Book of Abraham

The Book of Abraham is a work produced in 1835 by Joseph Smith based, he said, on Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records [...] purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus". Smith said the papyri describe Abraham's early life, his travels to Canaan and Egypt, and his vision of the cosmos and its creation.

The work was canonized in 1880 by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) as part of its Pearl of Great Price. It thus forms a doctrinal foundation for the LDS Church and Mormon fundamentalist denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement though is not considered a religious text by the Community of Christ. Other groups in the Latter Day Saint movement have differing opinions regarding the Book of Abraham, some rejecting and some accepting the text as inspired scripture. The book contains several doctrines that are unique to Mormonism such as the idea that God organized eternal elements to create the universe (instead of creating it ex nihilo), the exaltation of humanity, a pre-mortal existence, the first and second estates, and the plurality of gods.

The Book of Abraham papyri were thought to have been lost in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire. However, in 1966 several fragments of the papyri were found in the archives of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and in the LDS Church archives. They are now referred to as the Joseph Smith Papyri. Upon examination by professional Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists, these fragments were identified as Egyptian funerary texts, including the "Breathing Permit of Hôr" and the "Book of the Dead", among others. As a result, the Book of Abraham has been the source of significant controversy. Critics say it is a work of fiction created by Smith, while some Mormon apologists defend its authenticity.

...
Wikipedia