David K. Gellman, Department of Ancient Scripture

Introduction

I received a Research & Creative Work Scholarship Award to compile a comprehensive annotated bibliography on The Book of Abraham. The Book of Abraham is a unique book of scripture found within the LDS canon. It was translated by Joseph Smith in 1835 from Egyptian papyri and is now included as part of the Pearl of Great Price. There have been many valuable works written about the Pearl of Great Price, as well as some excellent bibliographies. However, a bibliography complllng information just on the topics found in The Book of Abraham has not been published. Much of my personal motivation in compiling this bibliography is to share with others the resources that have enhanced my study of The Book of Abraham, as well as a desire to do more personal research.

As I began work on the bibliography, I decided to organize it in a verse by verse order, selecting topics from each verse that might have been written about elsewhere. Underneath each of these topics, annotated entries would then be arranged in the following manner:

Topic

Related Scriptures
General Authorities/Other LDS Doctrinal Writings
Scholarly Research
Apocryphal Works
Jewish Traditions
Islamic Traditions
Christian Traditions

For example, Abraham 1:1 reads as follows:

In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my fathers, I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence; 1

In this verse the two topics to be dealt with were the residence of Abraham’s fathers and why he needed to leave that place. Then, under the topic of the residence of Abraham’s fathers, some of the key references are as follows:

Abraham 1:1

Residence of my fathers

Related Scriptures

Abraham 1:20-was in Ur of Chaldea.
Abraham 2:1-Terah (Abraham’s father) yet lived in Ur of the Chaldees.
Genesis 11:28-land ofTerah’s nativity was Ur of the Chaldees.
Nehemiah 9:7 -Abram was brought forth out of Ur of the Chaldees.

Scholarly Research

• Woolley, Leonard, Sir. Ur “of the Chaldees”: The FInal Account. Excavations at Ur. Rev .• en!. ed. London: Herbert Press, cl982.-An account of his excavation In the 1920’s that led to the traditional identification of the Biblical Ur being located in Iraq.
• Gordon, Cyrus H. “Abraham and the Merchants of Ura.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 1958. Vol 17, 28-31.-He suggests that Abraham’s Ur was not in Iraq, but In northern Syria.
• Tvedtnes, John A. “Ur of the Chaldeans: Increasing evidence on the birthplace of Abraham and the original homeland of the Hebrews.” Provo, Utah, 1985.-Using linguistics and historical evidence he argues that Abraham’s Ur is on the border between Syria and Turkey, close to the Mediterranean.

Apocryphal Works

The Book of lasher. Photolithographic reprint of an exact edition published In 1887. Salt Lake City: J,H. Parry & Co., 1973. Chapter 7, verses 43-44. -Nimron dwelt in the land of Shinar. Chapter 13, verse I. Terah took Abraham from Ur Casdem to Canaan.

Jewish Traditions

Ginzberg, Louis. The Legends of the Jews. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1937-1966. -Vol. 1, p. 194. Abraham lived in Babylon. Vol. 3, p. 17. The Lord identifies Himself as the One who brought Abraham from Ur.

Conclusion

My goal for completing this bibliography was August 31 of this year. However, once I started to work on the bibliography I realized that to produce a truly comprehensive bibliography, would require more time than I had estimated as well as additional language skills. Therefore, I modified my goal to produce an annotated bibliography that lists important references. The reader can then supplement his or her study by referring to the bibliographies In the cited works. Even modifying my goal to this point required a greater time commitment than I had anticipated, so I am still in the research stage of the bibliography. Although I have failed to meet the deadline, I have realized that for me there is more to this project than producing the bibliography. For example, my skills in finding, understanding and summarizing materials have improved greatly. I have also learned how to better organize my time, my efforts and my thoughts. These skills will be invaluable as I pursue graduate work in Ancient Near-Eastern Studies.

I plan to have the bibliography completed by the end of December and submitted for publication. As I have looked for publishing opportunities, I have talked with various faculty members here at BYU who have been a great help in pointing me in the right direction. The knowledge I have gained of this aspect of academic life has been another benefit of this project.

I would like to thank Dann Hone for his time, patience and help with the bibliography. I would also like to thank my wife for her patience and understanding about all the late nights and the time in the library.