This book marks the publication of the first, full translation of the so-called Joseph Smith Egyptian papyri translated into English. These papyri comprise #147;The Breathing Permit of Hor,” #147;The Book of the Dead of Ta-Sherit-Min,” #147;The Book of the Dead Chapter 125nbsp;ofnbsp;Nefer-ir-nebu,” #147;The Book of the Dead of Amenhotep,” and #147;The Hypocephalus of Sheshonq,”nbsp;as well as somenbsp;loose fragments and patches. The papyri were acquired by members of the LDS Church in the 1830s in Kirtland, Ohio, and rediscovered in the mid-1960s in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. They served as the basis for Joseph Smith’s #147;Book of Abraham,” published in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1842 and later canonized. As Robert K. Ritner, Professor of Egyptology at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, explains: #147;The translation and publication of the Smith papyri must be accessible not merely to Egyptologists but to non-specialists within and outside of the LDS religious community for whom the Book of Abraham was produced.” Dr. Ritner provides not only his own original translations but gives variant translationsnbsp;by other researchers to demonstrate better the #147;evolving process” of decipherment. He also includes specialized transliterations and his own informed commentary on the accuracy of past readings. #147;These assessments,” he notes, #147;are neither equivocal nor muted.” At the same time, they do not have a #147;partisan basis originating in any religious camp.” The present volume includes insightful introductory essays by noted scholars Christopher Woods, Associate Professor of Sumerology, University of Chicagonbsp;(#147;The Practice of Egyptian Religion at #145;Ur of the Chaldees’”), Marc Coenen, Egyptian Studiesnbsp;Ph. D., University of Leuven, Belgiumnbsp;nbsp;(#147;The Ownership and Dating of Certain Joseph Smith Papyri”), and H. Michael Marquardt, author ofnbsp;The Revelations of Joseph Smith: Text and Commentarynbsp;(#147;Joseph Smith’s Egyptian Papers: A History”). It contains twenty-eight photographic plates, including color images of the primary papyri (with corrected alignment for Papyrus Joseph Smith 2) and other relevant items.