Lead Me, Guide Me, Walk Beside Me…
By Kerry A. Shirts
John Gee’s "A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri," (FARMS), 2000, is a much welcomed "Guide to the Perplexed" concerning the papyri of the Book of Abraham.
The full color photos of the papyri are wonderful to see! I also thoroughly enjoyed the graphs and charts as well. They help give a context to the various aspects of the papyri. The chart on page 2 of the owners of the papyri was quite nice and informative. The map on page 3 of ancient Thebes and the demonstration of just where in Egypt the papyri was found was also very nice to see. The timeline of the translation on page 5 was indispensible. Very well done. The hypocephalus on page 7 was a little confusing, but not bad. I honestly thought it would have been more helpful to show the various hypocephali and their variations, but this is a mere quibble. The map of the travels of the papyri was fun to have, which is shown on page 8. The overview of the papyri on page 10 and 11 was very nice to have! I like this feature very much! The original extent of the papyri on pages 12 and 13 was VERY useful to put in! It shows what the extant size of the rolls of papyri could have been, and then shows how much of the actual papyri we actually do have, in fragments. This is a wonderful feature!
The discussion of the theories of the papyri and Book of Abraham were kept simple and to a minimum and was nicely done. The description of the theory of the Kirtland Egyptian Papers was also very informative and nicely presented in a case where it is actually understandable. But on page 22, the chart on the top actually showing how the Egyptian characters were added to the Alphabet and Grammar AFTER the English was already written down….. THAT was FABULOUS! Very nice to include Bro. Gee. I like this very, very much! It’s nice to actually SEE the evidence. Well done.
The chart of Egyptian chronology on page 24 is necessary background, and contexts the papyri nicely also. Fundamental information like this is important to have. Same with the chart of page 26.
The discussion of the actual transmission of the papyri through time was also very well done. I liked seeing this explained so well. This is on pages 27-28.
The discussion of the facsimiles was nicely done and easy to understand. The information and pictures on pages 36f was excellent, especially the picture of the priest wearing an Anubis mask. It’s always nice to actually see the evidence for a theory, and this is well reinforced here.
The wing or hand discussion on page 38 was quite nice, along with the actual pictures of the papyri and why the hands are hands and not the wings of a second bird. This was the precise subject of my own paper in the FAIR Symposium, 2nd annual meeting at Alta, Utah. I demonstrated that Charles Larson’s reconstruction of a second bird hovering over the middle of the figure on the lion couch in facsimile 1 is an improper reconstruction. It’s nice to see I am understanding this correctly following a professional Egyptologist. I thought a little more could have gone into describing some features on facsimile 2 and 3, but I understand this is all coming out in larger studies, so I will gladly wait for them.
The suggested further reading was helpful, and the glossary of names and terms in the back of the guide was very, very nice to have, in order to keep track of who is who in this interesting drama. Over all, this guide fulfills its purposes, to help us understand the up to date understanding of the papyri among Latter Day Saints. I personally look forward to the further light and knowledge FARMS will bring out, as well as producing more information on my own research. I also thought the little swallow by the page numbers was a nifty touch. It's not a sparrow (doesn't have a rounded tail), but a swallow, which, if I remember correctly, in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic parlance and meaning is something like, good or great, or even awesome. Granted these are modern words, but you get the idea. It's a nifty little touch.