Papyrus Joseph Smith 11 and an Actual Translation

The text of the Book of Abraham is supposed to be Joseph Smith's translation of this section of the scroll. Designated Papyrus Joseph Smith 11 (PJS 11), it was originally connected to PJS 1, from which Facsimile No. 1 was derived. This was verified by Dr. Klaus Baer, an Egyptologist at the University of Chicago who wrote: "They clearly adjoin as proposed . . . . Papyrus fibers are always irregular and can be used (much like finger prints) to check whether fragments come from the same sheet; in this case the horizontal fibers on the left and right edges of Papyrus Joseph Smith I and XI, respectively, match exactly." (From Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Autumn 1968, pp. 133, 134).

Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists, including Richard Parker, Klaus Baer, John A. Wilson, and Edward Ashment, have examined this piece of the Book of Abraham scroll and agree that it is the opening portion of a first-century A.D. Book of Breathings, a burial document that makes no mention of Abraham.

Translation of PJS 11 by Professor Richard Parker of Brown University (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Summer 1968, p. 98).

Line 1 — [. . . .] this great pool of Khonsu
Line 2 — [Osiris Hor, justified], born of Taykhebyt, a man likewise.
Line 3 — After (his) two arms are [fast]ened to his breast, one wraps the Book of Breathings, which is
Line 4 — with writing both inside and outside of it, with royal linen, it being placed [at] his left arm
Line 5 — near his heart, this having been done at his
Line 6 — wrapping and outside it. If this book be recited for him, then
Line 7 — he will breathe like the soul[s of gods] for ever and
Line 8 — ever.

The left side of the fragment begins the series of spells to be recited.