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Question: Was the priest depicted in Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 holding a knife or was it some other object?
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Contents
- 1 Question: Was the priest depicted in Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 holding a knife or was it some other object?
- 1.1 In typical representations of the "lion couch" scene, the priest is holding an object
- 1.2 Eyewitnesses, one of whom was an anti-Mormon, described a man bound and laid on the lion couch, and a priest with a knife in his hand
- 1.3 Due to the damage to the papyrus, it is impossible to determine what the priest is holding in his hand
Question: Was the priest depicted in Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 holding a knife or was it some other object?
In typical representations of the "lion couch" scene, the priest is holding an object
Since Facsimile 1 appears to be a fairly typical scene from Egyptian funerary texts, it is noted that other similar Egyptian motifs do not show the priest holding a knife. A proposed restoration of Facsimile 1 by egyptologist Lanny Bell, for example, shows the priest holding a cup in his hand over the figure on the lion couch.
Eyewitnesses, one of whom was an anti-Mormon, described a man bound and laid on the lion couch, and a priest with a knife in his hand
Many Latter-day Saint scholars believe that the scroll was damaged after Joseph translated the vignette and some evidence seems to support this view. One early Latter-day Saint who saw the papyri in 1841, for instance, described them as containing the scene of an altar with "'a man bound and laid thereon, and a Priest with a knife in his hand, standing at the foot, with a dove over the person bound on the Altar with several Idol gods standing around it.'"[1] Similarly, Reverend Henry Caswall, who visited Nauvoo in April 1842, had a chance to see some of the Egyptian papyri. Caswall, who was hostile to the Saints, described Facsimile 1 as having a "'man standing by him with a drawn knife.'"[2]
Due to the damage to the papyrus, it is impossible to determine what the priest is holding in his hand
It is not possible through an examination of the original papyrus to determine what the priest is holding in his hand.
Notes
- ↑ William I. Appleby Journal, 5 May 1841, ms. 1401 1, pp. 71–72, LDS Church Archives; as quoted in Gee, "Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence," 184.
- ↑ Rev. Henry Caswall, The City of the Mormons: Or, Three Days at Nauvoo in 1842 (London: Rivington, 1842), 71-72., LDS Church Archives; as quoted in Gee, "Eyewitness, Hearsay, and Physical Evidence," 184.