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.
Second Line Of Defense? – Skeptics claim “these strokes represent water in which the crocodile swims… If figure #11 is a palace fortification, then these crocodile-infested waters would be a second line of defense against intrusion, keeping the deceased doubly-safe.” (MormonThink) But the problem with this is Figure #11 is not a palace fortification. We saw previously that Figure #11 is part of a royal emblem, and these pillars placed the ritual shown into a holy temple setting. Defense from intrusion really had nothing to do with it. The water likewise had nothing to do with defense. Skeptics make it sound like this was some kind of moat around a castle, but this is simply not how Egyptians designed their temples. At Karnak, the sacred lake is off to the side, parallel to the holy of holies, and of no defensive value whatsoever. Egyptians often created these artificial lakes at holy sites, and referred to them as “divine pools.” They served to contain sacred boats of the gods, house crocodiles for rituals, and provide water for libation offerings. We see a crocodile (Figure #9) in Figure 1’s water as well, so there is probably a connection there. At Karnak, the rectangular pool contained the “sacred barque of Amun to sail on during his festivals.” The water hatching in Facsimile 1 is rectangular too, and the lion couch rests on top of it, almost as if the lion couch and its ritual scene acts like a holy boat itself. The solar boat references the sun’s journey across the sky, and the king is reborn as the sun rises in the morning. The sun was a boat and the sky was the waters. This water therefore suggests that this entire ritual is like the passage of the sun in the sky.
But this just goes to show how this Figure’s symbolism flies in the face of what we would assume. Who would look at that and think it is a boat sailing in the sky? Who would get water or “firmament” of the heavens from this? Today, this would be the hatch pattern for glulam wood. Why would Joseph Smith think it refers to air? Why did he think it symbolizes anything and wasn’t just a pretty background pattern?
Firmament
Herringbone Masonry – In early Egypt, water was represented by vertical lines, then wavy lines, and then the diagonal hatching we see in Facsimile 1. We’ve got to consider that this was a late representation for water in Egyptian literature. “Here the water is rendered by zigzag lines arranged vertically and in parallel lines, so as to resemble herringbone masonry, thus.” Herringbone masonry, or Opus spicatum as it is known in Roman literature, was a particularly ancient form of wall construction, where rocks or bricks are laid diagonally, with each row diagonal in the opposite direction of the row below it.
What does this have to do with water? Pietro Laureano points out that in Sahara construction, “A wicker basket is used as a mould, and the bricks, after having been dried in the sun, are arranged in alternate oblique strips, thus shaping a herringbone design.” They used this kind of construction “to provide gardens with a greater water supply,” as it allowed for greater carrying capacity. Herringbone aqueducts brought drinking water supply. Herringbone construction is also found under Babylonian altars where water libation offerings were made. Could it be that these hatch marks in Figure #12 aren’t really the water but the structure that supports the water? A “firmament” is a sky structure.
This would help explain why Facsimile 1 is the only lion couch scene in all Egyptian literature to contain hatching of water, a crocodile, the serekh pillars, or the libation altar on the right-hand side. Why would the artist go to all that trouble if it were just decorative pattern for a nice little crocodile to splash around in? No, it definitely meant something, and it was evident to the ancients just by looking at it. This fits the Hellenistic context in which Facsimile 1 was created, as Greek art used water to suggest a place for the gods. The crocodile thus associated Pharaoh with divinity: “Here the water is rendered by zigzag lines arranged vertically and in parallel lines, so as to resemble herringbone masonry, thus… In the language of Greek mythography, the wave pattern and the Maeander are sometimes used singly for the idea of water, but more frequently combined with figurative representation… The mosaic lines the floor and sides of a bath, and, as was commonly the case in the baths of the ancients, serves as a figurative representation of the water it contained… In such cases they cannot be interpreted without being viewed in relation to the whole context of mythography to which they belong. If we find, for example, on one coin of Tarentum a shell, on another a dolphin, on a third of Taras, the mythic founder of the town, riding on a dolphin in the midst of the waves, and this latter group expresses the idea of the town itself and its position on the coast, then we know the two former types to be but portions of the greater design, having been detached from it, as we may detach words from sentences.” (The Works of John Ruskin…, John Ruskin)
Waters Of Creation In Sed Festival – The grander context is the Egyptian god Nut holding up the “water of heaven.” The “libations of blood were poured out on the stone” altar in Facsimile 1, and the ritual was “a meeting-point for the sycamore of Nut (the tree of celestial water, as Egyptian), the altar of earth, and the abyss of water” underneath. The celestial waters were crossed in the afterlife to get to heaven upon the solar boat. The Book of Breathings reads: “The beginning [of the document of breathings], which [Isis] made [for her brother, Osriris to cause his soul to live, to cause his body to live, to rejuvenate all his limbs] again, [so that he might join] the horizon with his father, Re, [to cause his soul to appear in the heaven as the disk of the moon, so that his body might shine like Orion in the womb of Nut, and to] cause [the same] thing to happen to the Osiris Hor, justified, [born of Taykhebyt, justified.]” (Translation of the Hor Book, Michael D. Rhodes)
It’s all there. The deceased rides in the solar boat of Re, the sun god, through the womb of Nut, who represents the sky above, to become like Osiris and be reborn. This was the regenerative context of the waters in the funeral Egyptian context. The waters also held the same significance in the original Sed Festival context. “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)
The crocodile is the big clue that tells us specifically what it’s about. Sobek the crocodile god was strongly associated with the son of Horus of the east. This god’s protective god was Neith, who was “the flood” god who provided the great primeval waters of creation’s birth. As such, she was considered the mother of Sobek. In funerary literature, the dead Pharaoh identified himself as Sobek and associated himself with Neith. The “dead king identifies himself with ‘Sobk son of Neith'” for two reasons: because the waters acted as “the ultimate source of all life” necessary for the king’s rebirth, and because the flooding allowed “the king to cross to the horizon,” providing a watery path for him to traverse. The king identified as crocodile to be enabled to cross these waters, and to gain authority on behalf of everyone else in his kingdom to do the same.
Neith’s symbol was a click beetle, which made reference to the beetle’s ability to “save itself from the rising flood waters of the Nile” by jumping high distances. This sounds awfully similar to Book of Abraham 1:23 which talks about a woman first discovering the land of Egypt as it was underwater and settling her sons there, from which “sprang” the race of Egyptians. This woman was the mother of all of Egypt. Neith was a protectionary creation god who assumed this characteristic of gathering life and preserving it above the waters of chaos, and as “father” of Egypt, the king Pharaoh assumed this identity.
You can see the wavy water lions on the side of the Sed Festival altar at Niuserre.
Joseph Smith was correct to explain Figure 12 as “the firmament over our heads.” He even pointed out that “in this case, in relation to this subject, the Egyptians meant it to signify Shaumau, to be high, or the heavens.” The purpose in this specific Book of Breathings context was to transport the deceased Hor through the sky up to the celestial afterlife.
Could Joseph Smith have explained it any better? Not as briefly as he did.
Mayan altars also placed the diagonal water hatching at the bottom of their altars, as you can see. This matches perfectly the lion couch scene that we see in Facsimile 1 and has almost exactly the same symbolism.
As for the Hebrew words Joseph Smith gave in his explanation, Shamau and Shaumahyeem, these are dualistic terms for expanse or firmament. Read more about that here.