Fragment of Book of Breathing for Horos–B, between 238 and circa 153 BC
Source Note
Fragment of Book of Breathing for Horos, [Thebes, present-day Luxor, Egypt, between 238 and ca. 153 bc]; hieratic characters; Egyptian Papyri, CHL. Includes archival marking.
Irregularly sized papyrus fragment measuring, at its largest, 11¾ × 4⅜ inches (30 × 11 cm). Shortly after JS and others acquired the papyri in July 1835, this papyrus fragment was pasted onto a paper backing, apparently to preserve it. This nineteenth-century paper backing measures 11½–11⅞ × 6¼–6⅜ inches (29–30 × 16 cm). On the top of the recto side of the paper backing are two notations in ink (“◊o 2” and “front end”) that may be part of a drawing of the plan of the in , Ohio. The verso of the backing has the number 8 written in graphite. That number corresponds to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art accession number for this fragment. This fragment is known to scholars as fragment X.
Gee, Introduction to the Book of Abraham, 56; see also Gee, “History of a Theban Priesthood,” 59–71; Gee, “Cult of Chespisichis,” 138–142; Gee, “Horos Son of Osoroeris,” 169–178; and Coenen, “Ownership and Dating of Certain Joseph Smith Papyri,” 57–71.
Gee, John. An Introduction to the Book of Abraham. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017.
Gee, John. “History of a Theban Priesthood.” In “Et maintenant ce ne sont plus que des villages . . .” Thèbes et sa région aux époques hellénistique, romaine et byzantine. . . , edited by Alain Delattre and Paul Heilporn, 59–71. Brussels: Association Égyptologique Reine Élisabeth, 2008.
Gee, John. “The Cult of Chespisichis.” In Egypt in Transition: Social and Religious Development of Egypt in the First Millennium BCE, edited by Ladislav Bareš, Filip Coppens, and Květa Smoláriková, 129–145. Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology, Charles University, 2010.
Gee, John. “Horos Son of Osoroeris.” In Mélanges offerts à Ola el-Aguizy, edited by Fayza Haikal, 169–178. Cairo: Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 2015.
Coenen, Marc. “The Ownership and Dating of Certain Joseph Smith Papyri.” In The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Edition, P. JS 1–4 and the Hypocephalus of Sheshonq, by Robert K. Ritner, 57–71. Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2011.
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.
Historical Introduction
This fragment bears parts of paragraphs 4–10 of the Book of Breathing for Horos, which Egyptologists interpret as spells for protection from decay, for a functioning body, and for eternal life. The backing also bears a small scrap of papyrus containing a portion of paragraph 3 of the Book of Breathing for Horos.
Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 147–149; Rhodes, Hor Book of Breathings, 29–32.
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. The Hor Book of Breathings: A Translation and Commentary. Studies in the Book of Abraham, edited by John Gee. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, Brigham Young University, 2002.
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.