I had the pleasure the other day of attending the FAIR Conference and hearing William Schryver's now-famous presentation on the Kirtland Egyptian Papers. (If you haven't seen the video of the presentation yet, it's available online here.)
After the session I had the privilege of dialoguing a bit with some very bright folks I know from the message boards. Kerry Shirts videotaped these exchanges, and has posted the videos on YouTube. The first video is an interview with just me, whereas the second and third are a discussion with several folks, including Wade England, Loyd Ericson, and David Bokovoy.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Let the Papyrus-Length-Calculation Wars Begin!
I just got word from Kristine Haglund, editor of Dialogue Journal, that a preliminary version of a paper I recently co-authored with Andrew Cook is now available on the journal's website! Hopefully this posting came in time for some people to take a look at the paper before Sunstone and FAIR. We were hoping to generate a little buzz at the conferences.
This is a somewhat technical paper, but hopefully interesting anyway. Essentially, we have developed a rigorous mathematical methodology to calculate the original length of the scroll of Hor. Some LDS scholars have speculated that the source from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham may have been on a missing, interior portion of this scroll. We find that this cannot be the case, since the physical dimensions of the scroll allow only about 60 cm of papyrus to be missing. This is just enough papyrus to accommodate the missing portion of the Hor Document of Breathing. It is not enough to accommodate a Book of Abraham. This suggests that the evidence that the extant fragments of the Document of Breathing were the source of the Book of Abraham should be taken at face value. Hopefully our findings will help clear the ground of the "missing papyrus" apologetic, and facilitate a study of Joseph's translation process in light of the papyrus source the evidence suggests he actually utilized.
Incidentally, our calculations are partly a response to the less exacting methodology of John Gee, who calculated that some 41 feet are missing from the end of the scroll. I understand there are also at least two other papers currently in preparation by LDS scholars that attempt to compute papyrus length using methodologies similar to our own. If and when these papers are published, it should be very interesting to see how their findings compare with ours. I predict a lively debate, at least in a very small corner of cyberspace and/or the academic literature.
This is a somewhat technical paper, but hopefully interesting anyway. Essentially, we have developed a rigorous mathematical methodology to calculate the original length of the scroll of Hor. Some LDS scholars have speculated that the source from which Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham may have been on a missing, interior portion of this scroll. We find that this cannot be the case, since the physical dimensions of the scroll allow only about 60 cm of papyrus to be missing. This is just enough papyrus to accommodate the missing portion of the Hor Document of Breathing. It is not enough to accommodate a Book of Abraham. This suggests that the evidence that the extant fragments of the Document of Breathing were the source of the Book of Abraham should be taken at face value. Hopefully our findings will help clear the ground of the "missing papyrus" apologetic, and facilitate a study of Joseph's translation process in light of the papyrus source the evidence suggests he actually utilized.
Incidentally, our calculations are partly a response to the less exacting methodology of John Gee, who calculated that some 41 feet are missing from the end of the scroll. I understand there are also at least two other papers currently in preparation by LDS scholars that attempt to compute papyrus length using methodologies similar to our own. If and when these papers are published, it should be very interesting to see how their findings compare with ours. I predict a lively debate, at least in a very small corner of cyberspace and/or the academic literature.
Looking Forward to Sunstone and FAIR
I got up this morning, loaded my things into the car, and started driving toward Salt Lake City, where starting tomorrow morning I will be attending (and presenting at) the Sunstone Symposium. I'll also be making a detour to catch part of the FAIR Conference and to attend the Mormon Expression Live Broadcast. It should be a fun few days.
For most of the drive, I listened to a variety of podcasts and NPR recordings. One that I particularly enjoyed was the latest episode of Mormon Expression, which is comprised of personal essays written and read aloud by the various panelists. The essays by Glenn and Zilpha were particularly excellent. Glenn's was more like a very clever slam poem than a personal essay, and reminded me a lot of another slam poem I heard recently and greatly enjoyed. Zilpha's was in the form of a very funny personal narrative. She has a wonderfully expressive voice, and you can just hear her smile behind every clever phrase. You can't help but smile too. Thanks to the folks at Mormon Expression and NPR for sustaining me through the horribly prosaic state of Nevada.
It happened to be about dusk by the time I was passing through the Utah salt flats, and at this point I began to understand why the first Mormon settlers might have stopped here to make this their sacred space. The salt flats are stark in their vastness and emptiness. They have a semi-reflective surface that catches some of the color of the sky above. As the sun silhouetted the mountains at my back, the partially cloudy sky ignited with hues of pink and orange stretching to every horizon. As the richness of these colors deepened, a dark thunderhead loomed ahead. Streaks of lightning pulsed relentlessly, over and over, striking down at the same distant patch of ground. I found myself wondering what sinner must be living there, to attract such punishment. As night fell and the sky darkened, I drew closer to the spot-- uncomfortably close, in fact. I'm sure it was farther than it looked, but one particular strike as I passed by will be forever burned into my retina. I was in awe of the display to which I was treated here, in this vast wasteland. It is as though God emptied this desert so as to avoid distracting from the heavens-- as though he gave it its glassy surface to reflect their fiery glory.
I am here now, in my hotel room, trying to channel the last vestiges of euphoria into poetic energy. The window is open, and a cool Salt Lake breeze is blowing through. The moment has passed, but I won't forget it... at least not until the presenters tomorrow morning give me a ton of other exciting things to think about. ;)
Hope to see you there!
For most of the drive, I listened to a variety of podcasts and NPR recordings. One that I particularly enjoyed was the latest episode of Mormon Expression, which is comprised of personal essays written and read aloud by the various panelists. The essays by Glenn and Zilpha were particularly excellent. Glenn's was more like a very clever slam poem than a personal essay, and reminded me a lot of another slam poem I heard recently and greatly enjoyed. Zilpha's was in the form of a very funny personal narrative. She has a wonderfully expressive voice, and you can just hear her smile behind every clever phrase. You can't help but smile too. Thanks to the folks at Mormon Expression and NPR for sustaining me through the horribly prosaic state of Nevada.
It happened to be about dusk by the time I was passing through the Utah salt flats, and at this point I began to understand why the first Mormon settlers might have stopped here to make this their sacred space. The salt flats are stark in their vastness and emptiness. They have a semi-reflective surface that catches some of the color of the sky above. As the sun silhouetted the mountains at my back, the partially cloudy sky ignited with hues of pink and orange stretching to every horizon. As the richness of these colors deepened, a dark thunderhead loomed ahead. Streaks of lightning pulsed relentlessly, over and over, striking down at the same distant patch of ground. I found myself wondering what sinner must be living there, to attract such punishment. As night fell and the sky darkened, I drew closer to the spot-- uncomfortably close, in fact. I'm sure it was farther than it looked, but one particular strike as I passed by will be forever burned into my retina. I was in awe of the display to which I was treated here, in this vast wasteland. It is as though God emptied this desert so as to avoid distracting from the heavens-- as though he gave it its glassy surface to reflect their fiery glory.
I am here now, in my hotel room, trying to channel the last vestiges of euphoria into poetic energy. The window is open, and a cool Salt Lake breeze is blowing through. The moment has passed, but I won't forget it... at least not until the presenters tomorrow morning give me a ton of other exciting things to think about. ;)
Hope to see you there!
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