Keywords

pure language, Egyptian papers, Joseph Smith, cosmology, priesthood ontology

Abstract

In the summer of 1835, Joseph Smith and his associates purchased four mummies and some papyri scrolls from Michael Chandler.1 That summer Joseph would participate in a project that would produce a fascinating set of texts, referred to today as the Egyptian Language Documents (ELD), used and compiled mostly in Kirtland, but also consulted and expanded in Nauvoo.2 These documents, which include three incomplete variants of what was called an “alphabet” as well as an incomplete “grammar,” integrated a series of characters with explanations.

Original Publication Citation

The Journal of Mormon History