Pearl of Great Price Central Facsimile 1 as a Sacrifice Scene

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Shulem
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Human head vs. bird head -- big difference!

Post by Shulem »

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Ba of Osiris originally had a human head

Another perversion of Egyptian funerary art made by Smith has to do with the Egyptian Ba which is an aspect of a person's soul represented in bird form but always having a human head. The body of the bird is representative of the ability to move about freely while the soul of the person is contained in the image of the human head.

Joseph Smith likened Fig.1 in Facsimile No. 1 as the "Angel of the Lord". He drew a bird head wherein the human face was missing due to the damaged papyrus. Smith was wrong to do that. The face drawn by the Egyptian artist on the original papyrus was human in form and represented the soul of Osiris rising on the lion bed.

No amount of apologetic obfuscating can justify Smith's restoration of the Ba by adding a bird head and denying what was original to the scene. Smith's bogus restoration was false and the apologists today become liars in defending it because they know better thanks to modern Egyptology and the myriad of images of Bas depicted on authentic ancient Egyptian walls and papyri.

I think it's safe to say that Smith was simply trying to introduce a Christian effect wherein the "Sign of the Dove" (see Facsimile No. 2 Fig. 7) would make his followers believe the papyrus really was from Abraham who foreshadowed the coming of Christ and the dove at his baptism.
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Evidence shows the restoration of the Ba was fatally flawed

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The so-called "Angel of the Lord" which Smith identifies in Facsmile No.1 may be fully viewed on the original papyrus at the Joseph Smith Papers at this link: Facsimile No.1.

The brethren in Kirtland made a sketch of the "Angel of the Lord" as it appeared in the papyrus in effort to figure out how to restore the original image. The notebook containing this sketch is available in high resolution here: Notebook of Copied Characters

Notice that the Ba and one of the gods under the lion bed has been sketched in the upper right corner together, side by side for a comparison. It's plainly obvious that the brethren are making a clear cut connection between one of the gods under the lion bed which just so happens to have a bird head. Obviously, the brethren were attempting to make a clear and deliberate attempt to morph the images into one as shown in the stylized bird of Facsimile No. 1 of the Times and Seasons.

Here is a cut from my old apologetic website, although a poor quality photocopy, you can see essentially what's now available at the Joseph Smith Papers linked above:

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Sketch of the headless bird in the papyrus of Facsimile No.1


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Sketch of one of the gods (Fig. 5 far right) under the lion bed:

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Sketch compared to the god (No. 5) as shown on the actual papyrus

The end result is the mutation of morphing the surviving body of the bird in the original papyrus with the head of one of the gods under the lion bed:

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Smith's mutation of the Ba
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Re: Pearl of Great Price Central Facsimile 1 as a Sacrifice Scene

Post by Shulem »

QUESTION for John Gee:

Aside from the fact that the head is all wrong, and in view of the fact that the original papyrus shows Anubis with his left shoulder and left leg forward in standard pose, why does Smith's reconstruction show the right shoulder and right leg forward and standing on the wrong side of the lion bed?
John Gee wrote:
Image

Take note, RFM, that's a killer question and has follow-ups just as deadly.

:twisted:

QUESTION for John Gee:

Will you agree that the elongated back and rear shoulder blade for Smith's priest has an angle that doesn't match the conventional Egyptian pose shown on the papyrus and that the contour of the angular line of the rear shoulder blade inadvertently replaced the flowing outline of a headdress?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No
[ ] Don't know
John Gee wrote:
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Re: Pearl of Great Price Central Facsimile 1 as a Sacrifice Scene

Post by Shulem »

Doctor CamNC4Me » Fri Aug 28, 2020 6:00 pm wrote: For anyone paying attention check out this scene with Anubis:

https://ancientneareastdotorg.files.wor ... -mummy.jpg

Now go back and look at the ‘Joseph Smith papyrus’, and you can see a corner of the headdress.

Fascinating stuff, Shulem! Without your diligence this whole Book of Abraham affair would’ve been a foggy mystery to someone like myself. You’ve really done us a huge service by bringing into sharp focus the changes made to the Church’s papyri and, really, just how disrespectful the Church has been to Egyptian history by pushing their false narrative.

- doc


Thank you, Doctor CamNC4Me for your kind regards and for appreciating my contribution to the cause in addressing the Book of Abraham controversies. I'm sure there are others who feel as you do and I thank them for putting up with my antics. There is a great deal more I wish to express and will happily continue to support the cause. I am proud of consiglieri who has stepped up to the plate and is taking the bull by the horns. Philo also is probably working feverishly in putting his own production together and I'm sure it will not disappoint. I have to believe that our collective efforts will help in finally putting an end to the publication of the Facsimiles in Mormon canon.
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Re: Pearl of Great Price Central Facsimile 1 as a Sacrifice Scene

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Facsimile No.1 Fig. 11. wrote:Designed to represent the pillars of heaven, as understood by the Egyptians.
This is just so wrong in so many ways. Nothing could be further from the truth. Smith was dead wrong. He was guessing. He was fantasizing. He was making stuff up and creating his own world view of what he thought it should be.

"Pillars of heaven" is not what the series of interconnected rectangles represent. Smith was wrong. He knew nothing of Egyptian architectural motif anymore than he knew the Egyptian language. Smith's claim of so-called "pillars of heaven" is just the opposite of what the symbols represent. This is getting to be quite a habit for Smith in getting everything diametrically opposed to the truth and interpreting Egyptian iconography in opposite to what is factually true. The rectangles aren't pillars in heaven but are bricks (or stone) on earth! Other examples of Smith's blunders are shown in Facsimile No. 3, women are men and a god is a slave -- a vile Asiatic (Abraham) sitting on a god's throne in heaven! Smith's interpretations were almost always the opposite of the truth! It's really rather bizarre. It's a freak show!!!

But I digress. Back to Fig. 11, which is the baseline of the drawing and the foundation upon which the site is geographically located seeing the temple walls or palace facade in which it represents is ever adjacent to the Nile river and the Egyptian crocodile. The scene is in Egypt, period. You can forget about the so-called plain of Olishem. The Egyptian artist was mindful of proximity and convention using art to show the importance and placement of each particular layer or concept. The building is near the Nile, the Nile hosts the crocodile, the crocodile is near the lion bed where Osiris is rising. Proximity and geographic design is part of the message of the papyrus!

Robert Ritner gives an excellent sumnation of fig. 11, in Part I, advance forward to the 1:46:00 mark.

Ritner tells us that the series of rectangular shapes represent a niched bricking motif, a standard feature of Egyptian design that goes back to early Egypt and has interconnections between Egypt and Sumer brick archetecture and is used as a baseline in design for Egyptian art.

Everything Smith said about Facsimile No.1, from top to bottom, was essentially false -- it's just wrong, all of it. The text of the Book of Abraham attempts to take the scene out of Egypt to some fantasized place in Chaldea. That too is wrong. The Facsimile Explanations and the site or location as told in the story of the Book of Abraham is wrong. John Gee can search for the plain of Olishem until the day he dies but he will never find it not even after he dies!

Sorry John, but you're wrong and you can blame Joseph Smith for that.
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Re: Pearl of Great Price Central Facsimile 1 as a Sacrifice Scene

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consiglieri » Mon Aug 31, 2020 2:25 pm wrote: You have been busy being brilliant, my good friend!

Among other salient points, why indeed does Joseph Smith locate facsimile 1 in Egypt when the text places him in Olishem?

Brilliant!!!

Thank you, kind sir.

Image

The anomaly of Smith's geographic contradiction for his story narrative seems to be a rare careless error on Smith's part. He had plenty of practice in writing and arranging the Book of Mormon which has lots of geographic reference for locations and how they are directionally interrelated.

I could speculate why this might have occurred but speculation in this regard is only conjecture; for example: The story was written in stages over the course of years with the first chapter written years before publication and kept only in manuscript form. Details about geography may not have been as fresh on Smith's mind when he was busily working with the press arranging the Facsimile and Explanations for publication.

Here is page Second Amendment which consists SOLELY of the Explanations for Facsimile No.1:

A Fac-Similee from the Book of Abraham—Explanation of the <​above​> cut.

Now, let me share with you something interesting about the printer's manuscript of the first installment of the Book of Abraham (note page 4 is missing) consisting of 26 pages all in the writing of Willard Richards. Note the format for page numbering and content as follows:

1 Text

1a Blank

2 Text

Second Amendment Explanations of Facsimile No.1

3 Text

3a Blank

Etc.

Notice how text is only on one side of the page (accept for the case of the Explanations!) This keeps the ink from bleeding through the other side of the page. But notice (click link above) that the Explanations of Facsimile No.1 were included on page Second Amendment which is the only time ink is placed on the backside of a page! This can only mean that the Explanations were ADDED LAST after the manuscript was fully completed by Willard Richards. So it was in effect AFTERTHOUGHT material provided for publication at the last minute. (But evidence does show information for the Explanations was known previously as shown in Appleby's testimony but it's curious that they are in this manuscript in the order shown above.)

So, Smith may have felt rushed -- working on the side putting his Explanations together and handing them off to Willard Richards to insert in the manuscript where he wanted them put (they could have been put on p 14a at the end but Second Amendment was near the beginning which is where it was finally published). Smith forgot that the sacrifice setting was way out yonder in Chaldea on his stupid plain of Olishem and inadvertently assigned fig. 10 as representing Abraham in Egypt. But, I've been able to show that it's impossible for the libation stand dressed with a lotus, flowers, and pots, to be anywhere other than Egypt RIGHT NEXT TO THE LION BED which was on the Nile river!

John Gee, you lose -- you're beaten!
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The text is a fable and fictitious tale

Post by Shulem »

The Book of Abraham is an insult to intelligence. It insults my intelligence too! It offends me and discredits what I know about Egyptology in an attempt to bamboozle me. Smith's little novel of pretended history is an insult to modern Egyptology and a disgrace in representing the ancient Egyptians. The text of the Book of Abraham is simply awful. The book has no redeeming value and should be discarded by anyone who loves truth. Sadly, the book is embraced by those who choose to continue the fantasy in thinking that Smith wrote a genuine historical account. But nothing could be further from the truth! Smith's story is not genuine and neither is it historical. Anachronisms in the story are sure telltale signs that Smith was ignorantly making things up. Some of these anachronisms are explained at Mormon Think The Book of Abraham and Robert Ritner discussed them in the podcasts. Some of the most common or well known anachronisms in Book of Abraham text include the following names:

1. Egyptus
2. Pharaoh
3. Chaldea
4. Potiphar


Smith peppered his story with a number of fictitious names and made things up as he went along. If the Book of Abraham was truly a genuine historic piece of work it would have included genuine and historic Egyptian terms. It does not! In Smith's writings we plainly see in full view that his story is counterfeit -- a forgery produced by a 19th century conman pretending to translate ancient Egyptian.

Many Mormons today will freely admit that Smith couldn't translate Egyptian but that he nonetheless through revelation restored the story of Abraham. I can only imagine how upset Smith would be if he were alive today to see his fraud uncovered and exposed to the entire world. It would surely be an embarrassment to him and perhaps he'd lose his false testimony and the will to continue to deceive anyone and everyone which was his nature.

Bottom line, there is nothing in Facsimile No.1 to show that Smith's interpretations were genuine and historic. Not a single thing! The idolatrous god of Mahmackrah and Korash under the lion bed? Don't make me laugh! Don't insult my intelligence! I know better than that!
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Re: Pearl of Great Price Central Facsimile 1 as a Sacrifice Scene

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consiglieri wrote: Among other salient points, why indeed does Joseph Smith locate facsimile 1 in Egypt when the text places him in Olishem?

Recall Appleby's journal after witnessing the papyrus first hand:
Appleby wrote:Likewise where the Idolatrous Priest “Elkenah” attempted to offer up Abraham as a sacrifice to their Idol gods, in Egypt (as represented by the Altar etc. before referred to). But was delivered by the interposition of Almighty power, representing the Dove over the Altar, where Abraham lies Bound, which broke the cords by which he was bound, tore down the Altar, and killed the Priest.
Appleby positively confirms that the attempted sacrifice happened "IN" Egypt, not up north where John Gee's has pitched his tent in search of Olishem! Time to come home, John. There is no such thing as Olishem! Smith made it up and got caught in his own geographical snare.

Appleby was a key eyewitness who met with Smith and took meticulous notes for his personal journal. This is definitely a discrepancy for the record book, one that I had not previously comprehended. I need to congratulate myself. I need to keep talking, because the more I talk the more I dig up!

:lol:

Philo, where the hell are you? You working on your Book of Abraham stuff? I certainly hope so. It's so much more fun doing it from this angle.

grin
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Re: Pearl of Great Price Central Facsimile 1 as a Sacrifice Scene

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In the spirit of "Fig. 10. Abraham in Egypt", it's time to CORRECT Joseph Smith's mistakes:
1:8 wrote:Now, at this time it was the custom of the priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to offer up upon the altar which was built in the land of Chaldea EGYPT, for the offering unto these strange gods, men, women, and children.
1:10 wrote:Even the thank-offering of a child did the priest of Pharaoh offer upon the altar which stood by the hill called Potiphar’s KEMET HILL, at the head of the plain of Olishem NILE RIVER.
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Take away the knife!

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I promised earlier not to discuss Facsmile No. 3 in this thread but will have to renege somewhat because it's necessary to make some comparisons when discussing Smith's Explanations for Facsimile No. 1 and his entire case for the Book of Abraham. Mormon apologists are kicking and screaming and try to find any kind of parallel or likeness in order to keep Smith's interpretations alive on their apologetic operating table. But the body on the table is already dead. It was dead when they first got it!

Take the knife for example; I've shown that when we take the knife away there is no human sacrifice for Facsimile No. 1 and the whole thing is Smith's imaginative thinking of creating a story about the Egyptians. It's not based on real history and it's a not a genuine interpretation of that vignette that is flanked by funerary spells that honor the true meaning of the vignette and the gods therein.

So, let's take away the knife; shall we? There is no knife. There never was! The only knife that exists for Facsimile No. 1 is the knife that Smith invented. It's the product of his own mind. The vignette for Facsimile No. 1 was near the beginning of the so-called Abrahamic roll and even the text of the Book of Abraham will verify this in that it asks the readers to refer to the illustration of the so-called sacrifice scene represented at the commencement of the record. The vignette on this roll of Abraham was followed by a long stretch of funerary writings until finally arriving at the vignette for Facsimile No. 3. This *IS* the Book of Abraham by which Smith translated and he processed his work through these illustrations and hieroglyphic characters. We know that Smith glued whole portions of them to special paper backing, some of which includes the Plan of the House of the Lord in Kirtland ; we can examine both sides fully at the Joseph Smith Papers.

So let's get rid of the knife once and for all, shall we?

A) There was no knife on the original vignette of Facsmile No. 1 and neither is there a king's name in Facsmile No. 3. Period! That's final!

B) There was no knife on the original vignette of Facsmile No. 1 and neither is there a Prince of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, as written above the hand in Facsimile No. 3. Period. That's final!

C) There was no knife on the original vignette of Facsmile No. 1 and neither does the writing above Hor in Facsimile No. 3 spell the name Shulem. Period! That's final!

There was no human sacrifice scene on Smith's papyrus, period.
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