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Some background:
On July 4, 1835 an event happened in Kirtland, Ohio that would have major implecations for the Mormon Church. A traveling salesman, Mr. Chandler, was passing through with a collection of Egyptian mummies and papyri.
He showed them to Joseph Smith after being told that Joseph could translate them, after all, he had already done so with the Book of Mormon. Joseph indeed said he could translate them and Mr. Chandler wrote a statement attesting to that fact.
The saints were so eager to have the translation they raised money and bought his entire exhibit and gave it to Joseph as a gift.
After spending some time with the papyri, Joseph has this to say. Soon the writings were completed and originally published in the Mormon newspaper 'Times and Seasons'.
What was singularly unique about this set of scripture was the fact that it contained pictures that Joseph said accompanied the text. The Book of Abraham purportedly tells the tale of Abraham's life in Egypt, almost being sacrificed by pagan priests, and his departure to a land which God told him to go to.
It also brought the concept of plurality of gods, and the belief that man can progress to godhood into print for the first time. Before this time these ideas were not widely taught.
During this time mankind didn't possess the knowledge to decipher Egyptian, and the Rosetta Stone was still decades away from being completed. There was no way to authenticate Joseph Smith's claim at translation.
Joseph was assainated in 1844 and the scrolls left with his first wife Emma, who joined a splinter group called the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints (RLDS). The last known location of the scrolls was in the Museum of Chicago. A fire in 1871 destroyed the museum, and it was thought the scrolls as well.
In 1966, they were rediscovered in a vault at the University of Utah. The Mormon church released a news article about it.
It's reappearance caused a stir in acedemic circles. The Mormon church was always stated that noone could refute Joseph Smith's claim of divine translation without having the scrolls themselves for comparision. Now they had them.
The leadership requested Dr. Hugh Nibley to examine them. While Dr. Nibley was a very knowledgeable man, he had no expertise in Egyptology. He spent the better part of a decade neither proving or disproving the scrolls, but mostly attacked its critics.
After doing some research, I can understand his reluctance in stating that the Book of Abraham was indeed inspired by God.
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