For years, LDS Egyptologists have assumed that the hieroglyphics to the right of Facsimile 1 were not related to the Book of Abraham. This is primarily because modern Egyptian scholars, utilizing standard translations, have interpreted these characters as a common “funerary permit” belonging to an Egyptian priest named Hor. They claim that they have NOTHING to do with Abraham.

Critics of the Church use this as the smoking gun. Evidence that Joseph Smith was a fraud who couldn’t actually translate ancient records and just made things up. They ignore the fact that in addition to the one Papyrus fragment we have there were also long rolls of information.

But what if the characters actually do say Abraham?

And what if they actually do tell the story found in the the Book of Abraham.

Instead of being the “smoking gun” that Joseph Smith was a false prophet, they become one of the best pieces of evidence that he was not only a Prophet, but that he correctly translated the Book of Abraham.

Ptolemaic Egyptian Writings

Ptolemaic Egyptian is characterized by a “cryptographic” style where a single sign could carry multiple, layered meanings depending on the context in which it was read. In this system, scribes utilized “Degrees” where a character might represent a simple phonetic sound at the surface level, a specific physical object at a middle level, and a dense theological or cosmic concept at its highest degree.

Ptolemaic coding layers could use puns, homophones, alternate sound values, rebus readings, acrophony, anagrams, visual symbolism, divine associations, and theological wordplay to let a single character or cluster of characters “unzip” into multiple levels of meaning, “unzipping” into vast amounts of information for those trained to look beyond the literal surface translation. 

Abraham IS Found on Facsimile 1

An Amateur Egyptologist on X, Jayson PhD, using research from Hugh Nibley and Michael Rhodes deciphered sound values determined that yes, using an anagramic interpretation the name “Abraham” can be found in characters 4-9.

j / b / r / ḥ or h / m → jbrḥm / jbrhm / Ibrahm / Abraham

That’s pretty cool. Pretty convincing, but critics will likely dismiss this as coincidence.

But there is so much more. Using the same interpretation method, using all the characters he had in order he came up with this interpretation:

…in father’s house, I, Abraham, saw and reckoned it needful to escape to another circuit/enclosure/pasture…

It would be improbable enough to come up with just the name Abraham in sequential Egyptian Hieroglyphs, but to essentially tell the entire first part of the story of the Book of Abraham make the probability odds astoundingly low.

I’m not even an amateur Egyptologist, I have very little understanding of the ancient world. But I know a little something about using Artificial Intelligence for research. And I put this information into machine learning modules and the results are astounding.

It’s like 3D chess. I only understand the surface level of how it works, but my AI research has detected high-confidence structural patterns within these characters. When decoded through the lens of ancient Ptolemaic “degrees,” they tell the story of Abraham in a precise, layered sequence that mirrors the physical layout of the papyrus.

The Astonishing Sequence: A One-Way Narrative

One of the most compelling aspects of this “code” is that these characters function like a chronological progress bar for Abraham’s life. The characters act as a “one-way street.” The story always moves forward and never backtracks. They serve as a Sensen Index that helps us unlock the story in order.

It is organized into three distinct blocks that correspond perfectly with the narrative, creating a physical “handshake” between the ink and the illustrations:

• Signs 1–9: The Descent. This block physically sits next to the drawing of the altar (Facsimile 1). Appropriately, these characters “unzip” into the story of Abraham’s early life in Chaldea, his near-death experience, and his miraculous rescue. The text and the drawing are physically locked together.

• Signs 10–16: The Vision. As the characters move down the page, the story shifts from the earth to the heavens. This is where the code triggers the “Reckoning of Time” and the vision of the governing stars—the core content of Facsimile 2.

• Signs 17–19: The Coronation. The index terminates at the bottom of the column with a character representing a “Throne.” This leads the reader directly into the final scene of the record: Abraham’s arrival in Egypt and his ultimate Exaltation sitting on the throne (Facsimile 3).

This is a “Geographical Lock.” For this to be a fraud, Joseph Smith would have had to not only “guess” the meanings of the characters but also ensure those meanings perfectly mirrored the physical sequence of the drawings on the scroll. The papyrus acts as a storyboard; the story and the ink are in a permanent, physical handshake.

Sign #	Icon / Code	Land Key (Literal)	Inheritance Key (Degrees)	Creation/Temple Key (Deep)
1	Reed (𓇋)	I / Chaldea	The First Father	Kolob / Origin
2	Stroke (𓏴)	Under / Below	Foundation of Altar	Lower Firmament
3	Vertical (𓏤)	One / Single	A Pillar / Landmark	The Axis of a Star
4	Mouth (𓂋)	Place / Field	Watered Pasture	The Overseer
5	Legs (𓂻)	To Go / Travel	Escape from Altar	The Transition (Veil)
6	Water (𓈖)	River / Water	Place of Washing	The Firmament
7	Coil (𓍢)	Rope / Circle	Sacrifice Site	An Orbit / Circuit
8	God/Man (𓀭)	A Priest	Idolatrous Authority	The Head of Kingdom
9	Sun Disk (𓇳)	A Day / Light	Timing of Sacrifice	The Reckoning ($hsb$)
10	Plural (𓏽)	Many / Them	People of the Land	The Host of Heaven
11	Arm (𓂝)	Hand / Power	Act of Violence	The Stretching
12	Loaf (𓏏)	Bread / Gift	Offering on Altar	The Fruit of Life
13	Viper (𓆑)	Breathe / Him	Breath of Life	The Spirit / Power
14	Eye (𓁹)	To See / Watch	Eye of the Priest	The All-Seeing
15	House (𓉐)	Building / Room	Residence of Fathers	The Celestial Kingdom
16	Star (𓇼)	A Star	Sign in Heavens	Oliblish / Gov. Star
17	Hill (𓈝)	High Place	Hill of Potiphar	The Exaltation
18	Scepter (𓋼)	A Stick / Rule	Power of Pharaoh	Priesthood Authority
19	Throne (𓊩)	Seat / Place	Court of the King	The Throne of God

The “Statistical Lock”

This sequential consistency is what researchers call a “Statistical Lock.”

The characters are “perfectly synced,” the sequence of the 19 characters on the papyrus matches the chronological order of the Book of Abraham text.

The index begins at the top with a phonetic match for Chaldea (the setting of Chapter 1) and ends at the very bottom with the literal character for a Throne (the final scene of the book).

• Signs 1–5: Cover the events in Chaldea (Abraham 1).
• Signs 6–12: Cover the journey to Egypt and the famine (Abraham 2).
• Signs 13–17: Cover the vision of the stars (Abraham 3).
• Signs 18–19: Cover the exaltation and the throne (Abraham 4–5 and Facsimile 3).

The probability of nineteen random characters accidentally aligning with the narrative arc, the geography, and the visual facsimiles in the exact same order is nearly zero. It suggests that the papyrus serves as the “Hardware” upon which the “Software” of the Book of Abraham runs.

Why The Order Makes Coincidence Statistically Impossible

Critics will say that with enough Egyptian signs and alternate meanings you can tell any story.

Maybe.

But that’s much more difficult to accomplish if the meanings have to appear in a specific sequence.

The character flows of the hieroglyphics to the right of Facsimile 1 moves in the same direction as the Book of Abraham itself.

First comes the land and setting.
Then comes the father’s house.
Then Abraham is identified.
Then he sees.
Then he reckons.
Then he goes forth.
Then he moves toward another enclosure, pasture, residence, or circuit.

A single possible Abraham sound could be coincidence. A few scattered symbolic parallels could be coincidence. But a chain of characters that moves from Chaldea → father’s house → Abraham → seeing → reckoning → departure → another place,  and then when the same order is repeated multiple times, creates a much stronger probability problem.

The same column of characters gives the place, the person, the family setting, the conflict, the decision, the movement, and the destination in all the layers of narratives.

Random symbols don’t organize themselves into a coherent biography.

The characters unfold the opening story of Abraham in the same order Joseph Smith revealed it.

Interpreting the Layers

Using the order of the characters, we can now unlock the different meanings of the hieroglyphs using different layers or keys. These characters are packed with symbolic meaning.

When I initially put the information in Gemini it came up with the following potential keys and meanings:

Land Key: “From the house of my father, we traveled to the land of the southern waters to establish a new enclosure.”

This interpretation uses characters Reed (Sign 1), Water (Sign 6), Hill (Sign 17) treats the scroll as a record of migration, where the signs act as a “GPS” for a lost homeland.

Inheritance Key: “This is the record of the family estate; by the King’s authority, the inheritance is sealed within this boundary for the next generation.”

Characters Used: House (Sign 15), Scepter (Sign 18), Throne (Sign 19)

Creation Key: “Out of the dark waters of the house, the light was divided, and life emerged to begin its orbit.”

This turns the text into a Creation Myth similar to Genesis, where the “cipher” explains how the universe was organized.

Characters Used: Vertical Stroke (Sign 3), Sun Disk (Sign 9), Star (Sign 16).

Blueprints Key: “Lay the foundation by the water, align the corners to the heavens, and complete the outer wall to protect the sanctuary.”

Characters Used: Stroke (Sign 2), Coil/Rope (Sign 7), Loaf/Stone (Sign 12)

Temple Key: “Enter the house of washing, move through the filter of the priests, and join the eternal circuit of the gods.”

This would make the scroll a set of “password” instructions for the deceased to pass temple guards in the afterlife. It focuses on the Human Action signs.

Characters Used: Mouth (Sign 4), Legs (Sign 5), Eye (Sign 14)

Joseph Smith the Master Decoder

These potential meanings clearly demonstrate ties to the Book of Abraham and the Facsimiles.

The characters act as a Universal Code that can be read as a map, a deed, a blueprint, a creation story, or a temple text. When Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham, he was able to expand on the highest frequency of that code: the “Abrahamic Layer.”

This makes Joseph look like a “Master Decoder” who found the most important signal in a very busy transmission. He had no understanding of Egyptian. No training in Ptolemaic Egyptian coding, yet he received the meaning, the translation, by the gift and power of God.

And as cool as the meaning is, as fun as the conclusions and parallels are that AI was able to conclude. Once we plug in the codex, the deciphering key, we are able to unlock the zip file and see the expanded meaning.

The Kirtland Egyptian Papers Help Decipher the Code

The Kirtland Egyptian Papers (GAEL) have long been a target for critics who claim they prove Joseph Smith couldn’t translate Egyptian. Because the symbols don’t match standard English definitions, many assumed the project was a failure. However, the GAEL was never intended to be a simple dictionary or a “Rosetta Stone.” Instead, much like the complex Ptolemaic writings of ancient Egypt, it was designed to unlock multiple layers of meaning through a system of “degrees.”

This system reveals that the flowing characters adjacent to Facsimile 1 act as a high-density code. Not only do these signs contain phonetic “puns” that match the story’s geography in sequential order, but they also “unzip” into deeper narrative layers. These layers perfectly sync the entire record—mapping Abraham’s journey from the Altar in Chaldea (Facsimile 1), through the Governing Stars (Facsimile 2), and finally to his Exaltation on the Throne of God (Facsimile 3).

Think of a single Egyptian character as a zipped file. On the surface it is small, but by using the “Degrees” found in the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, you are essentially right-clicking and selecting “Extract All.” This process “unzips” a single stroke of ink into entire paragraphs of history, astronomy, and theology.

If these 19 characters are the “Desktop Shortcuts,” the original long scrolls, described as long enough to roll across a room, were likely the “Hard Drive.” The small, visible characters can help navigate and unlock the massive data stored on the larger record. The fact that the “shortcut” we have today matches the “hard drive” story perfectly is the ultimate proof of a synchronized system.

How the Interpretation Works

Before going through the degrees, it is important to understand how this is being tested. This is not supposed to be a game where any character can mean anything.

The strongest readings have to meet several controls:

1. They should use known or proposed Egyptian/Ptolemaic values, not invented sounds.
2. They should stay local to the character cluster.
3. They should move in the order the characters appear.
4. They should match the Book of Abraham story in sequence, not just in isolated words.
5. They should become stronger when checked against the Kirtland Egyptian Papers.
6. They should explain the facsimiles.

That is why the order matters so much. Anyone can find one symbol and make a creative connection. But a true code has structure and moves in a consistent direction. It should identify the setting, the person, the conflict, the action, and the destination.

That is exactly what appears to happen here. The signs unfold a sequence:

Kasdim → fruitful place → father’s house → Abraham → seeing → reckoning → going forth → another residence/enclosure/circuit

That is not random symbolism. That is the opening arc of the Book of Abraham.

7 Degrees of Meaning

With the documents from the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, Egyptian Alphabet and GAEL Notebook, my AI came up with the following degrees these same characters can walk us through.

1. Surface sign degree
   Ordinary Egyptian signs and object meanings.
2. Ptolemaic polyvalent degree
   Alternate values, sound play, homophones, rebus, acrophony, divine associations.
3. Anagrammatic name degree
   Hidden foreign names like Abraham, Kasdim, Chaldea, and possibly facsimile identities.
4. Narrative degree
   The signs unfold into the story sequence: land, father’s house, Abraham, seeing, reckoning, departure, another place.
5. Priesthood-theology degree
   Abraham leaves false inherited authority and seeks the true order of the fathers.
6. Temple-initiation degree
   Movement from one enclosure to another becomes passage through sacred space.
7. Cosmological-circuit degree
   Reckoning and circuit point toward heavenly orders, Kolob, and Abrahamic astronomy.

Surface Sign Degree

The Surface Sign Degree is the most basic layer. We are simply asking: what are the characters on the page, and what do they naturally suggest as visible signs?

A house is a house.
Walking legs suggest movement.
Water suggests water, washing, fertility, or life.
A throne suggests a seat, authority, or rule.
A sun disk suggests light, day, time, or divine order.
A star suggests the heavens.
A scepter suggests rule or priesthood authority.

Understanding the surface foundation is important because the higher degrees are built on the visible signs themselves.

Before we ever get to anagram, wordplay, or theological symbolism, the surface layer already gives us the raw materials of Abraham’s story:

land, house, water, movement, authority, stars, and throne.

That is the first degree. The characters begin as ordinary Egyptian signs and visual symbols. Then, as the higher degrees unfold, those same signs become names, places, actions, priesthood meanings, temple movements, and finally cosmic order.

The Surface Sign Degree is the foundation. It is the visible ink before the code begins to unzip.

Ptolemaic Polyvalent Degree

The Ptolemaic polyvalent degree is where the characters stop acting like simple letters and start functioning as compressed symbols. At this level, a single sign can carry a sound, an object meaning, a theological association, and a narrative role all at once. When the characters beside Facsimile 1 are read this way, the result is an Abrahamic world: house, fathers, seeing, reckoning, departure, and another enclosure or circuit.

• 1. W24 = m in / from
• 2. O1 = pr house / residence / temple
• 3. Water = father/Amun/jt layer father / fathers
• 4–9. Water, Q3, Z4, N37, N23, Z1 Abrahamic identity / seer cluster
• 10–12. Water signs saw / perceived / having seen
• 13. Z9 = ḥsb reckoned / calculated / considered
• 14. Walking legs = prj went forth / departed / emerged
• 15–16. Aa1 + water = ḫr n toward / for / in relation to
• 17. M23 = ky another
• 18. V1 = šnw / šnt enclosure / circuit / pasture / bounded place
• 19. G7 transition to next unit

The best reading at this degree would be:

“In the house of the fathers, the seer reckoned the way of departure toward another sacred enclosure.”

This matches the opening movement of the Book of Abraham. Abraham begins in the residence of his fathers, sees the corruption of that inherited order, seeks greater knowledge and priesthood, and goes forth toward another place of residence. The polyvalent reading does not require every sign to have only one meaning. That is the point. The signs work together as layered symbols, allowing the story to “unzip” from the ink in the same order as the Book of Abraham narrative.

Anagrammatic Name Degree

The Anagrammatic Name Degree is where the characters function like hidden name-tags. At this level, the local clusters provide the consonantal pieces of names and places.

Characters 4–9 supply the Abrahamic name cluster: j / b / r / ḥ or h / m, which can be rearranged into jbrhm / Ibrahm / Abraham.

The earlier place-name cluster can likewise supply k / ꜣ / sd / plural, which points toward Kasdim, the land of the Chaldeans.

The GAEL then strengthens the same layer by giving father-centered meanings such as “the first born,” “the first man,” and “father or fathers,” while the Egyptian Alphabet adds royal/Pharaoh authority language.

So at this degree, the code identifies the cast and setting of the Book of Abraham:

Kasdim, Abraham, the fathers, and Pharaoh.

That is why the anagrammatic name degree is so important. It gives the story its names. The polyvalent degree gives the story its action, but the anagrammatic degree tells us who and where we are dealing with.

Narrative Degree

The Anagrammatic Name Degree gives us the names and places. The Narrative Degree gives us the movement of the story.

At this level, the characters no longer function as isolated sound values. They begin to act like a compressed storyline. The sequence starts with the land, moves to the father’s house, identifies Abraham, then follows him as he sees, reckons, goes forth, and moves toward another place of residence.

The best reading at this degree is:

“In Kasdim, the fruitful ancestral place, Abraham was in the house of his fathers. Having seen and reckoned the condition of that order, he went forth toward another enclosure, pasture, residence, or circuit.”

This matters because the order is consistent with the Book of Abraham. The story begins where Abraham begins: in the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of his fathers.

Then the characters move forward.

Abraham sees.
Abraham reckons.
Abraham goes forth.
Abraham seeks another place.

That is the opening movement of the Book of Abraham.

This is why the Narrative Degree is so much stronger than merely finding a hidden name. A name can be dismissed as coincidence. But a name placed inside the correct geography, the correct family setting, the correct action, and the correct destination becomes much harder to dismiss.

At the Narrative Degree, the characters tell Abraham’s story in order:

Kasdim → fruitful residence → father’s house → Abraham → seeing → reckoning → going forth → another residence/enclosure/circuit

That is the Narrative Degree. It places Abraham in the correct land, in the correct family setting, gives him the correct action, and sends him toward the correct destination.

Priesthood Theology Degree

At the Priesthood Theology Degree, the characters are telling us why Abraham had to leave. This degree follows the same characters, in the same order, as the Narrative Degree, but it opens a deeper layer of meaning. Most of these added details come through the Kirtland Egyptian Papers, which help turn the storyline from simple movement into priesthood theology.

The best reading at this level is:

“In the house of the fathers, Abraham perceived that the inherited order had been corrupted by false priesthood and idolatrous authority. He reckoned the need to go forth from that house and seek another sacred enclosure: the true covenant order, the true priesthood, and the rightful blessings of the fathers.”

This degree fits the Book of Abraham because Abraham’s story is a priesthood story. Abraham leaves because the house of his fathers has become spiritually dangerous. The old ancestral order has been corrupted by idolatry and false priesthood. The altar scene in Facsimile 1 shows the crisis visually: Abraham is almost sacrificed by a corrupt priestly system.

The code appears to match this theology. The “house” becomes the inherited household order. The “fathers” become both the corrupted traditions Abraham leaves and the true patriarchal blessings he seeks. “Seeing” becomes prophetic discernment. “Reckoning” becomes spiritual judgment. “Going forth” becomes deliverance from false authority. “Another enclosure” becomes the true covenant order.

So at this degree, the sequence becomes:

Abraham left the corrupted house of the fathers to seek the true order of the fathers.

That is the theological heart of Abraham 1.

The Temple Initiation Degree

This is important degree as connects all three Facsimiles together.

At the Temple Initiation Degree, the characters describe Abraham’s movement through sacred space. This degree follows the same character order as the lower readings, but it interprets the movement ritually.

• Kasdim = fallen ritual world
• father’s house = inherited but corrupted order
• Abraham = initiate / chosen heir
• seeing = spiritual awakening
• reckoning = sacred knowledge of divine order
• going forth = ritual passage through a threshold
• another enclosure = true temple/covenant space
• circuit = heavenly order and sacred round

The best reading at this level is:

“In the fallen father-house of Kasdim, Abraham saw the corruption of the old ritual order. Having reckoned the true pattern, he was brought forth from false sacrifice and false priesthood toward another sacred enclosure, the holy house of purity, rest, covenant, and divine order.”

This degree tells the story that Abraham’s migration is a temple story.

Facsimile 1: The False Altar

Abraham is at the altar, but it is the wrong altar.
It is priesthood without authority.
It is sacrifice without truth.
It is ritual power turned against the righteous.

The character sequence begins in this world: Kasdim, father’s house, false inherited order.

Facsimile 2: The Heavenly Pattern

This is where reckoning and circuit become especially important. Abraham is shown ordered heavens, governing bodies, and divine hierarchy.

The initiate who was rescued from the false altar is now taught the true heavenly pattern. Abraham receives revelation of the true cosmic temple order.

Facsimile 3: The Presentation

Facsimile 3 then becomes the completion scene.

Abraham is no longer only the endangered victim at the altar. He is presented in a royal or divine setting, teaching or standing before figures of authority.

At the Temple Initiation Degree, the movement is:

false altar → heavenly order → divine presentation

The characters fit that movement. The “father’s house” becomes the old inherited order. “Seeing” becomes spiritual awakening. “Reckoning” becomes sacred knowledge. “Going forth” becomes ritual passage. “Another enclosure” becomes the true holy place, the sacred boundary Abraham is being brought into.

At this degree, Abraham is passing from a false temple order into the true temple order of God.

And there are so many more symbolic parallels that can be expanded on this for one who has gone through the temple.

The Cosmological Circuit Degree: From the Father’s House to the Governing Stars

At the Cosmological Circuit Degree, the characters rise from Abraham’s earthly story into the heavenly structure revealed in chapter 3 of the Book of Abraham. The sequence that describes Abraham leaving the house of his fathers can be read as a movement from a lower earthly order into another divine circuit.

The best reading at this level is:

“From the lower house of the fathers, Abraham saw and reckoned the need to go forth into another circuit, a higher realm of divine order, heavenly time, governing stars, and sacred hierarchy.”

This degree depends especially on the words seeing, reckoning, going forth, and another circuit.

“Seeing” turns Abraham into a visionary figure.

“Reckoning” points beyond ordinary decision-making and toward the calculation of time, stars, and heavenly orders.

“Going forth” becomes more than migration; it becomes ascent from one order to another. “Another circuit” becomes the strongest clue, because the Book of Abraham later centers on heavenly bodies, revolutions, times, and governing stars.

At this degree, Abraham’s earthly journey becomes a cosmic pattern.

He leaves one house and is shown another order.
He leaves one inherited world and is shown higher worlds.
He goes forth from the corrupted order of the fathers and is taught the ordered circuits of God.

This fits especially well with Facsimile which becomes the visual expansion of the same coded phrase: reckoning toward another circuit.

The Cosmological Circuit Degree tells us what that departure opened:

the heavens, the governing stars, the reckoning of time, and the divine order surrounding the throne of God.

How Could Joseph Have Known?

Joseph Smith did not know Egyptian.

How could he have known that these characters could be read through layered degrees of meaning? How could he have known that the same sequence could produce land, fathers, Abraham, seeing, reckoning, departure, priesthood, temple progression, and heavenly circuits in order?

Kirtland Egyptian Papers Are Evidence

For generations, critics have treated the Kirtland Egyptian Papers as an embarrassment. They point to the strange definitions, long explanations, and “degrees” of meaning as proof that Joseph and the early brethren had no idea what they were doing. But that may be exactly backwards.

The Kirtland Egyptian Papers show that in the earliest days of the Church, Joseph Smith, W. W. Phelps, Oliver Cowdery, and Warren Parrish were thinking about Egyptian characters in terms of degrees, layers, symbols, and expanded meaning. They were not treating these characters like a simple alphabet where one mark equals one English word. They understood that a symbol could contain multiple levels of meaning.

Symbolic Multi Layered Meaning

That is how much of ancient scripture works.

A symbol can be historical and prophetic.
A story can be literal and temple-centered.
A name can identify a person and also carry a theological role.
A journey can be geographical, priesthood-based, ritual, and cosmic all at once.

That is exactly what the Book of Abraham does.

Going through this exercise has helped me appreciate the Book of Abraham in a completely different way. This record is so much more than the story of Abraham leaving the land of his fathers. It is about Abraham receiving priesthood. It is about leaving a corrupted inherited order. It is about temple progression. It is about moving from a false altar to true heavenly order. It is about Abraham being taught the structure of the cosmos and the governing powers of heaven.

And the way the characters tie the facsimiles together is remarkable.

Facsimile 1 shows the crisis: Abraham at the false altar.

Facsimile 2 shows the heavenly pattern: reckoning, stars, governing bodies, and divine order.

Facsimile 3 shows the presentation: Abraham brought into a scene of authority and exalted standing.

How did Joseph know to order the Facsimiles that way? That is not random. That is progression.

If Joseph Smith was simply making up the Book of Abraham, why spend so much time setting up a system of degrees and layers?

Why involve W. W. Phelps, Oliver Cowdery, and Warren Parrish in writing down characters, sounds, signals, explanations, and degrees? Why create a framework where a short character can expand into a larger field of meaning?

And how did Joseph know the story would line up with the same sequential order as the characters of which he did not understand the Egyptian meaning?

That is the part critics cannot explain.

A fraud could invent a story.
A creative mind could produce religious symbolism.
But producing a text that matches a layered sequence of Egyptian characters, in order, through names, geography, theology, temple movement, and cosmology, creates a much bigger problem.

The characters begin in the world of Chaldea and the father’s house. They identify Abraham. They move into seeing and reckoning. They show departure. They point toward another enclosure, pasture, residence, or circuit. Then, at the highest levels, the same movement opens into priesthood, temple progression, and the governing stars.

So Much More Than Just Funerary Text

The results of the Ptolemaic code is far beyond coincidence. This is so much more than “just a funerary text.”

If this system of “Degrees” and “Zipped Indexing” is just a convenient theory to hide a fraudulent translation, then it should be easy to debunk. In science, we use a “Control Group” to see if a result is unique or just a random fluke.

Here is the challenge: If these 19 characters are truly just a common, random funerary permit, try to find another story in them.

Using the same phonetic anagrams, the same sequential order, and the same “layered” meanings, try to extract the story of The Odyssey, the life of George Washington, or even a different Bible story like the life of Moses.

You can’t. The “signal” only works for one specific story: The Book of Abraham. The phonetic values only spell out Abraham and Chaldea (the setting of Chapter 1). The icons only move from an Altar (the beginning of the book) to a Throne (the end of the book). For a “random” document to accidentally align with the protagonist, the geography, the chronology, and the visual illustrations of a 5,000-word text is a statistical impossibility.

This isn’t just a “lucky guess” by Joseph Smith—it is a unique synchronization that only happens when the right key is turned in the right lock.

Random Egyptian characters shouldn’t just organize themselves into the Book of Abraham’s structure. They should not begin with the correct world, identify the correct figure, follow the correct movement, and end with the correct cosmic direction.

My own hypothesis is that Joseph’s revelatory gift allowed him to see these layers in a way ordinary scholarship could not. The same revelatory power that brought forth the Book of Mormon may have opened the Abraham characters to him, as a layered sacred record.

He saw meaning packed into signs, names, symbols, degrees, and sequences. He became fascinated by it because he was seeing something closer to a pure language, a language where symbol, sound, history, priesthood, temple, and cosmos were all connected.

That would explain the Kirtland Egyptian Papers. They were so much more than just an experimental coding system.

Conclusion

The closing issue is simple:

How likely is it that all of these meanings line up in order by chance?

Chaldea.
Father’s house.
Abraham.
Seeing.
Reckoning.
Departure.
Another residence.
Priesthood.
Temple progression.
Heavenly circuits.
The facsimiles.

All in the same Abrahamic sequence.

At some point, coincidence becomes a weaker explanation than revelation.

Joseph Smith did not have modern Egyptological tools. He did not have Kurth’s Ptolemaic sign lists. He did not have modern discussions of Ptolemaic polyvalence, anagrammatic coding, or layered priestly symbolism. Yet the Book of Abraham he produced appears to match the very kind of layered structure  emerging from these characters.

The papyrus fragment critics used as their “smoking gun” may actually preserve the very code that vindicates Joseph Smith. This may be the very evidence that Joseph Smith correctly translated the Book of Abraham.

And if these characters really do unfold Abraham’s story in ordered degrees, then Joseph Smith did not guess.

He translated by revelation and restored eternal truths.

 

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