Egyptian Alphabet, circa Early July–circa November 1835–B

  • Source Note
  • Historical Introduction

Document Transcript

gyp [Egyptian] ◊◊◊◊ <​o​>
[1.1] a Ah The first Being who exercises Supreme powe[r]
<​A​> [1.2] pp ph Pha-e The first man, or one who has kingly power, or [king]
[1.3] Pha A more universal reign, having greater d[o]<​minion or po[wer]​>
[1.4a, b] Pha-ho-e-oop Royal family, royal blood, or pharaoh, <​power, or king​> or supreme power
[1.5] Ho-oop-hah Crown of a pri[n]cess, or queen, or signifies queen.
[1.6] Zi Virgin, unmarried, virtuous, or the principle of virtue.
[1.7] Kah-tou=mun The name of the a royal family—The female line
[1.8] Zi-oop=hah An unmarried woman and a virgin princess
[1.9] Ho=e-oop A young unmarried man, a prince.
[1.10] Zip-si <​Zip-zi​> A women married or unmarried,.— daughter
[1.11] Ho=e=oop-hah Crown of a prince, or King.
[1.12] Oan, or ah-e, or Oh-e. The earth
[1.13] Toan, Tah-e-Ta◊◊ Tah-e-Ta-e, or Tus. or water.
[1.14] Iota The eye, or to see, or sight, sometimes me, myself.
[1.15] Iota-Tou-es-Zip-zi. The land of Egypt first discovered under <​water by a woman.​>
[1.16] Su-e-eh=ni What other person is that? Who.
[1.17] Ho-e-oop-hah-pha-e. Reign, government, power, kingdom, or domin[i]on.
[1.18] Zuh=sool-on <​Zuh=zool-oan​>. The beginning, first, before, or pointing <​to​>
[1.19] Zub=sool=eh <​Zub=zool=eh​>. In the beginning of the earth, or crea<​tion.​>
[1.20] Zub-s◊◊l <​z◊◊l​> eh To be in, or be within—as light in the earth.
[1.21] Zub First creation of any thing, first institution.
[1.22] Zub-sool <​Zub-zool​> From the first to any stated period after—
[1.23] Zoal Zool From a fixed period of time back to the begin<​ning or creation​>
The second part of the first degree.
[2.1] Ah-me-os God, without beginning or end
[2.2] Aleph In the beginning with God, the Savior.
[2.3] Albeth Angels or disemboded spirits, or saints
[2.4] Alkabeth Angels in an unalterable state—Sanctified <​or men after they are raised <​from the de[a]d​>​>
[2.5] Al◊◊ebeth Alchebeth Ministers of God, high priests, Kings.
[2.6] Alchebeth <​Alchibeth​> Ministers of God, less, or under the high priests
[2.7] Alkubeth <​Alkobeth​> Ministers not ordained of God, sinful
[2.8] Alkibeth <​Alkubeth​> Ministers who are less sinful for want of power
[2.9] Baeth The name of all mankind, man, or men.
[2.10] Baeth-ka Adam, or the first man, or first king
[2.11] Baeth-kee The next from Adam, one ordained under <​him.​>
[2.12] Baeth-ki The lineage <​third ordaind​> King under Adam. third patriarck
[2.13] Baeth-ko The forth from Adam
[p. [1]]
[verso of first leaf blank]
Second order continued. <​x​> <​o​> <​x​>
[2.14] Baeth-Ku The fifth high priest from Adam
<​x​> [2.15] Beth Man’s first residence in a fruitful garden, a great valley or plain filled with fruit, trees and flowers, <​good to the taste, pleasing to the eye and p sweet & precious to the smell—​> place of happiness
<​x​> [2.16] Beth-Ka A garden, valley or plain, larger, more spacious, more pleasing, more beautiful—place of more complete happiness, peace & rest <​for man.​>
[2.17] Beth-kee <​Beth-Kee​> A Third garden, or place of residence still more spacious, beautiful and pleasing—increasing in greatness five degrees <​or being five times as large as Beth=ka.​>
[2.18] Beth-Ki A Fourth, increasing five degrees beyond Beth-kee.
<​​> [2.19] Beth-Ko A Fifth, increasing like the fourth
[2.20] Beth-ku <​Beth-Ku​> A Sixth, increasing like the fifth.
[2.21] Beth=ku=ain-trieth The whole earth, or the largest place, the greatest enjoyment on earth—man’s resident in the garden of the earth.
[2.22] E-Beth-ku-ain-trieth The heavenly bodies, the worlds of light and glory, the heaven, heavens, and heaven of heavens—eternity.
[2.23] E-Beth-Ka The greater place of happiness, where God resides—The celestial Kingdom.
[2.24] Kah-tuain-trieth-
[2.25] Kah-tuain-
[2.26] Dah-tu-hah-dees
[2.27] Hah-dees
[2.28] De-eh
[2.29] Zip zi-iota-veh
[2.30] Lish-zi-ho-e-oop-iota
[2.31] Gah-Mel-
[2.32] Ho-hah-oop
[2.33] Io-ho-hah-oop.
[2.34] Io ho-hah-oop-zip-si <​zi​>
[2.35] Jah-ho-e-oop-
[2.36] Jah-ni-hh <​hah​>
[2.37] Jah-oh-eh- (the earth &c)
[2.38] Flo-ees- (Moon)
[2.39] Flos-isis (Sun)
[2.40] Kli-flos-isis.
[2.41] Veh-Kli-flos-isis
[2.50a, b]
[2.51a, b]
[p. 2]
[verso of second leaf blank]
Second order continued
[2.54b] [2.55?] [2.54a]
[2.57] [2.58]
[2.59a, b, c]
Third part of the first degree
[3.1] [3.3]
[3.4a, b]
[3.5a, b]
[3.6a?, b, c]
[3.7a, b]
1 [3.11a, b] 1 <​Ki-​>Ah-broan, <​Ki-​>Ah-bra-oam-. Zub-sool-oan <​Zub-zool-oan​>.
[3.17c, d, b]
Fourth part of the first degree
[4.1a, b]
[4.3a?] [4.2c, d]
[4.4a, b, c, d, e]
[4.5a, b, c, d]
[4.6b, c]
[4.7a, c?]
[4.9a, b]
[4.15a, b]
[p. [3]]
[verso of third leaf blank]
Fifth part of the first degree. <​o​>
[5.5a, b, c]
[5.8a, b]
[5.9] [5.10]
[5.12] [5.13]
[5.15a, b]
[5.16a, b]
[5.19a, b]
[5.20a, b]
[5.25a, b]
[5.26a, b]
[5.27] Za Ki<​o​> an<​-​>hi<​-a​>sh, or Kalsid<​o​><​a​>n hish <​hiash​>—The land of the Chaldeans.
[p. 4]
[verso of fourth leaf blank]


  1. 1

    TEXT: The remnants of an inscription here match the other two versions of the document, both of which bear the title “Egyptian Alphabet”. (See Egyptian Alphabet, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835–A and Egyptian Alphabet, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835–C.)  

  2. 2

    TEXT: Illegible characters are remnants of an inscription, possibly “Alphabet”, though the descender of the “p” is not visible. With the damage to the page, it is impossible to know if the scribe (presumably Cowdery) also wrote “first degree” as a heading to this section.  

  3. 3

    TEXT: The purpose of the four inserted o’s on this page and the following three pages is uncertain. It is possible, though unlikely, that the letters are associated with the docketing in blue letters written on most of the Egyptian Alphabet documents.  

  4. new scribe logo

    Oliver Cowdery handwriting begins. Cowdery likely also inscribed the preceding line, but damage to the page makes confident identification impossible.  

  5. 4

    TEXT: The final letter of this word is missing because the edge of the leaf is damaged. Both Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C have “power”.  

  6. new scribe logo

    This letter is written in blue ink in unidentified handwriting.  

  7. 5

    TEXT: Possibly “p ph”.  

  8. 6

    TEXT: The final word of this line is missing because the edge of the leaf is damaged. Egyptian Alphabet–C has “king”.  

  9. 7

    TEXT: The final letters of this word and a letter in the line below are missing because the edge of the leaf is damaged. Both Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C have “power”.  

  10. 8

    TEXT: Possibly “<​​> ”.  

  11. 9

    TEXT: Possibly “<​Virgin, un​>married”.  

  12. 10

    TEXT: This sound is also present in the notebooks of copied characters. (See “Valuable Discovery,” ca. Early July 1835, 3, and Notebook of Copied Egyptian Characters, ca. Early July 1835, 1.)  

  13. 11

    TEXT: “z” possibly retraced.  

  14. 12

    TEXT: Possibly “;—” or “,—”.  

  15. 13

    TEXT: Both Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C add “beneath” and “under”, and Egyptian Alphabet–C adds “below” to the explanation.  

  16. 14

    TEXT: This character is a composite character made up of characters 1.10, 1.13, and 1.14. The composite nature is also evident in both the sound and the explanation.  

  17. 15

    TEXT: Both Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C have the prefix “Zub”.  

  18. 16

    TEXT: Possibly “sool <​zool​>”.  

  19. 17

    TEXT: Possibly “Zub-s◊◊l <​z◊◊l​> <​eh​>”.  

  20. 18

    TEXT: Egyptian Alphabet–A has “any or some fix<​ed​> peried”.  

  21. 19

    TEXT: Egyptian Alphabet–A has “God the Son or <​first born​>”, and Egyptian Alphabet–C has “God the Son or first born”.  

  22. 20

    TEXT: Stray mark after “Sanctified” possibly a punctuation mark.  

  23. 21

    TEXT: “a” is missing because the page is badly worn.  

  24. 22

    TEXT: Possibly “Alceebeth Alchebeth” or “Alseebeth Alchebeth”.  

  25. 23

    TEXT: Possibly “Alchobeth <​Alchibeth​>”.  

  26. 24

    TEXT: The similar sounds and explanations on this line and the previous four lines resulted in revisions in all three versions of the Egyptian Alphabet. Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C made similar revisions in capturing the different sounds. The similarity of the revisions hints that the scribes of the three versions attempted to standardize the pronunciation as they were creating the texts.  

  27. 25

    TEXT: Period possibly a stray ink mark.  

  28. 26

    TEXT: Possibly “ka”, though the sequence of vowels would make this “ko”. Both Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C have “ko”.  

  29. 27

    TEXT: This inserted “x” in blue ink and the one on the following line serve an unknown purpose.  

  30. 28

    TEXT: Possibly “ka <​Ka​>”. It appears that Cowdery touched up the letter to affirm it was a “K”.  

  31. 29

    TEXT: The original character is illegible. It may be that Cowdery attempted to inscribe character 2.21.  

  32. 30

    TEXT: Possibly “trith trieth” or “trieth <​trith​>”.  

  33. 31

    TEXT: This explanation is significantly expanded from the explanation in the other two Egyptian Alphabet documents. (See Egyptian Alphabet, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835–A and Egyptian Alphabet, ca. Early July–ca. Nov. 1835–C.)  

  34. 32

    TEXT: Egyptian Alphabet–A has “greatest”.  

  35. 33

    TEXT: This entry is worded differently from the corresponding one in Egyptian Alphabet–C.  

  36. 34

    TEXT: A stray mark makes this look like “aeh”. Egyptian Alphabet–A has “veh”, and Egyptian Alphabet–C has “Veh”.  

  37. 35

    TEXT: Both Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C have “Kolob” as the sound here.  

  38. new scribe logo

    This letter is written in blue ink in unidentified handwriting.  

  39. 36

    TEXT: This canceled character appears to be a malformed attempt to write character 3.2.  

  40. 37

    TEXT: The second character is character 3.3.  

  41. 38

    TEXT: “1” is possibly another character, though there is no correlation to any character in the other two Egyptian Alphabet documents.  

  42. 39

    TEXT: Though “1” is possibly the beginning of a “K”, it is likely related to the “1” on the left margin of this same line.  

  43. 40

    TEXT: Possibly “Zub-soal-oan <​Zub-zoal-oan​>.”  

  44. 41

    TEXT: Both Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C have a transliteration here.  

  45. 42

    TEXT: The “o” is possibly not inserted but rather inscribed at the time of original inscription.  

  46. 43

    TEXT: Both Egyptian Alphabet–A and –C have transliterations and explanations here.