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| − | {{BofAPortal}} | + | {{Navigation Book of Abraham}} |
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| − | {{Summary}} | + | <onlyinclude> |
| − | {{draft}} | + | {{T5 |
| | + | |L=Book of Abraham/Kirtland Egyptian Papers |
| | + | |H=The Kirtland Egyptian Papers |
| | + | |V=<embedvideo service="youtube">gfqFGB4DBHQ</embedvideo> |
| | + | |S=Among the early Book-of-Abraham-related-manuscripts that have survived from the days of Joseph Smith are a number of papers collectively referred to as the "Kirtland Egyptian Papers" (KEP). These pages were written while the Saints lived in Kirtland, Ohio, and were recorded in the general time frame that Joseph was translating the Book of Abraham. They are in the same handwriting of several of Joseph's scribes. |
| | + | |L1=Background and provenance of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers |
| | + | |L2=Purpose of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers |
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| | + | </onlyinclude> |
| | + | {{:Book of Abraham/Kirtland Egyptian Papers/Background}} |
| | + | {{:Book of Abraham/Kirtland Egyptian Papers/Purpose}} |
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| − | =={{Criticism label}}==
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| − | The following critical claims relate to the KEP:
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| − | #that the KEP were produced prior to the Book of Abraham, and that they therefore represent the "translation working papers" for the Book of Abraham. A chronology of events related to the production of the Book of Abraham produced by Edward Ashment is used by critics to support this claim;
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| − | #that the KEP deal with the Egyptian language, and that they demonstrate that Joseph did not understand Egyptian;
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| − | #that the KEPA demonstrate that the Sensen Papyrus was believed to be the source for the Book of Abraham; and
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| − | #that since the Sensen Papyrus is in fact not the Book of Abraham but an Egyptian Book of Breathings, whatever else the Book of Abraham may be, it is not an accurate translation of an ancient Egyptian text.
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| − | #that the purpose of the KEP was to provide a visible prop in order to convince people that Joseph could indeed translate Egyptian.
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| − | {{CriticalSources}}
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| − | =={{Response label}}==
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| − | ===Background===
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| − | The Kirtland Egyptian Papers (KEP) are a collection of documents written by various individuals, mostly dating to the Kirtland period of Church history (early- to mid-1830s), constituting some sort of study documents relating to the [[Book of Abraham papyri|Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri]].
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| − | {{Detail|/Background|l1=Background and provenance of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers}}
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| − | ===Approaches to the KEP===
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| − | A key assertion claimed by critics is that these documents were produced ''prior'' to the Book of Abraham manuscript, and that they therefore constitute a "smoking gun" that proves that Joseph was making up translations for Egyptian characters taken from the existing fragments of the Joseph Smith Papyri. Critics often refer to these papers as the "translation documents" for the Book of Abraham.
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| − | For many years, the KEP were not well studied. A variety of possible explanations have been offered by LDS researchers over the years.
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| − | {{Detail|/Historical LDS approaches|l1=Historical LDS approaches to the KEP}}
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| − | ==Criticisms==
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| − | Some of the contested issues for which such a study could bring enlightenment include the following:
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| − | ===Involvement of Joseph Smith===
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| − | That Joseph was involved to some degree in the project is clear. His handwriting appears on two of the documents, and there are references to the project in his journals. The extent of his involvement is a hotly contested issue and needs to be clarified. Nibley tried hard to distance Joseph from the work of the scribes. Edward Ashment has questioned Nibley's position. The extent to which Joseph dominated the process, or the scribes acted independently, or they all acted in a collaborative manner, needs to be clarified.
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| − | ===Meaning of technical terminology like "degree" and "part"===
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| − | The terms "degree" and "part" seem to be used in the KEPE as some sort of grammatical terms of art. If so, their meaning needs to be divined. Conversely, John Tvedtnes has argued that they are not grammatical terms at all, but refer to locations on the papyri where particular symbols were located; a sort of latitude and longitude system. According to this view, for example, the "first part" is what we call [http://scriptures.lds.org/abr/fac_1 Facsimile 1], and the "first degree" of that part is the first column of the facsimile, while the second degree is the second column. The second part is what Nibley called the Small Sensen Papyrus (JSP XI), and the first degree of the second part is the first of its columns, counting from the right (away from Facsimile 1). Tvedtnes' explanation of the usage of these terms needs to be evaluated; in particular, as to whether his proposed system in fact holds for all uses of the terms.
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| − | ===Sequencing issues===
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| − | Although the handwriting of the various scribes on the various texts has been identified, there are numerous sequencing issues that need to be explored. Is there a way to determine in what sequence the documents were created? Were the KEPA documents created at the same time from dictation, or were they visually copied from a single source, and if so, which is the source document? Which was written first on the page, the hieratic symbols in the left margin of the KEPA documents or the English text to the right? Were the hieratic symbols visually copied from the Sensen Papyrus, and if so, can we determine who copied them?
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| − | ===Why does the scope of the English text not match the scope of the hieratic symbols in the margins of the KEPA?===
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| − | There is a substantial and obvious disproportion between the hieratic symbols in the left margins of the KEPA and the accompanying English text to the right. Critics often trot this fact out as an obvious artifact of Joseph's ignorance. But this begs the question why such a disproportion exists. The disproportion is so marked that surely even Joseph must have been aware of it, and even if he were not, the scribes involved in the project had training in other languages, such that they would have noted and objected to the disproportion. It is not enough merely to observe the disproportion, it must be explained. What did these men think they were doing? Does the juxtaposition of a hieratic symbol and an entire paragraph of English text intend to reflect a translation process, or is some other process at work, and if so, what?
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| − | =={{Conclusion label}}==
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| − | When the [[Book of Abraham papyri|Joseph Smith Papyri]] were recovered and the connection to the KEP first noted, Richard Howard, then historian for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), was quoted in the ''New York Times'' as saying that we now knew the ''modus operandi'' by which the translation of the Book of Abraham was created.{{ref|nytimes1}} But this statement was premature. We do not know the ''modus operandi'' at all. If we were to give the complete KEPE, the Joseph Smith Papyri, and the sequence of hieratic symbols in the left margins of the KEPA to someone and then ask that person to recreate the Book of Abraham from those materials, he could not do it. The KEPE reflect a half-dozen phrases from the Book of Abraham, isolated and without context. But the Book of Abraham is a coherent and readily understood English text, while the KEPE is a mishmash of linguistic gobbledygook. It is completely unclear how one could possibly get the one from the other.
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| − | So what is the source of the English Book of Abraham? It would appear that the English text is a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, whatever he thought he was doing in the KEP project. There is ample precedent for the Prophet receiving such coherent revelations before that did not require him to wrestle with deciphering the ancient language of the source text. For example, [[Book of Mormon translation method|Joseph translated the Book of Mormon almost entirely without reference to the gold plates themselves]], and [http://scriptures.lds.org/dc/7 Doctrine and Covenants 7] is a revealed translation of ancient parchment that was never physically given to Joseph.
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| − | The coherent words of the Book of Abraham did not really come from an analysis of the Egyptian materials before Joseph or his scribes; rather, they were uttered by the Prophet and recorded by his scribes in much the same way that all of his revelatory translation projects were done. To the critic, this simply means that Joseph made up the coherent text and dictated it; to the believer, it means that Joseph received the text by revelation and dictated it. The difference between these two points of view is a matter of faith, and not something that any amount of wrangling with the KEP can resolve definitively one way or the other.
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| − | =={{Endnotes label}}==
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| − | #{{note|table1}}John Gee, "Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence of the Joseph Smith Papyri," p. 196.
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| − | #{{note|fgw1}}Until recently this was believed to be W.W. Phelps' handwriting.
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| − | #{{note|tanner1}}''Joseph Smith's Egyptian Alphabet & Grammar,'' Salt Lake City: Modern Microfilm Company, 1966.
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| − | #{{note|nytimes1}}''New York Times,'' 2 May 1970.
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| − | =={{Further reading label}}==
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| − | ==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
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| − | {{BookofAbrahamWiki}}
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| − | ==={{FAIR web site label}}===
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| − | {{BookofAbrahamFAIR}}
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| − | ===Videos===
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| − | {{Video:Hauglid:2006:Kirtland Egyptian Papers}}
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| − | ==={{External links label}}===
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| − | {{BookofAbrahamLinks}}
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| − | ==={{Printed material label}}===
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| − | {{BookofAbrahamPrint}}
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| − | [[de:Kirtland_Egyptian_Papers]]
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| − | {{Articles Footer 1}} {{Articles Footer 2}} {{Articles Footer 3}} {{Articles Footer 4}} {{Articles Footer 5}} {{Articles Footer 6}} {{Articles Footer 7}} {{Articles Footer 8}} {{Articles Footer 9}} {{Articles Footer 10}}
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| | + | <!-- PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE --> |
| | [[Category:Book of Abraham]] | | [[Category:Book of Abraham]] |
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| − | [[fr:Book of Abraham/Joseph Smith Papyri/Kirtland Egyptian Papers]] | + | [[de:Buch Abraham/Kirtland Egyptian Papers]] |
| | + | [[es:El Libro de Abraham/Papeles egipcios de Kirtland]] |
| | + | [[pt:O Livro de Abraão/Documentos Egípcios Kirtland]] |
