Joseph Smith Hypocephalus
The papyri are Egyptian funerary papyrus fragments from ancient Thebes dated between 300 and 100 BC which, along with four mummies, were once owned by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
[5] The consensus among both Mormon and non-Mormon scholars is that the characters on the surviving papyrus fragments do not match Smith's translation.
[6][7] Multiple hypocephali in the British Museum are very similar to the Joseph Smith hypocephalus in layout and text, and were also uncovered in Thebes, Egypt.
[11][12][13] A woodcut image of the hypocephalus was initially published in 1842 in the Latter Day Saint newspaper Times and Seasons,[14] two years before the death of Joseph Smith.
Hypocephali are small disk-shaped objects, generally made of stuccoed linen,[15] but also of papyrus,[16] bronze, gold, wood, or clay, which ancient Egyptians from the Late Period onwards placed under the heads of their dead.
The hypocephalus represented all that the sun encircles—the world of the living, over which it passed during the day, was depicted in the upper half, and that of the dead, which it crossed during the night, in the lower portion.
[18] They were part of the burial materials created by Egyptians from the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (600 BCE) onward and are considered anachronistic to the time period that the biblical Abraham would have lived.
[4][page needed] Joseph Smith stated that this figure; Stands next to Kolob, called by the Egyptians Oliblish, which is the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides; holding the key of power also, pertaining to other planets; as revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord.
Egyptologists dispute this, arguing that just like the surrounding text, the inclusion by Joseph Smith (or his engravers) is irrelevant.
The two characters farthest to the left may be an attempt to engrave dp.t ntr, which would translate as "Divine Ship":[citation needed] Joseph Smith's interpretation: Is made to represent God, sitting upon his throne, clothed with power and authority; with a crown of eternal light upon his head; representing also the grand Key-words of the Holy Priesthood, as revealed to Adam in the Garden of Eden, as also to Seth, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, and all to whom the Priesthood was revealed.
"[citation needed] Joseph Smith's interpretation: Answers to the Hebrew word Raukeeyang, signifying expanse, or the firmament of the heavens; also a numerical figure, in Egyptian signifying one thousand; answering to the measuring of the time of Oliblish, which is equal with Kolob in its revolution and in its measuring of time.
[4][page needed] Behind is a standing female figure with the Eye of Horus depicted on her head and holding out a water lily in her left hand.
[22] To the left is a figure identified as the serpent god Nehebkau with a falcon head (also commonly depicted as ithyphallic), presenting the Eye of Ra.
Joseph Smith's interpretation:Represents God sitting upon his throne, revealing through the heavens the grand Key-words of the Priesthood; as, also, the sign of the Holy Ghost unto Abraham, in the form of a dove.
[21]The penis of the figure Smith said represented God was removed in the LDS church's 1913 reprinting of the facsimile,[23] but has been restored in more current editions.
(brackets and italics in original)[4] Joseph Smith said of figure 8 in particular, "Contains writings that cannot be revealed unto the world; but is to be had in the Holy Temple of God.
[Mj n] Wsjr, stating that "the officiator, calling upon that special, particular, transcendent god, who lives by breathing, who negotiates the waters, pleads from the depths: May Re descend to hear Osiris' words!
