Abstract

Facsimile No. 3 of the Book of Abraham contains parallels to other Egyptian throne scenes found elsewhere, which fact has led many to pass Facsimile No. 3 off as commonplace. However, the lack of a broad comparative study examining these types of scenes in their varying contexts has rendered most conclusions regarding Facsimile No. 3 superficial at best. Hugh Nibley was perhaps the first to notice this problem, arguing that "The great abundance of pictures of the Facsimile No. 3 variety calls for the widest possible comparative study. In a case like this the student's first obligation is to compare, as widely and as carefully as possible." This thesis takes a critical step in solving this problem by looking at both the textual and iconographic elements found in Facsimile No.3 and comparing them with the larger corpus of Egyptian texts, temples, tombs, and stelae. Significantly, this study compares Facsimile No. 3 with the throne scenes from every other publicly known copy of the Book of Breathings, the ancient Egyptian document on which Facsimile No. 3 was found.In this thesis, I argue that Facsimile No. 3 is not as commonplace as some scholars have argued in the past. I begin this thesis with an introduction which presents some of the main issues surrounding Facsimile No. 3, including some of the likely reasons as to why it has remained the least studied of the three Facsimiles of the Book of Abraham. The first chapter contains a literature review of the published writings and theories that deal with Facsimile No. 3. Chapter Two gives a closer look at the hieroglyphs of Facsimile No. 3 and discusses some of the challenges relating to the translations that have been offered for them. The iconography of Facsimile No. 3 is discussed in the third chapter, where it is compared with the larger corpus of Book of Breathings vignettes. This discussion is especially important, as it is the first study to date which compares Facsimile No. 3 with the vignettes from all other extant copies of the Book of Breathings. In Chapter Four, this comparative study broadens, and parallels to Facsimile No. 3 are looked for in Ptolemaic copies of the Book of the Dead, Temples, Tombs, and funerary stelae.

Degree

MA

College and Department

Religious Education; Ancient Scripture

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2019-08-01

Document Type

Thesis

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd10932

Keywords

Facsimile No. 3, Book of Abraham, Book of Breathings, Vignettes, Facsimiles, Egyptian Throne Scenes, Book of Breathings Made by Isis, Joseph Smith, Abraham, Hor Book of Breathings, Rueben Hedlock

Language

english

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