BYU Studies

Latter-­day Saints have offered a number of different approaches to interpreting the facsimiles and the validity of Joseph Smith’s interpretations. One scholar, Kevin L. Barney, has articulated an insightful theory for interpreting the facsimiles that is worth careful consideration. From⁠ BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4⁠.

The facsimiles in the Book of Abraham attract attention as visual aides in our scriptures. What are some of the most common approaches to interpreting them? From⁠ BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4⁠.

Thanks to the work of Egyptologists over the past decades, in addition to knowing what texts the extant Egyptian papyri acquired by Joseph Smith in 1835 contain, we also know quite a bit about the ancient owners of the papyri, including a Theban priest named Hor (Horos in Greek). From ⁠BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4⁠.

Some might ask how likely it would have been for the ancient Egyptians to have known anything about the biblical figure Abraham. In fact, evidence survives today indicating that stories about Abraham were known to the ancient Egyptians as early as the time of the composition of the Joseph Smith Papyri (ca. 330–30 BC). From ⁠BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4⁠.

As a central figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, there are many extrabiblical traditions about the life of the patriarch Abraham. Much of the Book of Abraham's content that is absent from the Genesis account parallels the extrabiblical material from these religious traditions. From ⁠BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4⁠.

A question that readers of the Book of Abraham might have is how a late copy of Abraham's record ended up in the possession of an ancient Egyptian living many centuries later. One plausible scenario is that ancient Israelites recopied the text over time and brought it into Egypt. Is there sufficient evidence to support this scenario? From ⁠BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4⁠.

An Egyptianism is a literary or linguistic feature of the Egyptian language. Since Egyptian was not well understood in Joseph Smith's day, it is thought that any knowledge of Egyptian that Joseph Smith may have possessed could only have come by revelation. What Egyptianisms are found in the Book of Abraham? From ⁠BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4⁠.

Chiasmus is a literary structure commonly found in the Bible, but does it also appear in the Book of Abraham? From BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4.

Some have wondered how the papyrus acquired by Joseph Smith could have possibly been written by Abraham's "own hand" when it dates to circa 300 BC, many centuries after Abraham's lifetime. This episode investigates what the phrase "written by his own hand" would connote in an ancient Egyptian context and whether or not we know what Joseph Smith and early Latter-day Saints thought about the papyri's age and origins. From ⁠BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4⁠.

What does the Book of Abraham's Creation account have in common with creation myths from ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia? From BYU Studies Quarterly, volume 61, number 4.