Robert K. Ritner
This book marks the publication of the first, full translation of the so-called Joseph Smith Egyptian papyri translated into English. These papyri comprise â€œThe Breathing Permit of Hor,â€ â€œThe Book of the Dead of Ta-Sherit-Min,â€ â€œThe Book of the Dead Chapter 125Â ofÂ Nefer-ir-nebu,â€ â€œThe Book of the Dead of Amenhotep,â€ and â€œThe Hypocephalus of Sheshonq,â€Â as well as someÂ loose fragments and patches. The papyri were acquired by members of the LDS Church in the 1830s in Kirtland, Ohio, and rediscovered in the mid-1960s in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. They served as the basis for Joseph Smithâ€™s â€œBook of Abraham,â€ published in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1842 and later canonized.,As Robert K. Ritner, Professor of Egyptology at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, explains: â€œThe translation and publication of the Smith papyri must be accessible not merely to Egyptologists but to non-specialists within and outside of the LDS religious community for whom the Book of Abraham was produced.â€ Dr. Ritner provides not only his own original translations but gives variant translationsÂ by other researchers to demonstrate better the â€œevolving processâ€ of decipherment. He also includes specialized transliterations and his own informed commentary on the accuracy of past readings. â€œThese assessments,â€ he notes, â€œare neither equivocal nor muted.â€ At the same time, they do not have a â€œpartisan basis originating in any religious camp.â€,The present volume includes insightful introductory essays by noted scholars Christopher Woods, Associate Professor of Sumerology, University of ChicagoÂ (â€œThe Practice of Egyptian Religion at â€˜Ur of the Chaldeesâ€™â€), Marc Coenen, Egyptian StudiesÂ Ph. D., University of Leuven, BelgiumÂ Â (â€œThe Ownership and Dating of Certain Joseph Smith Papyriâ€), and H. Michael Marquardt, author ofÂ ,The Revelations of Joseph Smith: Text and Commentary,Â (â€œJoseph Smithâ€™s Egyptian Papers: A Historyâ€). It contains twenty-eight photographic plates, including color images of the primary papyri (with corrected alignment for Papyrus Joseph Smith 2) and other relevant items.
The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Editon