Copies of Egyptian Characters, circa Summer 1835–B
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Source Note
Copies of Egyptian Characters, [, Geauga Co., OH, ca. Summer 1835]; hieratic characters in unidentified handwriting; one page; Kirtland Egyptian Papers, CHL.Two leaves of paper, a larger one measuring 12½ × 7¾ inches (32 × 20 cm) and a smaller one measuring 3⅛ × 7¾ inches (8 × 20 cm), were fastened together with three adhesive wafers, forming a long sheet measuring 15⅜ × 7¾ inches (39 × 20 cm). The leaves appear to have been fastened together before they were inscribed. The paper is unruled, unlike that of Copies of Egyptian Characters, circa Summer 1835–A, which is ruled. The recto of the amalgamated leaf is inscribed with thirty-four lines of characters, while the verso simply bears the letter “y” with double underlining. By the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, various leaves of the Book of Abraham and Egyptian-language projects were paginated or otherwise labeled in blue ink. The handwriting in which the numbers are inscribed is similar to that of early-twentieth-century apostle James E. Talmage. This labeling was apparently intended to group or order the Egyptian papers. The leaf was folded in half horizontally and then folded again. This document was presumably included with the Egyptian material identified in various Historian’s Office inventories throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which suggests continuous institutional custody.
Footnotes
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1
Some of these characters are found on Miscellaneous Scraps of Book of the Dead for Semminis, ca. 300–100 bc. According to Egyptologists, these characters come from portions of chapters 1–3, 5–7, and 10–14 of the Book of the Dead for Semminis. (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 157–165, 201–203; Rhodes, Books of the Dead, 25–35.)
Ritner, Robert K. The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Edition, P. JS 1–4 and the Hypocephalus of Sheshonq. Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2011.
Rhodes, Michael D. Books of the Dead Belonging to Tshemmin and Neferirnub: A Translation and Commentary. Studies in the Book of Abraham 4. Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2010.
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2
This “y” is written vertically.
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3
“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th. April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory, G. S. L. City March 19, 1858,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [7], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; see also Historian’s Office, Journal, 17 Oct. 1855.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.
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- Historical Introduction
