Editing Book of Abraham (section)

==Translation process==
{{Main|Kirtland Egyptian papers|Decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts}}
[[File:Hor Breathing Permit Relation to Book of Abraham.jpg|upright=1.3|thumb|On the right, page 3 of the Book of Abraham manuscript in the handwriting of Warren Parrish.  The characters from the Breathing Permit Hôr were copied sequentially into a column titled ''Character'', with accompanying English text in a column titled, ''Translation of the Book of Abraham''.<ref>"Book of Abraham Manuscript, circa July–circa November 1835–C [Abraham 1:1–2:18]," p. 1, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed September 24, 2019, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/book-of-abraham-manuscript-circa-july-circa-november-1835-c-abraham-11-218/1</ref>]]

During Smith's lifetime, the recent decoding of Ancient Egyptian writing systems with the [[Rosetta Stone]] was not widely known in the Americas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Howard |first=Richard P. |date=Spring 2001 |title=A Tentative Approach to the Book of Abraham |url=https://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V34N0102_67.pdf |journal=[[Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought|Dialogue]]|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |volume=34 |issue=1 |page=57}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/intro/introduction-to-revelations-and-translations-volume-4#9113077439260233773 |title=Introduction to Revelations and Translations: Volume 4, Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts |date=2019 |publisher=[[The Joseph Smith Papers]]}}</ref> Between July and November 1835 Smith began "translating an alphabet to the Book of Abraham, and arranging a grammar of the Egyptian language as practiced by the ancients."<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith et al.|1902|p=238}}.</ref> In so doing, Smith worked closely with Cowdery and Phelps.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jessee|2002|p=86}}.</ref><ref name=ritner18/> The result of this effort was a collection of documents and manuscripts now known as the [[Kirtland Egyptian papers]]. One of these manuscripts was a bound book titled simply "Grammar & A[l]phabet of the Egyptian Language", which contained Smith's interpretations of the Egyptian glyphs.<ref name=ritner18/><ref name=ritner1921>{{Harvnb|Ritner|2013|pp=19–21}}.</ref> The first part of the book focuses almost entirely on deciphering Egyptian characters, and the second part deals with a form of astronomy that was supposedly practiced by the ancient Egyptians.<ref name=ritner21/> Most of the writing in the book was written not by Smith but rather by a scribe taking down what Smith said.<ref name=ritner18>{{Harvnb|Ritner|2013|p=18}}.</ref>

The "Egyptian Alphabet" manuscript is particularly important because it illustrates how Smith attempted to translate the papyri. First, the characters on the papyri were transcribed onto the left-hand side of the book. Next, a postulation as to what the symbols sounded like was devised. Finally, an English interpretation of the symbol was provided. Smith's subsequent translation of the papyri takes on the form of five "degrees" of interpretation, each degree representing a deeper and more complex level of interpretation.<ref name=ritner21>{{Harvnb|Ritner|2013|p=21}}.</ref>

In translating the book, Smith dictated, and Phelps, [[Warren Parrish]], and [[Frederick G. Williams]] acted as scribes.<ref name=ritner27>{{Harvnb|Ritner|2013|p=27}}.</ref> The complete work was first published serially in the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] newspaper ''[[Times and Seasons]]'' in 1842,{{#tag:ref|Facsimile No. 1 and Chapter 1 through chapter 2 verse 18 are to be found in Volume III, No. 9, dated March 1, 1842; Facsimile No. 2 and chapter 2 verses 19 through chapter 5 are to be found in Volume III, No. 10, dated March 15, 1842; Facsimile No. 3 is to be found in Vol. III, No. 14, dated May 16, 1842.<ref>{{Harvnb|Smith|1842}}.</ref>|group="nb"}} and was later canonized in 1880 by the LDS Church as part of its [[Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)|Pearl of Great Price]].<ref name=autogenerated8 />

Eyewitness accounts of how the Papyri were translated are few and vague. Warren Parish, who was Joseph Smith's scribe at the time of the translation, wrote in 1838 after he had left the church: "I have set by his side and penned down the translation of the Egyptian Hieroglyphicks [sic] as he claimed to receive it by direct inspiration from Heaven."<ref>Warren Parrish, letter to the editor, Painesville Republican, 15 February 1838</ref> Wilford Woodruff and Parley P. Pratt intimated second hand that the [[Urim and Thummim (Latter Day Saints)|Urim and Thummim]] were used in the translation.<ref>Wilford Woodruff journal, February 19, 1842</ref><ref>Parley P. Pratt, "Editorial Remarks," Millennial Star 3 (July 1842): 47.  "The record is now in course of translation by means of the Urim and Thummim, and proves to be a record written partly by the father of the faithful, Abraham, and finished by Joseph when he was in Egypt." http://www.latterdaytruth.org/pdf/100302.pdf</ref>

A non-church member who saw the mummies in Kirtland spoke about the state of the papyri, and the translation process:

{{blockquote|These records were torn by being taken from the roll of embalming salve which contained them, and some parts entirely lost but Smith is to translate the whole by divine inspiration, and that which was lost, like Nebuchadnezzar's dream can be interpreted as well as that which is preserved[.]<ref>West, William S. ''A few Interesting Facts Respecting the Rise and Progress and Pretensions of the Mormons'' 1837.  http://www.olivercowdery.com/smithhome/1830s/1837West.htm pg. 5</ref>}}