This is an archived copy of a post written by Conflict Of Justice (conflictofjustice.com). Used with permission: Conflict Of Justice may not agree with any alterations made.
Skeptics claim Figure 10 is “actually a libation platform bearing wines, oils and a stylized papyrus plant.” Well, do you see any wine or oil bottles on the table? I don’t see any. There are two jars but they are below the table–on either side of it–not on top of the table. Why would the jars be below the offering table if they were meant to be wine offerings? This placement is important because it speaks to the symbolism of the entire Facsimile. It relates the vignette to the Sed Festival, as do the papyrus and lotus flowers leaning over the table. The Sed Festival is the sacrifice ritual which Abraham described in the Book of Abraham.
Skeptics claim this figure “has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Abraham.” Does this Figure match up with “Abraham in Egypt” as Joseph Smith explained? Yes. It describes Abraham’s overall involvement with Egypt through his role in the Sed Festival and his return to Egypt later in his life.
Why Is There A Sacrifice Table? – Figure 10 is the most perplexing of all figures in this Facsimile. Scholars don’t know what to make of it. No other lion couch scene in existence shows the libation sacrifice table, so there is nothing to tell us precisely what it means. Many Egyptian libation tables were lion couches themselves, and they looked exactly like the lion couch shown in Facsimile 1, which would seem to indicate the figure on the lion couch is a sacrificial offering. But scholars are desperate to discount any connection to Abraham, so they reduce it to just an offering table randomly thrown in there. The Egyptians made offerings for the deceased, after all. Why not include a sacrifice table? But this scene in the Book of Breathings isn’t about sacrifice offerings. It is Anubis preparing the body to become Osiris so that it will be received by Horus. The deceased hasn’t gotten to the judgement part of the Book of Breathings. So why is the offering table there?
The libation table shows up in each Facsimile. Some scholars believe Facsimiles 2 and 3 came from the same scroll. We can’t know for sure, as the Facsimile 3 fragment was apparently lost in the Chicago fire, but this could be true. But what about Facsimile 2? That is a hydrocephalus which is not part of the Book of Breathings. It mentions a different deceased individual, and therefore came from a totally different document and from a different mummy. So what about it’s libation table? Joseph Smith’s explanation for that region of Facsimile 2 was according to what was “revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord.” So this libation table relates to Abraham’s sacrificial offerings on an altar. Joseph Smith’s explanation for Facsimile 2 fits nicely with what Egyptologists know about it as a sacrificial altar (though you will never see a skeptic or Antimormon talk about it.) It’s a match. But I don’t think whoever drew the Facsimile 2 papyrus meant to make it about Abraham. Same with all of the Facsimiles. I think Abraham offered some libation offerings and learned about astronomy, and Abraham’s astronomy is similar to what we see in the Facsimile 2 document. Joseph Smith was very careful to differentiate what Abraham believed and what the Egyptians believed. It seems that Joseph Smith recognized that this document was not actually drawn by Abraham or in a context relating to Abraham. So this libation table means something different than “Abraham in Egypt,” which is how he explained it in Facsimile 1. When we dissect the specific symbolism for each part of this libation table, we see that it represents a person’s journey toward exaltation and tells the same story Abraham experienced, beginning with his involvement with the Sed Festival. That’s how it relates to Abraham.
Scholars reduce any explanation of Figure 10 in Facsimile 1 to a mere “libation table,” but Latter-day Saint scholars haven’t had an easy time explaining it either! The presence of this sacrificial table ought to be a slam dunk: it proves Facsimile 1 is a sacrifice scene rather than funeral. But what about Joseph Smith’s explanation? “Abraham in Egypt.” What does a libation table have to do with that? Even if Joseph Smith made it up, how could anyone get “Abraham in Egypt” from a drawing of a table and flowers? It seems so random!
Dr. Hugh Nibley strained to make a connection by pointing out that libation offerings were made for esteemed foreign guests, and Abraham (later in life) certainly was an esteemed guest in Egypt. Perhaps it refers to the sacrificial offerings made for Abraham as he entered Egypt? The problem with that theory is these libation offerings were made for many esteemed guests and there would be no reason for it to be uniquely about Abraham. Also, the trip to Egypt happened later in Abraham’s life, while the events Joseph Smith described in Facsimile 1 occurred in Mesopotamia, not Egypt. So I think there is much more to it.
A Generalized Description Of Abraham – This is the first problem: the attempted sacrifice of Abraham as a youth occurred in Mesopotamia, not Egypt. To label Facsimile 1 as “Abraham in Egypt” is therefore incorrect, which means this couldn’t be a label uniquely for Facsimile 1. I don’t think Joseph Smith meant this libation table to be a label or merely a reference to the Abraham sacrifice drama. I think Joseph Smith understood they symbolism involved in this Figure and saw how it related to Abraham in multiple ways. Facsimile 1 is a diagram that derives from the Sed Festival; it is not an illustration of the Book of Abraham story. Abraham’s Sed-festival sacrifice was performed “after the manner of the Egyptians,” performed by a “priest of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt.” That’s what related it to Egypt. It also lended Egypt important political influence over Mesopotamia. The human sacrifice was a retainer event for the Egyptian king’s regional influence: “In First-Dynasty Egypt, where the government was especially invested in promoting the bold fiction that the pharaoh was a god on earth, the smoke and mirrors intended to create the atmosphere of otherworldly power must have been particularly intense. So the progress was a chance to exhibit the divine personage of the ruler before his people, and it was also a chance for the king and court to assess for themselves the wealth and loyalty of the provinces… If the full-blown ceremonial that accompanied the Following of Horus eventually came to be seen by Egypt’s population more as a burden than an honor, this may account for the fact that the custom is poorly attested following the First Dynasty… along with the even more egregious custom of retainer sacrifice.” (Ancient Egyptian Imperialism, Ellen Morris)
The Sed Festival event was therefore an intersection of Abraham and Egypt. Abraham later experienced an intersection with Egypt, which we see explained with Facsimile 3. Joseph Smith saw this figure as a marker for all events that involved Abraham and Egypt, not only this lion couch scene. This libation table is a very general description for Abraham and Egypt, as it encompasses all of Abraham’s Egyptian activities. The attempted human sacrifice of Abraham did not occur in Egypt, but it involved Egypt’s theology and idols, and it apparently had huge ramifications for Egypt’s later cult practices. Abraham did not learn about astronomy which we see referenced in Facsimile 2 nor make his sacrifices on an altar in Egypt, but his knowledge greatly affected Egyptian thought. Each Facsimile describes something Egyptian that involved an aspect of Abraham’s life. Facsimile 1 is the youthful sacrifice ritual in Mesopotamia, Facsimile 2 is a diagram of the astronomy Abraham learned, and Facsimile 3 is Abraham in Pharaoh’s court. The presence of the libation table in each Facsimile indicates that it has something to do with Abraham and Egypt.
Now, let’s dissect the libation table and see how it describes Abraham’s overall involvement in Egypt, beginning with the Sed Festival ritual.
Label For Sed Festival
Something that relentlessly shows up in my investigations into the Facsimile 1 Figures is the Sed Festival. You are probably sick of me writing about it by now, I talk about it so much. This was where the king used a human proxy sacrifice to revitalize his life and rulership. Abraham was a human sacrifice in one of these rituals, and the ritual is also the basis for the Facsimile 1 vignette in the Book of Breathings. That’s how Joseph Smith was able to discern explanations about the sacrifice of Abraham from this Facsimile. I have previously explained how each other Figure of Facsimile 1 is derived from the Sed Festival, but the unique presence of the libation table in this particular lion couch vignette relates it especially to the Sed Festival. The libation jar was a symbol for the Sed Festival, and a large number of libation jars have been found with inscriptions about Sed Festivals. A single Sed Festival temple has “hundreds of jar labels” identifying it with the Sed Festivals. Funeral rites shown in the Book of the Dead and other literature certainly shows libation jars as well, but they are continuations of libation ceremonies for life and kingship that began with the Sed Festival.
We see that Facsimile 1 is derived originally from the Sed Festival from the form of Figure 10 itself. The Hed-Sed hieroglyph itself forms a basis for the libation table in Figure 1. The Hed-Sed hieroglyph is a “side view of the pharaoh seated” on his throne crowned, and this becomes a pavilion structure held up by a central column and a column on either side. It is known as the the jubilee pavilion hieroglyph. You can see how the shape of this central column resembles the slender curved table of the libation table in Figure 1. A bowl with the diamond shape in it rests on top of this table in Figure 1. This bowl is the basin hieroglyph combined with hall character, and is a representation of the Sed festival ritual. It’s presence on top of the pavilion is an unmistakable label for the Sed Festival.
As we go through the Egyptian Sed events, this general pavilion imagery of a central column flanked by two symmetrical elements constantly shifts and means different things. It undergoes many changes as the context of the narrative shifts. It starts with the king proceeding between the two towers of the temple as he begins the festival with the Following of Horus. In the Sed Festival of the Tail it becomes a wolf’s tail between two legs. In the Sed Festival raising of the Djed column, it becomes the highly symbolic djed column flanked by two tjet Signs (of protection.) In the Temple of Seti I in Abydos, it becomes the king and his wife flanking the central djed column, pulling it up. Generally, it is a symbol of the king’s rise in power. The pavilion hieroglyph includes twin frogs flanking the central column. The frogs symbolized “creation, fertility, birth, and regeneration… associated with the forces which initially brought life into being.” The frog arose from flood waters of the Nile. Placed “inside the ‘festival’ hieroglyph are frogs which would be symbols of regeneration.” In the Sed Festival it symbolized the creative and fertility powers that saved the king.
The Chapel of Horus in the Temple of Seti I Abydos Egypt shows how the libation table relates to Facsimile 1. It shows king Seti washing the offering table with libation water. Horus holds up a reed with the jubilee Sed Festival hieroglyph dangling off the end, this time with two lions instead of two frogs under a pavilion. This symbolizes the king’s renewal of life and kingship by receiving the Sed endowment. The jubilee character is held up by an ankh symbol and a djed column extends horizontally from it. The Sed Festival hieroglyph itself becomes a kind of ankh symbol. A bird flies above, and a libation table stands below, much like the arrangement of elements in Facsimile 1. This imagery can also be found in the Second Heb Sed Festival of Ptolemy VIII Euegerties (182-116 BCE). Another ancient temple shows “in the Isis sanctuary, the king makes offerings and receives the symbol of the Heb-Sed festival,” with Horus holding the Sed Festival hieroglyph from a reed stick. It is all about the king receiving this endowment from Horus on high after making a sacrifice offering. At Abydos, the preceding scene in the Chapel of Horus shows the king’s enthronement, which makes sense because the Sed Festival is all about renewing kingship. The next scene is the king presenting royal regalia to Horus with a lotus on the table in full bloom and a wolf tail, symbol for the Sed Festival, standing between two pillars. This is the transition from enthronement, to Sed endowment, to royal exaltation. In this final scene, we see that the twin lions have moved below the table and become pillars, in the same position as the jars in Facsimile 1. The table becomes a Sed tail. The bowl becomes a flowering lotus.
In the Facsimile 1 libation table we see similar elements. The reed and djed column become the flower and reed.The basin with a diamond shape in it rests upon the table. The twin lions become the twin jars below the table. Thus we can assume that the libation table in Facsimile 1 is a reference to the Sed Festival events, representing endowment of kingship and posterity. The Book of The Dead lists a series of sacrifices: “an offering of a libation of one vase upon earth by Osiris…. the soul that hearkeneth unto the words of the gods… a libation of one vase upon earth by Osiris…. may his limbs live and may his limbs be sound forever.” These sacrifices in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony were the Pharaoh’s conquest of a greater kingdom and the violent defeat of his enemies: “Whilst these ceremonies were being performed the animals brought to be sacrificed were slain. Chief of these were two bulls, gazelle, geese, and their slaughter typified the conquest and death of the enemies of the dead Pharaoh. The heart and a fore-leg of each bull were presented to the statue of the Pharaoh.” (Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life, E. Wallis Budge)
This sacrifice alluded to the mythological defeat of Seth in the primordial war in heaven, as I’ve explained in my articles on the other Figures. The ritualistic attempt on Abraham’s life referenced this killing of evil Seth. The water poured upon the altar in the libation ceremony represented the water from which life springs and the flood waters from which Egypt itself sprung (the mother of Egypt Abraham explained in the Book of Abraham.) This is why the frogs of regeneration become water jars below the table. The jar symbolized this regeneration or increase of posterity. The animal (or human) sacrifice on the altar and the libation water offerings were received and reciprocated with renewal and royal power in the Sed Festival. “The ritual course of the king occurred in Egypt in contexts of the renewal of royal power, especially as part of the sed festival. While it is improbable that the scenes at Naqa, which are unique in the Kushite material, would have been specially modelled on the rite connected to the Egyptian sed festival, they may well have been conceived to amalgamate the concept of regeneration traditionally expressed by the running pose with concepts connected to the hst vase, i.e. with purification (of the ruler, the temple building, the statue etc.), the water libation as an offering, water in general and Nile water as the source of life and guarantor of fertility in particular.” (The Image of the Ordered World in Ancient Nubian Art…, László Török)
3 Water Basins – At the Niuserre temple Sed Festival site are three enormous water basins near the altar. Niuserre was the primary site of the sed festival, near the great pyramids. The shape of these basins resembles the bowl with a diamond shape in it, symbol for the Sed Festival.
The temple of Edfu shows Isis and her sister Nephthys conferring the royal Egyptian crown on the king, which is yet another manifestation of a central figure flanked by two figures.–yet again involving the conferring of rulership. This same symmetry is also found at the Opet temple at Karnak, where Isis and Nephthys flank the king who is lying on a lion couch with a bird overhead. But this time, the king is kicking upward from the lion altar, much like we see in Facsimile 1. They are not conferring a crown, but conferring life, which is the other part of the Sed Festival. Life and royal authority. This Karnak lion couch scene is further evidence for the connection between this Sed Festival symbolism and Facsimile 1.
The sacrificial offering table for King Amanitaraquide in A.D. 40 shows two figures flanking a central libation table. This time it is Anubis and Nephthys pouring cleansing water from either side into the basin. The offering table of Nesmin 300 B.C. shows a flowering lotus plant between two large water jugs. Another altarpiece shows a tree between two water jugs. The elements in these positions shift depending on the context, but there is clearly an association between the throned king, the lotus, the sacrificial altar, and the tree all in the center of flanking elements. The central sacrifice table becomes the king in the scene of Pharaoh receiving the second Heb Sed in the Temple of Seti I in Abydos, Egypt. He is given the symbols of the Hed Sed from flanking figures and receives the royal crown. The scene of Ramesses II receiving his Heb Sed Festival in Karnak Egypt likewise shows him flanked by two figures, but this time he is also portrayed as a large branching tree (the persea tree of life.)
Lion Couch Altar – As for libation tables, stone altars were fashioned to look like lion couches. A tomb at Saqqara included two large stone altars which each had two lion figures–very similar to how the lion couch is shown in Facsimile 1–flanking the altar. From a side view, we see that another similar altar slopes down from the lion heads toward the back, again much like the lion couch shown in Facsimile 1.
Facsimile 1 is assumed to be a lion couch bed because we see the feet of the standing priest behind it. But that’s not how the actual papyrus looks. The Facsimile was transcribed wrong. The actual papyrus shows the priest standing in front of the bed, between the laying figure and the bed. The artist of the Facsimile apparently changed this because it looked hokey. How could he be between the figure lying on the bed and the bed? But it makes sense when you consider that the altar was a large stone block; the author of the papyrus drew him in front of it because otherwise most of his body would be hidden by the altar. This suggests that the lion couch in Facsimile 1 is a stone altar, not a funeral bed. The presence of the libation table, which itself was often a stone lion couch altar, next to it makes this conclusion likely.
But the libation jar was located at the tail end of the lion altar, not at the front where Facsimile 1 locates the libation table. A rear view of the lion couch altar shows a stone basin built in at the tail. So why is the libation table in front of the altar in Facsimile 1? Because it was not a symbol of offering like the lion couch was used for. The proxy sacrificial victim was placed on the lion couch to be offered in Sed Festival; this is what the king offered the gods. That’s what the lion couch figure is about. But Figure 10, the libation table, was a symbol of receiving and endowment. This was about the king (or, as it turned out, Abraham) receiving kingship, royalty, and eternal life at the altar.
Another lion couch scene (Mariette, Dendrah, IV, 72) shows the king as Osiris laying on the lion couch, facing Horus at the front of the bed, who commands him to rise and be reborn. Behind Horus is the Ished tree of life, where the libation table shows up in Facsimile 1, with the bird above it. Another interesting scene from Abydos (Mariette, Dendrah, IV, 72) shows Osiris, Isis, Nepthys (3 figures) bound together in the central position on a throne, flanked on either side by Thoth and Horus. A bird is overhead and lotus flowers below. It’s a sort of three-in-one central figure, which recalls the three libation basins at the Niuserre temple. It also recalls the three virgins who were sacrificed preceding Abraham in the Book of Abraham. What was the purpose of these three virgins in Abraham’s story? He said they were sacrificed because of their purity.
3 Virgins – This classic Sed Festival diagram shows the king sitting on his throne, with the bird and sekh behind him–both of which show up in Facsimile 1. In front of the king are three vertical basin characters, and then the Anubis priest next to them–which matches to the sacrificing priest in Facsimile 1. These three basin characters appear in the same location as the libation table in the other illustrations we have seen previously. One central basin flanked by two basins.
The figures below the king on his throne represent “the destruction of a stronghold and the taking of captives.” A photograph of these figures show how similar they look to the libation table in Facsimile 1.
The Narmer mace head is another classic Sed Festival diagram. Here we see the king sitting on his throne, with a bird overhead, and facing him is a sitting figure in a palanquin. (Well, archeologists assume this is a palanquin, anyway, with a princess in it who is arranged to marry the king. Scholars just assume this.) Next to the figure in the palanquin are three basin characters and three standing figures. Archaeologists assume these are dancers who attend the Sed Festival and perform in the Following of Horus. But they remind me an awful lot of the three virgins that were sacrificed preceding Abraham in The Book of Abraham because of their “purity.” Libation water is meant to purify, and a sacrifice of pure proxy humans would seem to be another way of purifying, wouldn’t it? Usually animal offerings attended the libation purification. Apparently it was humans in Abraham’s case! These are purifying sacrifices. And then above them we see four priests holding banners for the four sons of Horus, which show up in Facsimile 1 as the four canopic jars below the lion couch.
The palanquin looks an awful lot like a lion couch to me. Could it be this is the Abraham figure who is to serve as proxy sacrifice? But what about the half-circle over him? This is an upside down basin character, which relates it back to the sacrifice ceremony.
To the right here is an illustration from “The Correspondences of Egypt” by C.T. Odhner, which shows Horus offering an endowment to the king, much like the other illustrations I have referred to. Horus and the king flank a central flowering lotus plant, which is flanked by two libation jars. Very similar to the libation table in Facsimile 1, except now it is a flowering lotus plant. The lotus plant in Egypt symbolized rebirth and regeneration. Next to this libation stand are the four sons of Horus–matching the four canopic jars in Facsimile 1.
Above this libation stand, Horus holds three libation jars–like the three basins at the Sed Festival temple–from which flows a half-circle over and around the king.This half circle matches the palanquin we see on the Narmer mace, with symols insde two arcing lines. So this arcing palanquin on the Sed Festival mace head is not a palanquin at all! It is libation waters with ankh symbols flowing over the figure on the lion couch. Scholars mistakenly assume this is a princess being offered to the king for wife, but actually it is the king himself being endowed with renewal of life upon the lion couch.
The animals and figures below the three basins in the Sed Festival illustation are sacrificial offerings as well. But the figures with the three basins and the figure in the palanquin are of special importance for purification and for the proxy death of the king.
Djed Column – What about the djed column which sometimes shows up in this central position and which is part of the Sed character? What is that?
The djed column is a unique symbol in Egyptian theology represents the stability and life that comes from resurrection and exaltation. A Facsimile of Isis and her sister Nephthys flanking the deceased Osiris on his funeral couch shows a tree growing up through him. In Egyptian mythology, the dead Osiris was reborn by Horus and emerged from the trunk of his tree, and the tree became his rulership, and became a central pillar of the world. The four branches became the four corners of the earth, or four sons of Horus which we see under the lion couch in Facsimile 1–indicated by the four horizontal lines of the djed column. Other djed column illustrations show two figures flanking the djed column in the center, reaching out and tilting it from a horizontal position to a vertical position. This was the raising of the djed column, which was an important ritual in the Sed Festival. It represented the king raising from his death bed to a standing position to life and rulership. The “actors of the drama symbolized that the archetypal initiate had overcome dead through the redeeming power” of Osiris who originally experienced the rebirth. This is also reflected in the biblical story of Jacob’s ladder, where Jacob arose from his deathly sleep and raised the stone he was sleeping on to a vertical position to become a pillar. Jacob’s pillow stone in many ways resembles the Sed Festival altar (as I’ve explained previously). The djed column as a representation of the glorified king combines symbolism of the tree of life and of a stone altar. The Chapel of Horus in Abydos and other scenes of Sed being conferred by Horus show the djed column in horizontal position, indicating that it will soon be tilted vertically. The libation table in Facsimile 1 shows flowers tilting from horizontal to the vertical position, and this may possibly be a reference to the process of the djed pillar. This rising of a tree that brings rebirth, which is also an altar of human sacrifice–where do we see this symbol today? The cross of Jesus Christ. The deified being who was lifted up so that we all could likewise achieve rebirth. “And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.” (3 Nephi 27:14)
Relief #18 at Dendera temple shows “Osiris in mummified form, lying on his bier, at the head of which grows the Persea-tree Ashet.” We see the mummy on laying on the lion couch, a funeral version of Facsimile 1, except in the place of the libation table is the persia tree of life. This has been interpreted as the djed column, and relating to the modern Christmas tree. Ancient Greek vases show Dionysus, the Greek syncretic version of Osiris, being lifted by flanking figures in a spring festival, and he then becomes “the Osiris form of Djed pillar.” The Christmas tree is a modern symbol of Christ that is risen as a symbol of Christ’s redemption which brings redemption and resurrection to mankind. Figure 10 in Facsimile 1 can thus be said to be an ancient version of the Christmas tree.
Libation Table In Modern Christian Iconography
A common motif in early Christian art is Jesus sitting on a throne, holding book of life, flanked by Mary and John the Baptist. It is an illustration of Jesus interceding on judgement day, with an angel above him like the bird in Facsimile 1. It looks very similar to the Egyptian libation diagram. Note also the diagonal direction of the cushions protruding from Jesus’ throne, like the diagonal direction of the djed column being raised and the diagonal lotus flower in Facsimile.Notice how the two legs of Jesus’ throne flank Jesus like the libation jars around the libation table. And notice the stars below the throne which represent the sky, much like the firmament Figure in Facsimile 1 below the altar.
Another version shows Jesus on his throne, holding the book of life, with stars below and bird above, flanked by Mary and Saint Martin. Or flanked by Mary and Joseph (note Joseph holding up a lotus flower). Another version shows Jesus flanked by Peter and Paul. Notice in this one how the throne has lion heads and feet, similar to the lion couch in Facsimile 1. A lot of early art has Jesus sitting on a lion couch throne flanked in this way. In another version with Peter and Paul, there are two columns flanking on either side. In this version it is two trees flanking instead of two columns. Same in this example.
But let’s back up. What is the classic imagery of Jesus flanked by two figure? Jesus on the cross. Jesus is usually shown on the cross, similar to the Ankh sign, flanked by two thieves. Jesus is the ultimate libation offering of purity, the pure unblemished lamb who suffered and was crucified upon the tree for our sins. So, while disciples like Peter and Mary are shown flanking Jesus on the throne, they are also shown flanking Jesus on the cross. Here is altarpiece showing Jesus on the cross flanked by Mary and Luke. Notice how the flanking figures are shaped like a libation vase and sit below the T-shoped cross–exactly like the table in Facsimile 1. Here is Jesus on the cross flanked by Mary and John, with the same arrangement. This illustration shows the same thing, but we also see a flower blooming on Jesus’s body, like the lotus flower in Facsimile 1. In this version it is two vases with flowerings coming out of them flanking Jesus on the cross, two columns flanking as well, and a half-circle overhead that looks very much like the “palanquin” over the Abraham figure in that Sed Festival illustration. And, of course, angels overhead and faces of three children beneath, symbol of purity. It’s all there.
There’s also modern Latter-day Saint architecture. The Salt Lake Temple and other prominent temples include three spires representing the godhead. One central spire flanked by two spires. Same with the sun stones on the Nauvoo temple: a sun flanked by two symmetrical figures. But as a symbol of the tree of life, it would definitely be appropriate for the temple to assume this imagery of the libation table, to indicate salvation and eternal exaltation. Because that is what Abraham experienced “in Egypt.” He was saved from the knife of the evil El-kanah priest and endowed with priesthood and sacred knowledge. He saw the ladder of heaven and viewed the eternities. He witnessed the grand astronomy and learned how it related to his spiritual life. This is what “Abraham in Egypt” means and this is the same iconography Christians use today to refer to Jehovah, Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer.
As for the book of life Jesus holds on this throne, this refers to the judgement which Facsimile 3 is all about. The Book of life allows the deceased to give offerings and receive endowments of blessings in afterlife. It is also clearly referred to in the Egyptian Book of the Dead: “Let my Ba-soul come forth to walk about hither and thither and whithersoever it pleaseth. Let my name be called out, let it be found inscribed on the tablet which recordeth the names of those who are to receive offerings. Let meals from the sepulchral offerings be given to me in the presence [of Osiris], as to those who are in the following of Horus.” (Book of the Dead)
Mayan Cross
The Mayans, of course, had the cross as well. The Mayan cross has “layers of symbolism… one is its representation of the Tree of Life.” Skeptics are quick to point out that it did not symbolism the death of a god. Yet the same general symbolism that we see with the Egyptian libation table is there, and it matches the Latter-day Saint conception of the cross. It is not about death but about renewal, sacrifice, and resurrection. It shouldn’t be surprising that the Nephites or civilizations influenced by Nephites should consider the cross a tree of life rather than a symbol of death, for that is how the Book of Mormon speaks of it. Jesus was lifted on the cross to draw men to the Father.
We often see the king as Osiris become the tree of life in the libation table position of Egyptian literature. Osiris and the tree were interchangeable; it wasn’t really the god on the tree but the god becoming the tree or acting through the tree. The Mayans had a cross ceremony where they attached a “wooden cross to the top of a cane… The big cross is called San Pedro, said to be the chief of the wind gods, and the smaller crosses are his companions.” There are four smaller wind god crosses “in each corner of the field” and the big cross is “in the middle of the cornfield.” This matches the four sons of Horus idols in Facsimile 1 which in the Sed Festival were arranged this same way around the central altar. In this Mayan ceremony, “water from a sacred source is sprinkled in each location.” This reflects the libation water pouring in the Egyptian ceremony. “The day before the ceremony, young children are sent to a sacred spring to obtain virgin water.” (Karen Bassie-Sweet) Why was the “virgin” water gathered by children? “Note that the water is ‘virgin’ for two reasons: first, it is collected by prepubescent children, and secondly, it is fresh dew and therefore uncontaminated.” (Thomas Hart) The relationship between the three virgins in Abraham’s story and libation basins is thus reflected in the Mayan ceremony. It also reflects other ancient Abraham stories which state God poured “pleasant dew” upon the sacrificial furnace to put out the fire that would sacrifice Abraham.
The Mayan cross is often portrayed as a person, as is the Egyptian tree of life, with a celestial bird on top and a skyband below. It is also an altar. A cross altar from the tomb of Pascal in Mexico shows the bird overhead, and two priestly figures flanking the cross on either side, pouring libation offerings onto the central altar. You can also see flowering vases flanking the cross on either side, much like the vases and flowers in Egyptian scenes.These flanking figures in the jar positions under the cross are usually “double-headed serpent bars.” These double-headed serpents were“symbolic of the ruler’s pivotal dual-intermediary role” connecting the afterlife with this life and heaven with earth. The same purpose as the king in the Sed Festival: rebirth and exaltation on behalf of all the people.
A variety of Mayan cross carvings show these same elements and the flaking figures. The most famous Mayan cross is the altar bed which Pascal was laid upon under the Mayan pyramid. The dead king is laid upon the altar bed, and there is the tree cross springing out of his chest, exactly like the lion couch scene in Egypt. It is the exact same scene.
Today’s Mayan Cross – Modern Mayan crosses have flowers and branches planted under the cross or surrounding the cross, reflecting the lotus flowers diagonally sprouting above the libation table in Facsimile 1. Here is a modern Mayan cross with tree branches sticking out of it, and a basin that receives water offerings drawn on the cross as a half-dome shape.
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5
Here is a modern Mayan cross with a menorah (a Hebrew symbol of the tree of life) growing out of the water basin (the Hed Sed hierglyph), with a sun stone included.
It is unlikely that this symbolism was only incorporated in modern times, because I doubt people in these places have studied ancient Egyptian archaeology and understand what these symbols mean in that context. It isn’t common knowledge. They seem to be passed down from ancient Native American times. They show that the Hebrew influences as indicated in the Book of Mormon on ancient America included the libation table offering iconography, which became the cross, just as it did in the Old World. It is complex and generalized symbolism stemming from Abraham’s experiences with Egypt, expressing his promise of posterity and eternal life.