a crown of eternal light, power, and authority.  Yet we know that this was a mere coincidence since everything in figure 3 was just copy and pasted from another document into a blank spot of the hypocephalus. There is also an interesting coincidence, in that the eye of Horus was also copied over, the eye being emblematic of health, which is a secret blessing in the Tempe.

29.

Figure 4 does not mean 1000 in Egyptian as claimed by JS.

30.

Figure 5 does not have anything to do with planets, but it does symbolize the sky that carries the sun.

31.

Figure 6 does not represent earth's four quarters, it represents mummy organ containers that represent the four sons of Horus.   The four sons of Horus have nothing to do with the four cardinal directions.  If you wanted to personify the four corners of the earth or the four cardinal directions with a deity, you would add a snake symbol to the Egyptian word for North/South/East/West, you would not use the four sons of Horus.  There is a loose connection in that anything connected to the number four can loosely be connected to the four cardinal directions.  Apologists have found an Egyptian text that they cite as backing the claim that the four sons of Horus represent the four cardinal directions - but if you analyze the Egyptian text, the four sons of Horus are being sent to the four cardinal directions for business with the gods located at the four cardinal directions.  The sons of Horus don't represent the cardinal directions even in this text, the other gods already located at the four cardinal directions would have a better chance of representing those locations.

32.

Apologists make an argument that the four sons of Horus represent the four gods namely Elkenah, Libnah, Mahmackrah, and Korash, which are worshiped by the people residing in the locations of four different cardinal directions and try to place Elkenah as a god in Syria.   But based on the apologist's prior text connecting the four cardinal directions with the four sons of Horus, the falcon God supposedly representing Elkenah would necessarily represent the people to the west of Egypt since the falcon son of Horus was sent to the west.  Therefore you cannot connect a Syrian god to the Abrahamic Elkenah (Syria is not to the west), you must connect a Libyan god to Elkenah.

33.

Apologists claim Shinehah is an Egyptian word, but while sounding Egyptian, in a global search of all Egyptian words, this combination of sounds never get put together.

34.

Nothing in the text implies that the four sons of Horus are meant to be representing the four cardinal directions, the normal interpretation would be that they are the four spirits guiding and helping the mummy perform the resurrection.

35.

In figure 7, Joseph Smith confuses the holy spirit in the form of a dove with the symbol for a lizard.  The other details are loosely accurate.  Next to god are symbols that look like the square and the compass in masonic symbology, but that is merely God's arm is raised to the square with a flail on top of his hand.  There is an appendage that looks like a second arm extended (for Mormon ritual purposes), but that is supposed to represent an erect penis for how God creates everything with masturbation.   This appendage has been removed and re-added over the course of scriptural edit history.

36.

Figures 8 through 11 included areas that were blank in the original document.  Egyptian text was inserted into the black spots, yet interpreted by JS in a way that is upside-down, were 11 should be read first instead of fourth.    The name of the mummy was supposed to be written in the top right edge of the hypocephalus, but that piece was broken off, yet maintained by JS as a fragment.  JS used the fragment to inject it into the blank spot for Figure 8, therefore we can know name of the mummy (Shehshauk) despite the name not being placed in the right spot on the hypocephalus.  But since JS had documents from four mummies, we cannot be sure if the name Shehshauk was the name for this hypocephalus in particular.

37.

Figure 11 is closer in meaning to that which JS ascribed to figure 8, in that it is discussing God.  Figure 11 does not contain secret numbers as claimed by JS.

38.

JS says that figures 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 will be given in the own due time of the Lord. JS tried to translate all of the things that were pictorial, yet dodged explanation for the parts of the hypocephalus that was actually text.

39.

Two baboons are just praising god, as opposed to supporting stars in their revolutions around Kolob.

FACSIMILE 3

Facsimile 3 displays five characters in Egyptian mythology.  A female Isis on the far left standing behind Osiris who is seated (often shown next to a display of flowers on an alter).  The goddess of truth is holding the hand of a dead man who is being brought before Osiris on his path to paradise.  Both the goddess of truth and the dead man have ostrich feathers on their heads.  The dead man has been prepared by the Anubis, the god of ointments for mummies, who is shown on the far right.  This is the rite of passage for the dead man to be granted access to paradise by Osiris.

40.

JS claims that the man (1) sitting is Abraham on Pharaoh's throne, while not Abraham, it is a throne.  The hat is specific to Osiris - no living man can wear that hat. Hence, this character is Osiris, not Abraham.

41.

JS claims that the person (2) behind Abraham/Osiris is the Pharaoh giving his throne to Abraham.  JS further confuses the word "Pharaoh" as a name rather than a title and claims that name Pharaoh is written above his head.  JS misgendered this individual in that she is actually Isis, a goddess, with notable feminine features like long hair and a dress.  The text above her head does not say "Pharaoh" but rather "Isis the great, the god's mother" (reading from top to bottom the text above her head).  Pharaoh is one of the most common words in Egyptian - most beginning students of Egyptian can recognize the symbols for Pharaoh.  JS is failing to translate at even a beginners level.

42.

The catalyst theory of Abrahamic translation theory is completely wrong, as JS admits here that he is translating specific text, not merely using this document to inspire an unrelated revelation.

43. 

For the third time, JS incorrectly identifies an alter with lotus flowers as representing Abraham in Egypt.

44.

JS incorrectly identifies the goddess of truth as the prince of Pharaoh, again misgendering a character.  The sun symbol above the head symbolizes that the individual is divine.  JS claimed that his name is written above his hand - a name was written in that location, but it doesn't say "Prince of Pharaoh" but rather "Mahawt, the goddess of the west".

45.

JS claims that the dead individual approaching Osiris is Shulem, one of the king’s principal waiters.  JS claims that his name is written above his hand, yet instead of saying "Shulem" it says "The Osiris Hor, the justified forever", Hor being the owner of the tomb, owner of this text, the central figure in the story approaching ressurection.

46. 

The bottom rim of facsimile 3 states the following - "Oh gods of the necropolis, gods of the caverns, gods of the south, north, west, and east, grant salvation to the Osiris Hor, the justified, born by Taikabet, his mother's name."  Interesting that the text mentions the four cardinal directions, yet the image doesn't contain the four sons of Horus that JS and apologists insist represent the cardinal directions.

47.

The central theme here is that the dead man can join the gods becoming a god himself, not Abraham taking the seat of Pharaoh and reasoning upon the principles of Astronomy, in the king’s court.

48. 

Apologists claim that it is okay to have Isis represent Pharaoh because in Roman parades (centuries later), some Romans dressed up like a woman to cosplay Isis, but there is absolutely no logical justification for this conclusion as what the Romans do has no connection to what the Egyptians do.

49.

JS claimed that the black-looking individual is Olimlah, a slave belonging to the prince - getting tricked by the color of the character.  The text above doesn't confirm that but rather says "Words spoken by Anubis who makes protection, lord of heaven, foremost of the westerners."  For decades, one portion of this text was too hard to read for Egyptologists, so apologists played the "Joseph Smith's translation is within the gaps" game, yet now the whole thing is translatable so there is no excuse for an incorrect translation.

50.

The original document for facsimile 3 doesn't exist, so it is harder for us to know what JS filled in.  It is possible that JS converted Anubis's dog head to a human head because of damage to the original.  Anubis's dog ear was preserved, despite being converted to a human incorrectly.