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Joseph names the mummies with the papyrus?
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 1:17 am
by _zzyzx
CHRISTIAN MIRROR.
Vol. XIV. Portland, Me., Thurs., Nov. 12, 1835. No. 14.
Jo Smith, the Mormon prophet, has bought three mummies, and has discovered that they are the bodies of Joseph (the son of Abraham,) and King Abimeleck and his daughter. They are now to gull poor human nature. -- Cum. Pres.
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Did Joseph Smith really claim these mummies were those named in this alleged newspaper article?
Any separate corroborating publication or evidence this is so?
Re: Joseph names the mummies with the papyrus?
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 1:32 am
by _Uncle Dale
zzyzx wrote:CHRISTIAN MIRROR.
Vol. XIV. Portland, Me., Thurs., Nov. 12, 1835. No. 14.
Jo Smith, the Mormon prophet, has bought three mummies, and has discovered that they are the bodies of Joseph (the son of Abraham,) and King Abimeleck and his daughter. They are now to gull poor human nature. -- Cum. Pres.
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Did Joseph Smith really claim these mummies were those named in this alleged newspaper article?
Any separate corroborating publication or evidence this is so?
If so, I'd be interested in seeing it.
I'd also be interested in seeing any information on the "Book of Joseph" which was supposedly
found with the mummies.
UD
Re: Joseph names the mummies with the papyrus?
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:19 am
by _CaliforniaKid
This newspaper account circulated widely, but was repudiated by the prophet and his companions.
However, there is good evidence that Smith identified the male mummy as a Pharaoh named Onitas, and the three female mummies as either the pharaoh's three daughters or his wife and two daughters. One of the daughters he named Katumin. Lucy Smith told someone that another's name was Thermutis. The Katumin identification is made in two Smith notebooks, one with Joseph's signature on the cover, and is also attributed to Joseph by William I. Appleby. The Onitas identification is also found in the notebooks, and is confirmed by one or two eyewitnesses, including Charlotte Haven. That this was a pharaoh and his daughters is confirmed by a host of witnesses, including the bill of sale drawn up by Emma Smith and Charles Bidamon after Lucy's death.
Re: Joseph names the mummies with the papyrus?
Posted: Sun Aug 02, 2009 7:24 am
by _CaliforniaKid
No formal translation of the Book of Joseph was ever recorded, but Smith appears to have made some off-the-cuff interpretations of the various images on the Ta-shert-min papyrus. These interpretations are recorded by Oliver Cowdery in his 1835 letter to William Frye. Phelps also mentioned in a letter to his wife that they had shed tears while reading the history of Joseph, and Cowdery seems to allude to other information from the Book of Joseph in an introduction to some patriarchal blessings written in the summer of 1835. Apparently Smith was giving informal verbal information about the book to his scribes, but again, there is no evidence that a written translation was ever attempted.