Amun-Re/Chnum - Fig 1 on Hypocephalus examined in light of Egyptological/Archaeological Information

Chnum-Re - Figure 1 on Hypocephalus

Research by Kerry A. Shirts

Joseph Smith's hypocephalus is a magnificent world symbol. That Joseph Smith gets anything correct in it at all is amazing, that he gets absolutely everything in Fig. 1 correct is downright eerie. His interpretation of Fig. 1 is the longest and most descriptive of any of them, so it behooves us to take a very close look at this. His description is thus:

"Kolob, signifying the first creation, nearest to the celestial, or the residence of God. First in government, the last pertaining to the measurement of time. The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth, which is called by the Egyptians Jah-oh-eh." In line with this, Joseph Smith noted that #'s 22, 23 the two babboons in the same middle panel represents stars receiving light from Kolob (explanation #5).

Rather than dealing with Kolob here, (I'll get to it in another paper) I want to take a closer look at the interesting hieroglyph next to the figure. I acknowledge and follow the lead of James R. Harris's very interesting study on this, but carry it further than he did. When we look at Fig. 1 we see this heiroglyph to the left of his head. To the right of Fig. 1 is the hieroglyph itself, while below the entire hieroglyph is separated into its three separate parts below labeled "A", "B", "C"

Enlarged hieroglyph above, separated in parts A, B, and C.

This is a very startling hieroglyph to be on this hypocephalus! Why? Because of the EAG Hypo which is hailed as the original hypo that Joseph Smith had and tried to finish into a complete hypocephalus. Below is the EAG Hypo.

Notice in this close up of Fig. 1 in the supposed original hypo which Joseph Smith had access to, the hieroglyph is entirely missing. So, lets take a closer look at this object which critics have ignored through the years. This hieroglyph is not on any other of the Joseph Smith Papyri that the Prophet had in his possession. Nor is it on any other hypocephalus found since then either! Yet, it is a very meaningful hieroglyph and in fact, one that the ancient Egyptians have used before. This is the sign of the primeval ocean, "Nu." The three horizontal lines (Fig. A above) are the hieratic form of n n, transliterated as "Nun" or "Nu." The next part of the hieroglyph, part "B" is the determinative for q.r.t., representing half the sky, which, in Egyptian mythology is just below the "Nun", The final part of this hieroglyph (labeled "C") is the water emerging from the side of the half sky sign (following Harris)1 How would Joseph Smith have known in the 1830's, years before the Rosetta Stone was even translated, that this hieroglyph was just the exact one associated with this figure of Chnum-Re? And what's more, notice that there is only one snake by the feet of the babboon on the left, while in the JS Hypo the Prophet included another snake on the other side, thus showing two snakes. Why snakes? I'll tell you why snakes. They are also symbols of creation, as we know from Joseph Smith's explanation. The primeval serpent "Iru-to" was a creator of the earth. In the Pyramid Texts 1146 we see Iru-to saying "I am the scribe of the Divine Book which says what has been and effect what is yet to be." In other words, "Creation" is the theme as the explanation of the Prophet explains. "The Primeval serpent depicts the general systems concept of irreversible, nonequilibrium process." i.e. "The First Creation" to quote Joseph Smith. The Snake is sometimes called Amun, The Hidden One, and the central figure in the hypocephalus is also Amun-Re, as well as Chnum! The most interesting aspect of the serpent is his two heads.2 Mercea Eliade noted that this same set of symbols with the same philosophy is present elsewhere in the ancient world also where Supreme Creators are involved with cosmic snakes who inhabit subterranean regions. 3 Louis Charbonneau-Lassay noted that snakes in ancient Egypt primarily "represented 'the Great God'...whose power extends from earth to heaven." We learn further that the souls of all gods reside in the snakes, from an inscription in the tomb of Seti I. The snakes are "supernatural beings living in this world." We read further that "The serpent represented the spirit of good, of life, and of happiness...for it is a symbol of renewal and of the restoration of life." Snakes were considered the knowers of all secrets, while the Druids pictured the snake with a set of the rams horns. The snake was also an emblem of light. Very specifically the sun and the moon. "For the Ancient Egyptians, the snake represented divine wisdom." 4 R.B. Onians notes that "the men of old associated the snake...with heroes (i.e. 'the Mighty Dead'). The identification of the marrow and the serpent with the seed of new life appears in the myth of the Phoenix..." another symbol of resurrection, also on the JS Hypo.5 And we know also that snakes were thought of as guardians, as servants and guardian spirits of the house.6

I.E.S. Edwards notes that a Pyramid Text, spell 508 says that the king mounts up to heaven on the rays of the sun. Interestingly, it says "I mount up to that of my mother, the living Uraeus on the brow of Re. The Uraeus being the sacred cobra, and a very important headdress worn by the Egyptians.7 Another scholar informs us that the daughter of Ramessu VI married the high priest of the god Amun-Re. She wore the sacred asp or viper crown as a symbol of her sovereignty. It was in this manner that the priestly line gained its authority (Cf. Abr. 1:24 where the woman sets up the man as the one in charge).8 In another text we read that Firdausi in a book dealing with the 1,000 (a number that intrigued the ancient Egyptians and is noted in JS Hypo as well discussed in detailed length below) year reign of Dahak noted that out of his shoulders grew two serpents.9 Interesting that scholars have discovered that the serpent is clearly and usually associated with creation from the primeval abyss, or sea. In Egypt the Ogdoad, the 8 original deities to come forth out of the chaos were four frog deities and four snake deities, again associating snakes with creation with Nun, the primeval waters, exactly as does Joseph Smith in his hypocephalus.10 Interestingly in Egyptian ancient thought there was a dark snake as well as a light snake. The two represented duality and opposites.11 And true to form, Joseph Smith makes sure there are two snakes, which according to Egyptologists represents duality. In line with the two headed deity to be sure. This duality is simultaneously creative and destructive and we further read that "As a symbol of duality, the serpent represents intellect, the faculty by which man discriminates - that is to say, by which we break down the whole into its constituent parts." Nay, Smith nailed it by saying this was "first in government." 12 In fact, it is generally acknowledged that the snake is associated quite closely with the sun, and in fact we are told that "Helios was the first-born snake."13 So Joseph Smith having the two snakes in the central panel is precisely exact. In fact, one of the Egyptian hieroglyphs is just such a two-headed snake.14 (Cf. note 29 below many sources concerning snakes, creation, waters of Nun, etc.) And where on earth would Joseph Smith have cooked this thing up from? Back to the Qerti hieroglyph, what I find most interesting is that it is indeed just what Harris says it is. We find on a hymn to Amun (Amon) on a Leiden Papyrus just this exact idea.

Sir Alan Gardiner translated this as:

"The Nile floweth from his cavern for thy Primordial gods(?)"15 This idea is absolutely basic to ancient Egyptian thought. Notice the very first hieroglyph is very similar to the one in the JS Hypo, showing the water flowing out of the half sky sign. Granted its the other direction, but that is of no consequence. The q.r.t. in the hieroglyph of the Joseph Smith Hypo is the hollow, or cavern, which was thought to be the source of the Nile. We are told that "the Egyptians believed that the Nile rose in the First Cataract, in the Qerti, or Double Cavern..." The hieroglyph for Qerti being 16

A variant is which shows clearer the half sky signs.17

So why is this all so significant? Because Chnum was the "Creator" god who arose from none other than the "Nun." And how do we know this central figure in the JS Hypo is Chnum? The one give away, identifying feature of the figure is his flat, curly rams horns, which Chnum was always associated with, he being the Ram God, Creator par excellence. And, it was the Nun that Chnum as well as the rest of the Ogdoad ("Council of the gods") arose. So we read the following sentence as

"Nwn pw it ntrw" following Gardiner, as "The father of the gods is Nun."18 And we read further that "The Nile was a river of creative forces...as the fount of Egypt's fertility, the (supposed) source of the Nile was linked to the ram-headed creator god Khnum, who was believed to have fashioned humankind from Nile mud on a potter's wheel."19 We also now understand from Jan Assman that "Die Töpferscheibe ist das Instrument des Schöpfergottes, der aus formlosem Stoff Gestalten bildet." That is "The potter's wheel is the instrument of the creator-God, that forms shapes from shapeless material." 20 We also know of Chnum that "his symbol was the flat-horned ram..."21 The central figure in the JS Hypo has the flat horns of the ram, hence is Chnum. Most interestingly, in his four-headed aspect (most of the central figures in hypocephali have four heads) he "was the type of the great primeval creative force, and was called Sf.t-h3.t.22 In fact, because he was associated with the Ram of Mendes he is "sometimes described as the Ram with 'four faces (or, heads) on one neck."23 This being the central figure, as in the JS Hypo. So Joseph Smith was not so out of line in saying that this represented "the first creation." Interestingly, Chnum created the first egg, fashioned the first man on the potter's wheel, god par excellence of the first cataract, and it was here that the first city that ever existed, came to be, i.e. this is literally, following the ancient Egyptian thought, "the first creation!"24 Joseph Smith nailed this one exactly on the head. But even more interesting still, something both Harris and Rhoades apparently overlooked in their studies, many of the various names of Chnum are simply electrifying in light of what Joseph Smith explained.

The first line is "Chnum the Creator", 2nd line is "Chnum Governor of the two lands."

Third line down is "Chnum, weaver of his light", 4th is "Chnum, Governor of the House of Life", 5th is "Chnum lord of the land of life", 6th is "Chnum Governor of the House of Sweet Life," the final line is "Chnum, Lord."25

Now then, we know this is "the first creation", and now these other names also indicates that this is also, to quote Joseph Smith, "First in government..."! Very interesting... Joseph Smith is 3 for 3 here, First in creation, First in government, and Chnum associated with the waters of Nun. But there is more, oh to be sure, there is a lot more. Chnum was early on, we are informed, "regarded as the god of the Nile and of the annual Nile-flood."26 He was "the creative power which made and which sustains all things...identifying (ied) with Nu, the great primeval god of the watery abyss, and from being the local river-god of the Nile in the First Cataract, he became the god Hap-ur, the Nile of heaven."27 All good things poured forth from this heavenly Nile from this "double cavern [Qerti - the JS Hypo hieroglyph] was, in fact, the 'couch of the Nile.'" The hieroglyph here is most interesting.

Notice the water (the zigzags) being poured forth in the last line, exactly the same idea in the hieroglyph in the JS Hypo as well as the hieroglyph from the Hymns to Amon on the Leiden. And this brings us to another point, the water being represented as zigzags. Nothing is more firmly established at this time in Egyptology than the 3 lines of zigzags representing water. Those three lines in the JS Hypo hieroglyph are these three zigzags representing the water of Nun. Granted they are just quickly dashed off, but this was the convention when writing on papyrus as we can clearly see in the Joseph Smith Papyri itself.

Nibley translates this as the pool or lake of Khonsu, the pool or lake being the 3 zigzag lines.29 Notice they are rather quickly written, however, on the papyrus, as they are in the JS Hypo. We have many examples, such as the Leiden below also. Granted the hieroglyph was written in haste, yet it is obviously clear that the three zigzags are the water sign.

But the hieroglyph in the JS Hypo is a combined and yet abbreviated hieroglyph with three main features. Did the Egyptians write and abbreviate hieroglyphs like that? To be sure, as we note in Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar, p. 51 wherein he notes the "economy of space" used in writings and that "...abbreviated writings are here frequent." My question is how on this living earth could Joseph Smith have possibly known that? So this water sign is firmly established, and when associated with Chnum is usually the watery abyss, Nun. I'll give you a small listing of sources indicating just such zigzags always associated with water to show I'm not kidding.30

More interestingly still as Harris pointed out, "De Horrack expounded some variations of "Num-Ra" as representing (according to Champollion) the spirit of the four elements, the soul of the material world. This notion is not far off from that expressed in the Pearl of Great Price book of Moses, where the earth is portrayed as a living soul! (Moses 7:48)31 It is also worth noting that Chnum in gathering the attributes of the other gods, earth, wind, fire, water, i.e. the primary elements anciently, suggests the creation in its initial phase, which coincides rather well with Smith's idea of "the first creation."32

I've dealt with the two worshipping babboons in my article The Apes as Stars in Facsimile #2 - A Correct Interpretation

But one thing I neglected to mention that is noteworthy about the apes is their worshipful attitude. In the hypocephalus below I have circled the four sets of hieroglyphs in it to illustrate the idea.

Enlarged hieroglyph in circles.

Joseph Smith identified the apes as stars receiving light from Kolob. As Harris notes, "Since babboons go ape when the sun rises, i.e. they scream, do summer saults, etc., they are appropriate signs of the morning stars welcoming the new born sun. The inscription above found in the British Hypo pictured, 8445a, indicate the apes function as adoring the rising sun. Samuel Birch says that this inscription means the god is adored four times (the four strokes), because there are four apes in this particular hypo." Harris also notes that Budge says these signs are a late form of tua neter, "the stars of the god" (from Book of the Dead 109, 110). Jan Assman also noted that the apes ("Paviane") worship the deity, "verkündende und preisende Geleitgötter", announcing and praising the convoy-God.33 When the babboons announce Re, the "Große Gott", Grosse Gott, or the Great God, they also are ecstatic around him. We are told they " erscheinen, nachdem er entstanden ist indem sie zu beiden Seiten dieses Gottes sind bei seinem Aufgang im östlichen Lichtland des Himmels. Sie tanzen für ihn, sie springen für ihn, sie singen für ihn, sie musizieren für ihn, sie vollführen für ihn Freudenlärm" i.e. They appear, after he [Re] has originated, in that they are to both sides of this God at his ascent in the eastern light-country of the heaven. [Cf. the JS Hypo] They dance for him, they jump for him, they sing for him, they make music for him, they execute joy-noise for him. Interestingly this is when Re appears in the underworld also.34 i.e. they worship Re, exactly as we see in the JS Hypo.

Now, interestingly, in the seated Chnum's lap are the sceptres of dominion, life, and stability! The W3s scepter (jackal) signifies strength and power, the ankh symbol eternal life, and the djed symbolizes stability, it representing the backbone of Osiris, god of resurrection and endurance. Well these fit very well in line with Kolob's role, according to the Prophet, as a ruling sphere, inhabited by celestial resurrected beings possessing eternal life, in the first place, the first creation.35

Joseph Smith also noted that this Kolob idea is "The measurement according to celestial time, which celestial time signifies one day to a cubit. One day in Kolob is equal to a thousand years according to the measurement of this earth..." Now what about this? When we remember that Joseph Smith was saying this in the 1830's there was literally no Egyoptology to speak of. In the late 1800's decades after Joseph Smith was dead, the professional surveyor, W.F. Petrie found that the Egyptian cubit of 29.161 inches was found from a swinging pendulum which swung 100,000 times in 24 hours in the latitude in which Memphis lies.36 Now then we see that Joseph Smith said 1 day (notice this is time) and a cubit (this is space), Joseph Smith shows the relationship. The Egyptians make a cubit with relationship to the day. The Egyptians used an instrument called "merkhet" which is a stick with a plumb bob line.37 So Joseph Smith equates the number 1,000 to time and space, as the ancient Egyptians did! Most interestingly, the Egyptians took their measuring seriously, as we read "measuring rules were given a sacred meaning...the cubit rules...seem to be of the type used as sacred objects..."38

This idea of measurement to the ancient Egyptians was precisely what Joseph Smith said, namely, "the system of measures must have coordinated not only length, volume, and weight, but also time."39 What is absolutely incredible is that "the source of the Egyptian cubit and foot" relates directly here. "There are 86,400 seconds in a day of twenty four hours, or the time it takes the earth to revlolve on its axis. So the distance traveled by the earth at the equator in one second is exactly 1000 of Jomard's cubits." (My emphasis)40 Most interesting... There is that number 1,000 as Joseph Smith said. Now then, we read further that "The builders of the Great Pyramid gave its base a length corresponding to the distance the earth rotates in 1/2 a second. This makes the cubit and the foot doubly earth commensurate: the cubit was equal to 1/1000 of a second of time, the foot to 1/100 second of arc."41 We find Joseph Smith exactly correct in this aspect of Figure 1 also, "the ancient astronomers took the earth's daily rotation on its axis as a unit of time and made 1,000 cubits the distance traveled by the earth in a second of time."42 In the ancient Egyptian parlance, based on measurements, "there are 360,000 geographic feet in one degree."43 Divide that by 360 days for the Egyptian year, and you have 1,000. There it is again. And again, we note that "the speed of rotation of the vault of heaven is 1000 geographic cubits a second."44 Again, "Three qedet of 9 grams makes the Roman ounce of which 1000 makes the cube of the Egyptian foot of 300 millimeters." Again the 1000 pops its head up. We read further that "the ancients were concerned particularly with the speed of a point at the equator [as Joseph Smith said, from the measure of this earth] in terms of sidereal time. A minute of time (solar time) corresponds to the length of 15 minutes of degree of equator." This equivilance left them with, among other measures, "1 second (sidereal time) = 1000 cubits."45 Interestingly a minute of time = 100,000 Mycanaean feet, which gives us "second of time = 1000 Greek cubits."46 "The Egyptians counted a minute of arc as being 1000 brasses, or 1000 fathoms of 6 feet."47

That Joseph Smith equated the number 1000 as being an important Egyptian figure is indicative of his prophetic calling. He twice mentions this number 1000 in the hypocephalus. This number was also important to the Egyptians, as a unit of measure of time and space, as well as one of the names of one of their most important Goddesses, namely Nut. In his excellent study, Adolf Rusch noted that one of her names was "Ka ba es", that is the immortal stars.48 We read elsewhere that another description/translation of "ka ba es" is "one with a thousand souls."49 That Joseph Smith gets absolutely everything correct in this figure is truly breathtaking. What's more, this measure performed by modern scientists, was found by measuring the Great Pyramid. Is it just a coincidence that the Great Pyramid along with the Benben stone, the pyramidion shaped black granite triangular piece on the tops of obilisks, and perhaps on the ancient Great Pyramid itself; I ask, is it just coincidence that this was also the primordial mound, the "first land" to arise from the flood of heaven?50 So not only is the measurement in units of 1 to 1000 in ancient Egypt and the JS Hypo, but the very building that brought this about, the pyramid, is also associated with Fig 1 in the hypocephalus, namely the "first creation" as the "first land", the primeval mound originating from the "Qerti", (Nun, the primeval waters) the hieroglyph in Fig. 1 on the JS Hypo.

Is it not interesting that the Phoenix, the symbolic bird of immortality and resurrection had a main temple at Heliopolis, and that Heliopolis is mentioned at least three times on the rim of the JS Hypo, more than on any other hypocephalus?!51 Most interesting, associated further with this famous bird, the famous city of the sun, Heliopolis, and the Benben stone and Great Pyramid is "the belief that time is composed of recurrent cycles which are divinely appointed...There is further a governing moment [note this] amongst all these cycles and epochs - the 'genesis event' that the Egyptians called Zep Tepi the 'First Time.'"52 This "Zep Tepi" means "the first day of a period of time... the beginning or commencement of anything."53 When we look in Budge's authoritative Hieroglyphic Dictionary, we note that "Tepi" depending on the context can mean, "He who is over, or above someone, pre-eminent, foremost," as well as the "first day of each year"; "the first part of a period of time"; "first on a river, a name of the sacred barge of Amen [Figure 1]; "the head of the celestial waters"; "the chief followers of Re" [Fig 1]; "primeval time"; "ancestors of the Light-god" [Fig 1]; "the ancestor-gods of the circle of the sky" [The Hypocephalus itself - the circle of the sky, or universe]; 54 This is absolutely an astonishingly perfect fit. Joseph Smith did not miss one element. Not one. As I indicated, I will deal with the meaning of Kolob in another paper as this is already long enough.

All in all, as Harris has noted, though I have gone far beyond his excellent study, this is simply a marvelous harmony with Joseph Smith's interpretations.

Endnotes

1. James R. Harris, "The Book of Abraham Facsimiles," in Robert L. Millet, Kent P. Jackson, eds., Studies in Scripture, The Pearl of Great Price, Randall Book, 1985, p. 268.

2. Paul A. LaViolette, Beyond the Big Bang: Ancient Myth and the Science of Continuous Creation, Park Street Press, 1995, pp. 115f.

3. Mercea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, Princeton Univ. Press, 2nd printing 1974, p. 286. Cosmic snakes were put into the bodies of the Shaman in order for him to heal people, and understand medicine, p. 48. Very close to the Caduceus idea!

4. Louis Charbonneau-Lassay, Le Bestiaire du Christ, trans., by D.M. Dooling, The Bestiary of Christ, Parabola Books, 1991, pp. 153-163.

5. R.B. Onians, The Origins of European Thought, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988, p. 207.

6. Martin P. Nilsson, Greek Folk Religion, Univ. pf Pennsylvania Press, 1972, p. 71. Cf. Jane Harrison's interesting study, "The Hero as Snake" in her book Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, Princeton Univ. Press, paperback, 1991, pp. 325-333.

7. I.E.S. Edwards, The Pyramids of Egypt, Penguin Books, 1993, p. 282f. Cf. Lanzone's Dizinario Mitalogia Egezia, Tav. CCXXIX, CLXXIX, CLXXX, XX, see also Chronique D' Egypte, 1994, p. 56 for double Uraeus crown one head snake in each direction. Also p. 69; Adolf Erman, Die Religion der Agypter, p.19, 34; See also Time Life Books, Ramses II: Magnificence on the Nile, 1993, p. 122 illustration of Great Harris Papyrus; Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, Life and Death of Tutankhamen, N.Y. Graphic Society, 4th printing 1978, pp. 224f, for sacred Uraeus on the head of King Tut; Time Life Books, What Life was Like on the Banks of the Nile, n.d., pp. 80 for Uraeus crown on Amenhotep III the crown symbolizing his power, p. 165 for Uraeus on King Tut's mummy. Nicholas Reeves, The Complete Tutankhamen, Thames & Hudson, 1990, p. 129, 122, 121, 98f, 175 for serpent weapon, etc.; David P. Silverman, Ancient Egypt, Oxford Univ. Press, 1997, p. 200, for tomb of Sennedjem, huge Uraeus crown on Re sitting in his boat, p. 107, 34, 158 Uraeus tied in with the sacred boat, etc.

8. Norma Lorre Goodrich, Priestesses, HarperPerennial, 1990, p. 78.

9. Georgio Santilliana, Hertha von Deschend, Hamlet's Mill, Nonpareil Books, 1977, p. 370.

10. Henri Frankfort, John A. Wilson, Thorkild Jacobsen, Before Philosophy, Penguin Books, 1964, p. 18.

11. Frankfort, Ibid., pp. 34 concerning Apophis, also p. 57. Cf. discussion in Budge, Osiris, vol. 2, pp. 236ff. See his Egyptian Heaven and Hell, Open Court, 3rd printing, 1994, pp. 187 for discussion of dual headed serpent, for pictures, pp. 35, 40, 43, 45, 54, 60f, cf. the serpents who guard the gates, pp. 100ff, 113, 149. See also Cheikh Anta Diop, Civilization or Barbarism, translated from the French, Lawrence Hill Books, 1991, pp. 331ff.

12. John Anthony West, Serpent in the Sky, First Quest Edition, 1993, pp. 58f. Cf. Joseph Campbell, ed., Spirit and Nature, Princeton Univ. Press, paperback, 1982, C. Kerenyi, "Apollo Epiphanes," p. 73.

13. Campbell, Ibid., p. 73. Cf. Hans Leisegang, "The Mystery of the Serpent," in Joseph Campbell, ed., The Mysteries, Princeton Univ. Press, 5th print, 1990, pp. 194-260, where we are told that the serpent is also associated with the omphalos, the central mound of creation! Cf. G.A. Wainwright, "The Emblem of Min," in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1931, pp. 190ff, where he notes that meteorite, omphalos and thunderbolt were all one and the same in ancient religion! See also Joseph Campbell, Occidental Mythology, Penguin Books, 1976, pp.163f, for relationship of the microcosm (man) with the macrocosm (universe), with the involvment of the two serpents of the Caduceus.

14. Alan Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, p. 476, #11 in the sign-list. Cf. Laviolette, Beyond the Big Bang, p. 116!

15. Alan Gardiner, "Hymns To Amon From a Leiden Papyrus," in Zeitschrift fur agyptische Sprache, (Hereafter ZAS), 1905, p. 25 for hieroglyph, p. 26 for translation.

16. E.A.W. Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians, vol. 2, Dover, 1969, p. 43.

17. Budge, Ibid., p. 53. Cf. Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Dover, 1978, 2 vols, see vol. 2, p. 774 under "Qer-t" 2nd column, last word, "hollow, cavern, cave, source of Nile..." See p. 775 1st column, 5th word down, "Qer-ti, Qerr-ti" which has many variations, including the half sky sign said to represent "the two caverns in the First Cataract out of which the Nile was believed to rise." Cf. A. M. Blackman, "Some Notes on the Ancient Egyptian Practice of Washing the Dead," in Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1918, p. 118 where the Nile as originating in the first cataract was also considered to be the sacred fluid of Osiris' body.

18. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, Griffith Institute, 3rd edition, 1994, p. 105.

19. David P. Silverman, ed., Ancient Egypt, Oxford Univ. Press, 1997, p. 19.

20. Jan Assman, Der Konig als Sonnenpriester, Verlag, J.J. Augustin, 1970, p. 25. He also notes that the Potter's wheel is a central symbol in Egyptian art, "die Toperscheibe ein zentrales Symbol ist."

21. Budge, Gods, vol. 2, p. 49. Cf. I. E. S. Edwards, Pyramids of Egypt, Penguin Books, 1993, p. 17.

22. Budge, Gods, vol. 2, p. 51.

23. Budge, Gods, vol. 2, p. 65.

24. Budge, Gods, vol. 2, pp. 50, 53. Alan Gardiner has noted how closely tied Chnum is with the ancient Egyptian "House of Life", i.e. the temple, as the drama of creation was performed there, "The House of Life," in Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 1938, p. 178.

25. Budge, Gods, vol. 2, pp. 54f.

26. Budge, Gods, vol. 2, p. 50.

27. Budge, Gods, vol. 2, p. 52.

28. Budge, Gods, vol. 2, p. 53.

29. Hugh Nibley, The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri, Deseret Book, 1976, p. 19. See also pp. 25, 26, 27, 28.

30. Klaus Baer, "The Breathing Permit of Hor," in Dialogue, Autumn 1968, p. 118 where he mentions the crocodile in Fac. 1 "who is represented in the water (the zigzags) below..." David P. Silerman, ed., Ancient Egypt, Oxford Univ. Press, 1997, p. 62 showing a hunting scene with fish in the river (zigzags); Karl Theodor Zauzich, Hieroglyphs Without Mystery, Univ. of Texas Press, 2nd printing, 1994, p. 55, 'hb - filling jars, p. 112 also; Hilary Wilson, Understanding Hieroglyphs, Passport Books, 1995, p. 117 - showing ship on water, p. 94, Shardana of the sea, p. 187, p. 73, Hapy the Nile god; W.V. Davies, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Univ. of California Press, 1993, p. 59 water as zigzag line, also note evolution of this interesting hieroglyph, p. 60; R.O. Faulkner, Book of the Dead, Univ. of Texas Press, 1993, pp. 70, 94, 96ff, 100, 105, 110, 118, 120, 123, 125f, 153, 168f, 191 - definition of Nun; R.O. Faulkner, Book of the Dead, Carol Andrews, ed., Chronicle Books, 1994, plate 32 for the zigzag water lines being drawn straight as in the JS Hypo, also see plate 8, 16, 28, 32, 34, p. 142f for description of Nun; John Anthony West, Serpent in the Sky, First Quest Edition, 1993, p. 33; Robert Bauval, The Orion Mystery, Crown Publishers, 1994, pp. 86-92, 120 (the Nile is Okeanus, which is Nun), 146f, 260; E.A.W. Budge, Legends of the Egyptian Gods, Dover ed., 1994, p. 3; I. E. S. Edwards, The Pyramids of Egypt, Penguin Books, 1993, pp. 6,7; George Steindorff and Keith C. Seele, When Egypt Ruled the East, Univ. of Chicago Press, 2nd ed., 1957, pp. 102, 172, 179, and hieroglyph for water, p. 120. Joseph Campbell, ed., Man and Time, Princeton Univ. Press, 3rd ed., 1983, p. 341 - King born in Nun, the primordial water; George Hart, Egyptian Myths, Univ. of Texas Press, 1990, p. 11 notes that when Nu would crash through the sky, an event feared by the Egyptians, only Atum and Osiris would survive, and that in the form of snakes. The primeval mound was formed out of the benben stone after the Nile flood subsided, from creation, the "first" land arose; Erich Neumann, The Great Mother, Princeton Univ. Press, 7th printing, 1991, p. 217, the primordial ocean of Nun is a uroboric snake encompassing the earth, p. 221 Neith identified with Nut, who is identified with Nun, p. 224 the Zodiac at Denderah shows the bulls thigh, which is Set's phallic leg, from which the Nile flows, showing the Nile to be a heavenly stream from the heavenly ocean of Nun. Barbara C. Sproul, Primal Myths, HarperCollins, 1991, p. 90; Eugene Strouhal, Life of the Ancient Egyptians, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1992, p. 93, Hapi, the male/female God, also associated with the Nile, which is Nun, the primeval waters. The zigzag lines pictured on pp. 102, 108, 183, 186; Alberto Siliotti, Guide to the Valley of the Kings, Barnes & Noble, 1997, zigzag water signs, pp. 109, 110, 139, 143, 155, 157.

31. James R. Harris, Understanding Facsimile 2 of the Book of Abraham," p. 90.

32. Harris, Ibid., p. 90.

33. Jan Assman, Ibid., p. 28. Cf. Adolf Erman, Die Religion der Agypter, Walter De Gruyter, 1934, p. 20.

34. Assman, Ibid., p. 28f.

35. Harris, Ibid., p. 91. Cf. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, p. 137.

36. Hugh Nibley, One Eternal Round, Lectures on the Joseph Smith Hypocephalus, 12 tapes, discussion in tape # 10.

37. I.E.S. Edwards, The Pyramids of Egypt, p. 248 (picture also). Cf. David Fideler, Jesus Christ, Sun of God: Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian Symbolism, Quest Books, 1993, pp. 252ff.

38. Livio Catullo Stecchini, "Notes on the Relation of Ancient Measures to the Great Pyramid," in Peter Tompkins, Secrets of the Great Pyramid Harper and Row, 1971, p. 333.

39. Stecchini, Ibid., p. 315.

40. Stecchini, Ibid., p. 210.

41. Ibid., p. 210.

42. Ibid., p. 211.

43. Ibid., p. 314.

44. Ibid., p. 317.

45. Ibid., p. 348.

46. Ibid., p. 352.

47. Ibid., p. 203.

48. Adolf Rusch, Die Entwicklung der Himmelsgottin Nut zu einer Totengottheit, J.C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, Leipzig, 1922, p. 6.

49. Margaret Bunson, The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Facts on File, 1991, p 193. Cf. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, pp. 192-194 for "ka" = 1000. Also David P. Silverman, Ancient Egypt, 1997, p. 94.

50. Laviolette, Beyond the Big Bang, p. 103. David P. Silverman, Ancient Egypt, 1997, pp. 120f, 170fff.

51. A. Wiedemann, "Die Phonix-Sage im alten Augypten," in Zeitschrifte fur Agtischen Sprache, 1878, p. 92. Cf. Luise Klebs, "Der Agyptische Seelenvogel," in Zeitschrifte fur Agyptischen Sprache, 1925, p. 106. See also Hans Bonnet, Reallexikon der Agyptischen Religionsgeschichte, de Gruyter, 1952, pp. 594ff; Sabatino Moscati, The Face of the Ancient Orient, Anchor Books, 1962, p. 121, says "At Heliopolis, the supreme gods are arranged in order of descent and relationship in the Ennead." Cf. David Fideler, Jesus Christ, Sun of God: Ancient Cosmology and Early Christian Symbolism, Quest Books, 1993, pp. 248f. Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, p. 470 for hieroglyph of Phoenix, #31 of Sign-list; Also Robert Bauval, Adrian Gilbert, The Orion Mystery, Crown Publishers, 1994, pp. 197-200. Also see my article "Heliopolis" Translated on Rim of Joseph Smith Hypocephalus - Fac #2

52. Robert Bauval, Graham Hancock, The Message of the Sphinx, Crown Publishers, 1996, p. 205-207.

53. Ibid., p. 206.

54. Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary, Dover, 1978, 2 vols, quotes in vol. 2, pp. 828ff.