While he has gone far into left field these days, Kerry Shirts did produce a lot of interesting material on the
Book of Abraham. One such article I recently re-read was the following
which I am reproducing here as it presents an interesting discussion of figures
22 and 23 in the hypocephalus (pictured above):
Book
of Abraham, Facsimile 2, Figs. 22, 23 Egyptian Correlations - The Apes Are
Stars
Research by Kerry A.
Shirts
Joseph Smith gave us a facsimile
in the BofA, # 2, the hypocephalus with various interpretations of some of the
figures. Joseph Smith never interpreted or translated the rim of the
hypocephalus, hence the critics reasoning that Smith was deceiving us by putting
some of the writing of the papyri he had in his possession in the rim of the
incomplete hypocephalus just isn't relevant. No Mormon scholars among us have
ever said differently. Why the restoration of the looks of the thing has to be
deceptive is beyond me. What is wrong with the idea that perhaps Hedlock wanted
the hypocephalus to look more complete? Now had Smith translated the rim and
said what it translated out to be, and if it then was shown that his
translation was wrong and based on part of the upside down text, now that would
be deceptive. But Joseph Smith, again, I repeat, never translated the rim of
the thing. How is this deception?
But there is one figure, among
many, which I have been looking into a bit and find Joseph Smith was quite
astonishing with his interpretation of, which is the two apes in the center
panel, labelled as numbers 22, and 23. Here Joseph Smith's explanations of the
apes are "stars." How on earth a monkey, babboon, ape, can be said to
represent stars is incredible. Is there any writings or indications that Smith
could have gotten this weird explanation from somewhere contemporaneously? Yet
this idea fits very snugly and comfortably in the Egyptian state of affairs, to
be sure.
Hans Bonnet in his
"Reallexicon der Agyptischen Religionsgeschichte" notes some
interesting things about these apes, from the Egyptian side of things. The apes
can represent Thoth, the god of writing (Sie ist dem Thot sonderlich zu eigen
wenn er in der Rolle eines Schutzgottes der Schreiber und des Schreibwesens
erscheint, p. 7).
Bonnet explains something else
interesting in light of what Joseph Smith said about the central panel, or Fig.
1 in the hypocephalus. Bonnet tells us that Horapollo explains that the apes,
during the equinox (wahrend der Aquinoktien), urinates hourly, as a sort of
measure of time (allstundlich zu urinieren, p. 7). Joseph Smith explains that
the central panel in which the apes reside is directly involved with celestial
time, and the measure of time (Fac. 2, fig. 1). This is very Egyptian to be
sure.
Bonnet also explains that the
apes have a strong relationship with the heavenly bodies (grossen Gestirnen),
specifically, the Sun, as they raise their front paws to the rising sun in
worship (die das Gestirn mit erhobenen Vorderpfoten betend begrussen - p. 7)
And what's more, Bonnet notes
that along with the sun, the stars the apes are also associated with or through
Thoth as the moon also (Note: the apes in Smith's hypocephalus have the
moondiscs - "mondscheibe" - on their heads). "Tatsachlich ist
der Affes erst durch Thot zum Mondtier gewroden. Auf diese Eigenschaft deutet
die Mond- scheibe, die er vielfach als Kopfputz tragt." p. 8).
So we have the sun, moon, and
stars, as also the measurement of time, exactly as with the heavenly bodies and
measurement of time in Joseph Smith's explanations.
Alan Gardiner notes that Thoth is
the god of writing and mathematics as well. ("Egyptin Grammar", p.
113). Note that in Smith's explanation we have the idea of "The
measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day
to a cubit." Note the application of mathematics and inter-reaction with
time. Lewis Spence in his book "Egypt" says: "He [Thoth] is
called the 'great god' and 'lord of heaven' [note that Bonnet says of him that
he is the old Babboon-god, the "Hez-ur, the "Great White" -
"Dagegen horen wir von einem alten Paviensgott der Hez-ur, der grosse
Weisse, gennant wird." p. 7], and that in his role as a lunar god, Thoth
was considered "the measurer", (Spence, p. 107). He is the
"Great White" of Bonnet's description because the full moon is very
large and very white in the sky (Spence, p. 107).
Thoth as "Tehuti" is
the scribe of the gods (E.A.W. Budge, "Hieroglyphic Vocabulary to the Book
of the Dead", p. 447, Cf. Karl-Theodor Zauzich - "Hieroglyphen Ohne
Geheimnis", tr. Ann Macy Roth, p. 94). Thoth was the creator of
hieroglyphs according to some accounts, who is also shown in scenes of
'Weighing of the heart' making a written record of the judgment of the
deceased, as in the temple of Ramesses II at Abydos, where we read "For
recitation by Thoth, Lord of Khmunu (Hermopolis), the scribe..." (Hilary
Wilson, "Understanding Hieroglyphs," 1995, p. 96f, Cf. Margaret
Bunson, "The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt," p. 264).
In Egypt, it is Thoth (Hermes to
the Greeks, Mercury to the Romans) who is the Master of the City of Eight.
Thoth gives man access to the mysteries of the manifested world, which is
symbolized by eight. (Anthony West, "Serpent in the Sky", p. 51). While
in the Joseph Smith hypocephalus there are only two babboons, in other
hypocephali there are sometimes 2, sometimes, 4, sometimes 6, and sometimes 8.
Eight babboons can also be seen on the Metternicht Stelae. Adolf Erman notes
that the town of eight was named after the eight elementary beings of the
world, whose chief god was Thoth, the god of wisdom (Erman,
"Aegypten", tr. Helen Tirard, "Life In Ancient Egypt", p.
24).
That Joseph Smith was depicting
an ancient Egyptian hypocephalus correctly with many of the figures is
incredible, considering that Egyptian was not yet known in the 1830's when
Joseph Smith received the Egyptian antiquities from the antiquities dealer. How
on earth would anyone guess haphazardly that apes could represent stars, and
other heavenly bodies, and dealt with astronomy, measurement of time, etc.? I
believe it shows the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith.
