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| − | {{Articles FAIR copyright}} {{Articles Header 1}} {{Articles Header 2}} {{Articles Header 3}} {{Articles Header 4}} {{Articles Header 5}} {{Articles Header 6}} {{Articles Header 7}} {{Articles Header 8}} {{Articles Header 9}} {{Articles Header 10}} | + | {{Main Page}} |
| − | {{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 Kirtland Egyptian Papers (KEP):
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| − | #It is asserted that the KEP were produced prior to the Book of Abraham, and that they therefore represent the "translation working papers" for Abraham 1:1-3. 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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| − | #It is asserted that the KEP are intended to deal with the Egyptian language, and that they demonstrate that Joseph did not understand Egyptian;
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| − | #It is asserted that the KEP demonstrate that the Sensen Papyrus was believed to be the source for the Book of Abraham, and 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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| − | #It is asserted 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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| − | =={{Response label}}==
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| − | {{Epigraph|Neither side of this debate believes the GAEL was a “key” to translating the papyri. And you have no evidence that JS believed that either...What I meant was that nobody believes the GAEL was used as a translation key. My side of the debate doesn't believe anything was translated. And if JS intended it to be understood that such were the case, the GAEL would be tied closer to the translation.<br>Dan Vogel, ''Mormon Apologetics and Discussion Board'', 13 Aug. 2010. {{link|url=http://www.mormonapologetics.org/topic/50442-will-schryvers-book-of-abraham-talk/page__view__findpost__p__1208895741}} }}
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| − | {{parabreak}}
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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, and believe that they were used specifically to produce the first three verses in Abraham, Chapter 1.
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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. The most recent approach postulates that the KEP represent an attempt by Joseph and his associates to create a way to encode revelations and other sensitive data in a form approximating "pure language." Research into this theory is ongoing.
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| − | For the initial presentation of this theory, see William Schryver, [http://vimeo.com/user439270/videos/sort:oldest The Meaning and Purpose of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers], August 2010 FAIR Conference. A number of the following paragraphs make use of conclusions made in this presentation.
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| − | {{Detail|/Historical LDS approaches|l1=Historical LDS approaches to the KEP}}
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| − | ===Were the KEP produced prior to the Book of Abraham?===
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| − | The placement of a translation of the Book of Abraham prior to the production of the KEP renders Ashment's chronology, and the entire discussion regarding which document came before which other documents, irrelevant. The production of the KEP after the Book of Abraham indicates that the KEP does not represent "translation documents" documenting a physical process by which translation was attempted.
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| − | It should be noted that this does not change the relationship of the Book of Abraham to the Joseph Smith Papyri. It does not address the issue of whether or not the text of the Book of Abraham was actually present on the Scroll of Hor (the "long scroll" theory), or whether the scroll was simply a catalyst for revelation (the "short scroll" theory).
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| − | ===The earliest document in the KEP (pre-dating the recovery of the papryi) assigns meanings to non-Egyptian characters, and a later document assigns new meanings to these same characters===
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| − | The earliest datable document in the collection is a letter from W. W. Phelps to his wife describing a selection of the "pure language". It is dated to May of 1835. The document contains a sequence of six characters, three of which may belong to a Masonic cipher. Each character is also given a name, a pronunciation and an explanation. However, what is significant is that all six of these characters appear in an identical order in other KEP documents, except they are ''given different names, sounds and explanations.'' None of these six characters come from the Papyri.
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| − | ===Some source material used in the KEP is taken from sections of the D&C===
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| − | In the KEP, when a character in the Grammar is given multiple degrees, it does so usually by taking the source text and break it up into consecutive pieces. So, the first line might be the first degree, the second line the second degree, and so on. There is evidence that some of the source material in these explanations comes from sections of the D&C rather than the Book of Abraham.
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| − | ==Do the Kirtland "Egyptian" Papers deal with Egyptian?==
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| − | ===Some of the Kirtland "Egyptian" Papers do not contain Egyptian at all===
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| − | The "Egyptian Counting" document which is part of the KEP, like the grammar documents, has a character, a sound, and an explanation for each, yet none of the characters are Egyptian. Nor do they contain a single character from the Joseph Smith papyri.
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| − | ==What was the purpose of the KEP?==
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| − | ===The historical record already indicates that Joseph was interested in encoding certain items===
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| − | The historical record already confirms that efforts were made to encode certain things in order to prevent them from being read and understood by enemies of the Church. An effort to create such an encoding scheme using the KEP fits very well within the existing historical context. The Grammar seems to have been a project that suffered an early termination, and it was not pursued further.
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| − | =={{Conclusion label}}==
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| − | The KEP do not lend support to the critical theory that the coherent words of the Book of Abraham were produced from a non-inspired analysis of the Egyptian materials before Joseph or his scribes. The text of the Book of Abraham was 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, whether the actual text of the Book of Abraham existed on the papyri or not.
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| − | <!--
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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]] |
