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.
Figure 2 is very similar to Figure 1. Skeptics try to make it sound as if Joseph Smith made a mistake having Figure 1 look similar to Figure 2. But they both identify as Amun-Re. Some call Figure 1 and Figure 2 by different names–Khnum vs. Amun-Re–in order to make it seem like Joseph Smith got it wrong. Joseph Smith’s associates drew in Figure 1 to look very similar and he gave a similar explanation for the two registers. Figure 2 “stands next to” Figure 1 and holds the same “key of power.” But Amon-Re is a reasonable substitute for Khnum, as Amun-Re is the central figure of the whole hypocephalus document. According to Kerry Shirts: “the central figure in the hypocephalus is also Amon-Re, as well as Chnum!” According to the Global Egyptian Museum, “in the centre is a four-headed bull representing, Amun-Re.” Whether Figure 1 had four heads or not, Khnum was closely related to Amun-Re and was interchangeable here, performing similar roles, so Joseph Smith was correct to translate Figure 2 as: “stands next to Kolob [figure 1]… near to the celestial.”
Same Character As Figure 1 – Consider this British museum hypocephalus which contains the same Figure 2. Egyptologists determined that both the central and upper figures are Amun-Re: “Directly over the figure of Amen is the figure of a god with two human heads, of which one is turned to the right and the other to the left. This also is Amen, striding from West to East, lighting and looking upon the whole world. On his head he wears the plumes of Amen, the sun disk, and the usual ram’s horns. The head of a jackal grows from either shoulder, emblematic of the two forms of Anuis as Opener of the path of the North and Opening of the path of the South, and on the god’s sceptre Anubis, in the form of a jackal, is carried as his guide. To his right is an inscription: ‘Thou (Amen) art in the eight souls of thy gods,’ ie. thou appearest in all the divine manifestations which thou animatest.” ( Religion of the ancient Egyptians, Alfred Wiedemann)
Between Solar Boats – Figure 2 stands squeezed between two boats. These are the solar barques of the morning and evenings. When Egyptologists talk about Amen striding from west to east, this is the sun boat carrying its journey over time symbolic of the king’s journey in the afterlife, and the central Figure 1 describes their meeting at the stroke of noon. The evening barque has just completed its journey and the morning barque is about to start. This speaks to what Joseph Smith said of Figure 1: “First in government, the last pertaining to the measure of time.” Here in Figure 2, however, we see the moment of the evening transitions to the morning–midnight–and the soul’s process of rebirth in the glorious morning. Figure 2 is this aspect of Amun-Re: “the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides.”
Place Of Creation – The differences between Figure 1 and Figure 2 are small but important in determining the figures’ functions. From each shoulder protrudes a branch. In Figure 1, one is a reed branch and the other a palm branch, indicating the figure’s role in time, seasons, and the ladder to heaven. The reed branch on the left is the reed of life and symbol of “the papyrus reed which cradled Horus amid the waters, like the infant Moses.” With Figure 2, there is a reed branch on each shoulder rather than palm branch. While Figure 1 as Kolob had to do with time, Figure 1 therefore had more to do with a place; near the celestial place of creation.
The reed is a vehicle of security. An ark. Horus was resurrected in a reed, and the reed became the Egyptian symbol for the place of rebirth: “a symbol of the birthplace in the African bed of reeds… Uat is the oasis, Uat is the wet, fresh, evergreen. Uat is the reed of Egypt, the papyrus reed.” (Gerald Massey) Ancient historian Hor-Apollo said the Egyptian reed indicated ancient creation: “To denote ancient descent they depict a roll of papyrus.” In Japanese cosmology, “the first thing in which life appeared on earth at the beginning was the reed, and the earliest land or ‘country-place stand’ (Kunitoko tachi) was the land of the reed.” The double reeds on Figure 2’s shoulders therefore match Joseph Smith’s translation for Figure 2: “the next grand governing creation near to the celestial or the place where God resides.”
The reeds grow from the shoulders as if they were hands raised in holy prayer. This peculiar portrayal of branches sticking out of the human body was actually addressed in the Old Testament–in a negative way. Repeatedly, the Lord chastised Israel for relying on Egypt for national security, calling them unreliable like a “bruised reed.” The reed in the shoulder symbolized to the Hebrews in this late time the catastrophic consequences of putting faith in the wrong person: “A reed easily breaks, and when it breaks it endangers those that lean upon it; the splinters and shivers run into the hand and shoulder.” That’s what Ezekiel meant when he said: “And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.” (Ezekiel 29:6-7)
Egypt was the land Israel came out of with Moses, and Egypt was Israel’s ally against Babylon. But Egypt betrayed them in their time of need, and that’s why Babylon conquered the land very shortly after Lehi left. They were unreliable as a place of creation and salvation for the Israelites.
Egyptologists say these are jackals on the shoulders. That fits Joseph Smith’s translation as well. Maybe they are both reeds and jackals. The jackal represented the land of the dead and Anubis, who was “the soul’s escort into the next life.” Anubis is the priest figure in Facsimile 1. Wepwawet the jackal was the “opener of the way”–the key to rebirth. He was “used by Horus and the king to ascend to the sky.” He “is also credited with dividing the waters” in creation. This role of creation by division is reflected in the two faces of Figure 2. he looks west and east. He is both today and tomorrow. The shoulder branches/ jackals guide the deceased soul in a process of divisive creation in the place of creation. This also corresponds with the Duamutef figure in Facsimile 1–“lord of the white lands.”
Knowledge Of God’s Name – Next to Figure 2 in a vertical stack is the sentence: “The name of this mighty god.” Why is the name of this god important? What is implied is “I know the name of this mighty god,” as Isis sought to do in this same situation. She said to Atume-Re: “Tell me your name, divine father! A person can only relive if one speaks a conjuration using his name!” The Ashmolean hypocephalus declared in this same register: “I know the name of.” The left text says “I know” and the right text says “I shall know.” Past and future. This indicates what the double-faced nature of this god is about–becoming like god through knowledge. In a coffin text, it is he vs. us: “What he knows, I know too.” He is the potential for knowing the god, and then there is the future point where I know the god. “I also know the name of this great god.” The Book of Abraham explains this concept of God’s advanced knowledge and power in great detail: ” “These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all.” (Abraham 3:19)
Jehovah stands in a position to see both the present and future, as one eternal round: “My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.” (Abraham 2:8)
In the circular circuit of life’s passage in the Facsimile 2 diagram, this Figure 2 stands in this uppermost position to know the end from the beginning, or eternity to eternity.
Ineffable Name Of God – But what does he know if he knows the name of God? What is actually the name of God? It doesn’t say. It uses literary gymnastics to avoid mentioning it, much like God’s response to Moses of who He was: “I Am the I Am.” The Hebrews considered the name of God ineffable, unspeakable, and in situations like this avoided pronouncing it. They often used the Tetragrammaton as a substitute. The Egyptians did likewise in such situations such as here where they put “name of that great god” instead of the actual name. The Freemasons believed: “Among the Egyptians, whose connection with the Hebrews was more immediate than that of any other people, and where, consequently, there was a greater similarity of rites, the same sacred name is said to have been used as a password, for the purpose of gaining admission to their Mysteries.” Figure 2 is therefore an important password that the deceased used to gain access to necessary rites of exaltation. Joseph Smith was therefore correct to say Figure 2 is “holding the key of power also.”
To know God’s name according to the Egyptians–his actual name–was to have the power of that god, and casual readers of a hypocephalus were not worthy of it. The name was to be received at a future point through correspondence through a veil, in a worthy setting. It is a bit like the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale story, where a fairy creature gives a woman power to create gold with a spinning wheel in exchange for her firstborn son on the third day. Gold is a symbol for the sun, the spinning wheel is the rotating universe–much like Facsimile 2 itself–and the sacrificed firstborn son is Jesus Christ. The fairy creature sings: “”tonight tonight, my plans I make, tomorrow tomorrow the baby I take.” We see the duplicitous meeting of today and tomorrow same as Figure 2. But the woman learns the fairy creature’s name–Rumpelstiltskin–and thus gains power over him so that she doesn’t need to make the sacrifice after all. Buy learning the name of Jehovah, we do not need to suffer for our sins but attain remission through the sacrifice of God’s Only Begotten Son. To the Egyptians, the gods didn’t want their spirit name to be common knowledge because then they would be at people’s disposal. So, in place of the name, for the purpose of documenting Abraham’s revelations, a substitute was placed here. But what is suggested is the receiving of divine power and salvation from the supreme god. “As revealed from God to Abraham.”
The same exact thing happens in the first chapter of 1 Nephi. The same exact thing. Lehi in vision “saw the heavens open up” where God was “surrounded” with “numberless concourses of angels.” As I pointed out, Lehi’s description of God as “the sun at noon-day” was a description of time, not just brightness. It described God ascending to the zenith moment between morning and evening–which is exactly the same as what we see here: Amun-Re at the zenith of Facsimile 2 between the morning and evening boats. But notice that Lehi described God as “One descending out of the midst of heaven.” Why “One”? No where else in the Book of Mormon is God identified as “One.” What does it mean? It comes from the New Testament version of the same vision where the Lamb of God ascended to the throne of the “one.” This is thought by mainstream Christian scholars to reference the “truine God” where the Father sites “in contradistinction to the other Persons of the Holy Trinity.” Yet of course they incorrectly believe the Father and Son are the same person. Joseph Smith found out in his own vision of God at “noon-day” that they were not the same person. Acts 7:56 describes it as: “the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” Just like Figure 2 “stands next to” Figure 1. The word “One” in the New Testament actually appears in the original bible text; in fact, nothing does. The word is simply not there. The name or pronoun for who descends from heaven is simply missing. It is ineffable and not to be pronounced in this setting. The name is a key word that gets the deceased to an exalted position, according to Facsimile 2 here. The register to the left of Facsimile 2 declares: “You shall ever be as that God.” That’s because he knows the name. In Egyptian myth, rebirth was achieved when Isis got Re to reveal his name.
God At Noon – The noon-day position of the sun is the position of Figure 2 in the hypocephalus. Just like the hands of a clock meeting at noon, this Figure is in the top center of the circle vertically. It is the highest point of the circle, and in fact you can see that the head of Amun-Re overlaps into the rim of the hypocephalus somewhat. Egyptians were always very careful to fit their figures in their proper registers and never to overlap (contrary to certain Antimormon “scholars” who think Joseph Smith filled the facsimiles in wrong.) The fact that Amun-Re overlaps here means he is incredibly tall–so giant that the universe does not contain him. Not only is the noon position the highest in the sky, he extends in height beyond the sky. We get a clue of for why this is from the ram horns on his head. Those ram horns of Amun extend from each side of the head. Alexander the Great portrayed himself with ram’s horns to identify with Amun and lend himself credibility as achieving godly greatness. That’s why they called him “great.” he believed himself to be the son of Zeus. The word for ram (zr) is closely similar to the word for giraffe or prophesy (sr). This suggests that identifying with Amun with ram horns makes someone a prophet. It also makes a person tall like a giraffe, which means a person is in a zenith position to observe everything; to “see the end from the beginning” of the circular circuit of life. Figure 2’s shu crown further represents sunbeams proceeding down from Amun-Re to the earth. The sw.ty feathers are a symbol of eternal beginning in this new state.
Power Symbol – In 1973, the International Electrotechnical Commission invented what is known as the “standby symbol,” a circle broken at the top by a vertical line, to indicate a button’s ability to switch an electrical device on or off without fully disconnecting power supply. When the button is pushed it is now “turned off” or on. The circle symbolizes “on” and the vertical line “off,” and so the logic behind this “standby symbol” that incorporates both elements is that it can both switch the device on or off. We commonly see this symbol on computers, cell phones, and TVs.
I doubt the IEC knew much about Egyptology or hypocephali, but it is interesting to compare it to Figure 2 in our Facsimile 2 from the Book of Abraham. The symbolism behind the Facsimile’s circle and vertical line is quite similar: the circular eye of horus cycles between day and night, and the Figure 2 Amun character interrupts this cycle. It is no stretch to call this hypocephalus the “on/off switch” to a person’s soul. It is interesting how similar logic shows up today that Egyptians thought up so many years ago. Keep this loose comparison to today’s power symbol in mind as we closely examine the details of Joseph Smith’s explanation and what we know from Egyptologists.
Connection To Facsimile 1 – The sacrifice of God’s Only Begotten Son is what is being referenced in Facsimile 1. The symbols of the Facsimile 1 priest and bird are perhaps combined here in Facsimile 2 to show the rebirth of Horus. Figure 2 stands in the same way as the Figure 1 priest, with arms extended to the right like the priest. The jackal/shoulder branches may reference the jackal Anubis, which is the character assumed by this priest in Figure 1. Both Figure 1 and 2 in Facsimile 2 and the priest in Facsimile 1 closely relate to Sobek the crocodile god. But it is the similar roles they play that really makes me think there could be a connection. The Facsimile 1 priest offers the eye of Horus in sacrifice to regain the king his kingship: “to guide the boat of the Sun through the underworld during the hours of darkness.” Figure 2’s role likewise was to guide the deceased to this pinnacle position to receive exaltation as the sun rises to noon, and the offering table in Figure 2 to the right makes it quite clear that it is to be through sacrifice offering of the Horus Eye. Notice the offering table in the lower right corner. In the Egyptian context, this is the libation table which we also see in the other hypocephali. The Book of The Dead lists a series of sacrifices to gods as part of the overall resurrection process: “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.”
Figure 2 takes the same Alep shape as the Facsimile 1 priest, and in his hand is the staff of power that takes a Tau shape like the Facsimile 1 bird. This staff performs the same roles as the Horus bird by opening the way to heaven. Something else I noticed, in each Facsimile we come closer to exaltation. In Facsimile 1 it was Anubis, here in Facsimile 2 it is Wepwawet, and in Facsimile 3 it is Osiris as judge: “Anubis embalmed the body of the deceased and conducted the burial ceremonies; Wepwawet led the deceased from this world to the next; and Osiris king of the dead represented arrival and rejuvination in the next life.” As I have explained, these Alep and Tau shapes could reference the two stones of the Urim and Thummim. It was through the Urim and Thummim that Abraham received revelations of the key name of God: “And his voice was unto me: Abraham, Abraham, behold, my name is Jehovah, and I have heard thee, and have come down to deliver thee, and to take thee away from thy father’s house, and from all thy kinsfolk, into a strange land which thou knowest not of… Behold, I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee. As it was with Noah so shall it be with thee; but through thy ministry my name shall be known in the earth forever, for I am thy God.” (Abraham 1:16-19)
God told Abraham he would spread the knowledge of God’s “name” be known throughtout the four quarters of the land. In later revelations it is explicitly in four directions knowledge spreads. Thus, we come back to what we read here in Figure 2’s register in the hypocephalus: “I know the name of this great god with four faces.”
Colossus – It has been suggested that Amun-Re in Figure 2’s position is the originator for the Colossus statue, the great wonder of the world. The famous Helios statue at the ancient city of Rhodes once stood tall at the point where land divided the sea and ships of trade came and went. It was constructed in a massive scale to suggest reaching into the heavens, like the tower of Babel. Like Figure 2, its tallness overlapped into the rim of the earth’s atmosphere. As a child of the celestial sun, the helios offered safety and salvation to those below, as opener of the way–quite like Wepwawet. Shakespeare provided a clue to the meaning of the colossus with a line in his play Julius Caesar: “And this man is now become a god, and Cassius is a wretched creature and must bend his body, if Caesar carelessly but nod on him… Ye gods, it doth amaze me a man of such a feeble temper should so get the start of the majestic world and bear the palm alone. Another general shout! I do believe that these applauses are for some new honours that are heap’d on Caesar. Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus, and we petty men walk under his huge legs and peep about to find ourselves dishonourable graves. Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” (The Works of William Shakespeare, Vol. 1)
Those who gained the power of Amun-Re indeed bestrided from a different level of greatness, and Alexander the Great was an example of a great ruler of that time who took upon himself this priesthood honor.
A modern version of the colossus is the Statue of Liberty in New York City’s habor. Instead of holding the rod of power she holds Thoth’s book of life, and instead of standing in stride she holds a torch of freedom. But she stands upon a holy temple as colossus did. Ever look at the platform that the Statue of Liberty stands upon? It is quite like a temple, and colossus is said to have stood upon such a platform as well. Figure 1 stands with fleur-de-lis shaped legs legs of some kind of roosting Phoenix bird, but with Figure 2 Amun-Re is entirely human and stands with human legs midstride. This is because to be a giant who reaches into heaven is to become a human man of holiness.
Emaa Lazarus (interesting name) wrote the famous poem about the Statue of Liberty welcoming the huddled masses of poor exiles. Her poem began with explicit comparison with the colossus: “The New Colossus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles…” (in ‘Heaven in the Orchard: Hints of the Divine in Daily Life,’ Ted Auble)
The reference to lightning is obviously about Zeus, as Helios the sun god riding his four-horsed chariot (see more about this in Figure 1) was often conflated with Zeus. The original inscription for the statue at Rhodes emphasized Helios as the personification of the sun, and the statue as reaching from land into the heavens, and as a point between land and sea:
“To you, O Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue reaching to Olympus, when they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom and independence. For to the descendants of Herakles belongs dominion over sea and land.”
The Statue of Liberty’s perch atop a temple roof reminds us of yet another similar statue figure that is quite familiar to us: the angel Moroni. Well, it is thought to be be angel Moroni, but more precisely it is the angel in Revelation flying around the earth: “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads… And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” (Revelation 14:1,6-7)
It is the same vision of the Lamb of God descending from the noonday position, and then it becomes the angel traveling through the air like the solar boat, bringing gospel knowledge likes sun-rays from the heaven. And again we see the separation of sea and land. This golden statue stands atop most of our holy temples kind of like the State of Liberty upon its temple edifice. But he blows a trumpet, in reference to the angel’s loud voice in Revelation. The original angel on the Nauvoo temple carried a book instead of a trumpet–the book of life–and turned in all 360 degrees in a circle as a weathervane atop the temple’s belfry. This curious original temple angel seems to be in reference to the Roman Tower of Winds, a circular tower that had a weathervane state of Poseidon at the top. Again, with Poseiden we come back to the theme of water and earth divide, earth and heaven.
Obilish – The name Joseph Smith assigned to Figure 2 sounds thoroughly Egyptian: Obilish. There are several theories as to its meaning:
- wrj-jb meaning “great of heart.” The heart was considered to be the source of a person’s humanness, the source of thoughts and emotion. “My heart whereby I come into being” was a major them of the Book of the Dead, which was placed next to a deceased person’s heart. The only figure in Facsimile 1 under the altar to take a human form is associated with the heart, and Joseph Smith associated it with the name “Korash” which means “bestow care.” The loving-kindness and care of Amun-Re in this Figure 2 provides the atonement and enables exaltation, making him “great of heart”–an appropriate label. As for the missing -ish at the end, bsh was a certain Egyptian star (according to Dr. Hugh Nibley), and Joseph Smith said the “key of power” in this figure was “pertaining to other planets”–or in other words cosmological. Another approach: Joseph Smith defined Ah-lish in his Egyptian Alphabet notebook as the “first being, supreme intelligence”. We know what Joseph Smith defined Ah as: “the first being who exercises Supreme power.” The -lish part of Ahlish therefore seems to make it about intelligence. The next word of whatever he was getting Alish from is then Ph-ah, being “kingly power… having greater dominion or power.” Figure 2, again, is all about knowledge of the god’s name.
- wrj-b3-shw meaning “great is the ba of Shu.” The -ish in this theory is Shu. Shu was one of the four first elements to be created in Figure 1 as air or “breathing force.” Figure 2 here stands high in the air and wears the Shu crown with Shu feathers. Shu lifts the deceased up to heaven: “Shu, Shu, lift this Pepi to the sky! Nut, give your arms toward him! He will fly up, he will fly up.” The -sh would therefore relate to the first creation and a person’s exaltation, matching up nicely with Shu’s role in Amun-Re’s creationi. Olish- then either has to do with a “great ba” or “great heart.” Shu was the image of Re in a way similar to how the Son is in image of the Father: “I am Shu, the image of Re, who sits within the wedjat eye of his father.” The wedjat, of course, is the hypocephalus itself.
- jw.rx meaning “I know.” Another theory is that this is a later derivative (this hypocephalus was drawn in the Hellenistic era, remember) of the phrase right next to it that talks about knowing the name of this great god. It gets shortened to “I know.”
- Chapter 162 of the Book of the Dead which deals with the hypocephalus themes speaks of a a solar runner striding east and west, as the birds and boats we see on either side of Figure 2. The Book of the Dead labels him as Pal or Par. This could be part of the name Olibish: Wrj-Pal-Shu. Psalm 19 describes this solar runner in a cosmological description of Christ in final judgement as a being of perfect justice: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” (Psalm 19:4-6 )
Key Of Power – Amun-Re’s keys of power served as priesthood power for earthly priests: “Not only was Amun-Re a creator, but he also becomes a ‘father,’ compassionate and solicitous… he who conceived everything, lord of the whole earth, he who made that which exists, sole god who lives in truth… as the god Amun-Re became envisioned as ruling in a cosmic scale, and when the deity’s status was mirrored sociologically by a terrestrial power exercised through a nascent, influential clergy on earth, one can perhaps excuse the ‘lord’s temporal’ for fearing their position.”(Ronald Glassman)
As “chief of the gods, Re or Amun-Re” was shown “sailing the skies from east to west,” dominated the other gods which were associated with planets, just “as the planets and smaller bodies circle the sun.” He was explicitly identified as chief of the planets: “As Amun-Re, he became the King of the Gods, and as Zeus-Ammon he survived into Greek and Roman times.” Zeus likewise held the key of power pertaining to the planets. Astronomically, Jupiter keeps the planets in motion and allows for life on earth. To the Greeks, Jupiter symbolized “reason, the soul, understanding, perfected emotion, decision, intellectual will”–the same symbolism as the Egyptian heart.
Another Roman version of this figure was the god Janus, the god of transition, passage, and beginning. He holds the key to opening the transition to the afterlife, exactly as Figure 2 does. The Roman god Janus sits on the throne, holding the Web-wawet staff on the left side, holding up the key of power on the right side, and he has two faces–facing east and west. This relationship between the two faces and the solar barque is confirmed by a Roman coin that shows the two faces on the front and the ship on the back, the meeting of earth and sea.
Sacrificial Offering Table – Joseph Smith consistently identified the libation table with “Abraham in Egypt” in Facsimiles 1 and 3. This time it is Abraham offering sacrifices upon an altar and receiving the contents of this Figure 2 in return: the name of the God. So, this gives us more explanation for what Abraham in Egypt is: Abraham offering sacrifices upon an altar while in Egypt:
- In Facsimile 1, he is the one being sacrificed–and saved.
- Here in Facsimile 2, he is sacrificing to gain redemption and priesthood authority.
- n Facsimile 3, he is the one officiating sacrifice to gain knowledge of astronomy.
We see these three differing reasons for lotus offering tables show up frequently in Egypt. There are different offering tables for different gods, for different reasons. As for redemption and priesthood authority, offerings were provided “to ensure the well-being of the deceased in the afterlife.” An offering to Amun-Re, as chief creator, would help assure resurrection. In a relief sculpture for Seti I, we see Re handing down “the was-scepter and in his left hand an ‘ankh'”–just as Amun-Re usually does in the hypocephalus here–before “an offering table with a libation pot and a lotus.” Thus, we can deduce that Figure 1 is an answer to the offering made in Figure 2 of our Facsimile 2. We start to see a sequence for these facsimiles and figures as they involve Abraham. And Joseph Smith gets a perfect bullseye interpreting the sacrificial libation table to be “offered sacrifice upon an altar.”
Abraham Context – This part of the register was apparently missing from the hypocephalus when Joseph Smith looked at it, and no other hypocephalus has an offering table here. But that’s not a big deal, because no other lion couch scene has an offering table either, and we have the original papyrus fragment that shows it clearly there. So it’s highly unusual for a libation table to be here. This libation table appears in the place of the future-tense version of the god-name ordinance: “I shall know the name of this great god.” It suggests a ritual act being performed by the deceased to gain this knowledge. How does this relate to Abraham? This offering table is the only way Joseph Smith actually related Abraham to the making of a hypocephalus. Everything else is just what either Abraham or the Egyptians thought of what shows up. But the presence of this libation table grants us the translation Joseph Smith provides this and all the other Figures, “as revealed from God to Abraham, as he offered sacrifice upon an altar, which he had built unto the Lord.”
As I explained with Facsimile 1, the libation offering table originates from the Sed-festival. The image itself was the label for Sed-festival–with the combination of the pavilion, hall, and basin glyphs. Abraham was best known for his role in the Sed-festival sacrifice as a youth which resulted in his vision of an angel and destruction of the wicked priest–which is described in the Book of Abraham. I don’t know if whoever drew this hypocephalus had Abraham in mind. Probably not. But regardless, the libation sacrifice table itself was closely associated with Abraham in ancient time due to this Sed-festival event, and its presence here in the hypocephalus therefore grants Joseph Smith license to translate the prodigious symbolism found in its registers according to Abraham’s sensibilities of those symbols.
The Sed-festival symbol originted 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 became a wolf’s tail between two legs. In the Sed Festival raising of the Djed column, it became the resurrective djed column flanked by two tjet Signs (of protection.) In the Temple of Seti I in Abydos, it became 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. Those flanking frogs then became the two apes we see on either side of Figure 1, and the two libation vases on either side of the sacrifice table we see here in Figure 2. They retain that duplicity of the original Sed-festival symbol and creative meaning–which fits nicely into the entire creation symbolism at play.
In a ritual bowl from early Athens, we see each of the three of the “Abraham in Egypt” offering tables portrayed one after the other:
- First, we see “two male figures with spears attack a griffin,” like the sacrifice of a Seth character in Facsimile 1.
- Next, we see “a seated figure nurses a baby as a standing figure performs a sacrifice before an offering table,” just like the rebirth ritual shown here in Facsimile 2.
- Finally, we see “a figure sits on a throne before an offering table as another stands and performs a sacrifice,” exactly like in Facsimile 3.
The sequence of Facsimiles presented by Joseph Smith applied to Abraham were evidently well known and applied in ancient times.