Joseph (Smith) in Egypt: Babel, Hieroglyphs, and the Pure Language of Eden

Abstract

, Michael Chandler, an Irish-American entrepreneur, arrived in the Mormon capital of Kirtland, Ohio, to meet Joseph Smith, the Latter-day Saint founder and, according to an 1830 revelation, "a seer, a translator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ." 2 Visiting nearby Cleveland with an exhibit of road-weary Theban mummies and their funeral papyri, Chandler had caught word of Smith's notoriety as a translator of hieroglyphs. Although the showman probably recognized that the mummies were unlikely to survive further travel and hoped to dispose of them profitably, he may have been genuinely curious to hear what the New York prophet had to say about his charges. In any event, Chandler did not leave Kirtland disappointed. After issuing a certificate of Smith's skill with hieroglyphs, he sold the Mormon founder four of his "posthumous travelers" and their attached papyri for the formidable sum of $2,400 (five times the annual income of a typical family farm in the area). 3