Here is William's full posting, reified in its present form so as to avoid further misleading editing:
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Missing Papyrus
- Calculating the Length of the Lost Scroll of Horos -[color="#808080"]
Version 1.1[/color]
William Schryver
The History[/center]
In 1967, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art formally bequeathed to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a quantity of ancient Egyptian papyri representing an unknown fraction of the collection of Egyptian textual material originally purchased by the church in 1835 from an antiquities dealer by the name of Michael Chandler. Chandler arrived in Ohio in search of Joseph Smith for the ostensible purpose of requesting the Prophet to translate the Egyptian writings on the papyri, which papyri had been found in conjunction with the mummified remains of four persons entombed in the area of ancient Thebes. Chandler sold the mummies and papyri to a consortium of church members for $2400.
Within a year, and in consequence of frequent handling and transport, the papyri began to exhibit signs of decomposition. In response, the most severely damaged outer windings were cut from the rolls, glued to a stiff paper backing, and permanently mounted inside glass frames.[sup]1[/sup]
According to various eyewitness accounts, the textual material consisted of:
After the death of Joseph Smith, the Egyptian material remained in the possession of his mother, Lucy Mack Smith, who, until her death in May 1856, lived with the Prophet’s widow, Emma. Shortly after Mother Smith’s death, Emma and her second husband, Lewis C. Bidamon, sold the Egyptian materials to one Abel Combs, who subsequently divided the collection. Combs sold some of the material to the St. Louis Museum, including the two rolls of papyrus, but apparently retained most of the mounted fragments. The St. Louis Museum ultimately sold the rolls to the Wood Museum in Chicago, which burned in the fire of 1871, presumably reducing the majority of the original collection to ashes. The mounted fragments passed through several hands, and were ultimately purchased by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1947.[sup]9[/sup]
It is these glass frames and their papyri contents that were given to the Church on November 27, 1967.[sup]10[/sup] In February 1968, the Church historian’s office discovered another fragment of the papyri in its files, and likewise publicized it.[sup]11[/sup]
None of these extant papyri fragments contain an Egyptian text of the Book of Abraham, a fact first pointed out by Hugh Nibley, who authored articles on the papyri which were serialized in the Church's official magazine beginning in January 1968. Nibley repeatedly emphasized that the documents did not contain the Book of Abraham, but that some of the fragments contained a text he identified as "The Book of Breathings.”[sup]12[/sup]
Critics of the church, employing a variety of arguments, insist that the extant papyri are what Joseph Smith believed to be the source of his translation of the Book of Abraham.[sup]13[/sup] Most LDS scholars and apologists have long argued that such a conclusion is unwarranted by the evidence, and that the vast majority of original Egyptian textual material has been lost or destroyed.
In 2007, Brigham Young University Professor of Egyptology, John Gee, presented evidence that the scroll of Horos was considerably longer than the three mounted fragments that survive.[sup]14[/sup] This would mean that the scroll of Horos was the “long scroll”—the one upon which the text of the Book of Abraham was found, according to the preponderance of the contemporary eyewitness testimony.
Gee’s argument employs a standard formula developed by Egyptologist Friedhelm Hoffmann.[sup]15[/sup] Hoffmann’s formula determined the outside circumference of successive windings by measuring between salient points in the lacunae. [sup]16[/sup]
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Plate #1
Lacunae are indicated by red outlines.[/center]
He then averaged the difference in the decreasing winding measurements in order to produce a factor he nominated “S.” Then, employing the relatively simple mathematics involved in determining the length of a spiral, he claimed to be able to reliably calculate the missing length of any substantial remnant of a papyrus scroll.
Without explicitly endorsing the accuracy of the formula, Gee used his own measurements of the winding lengths of the extant portions of the scroll of Horos and reported the result. Since this initial report, and without directly addressing the reliability of Hoffmann’s formula, critics have consistently disputed Professor Gee’s arguments concerning the likelihood of a significant amount of missing scroll material.
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The Formulae[/center]
The Hoffman theory utilizes a series of measurements of the circumference of successive scroll windings. The difference between each successive winding, as measured between corresponding salient points in the lacunae, is then averaged. This result (“S”) becomes the factor representing the combination of the thickness of the papyrus and the relative tightness of the winding.[sup]17[/sup]
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Plate #2
Corresponding points in the repeating patterns are selected for measurement.[/center]
In the case of the Joseph Smith Papyri, Professor Gee is presently the only technician to perform measurements on the original documents, with the intent of gathering data to supply the Hoffmann equation. His measurements showed seven total windings, with the initial winding totaling 9.7 cm and the final winding 9.5 cm, which ultimately produces an “S” factor of 0.03333.[sup]18[/sup]
A simpler formula is available, based on the thickness of the papyrus material in combination with the known circumference of a single winding. If the initial winding circumference is known and if a constant papyrus thickness is assumed, then the calculation of the spiral becomes a rudimentary application of mathematics.
The two formulae should be mutually supporting. The Hoffmann formula ought to accurately predict the relative thickness of the papyrus material; the spiral calculation, armed with a single accurate circumference measurement and a known papyrus thickness, ought to confirm the results of the Hoffmann formula. However, in practice the Hoffmann formula predicts a longer scroll length than the simple spiral calculation. The discrepancy appears to be due to the acute sensitivity to measurement errors inherent in the formula. (See footnote 23 below.)
The Hoffmann formula returns a missing scroll length result of ~1250 cm (41 ft.), which seems to suggest a papyrus thickness of ~60 microns.[sup]19[/sup] Known papyrus examples of traditional manufacture range between 100 – 200 microns in thickness.[sup]20[/sup] Utilizing Gee’s initial winding measurement of 9.7 cm in conjunction with the lower limit of this range, the spiral calculation returns a missing scroll length of ~750 cm (~25 ft.). Using the upper limit of the range, the formula returns a value of ~380 cm (~12.5 ft.). In either case, this range of lengths is consistent with the known eyewitness testimony of a “long roll.”
Traditional production methods produced a very thin papyrus material, as seen in the examples cited above. However, beginning in the Greco-Roman period, Greek-style pens became popular, eventually supplanting the traditional Egyptian brushes or “rush pens.” The propensity of these pens to tear the thinner traditional papyrus prompted the introduction of a thicker product. There are samples of papyrus from the Greco-Roman period that measure up to 500 microns or more in thickness.[sup]21[/sup]
However, it is unlikely that the Joseph Smith Papyri are of the thicker variety, for the following reasons:
- The Joseph Smith Papyri date to the early Greco-Roman era, ~200 B.C.
[color="#48D1CC"]-[/color] - They were written using the old-style Egyptian brushes.
[color="#48D1CC"]-[/color] - Most significantly, the average winding length difference suggests that the thickness of the papyrus in the scroll of Horos was at the extreme low end, rather than the high, of the spectrum of papyrus thickness.[sup]22[/sup]
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Conclusions[/center]
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- Both the Hoffmann formula and the simple spiral calculation appear theoretically sound. The difference in results between them appears to center on the Hoffmann formula’s sensitivity to precise measurements.[sup]23[/sup]
[color="#48D1CC"]-[/color] - Professor Gee’s assertion that the total length of the scroll of Horos greatly exceeds the total length of the extant fragments is vindicated. Using Gee’s 9.7 cm circumference measurement in conjunction with a papyrus thickness of 100 microns—the lowest value in the range of known samples of traditionally manufactured papyrus—the missing length of the scroll of Horos would have been ~750 cm, or ~25 ft.[sup]24[/sup]
[color="#48D1CC"]-[/color] - The contemporary eyewitness reports of a “long roll” are confirmed.
[color="#48D1CC"]-[/color] - Even assuming the highest value in the range of known samples of traditionally manufactured papyrus (200 microns in thickness), the extant fragments of the scroll of Horos represent only 25% of the original length of the whole.
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(I gratefully acknowledge the invaluable assistance and insights of Kevin Barney, John Gee, David Keller, Matthew Roper, Gregory Smith, and Edwin Slack.) [center]
Appendix I[sup]25[/sup]
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End Notes:[sup] 1[/sup] See John Gee, "Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence of the Joseph Smith Papyri," in The Disciple as Witness, Essays on Latter-day Saint History and Doctrine in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson (Provo: FARMS, 2000), 181.
[sup] 2[/sup] William S. West, A Few Interesting Facts Respecting the Rise, Progress, and Pretensions of the Mormons (Warren, OH, 1837), cited in Jay M. Todd, The Saga of the Book of Abraham (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1969), 196.
[sup] 3[/sup] Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past from the Leaves of Old Journals (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883), 386.
[sup] 4[/sup] Henry Caswall, The City of the Mormons; or, Three Days at Nauvoo, in 1842 (London: J. G. F. & J. Rivington, 1842), 22.
[sup] 5[/sup] Charlotte Haven to her mother, 19 February 1843, "A Girl's Letters from Nauvoo," Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, December 1890, 624.
[sup] 6[/sup] Jerusha W. Blanchard, "Reminiscences of the Granddaughter of Hyrum Smith," Relief Society Magazine 9/1 (1922): 9; Charlotte Haven to her mother, 19 February 1843, Overland Monthly, 624.
[sup] 7[/sup] Charlotte Haven to her mother, 19 February 1843, Overland Monthly, 624.
[sup] 8[/sup] Oliver Cowdery to William Frye, 22 December 1835 in Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 2/3 (1835): 234; as cited in John Gee, "Some Puzzles from the Joseph Smith Papyri."
FARMS Review 20 no. 1 (2008) 113–137, on-line at [url="http://farms.BYU.edu/publications/review/?vol=20&num=1&id=699#_edn12"]http://farms.BYU.edu/publications/review/?...p;id=699#_edn12[/url]
[sup] 9[/sup] See John Gee, A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2000), 9.
[sup]10[/sup] Jay M. Todd, "Egyptian Papyri Rediscovered," Improvement Era (January 1968): 12–16.
[sup]11[/sup] Jay M. Todd, "New Light on Joseph Smith's Egyptian Papyri: Additional Fragment Disclosed," Improvement Era (February 1968): 40; Jay M. Todd, "Background of the Church Historian's Fragment," Improvement Era (February 1968): 40A–40I.
[sup]12[/sup] Hugh Nibley, "A New Look at the Pearl of Great Price," Improvement Era (August 1968): 53–63, for example, contains multiple references to the papyri as part of the Book of the Dead (pp. 55–59). Reprinted in Hugh Nibley,
An Approach to the Book of Abraham, Collected Works of Hugh Nibley 18 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and FARMS, 2009).
[sup]13[/sup] For example, see Jerald and Sandra Tanner, “The Fall of the Book of Abraham,” online at: [url="http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/fallofbookabraham.htm"]http://www.utlm.org/onlineresources/fallofbookabraham.htm[/url]
[sup]14[/sup] See John Gee, "Some Puzzles from the Joseph Smith Papyri," 113–137
[sup]15[/sup] Ibid.
[sup]16[/sup]
Lacunae is the plural of
lacuna, meaning "a blank space" or missing part of the papyrus material. Because the lacunae were formed when the scroll was still rolled together, the “missing parts” tend to exhibit repetitive patterns along the edges of the papyrus material. (See Plate #1) The total length of a single winding can be determined by measuring between common points in the repeating patterns. (See Plate #2)
[sup]17[/sup] See Plate #2 for a graphic representation of the process involved.
[sup]18[/sup] See John Gee, "Some Puzzles from the Joseph Smith Papyri," 113–137.
[sup]19[/sup] 1000 microns = 1 mm; 10000 microns = 1 cm; 60 microns = 0.006 cm.
[sup]20[/sup] New Kingdom papyri measured by Jaroslav Cerny averaged 125 microns in thickness. (See A. Lucas, J. R. Harris, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, 4th Edition, (Dover Publications, 1999), 139. n. 7). The papyri discovered in the Villa dei Papyri at Herculaneum have been measured via Micro CT scan and average 150 microns in thickness. (See Herculaneum Archaeology, Issue 3 (Summer 2005): 5)
[sup]21[/sup] “A feature that is quite noticeable is the great thickness of certain papyri of the Late Period or Greco-Roman period. There are certainly only two layers, but the strips themselves must have been sliced very thickly. It is widely accepted that the Greek style of reed pen (which in the Ptolemaic period quickly ousted the traditional Egyptian rush pen – even, eventually, for the writing of Demotic – was likely to puncture the thinnest qualities of papyrus, and that this led to a general increase in the thickness of papyrus.” Paul T. Nicholson and Ian Shaw, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology (Cambridge University Press, 2000) 232.
[sup]22[/sup] One may justifiably wonder why the question isn’t resolved simply by measuring the thickness of samples of the Joseph Smith Papyri. Such measurements are greatly complicated by the fact that the papyri have been glued to a stiff backing paper and permanently mounted in glass frames since 1836. The understandable objections of the conservators, combined with the difficulties inherent in removing samples for measurement may prove insuperable in the near future. However, the Micro CT scan process utilized by the scientists working with the Herculaneum scrolls may yet be seen as a possible avenue for measuring the thickness of the JSP.
[sup]23[/sup]For example, if we round the Gee measurements up and down .1 cm (9.8 and 9.4 cm, respectively) the Hoffmann formula returns a result more comparable to the spiral calculation: a length of ~720 cm and a papyrus thickness of ~0.100 mm.
[sup]24[/sup] See Appendix I.
[sup]25[/sup] Thanks to Edwin Slack for preparing the data from which this table is derived, and for the derivation thereof included in Appendix II.
©2009 William Schryver, All Rights Reserved
Edit History:
Version 1.1 05/07/09 2:30pm - clarified language pertaining to the Hoffmann formula.