Book of Abraham/Kirtland Egyptian Papers/Background

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Background and provenance of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers

Summary: 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 Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri.

Jump to Subtopic:

• Question: What criticisms are associated with the Kirtland Egyptian Papers?
• Question: What are the Kirtland Egyptian Papers?
• Question: What is the provenance of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers?
• Question: What is the publication history of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers?

Question: What criticisms are associated with the Kirtland Egyptian Papers?

The following critical claims relate to the Kirtland Egyptian Papers (KEP)

1. 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;
2. It is asserted that the KEP are intended to deal with the Egyptian language, and that they demonstrate that Joseph did not understand Egyptian;
3. 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.
4. 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.

The KEP likely represents an attempt to "reverse engineer" the translation by matching Egyptian characters from the papyri to the revealed text

All of the critical claims rely on the assertion that the KEP were created before the Book of Abraham text was produced. Critics wish to portray the KEP as a set of "working papers" used in the production of the Book of Abraham. However, the evidence indicates that the KEP was produced after the Book of Abraham text was written, and that they represent a likely attempt to "reverse engineer" the translation by matching Egyptian characters from the papyri to the revealed text in an attempt to create a dictionary of the Egyptian language. This is also the position taken by the Church: "Some evidence suggests that Joseph studied the characters on the Egyptian papyri and attempted to learn the Egyptian language. His history reports that, in July 1835, he was “continually engaged in translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients.” This “grammar,” as it was called, consisted of columns of hieroglyphic characters followed by English translations recorded in a large notebook by Joseph’s scribe, William W. Phelps. Another manuscript, written by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, has Egyptian characters followed by explanations."

Gospel Topics on LDS.org: "Some evidence suggests that Joseph studied the characters on the Egyptian papyri and attempted to learn the Egyptian language"

"Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham," Gospel Topics on LDS.org

Some evidence suggests that Joseph studied the characters on the Egyptian papyri and attempted to learn the Egyptian language. His history reports that, in July 1835, he was “continually engaged in translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients.” This “grammar,” as it was called, consisted of columns of hieroglyphic characters followed by English translations recorded in a large notebook by Joseph’s scribe, William W. Phelps. Another manuscript, written by Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, has Egyptian characters followed by explanations. —(Click here to continue)

Question: What are the Kirtland Egyptian Papers?

Pearl of Great Price Central, Insight #38: The "Kirtland Egyptian Papers" and the Book of Abraham

The Kirtland Egyptian Papers (KEP) are a collection of documents written by various individuals constituting some sort of study documents relating to the Joseph Smith Papyri

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 Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri.

The KEP comprise 16 documents encompassing a total of about 120 pages. They are typically divided into two categories:

• so-called Egyptian alphabet and grammar documents (KEPE), and
• Book of Abraham manuscript documents (KEPA).

The following table gives a basic description of the KEP:

Number	Date	Size	Handwriting	Title and Contents
KEPE 1	1836 (?)	1 volume, 31x20 cm	W.W. Phelps & Warren Parrish	"Grammar & aphabet [sic] of the Egyptian language"
KEPE 2	1836 (?)	2 leaves, 33x20 cm	W.W. Phelps	"Egyptian counting"
KEPE 3	1 October 1835 (?)	4 leaves, 32x20 cm	W.W. Phelps	"Egyptian alphabet"
KEPE 4	1 October 1835 (?)	9 leaves, 32x20 cm	Joseph Smith & Oliver Cowdery	"Egyptian alphabet"
KEPE 5	1 October 1835 (?)	4 leaves, various sizes	Oliver Cowdery	[title lost, "Egyptian alphabet" (?)]
KEPE 6	26 Nov. 1835 (?)	1 volume, 20x13 cm	Oliver Cowdery	"Valuable discovery of hiden [sic] records"
KEPE 7	1837 (?)	1 volume, 20x16 cm	Oliver Cowdery	"F.G.W." and "William"
KEPE 8	26 Nov. 1835 (?)	1 leaf, 32x40 cm	?	[no title]
KEPE 9	26 Nov. 1835 (?)	1 leaf, 39x19 cm	?	[no title]
KEPE 10	Mounted Feb. 1836 (?)	1 leaf, 33x20 cm	—	[no title] = Joseph Smith Papyrus (JSP) IX
KEPA 1	1836 (?)	10 leaves, 32x20 cm	W.W. Phelps & Warren Parrish	[no title] Abraham 1:1–2:18
KEPA 2	1836 (?)	4 leaves, 33x19 cm	Frederick G. Williams}	[no title] Abraham 1:4–2:6
KEPA 3	1836 (?)	6 leaves, 32x19 cm	Warren Parrish	[no title] Abraham 1:4–2:2
KEPA 4	Feb. 1842 (?)	18 leaves, 29x20 cm	Willard Richards	[no title] Abraham 1:1–3:26 (pages containing 2:19 - 3:17 missing)
KEPA 5	March 1842 (?)	4 leaves, various sizes	Willard Richards	[no title] Facsimile 2
KEPA 6	1842	Broadside 32x19 cm	—	[back has a letter to Clyde Williams & Co., signed by Joseph Smith and W.W. Phelps]

The most extensive of these documents is KEPE 1, which is an intact bound book, containing 34 nonconsecutive pages of writing and 186 blank pages (an average of three written pages being followed by 18 to 20 blank pages).

A more extensive and more detailed summary of the KEP and their relation to the Book of Abraham was done by Pearl of Great Price Central and may be found at the link above.

Question: What is the provenance of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers?

These documents were brought west from Nauvoo and deposited in the Church Historian's office, and eventually knowledge of them was lost

An inventory of Church records to be taken west from Nauvoo, prepared by Thomas Bullock in 1846, included an entry for "Egyptian Grammar in Jennetta's Trunk." This document presumably was KEPE 1. The Jennetta spoken of was the late wife of Willard Richards, the Prophet Joseph's secretary. The Journal History of the Church under the date 17 October 1855 lists the "Egyptian Alphabet" in an inventory of items moved into a new fire proof vault. This again appears to be KEPE 1. An 1847 inventory of Church property delivered to Newel K. Whitney for transport included "A small Parchment roll of Hieroglyphics," which may have included some of the loose KEP. It is also possible that some of the other, smaller documents were brought separately to the Great Basin by W.W. Phelps.

Although these documents were brought west from Nauvoo and deposited in the Church Historian's office, they were unused and eventually knowledge of them was lost. The Egyptian Grammar was eventually rediscovered in that office by Sidney Sperry in 1935.

KEPA 1 has a separate provenance. This document was given by Emma Smith to her second husband, Lewis Bidamon, who gave it to his son, Charles Bidamon, from whom the great collector of Mormon artifacts, Wilford Wood, obtained it. Wood presented this document to the Church in 1937.

The various provenances of these documents raise the possibility that the collection we have today may not be complete, with some of the documents having been lost.

Question: What is the publication history of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers?

High resolution scans are available on the Joseph Smith Papers website

A critical text analysis of the KEP not yet been formally published, however, high resolution scans of the documents are now available on the Joseph Smith Papers website. (see "Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language, circa July–circa December 1835").

Jerald and Sandra Tanner obtained a microfilm copy of most of them and informally published them as Joseph Smith's Egyptian Alphabet & Grammar. An improved informal compilation was prepared by H. Michael Marquardt under the title The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papers in 1981. This informal edition is still available from Marquardt's website. Both of these editions are photocopies made from microfilm.

The late Steven F. Christensen, before he was murdered by Mark Hofmann, commissioned the photographing of the KEP at the LDS Church archives. From those negatives, at least four sets of color prints were made, including copies now in the possession of George D. Smith, Edward Ashment and Brent Metcalfe. Metcalfe has long indicated that he intends to formally publish the KEP, with high quality color photographs on the left side of the page and an improved transcription on the right side of the page—thus far, however no publication has appeared, or progress on the work announced.

It is also possible that the Maxwell Institute at BYU will eventually produce its own critical edition of the KEP as part of its Studies in the Book of Abraham series, although no formal announcement of such a publication has been made.

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here

Notes