I want to say to you, read the book, the Pearl of Great Price, and read the Book of Abraham. The Pearl of Great Price I hold to be one of the most intelligent, one of the most religious books that the world has ever had; but more than that, to me the Pearl of Great Price is true in its name. It contains an ideal of life that is higher and grander and more glorious than I think is found in the pages of any other book unless it be the Holy Bible. It behooves us to read these things, understand them: and I thank God when they are attacked, because it brings to me, after a study and thought, back to the fact that what God has given He has given, and He has nothing to retract." - Levi Edgar Young, Conference Report (April 1913), 74

"...it must be evident to all who seriously consider the matter, that if the Book of Abraham as given to us by Joseph Smith be true, it must have been translated by a greater than human power." - George Reynolds, The Book of Abraham: Its Authenticity Established as a Divine and Ancient Record (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1879), 4

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Commentary on the Book of Abraham Bibliography

This Book of Abraham Bibliography primarily references articles and books that are currently under copyright protection and links to some limited online material. Publications in the public domain are posted on this site separately as documents. This bibliographic collection is intentionally selective because there is a considerable volume of material online that discusses the Book of Abraham, and an exhaustive compilation would be unnecessarily redundant. Much of the material online provides no meaningful contribution to the discussion and simply repeats the discussions and assertions already posited in the articles that are included in this collection. Accordingly, while this collection is subjective, I believe it fairly represents meaningful publications (online or otherwise) regarding the Book of Abraham.  There are also numerous references to Abraham and teachings from the Book of Abraham from General Conferences over the last 180+ years, which would require an entirely separate bibliography. I hope to accomplish this some day; in the meantime, Apostolic and other General Authority teachings on, or from, the Book of Abraham will be discussed separately in individual posts.

Inevitably I expect that at least two questions will result from referencing certain information in the bibliography. First, fellow Latter-day Saints may ask why I am including literature that is decidedly anti-Mormon; and second, critics may inquire as to why I have not included information contained on their sites, or other sites critical of the Book of Abraham. In order to preempt these questions, I will respond to both.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

A Collection of Hypocephali

Last updated May 18, 2012


Egyptian Museum in Cairo1

There are approximately 100 known hypocephali that have been preserved.2 The following images are provided for convenience in comparing the similarities and differences between each hypocephalus. Some images are public domain, having been published in books, journals, and periodicals where copyrights have expired. Other images are used by permission and are copyright protected; my sincere appreciation to those who have allowed me the privilege of posting these pictures. Any contributions to this post by way of submitting additional pictures taken or renditions thereof, will be greatly appreciated, and contributions will, of course, be attributed to the provider. Eventually I'd like to have all known hypocephali available posted online here.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Appreciating Hypocephali as Works of Art and Faith

Appreciating Hypocephali as Works of Art and Faith
by Michael Lyon

A transcript of an address delivered on March 24, 1999 in the FARMS Book of Abraham Lecture Series. This paper is posted by permission, courtesy of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, Brigham Young University; my sincere appreciation for allowing me to post this article, in its entirety.