Thursday, April 15, 2021

John Gee on the Egyptian Alphabet Being Dependent upon the Text of the Book of Abraham

 

 

In terms of concepts, many of the definitions given parallel Abraham 1:24-25, 31. Consider the following set of parallels emphasized here:

 

Egyptian Alphabet – Oliver Cowdery handwriting

Book of Abraham

The land of Egypt first discovered under water by a woman

When this woman discovered the land it was under water, who afterward settled her sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which preserved the curse in the land. (Abraham 1:24)

What other person is that? Who.

 

Reign, government, power, kingdom, or dominion.

Now the first government of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of Egyptus, the daughter of Ham, and it was after the manner of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal. (Abraham 1:25)

The beginning, first, before, or pointing to.

In the beginning of the earth, or creation

But the records of the fathers, even the patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord my God preserved in mine own hands; therefore a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets, and of the stars, as they were made known unto the fathers, have I kept even unto this day, and I shall endeavor to write some of these things upon this record, for the benefit of my posterity that shall come after me. (Abraham 1:31)

 

It is clear that the Egyptian document depends on the text of the Book of Abraham, but the Book of Abraham is not derivative of the Egyptian Alphabet document. Too much has to be supplied to claim that the Book of Abraham is derived from the scattered concepts of the Egyptian Alphabet. (John Gee, “Prolegomena to a Study of the Egyptian Alphabet Documents in the Joseph Smith Papers,” Interpreter: A journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship volume 42[2021]:77-98, here, pp. 92-93)

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