The Book of the Dead as the “missing” scroll with red ink?
The following text has been posted in the alt.religion.mormon USENET group and was kindly sent to me by its author, with permission to use it. I have not included the first half of the text which provides background and presents the case for two scrolls (Oliver Cowdery’s letter refers to two scrolls, and W. Phelps spoke of “two scrolls and other ancient writings” with respect to the Books of Abraham and Joseph). The argument is made that the Book of Abraham was taken from the existing fragments, since Facsimile 1 was attached to the Book of Breathings. The author then argues that the existing fragments from the Book of the Dead were the Book of Joseph: Let us return once again to the description of the papyrus under dispute. Both the DHC and Cowdery’s letter contain the same description. We can break the quote down into points as follows: a) …beautifully written upon papyrus… b) …with black, and a small part, red ink or paint… c) ..in perfect preservation… (DHC Vol 2, p. 348
