Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, circa Early July 1835

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Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, circa Early July 1835
Source Note

Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, [
Kirtland Township
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Latter-day Saint missionaries visited township, early Nov. 1830; many residents joined Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and...
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, Geauga Co., OH, ca. early July 1835]; English in the handwriting of
William W. Phelps
17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
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; hieratic and unknown characters in unidentified handwriting (some likely in handwriting of Phelps); three pages; Kirtland Egyptian Papers, CHL.

Small notebook with a text block consisting of two gatherings, each of which consists of three unruled sheets folded in half to make six leaves, for a total of twenty-four pages. The six sheets from which the notebook was made were probably originally three sheets that were cut in half horizontally. The leaves in the text block measure 6 × 7⅞ inches (15 × 20 cm). The two gatherings were sewn together, and a brown wrapper that is slightly larger than the text block was then sewn to the gatherings. With the wrapper, the notebook measures 6½ × 8 inches (16 × 20 cm).

There is residue from an adhesive wafer on the outside back cover. The residue may match residue on Copies of Egyptian Characters, circa Summer 1835–B. Staining on the cover and on the edges of the text block matches similar staining on other documents relating to the Egyptian-language project, indicating close, long-term storage with them. While the first leaf is blank, the next three leaves are inscribed on the recto side of each leaf. The three inscribed recto pages were paginated at a later time with the numbers 1 through 3. The handwriting and style of this later pagination match those of other Egyptian-language and Book of Abraham documents, which also points to collective custody and storage. This notebook was presumably included with the Egyptian material identified in various Historian’s Office inventories throughout the nineteenth century, which suggests continuous institutional custody.
1
“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th. April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory, G. S. L. City March 19, 1858,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [7], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; see also Historian’s Office, Journal, 17 Oct. 1855.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.
Footnotes
[1]
“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1]; “Inventory. Historian’s Office. 4th. April 1855,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Inventory, G. S. L. City March 19, 1858,” [1]; “Historian’s Office Catalogue Book March 1858,” [7], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; see also Historian’s Office, Journal, 17 Oct. 1855.
Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.
Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.
Historical Introduction
This notebook is a companion to “Valuable Discovery,” circa Early July 1835. The recto side of the first leaf, which is not otherwise inscribed or paginated, contains two concentric circles etched into the paper. At the center of the circles is a puckered hole, presumably created by the point of the steady leg of a compass. The outer circle has a diameter of 5¾ inches (15 cm), and the inner circle has a diameter of 4⅞ inches (12 cm). This arrangement of circles resembles the arrangement of the two concentric circles on the hypocephalus later published as Facsimile 2.
1
Book of Abraham and Facsimiles, 1 March–16 May 1842.
JS’s clerks may have planned to copy the hypocephalus into this notebook and then realized a larger piece of paper was necessary. The point from the compass punctured or left an impression in multiple leaves, indicating that the notebook was bound before the circles were drawn.

The second page of the notebook, later paginated with a 1, contains an English passage that is also found in the “Valuable Discovery” notebook. This English passage is offered as “A Translation” of the characters on the “next page” (the third leaf, or page 2) of the notebook. However, while the “next page” of the notebook featured here contains four lines of hieratic characters, the corresponding page in “Valuable Discovery” contains only five characters from which the reader can infer the English translation was taken. The hieratic characters and illustrations on the third page of the notebook featured here were copied from the Book of Breathing for Horos, the Book of the Dead for Semminis, and the Book of the Dead for Amenhotep, indicating that this page was used to capture selected images—perhaps those that caught the interest of the copyist, who was probably
William W. Phelps
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.
2
See Fragment of Book of Breathing for Horos–A, between 238 and ca. 153 bc; Fragment of Book of the Dead for Semminis–B, ca. 300–100 bc; and Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 210. Oliver Cowdery stated in late 1835, “The serpent, represented as walking, or formed in a manner to be able to walk, standing in front of, and near a female figure, is to me, one of the greatest representations I have ever seen upon paper, or a writing substance.” (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 72–73.)
Ritner, Robert K. The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: A Complete Edition, P. JS 1–4 and the Hypocephalus of Sheshonq. Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2011.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

The fourth leaf of the notebook (page 3) has seven lines of hieratic characters, some of which, according to one Egyptologist, may come from the Book of the Dead for Amenhotep.
3
Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 212.
Judging from the way these characters were copied, they may have been inscribed by someone other than
Oliver Cowdery
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
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or
Phelps
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, the two scribes who likely copied the other Egyptian characters in the notebooks. Since
Frederick G. Williams
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
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had access to both notebooks at some point, it is possible he could have been this other copyist.

A set of mathematical computations inscribed in graphite on the front cover of this notebook appears to be an effort to calculate the age of the earth based upon a literal reading of the Bible.

See also Introduction to Notebooks of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835.
Footnotes
[1]
Book of Abraham and Facsimiles, 1 March–16 May 1842.
[2]
See Fragment of Book of Breathing for Horos–A, between 238 and ca. 153 bc; Fragment of Book of the Dead for Semminis–B, ca. 300–100 bc; and Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 210. Oliver Cowdery stated in late 1835, “The serpent, represented as walking, or formed in a manner to be able to walk, standing in front of, and near a female figure, is to me, one of the greatest representations I have ever seen upon paper, or a writing substance.” (Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to William Frye, Lebanon, IL, 22 Dec. 1835, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 72–73.)
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
[3]
Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 212.
Page 2
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[4 lines of hieratic characters]
7
TEXT: This sequence of hieratic characters is continued from the first page of “Valuable Discovery,” ca. Early July 1835. These lines of hieratic characters are not present on any extant JS papyri and, according to one Egyptologist, come from chapter 46 of the Book of the Dead for Amenhotep. (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 210–211; see also Rhodes, Books of the Dead, 5; and Gee, Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri, 10–13.)
Rhodes, Michael D. Books of the Dead Belonging to Tshemmin and Neferirnub: A Translation and Commentary. Studies in the Book of Abraham 4. Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2010.
Gee, John. A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000.

✦

[drawing of a winged figure and a falcon-headed canopic jar]
8
TEXT: Both figures appear in the vignette that was later published as Facsimile 1. (Fragment of Book of Breathing for Horos–A, between 238 and ca. 153 bc; see also Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 210.)

(Over this stood the figure)

(of a woman.)

✦

[drawing of a snake with legs and a female figure facing each other]
9
TEXT: This image is present on the extant Fragment of Book of the Dead for Semminis–B, ca. 300–100 bc. (See Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 210.)
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, circa Early July 1835
ID #
8105
Total Pages
28
Print Volume Location
JSP, R4:33–39
Handwriting on This Page
William W. Phelps
Footnotes
[7]
TEXT: This sequence of hieratic characters is continued from the first page of “Valuable Discovery,” ca. Early July 1835. These lines of hieratic characters are not present on any extant JS papyri and, according to one Egyptologist, come from chapter 46 of the Book of the Dead for Amenhotep. (Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 210–211; see also Rhodes, Books of the Dead, 5; and Gee, Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri, 10–13.)
Rhodes, Michael D. Books of the Dead Belonging to Tshemmin and Neferirnub: A Translation and Commentary. Studies in the Book of Abraham 4. Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University, 2010.
Gee, John. A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri. Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2000.
[8]
TEXT: Both figures appear in the vignette that was later published as Facsimile 1. (Fragment of Book of Breathing for Horos–A, between 238 and ca. 153 bc; see also Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 210.)
[9]
TEXT: This image is present on the extant Fragment of Book of the Dead for Semminis–B, ca. 300–100 bc. (See Ritner, Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri, 210.)