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Sustaining and Defending the LDS Temple

hieroglyph

The Egyptian Ankh, “Life! Health! Strength!” – Part 1

June 20, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 8 Comments

Detail of Hathor shrine at Hatshepsut's temple in Luxor, Egypt

Egypt figures a central role in the religion of the ancient Near East, where much of our canon of scripture owes its narrative and existence to this locale.  Even the Book of Mormon tells us it was written in “reformed Egyptian” (Mormon 9:32).  The most interesting aspect, to me, is the adoption into Egypt of traces of the rites and ordinances of the temple of God, and its priesthood.  Unfortunately, the ordinances were apostate forms, the priesthood invalid, and all was done in imitation of the true order:

Pharaoh, being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even in the reign of Adam, and also of Noah, his father, who blessed him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the Priesthood. (Abraham 1:26)

But even so, the fragments of the ordinances that are extant in artifacts and texts are very educational.  In Hugh Nibley’s classic work The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment he says:  [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts, Texts Tagged: ankh, covenant, critics, egyptian, endowment, garments, hieroglyph, hugh nibley, imitation, immortality, joseph smith, life, near east, priesthood, resurrection, symbols

Consecrate = “A Filled Hand” in Hebrew

June 13, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 16 Comments

The High Priest in the Holy of Holies - Incense offering on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).  Temple Institute.One of our readers, Dr. Kathy Larsen, pointed out a scripture yesterday that intrigued me. It is Leviticus 21:10:

And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;

There is a footnote on the second instance of the word “that” in our LDS King James Version. The footnote reads “HEB (literally) whose hand is filled; i.e. who is equipped, or authorized.” This means that the original Hebrew would have read something like, “and whose hand is filled to put on the garments.” Apparently the word translated as “consecrated” came from a Hebrew phrase for “a filled hand” or “a full hand.”

I did a little bit of digging into this, and found some more interesting things related to this. [Read more…]

Posted in: Artifacts, Practices, Texts Tagged: altar, altar of incense, atonement, bible, consecration, cupped hand, egyptian, filled hand, hebrew, hieroglyph, holy place, hugh nibley, incense, kaph, male, moses, offerings, sacrifice, service, symbols, tabernacle, translation, yad, yod

The Origin of the Letter “E”

February 17, 2008 by Bryce Haymond 3 Comments
Letter E

Letter E

The Encyclopedia Britannica reports what is speculated to be the origin of the letter “E” in our modern alphabet:

The letter E may have started as a picture sign of a man with arms upraised, as in Egyptian hieroglyphic writing (1) and in a very early Semitic writing used in about 1500 BC on the Sinai Peninsula (2). The sign meant “joy” or “rejoice” to the Egyptians. In about 1000 BC, in Byblos and in other Phoenician and Canaanite centers, the sign was given a linear form (3), the source of all later forms. . . . (( “E, e.” Student’s Encyclopædia. 2008. Britannica Student Encyclopædia. 17 Feb. 2008. <http://student.britannica.com/comptons/article-9274097>.))

Wikipedia corroborates the same source:

E is derived from the Greek letter epsilon which is much the same in appearance (Ε, ε) and function. In etymology, the Semitic hê probably first represented a praying or calling human figure (hillul jubilation), and was probably based on a similar Egyptian hieroglyph that was pronounced and used quite differently. In Semitic, the letter represented /h/ (and /e/ in foreign words), in Greek hê became Εψιλον (Epsilon) with the value /e/. Etruscans and Romans followed this usage. ((“E”. Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E>.))

The more I learn the more I’m convinced of Nibley’s striking statement, “All the arts and sciences began at the temple. Dance, music, architecture, sculpture, drama, and so forth—they all go back to the temple” ((Nibley, Hugh, and Gary P. Gillum. Of all Things!: Classic Quotations from Hugh Nibley. 2nd, rev. and expand ed. Salt Lake City, Utah; Provo, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1993, 45)).

Posted in: Practices, Texts Tagged: egyptian, etymology, hieroglyph, letter e, origin, prayer circle, praying, signs, uplifted hands

The Origin of the Common Handshake

February 7, 2008 by Bryce Haymond Leave a Comment
The Creation of Adam (detail) - Sistine Chapel

The Creation of Adam (detail) - Sistine Chapel

The handshake has become a common form of communication all around the world. It is used to say “hello”, “goodbye”, “we agree”, as a greeting upon first acquaintance, and as a mutual sign of goodwill and peace. A handshake can establish a first impression with someone, whether it be good and firm, or limp and clammy. It has made its way to the highest levels of government and society where agreements between nations are sealed. This ritual has “become perhaps our most important non-verbal communicative contrivance” ((http://assyriatimes.com/engine/modules/news/article.php?storyid=63)).

But where did it come from? [Read more…]

Posted in: Practices Tagged: creation of adam, egyptian, endowment, handclasp, handshake, hieroglyph, origins, veil
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