Thirty (1835)County, but left there and returned to Boston for a time after the Saints were expelled. While
in Boston in 1835, Vienna saw an announcement of a man who claimed to have some
authentic Egyptian mummies and some ancient papyri on display. She paid the entrance fee
and met the curator and owner of the exhibit, Michael Chandler. During the course of their
conversation, Vienna testified that she knew a man who could translate any ancient
document—Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet.
Chandler was impressed, not by Joseph’s claims, which he believed had to be false,
but because a woman of Vienna Jacques’ social status could be convinced of such a fantasy.
Chandler had exhibited the mummies throughout the eastern states and had exhausted his
potential for profit there. He hadn’t previously thought about the western frontier holding
possibilities of making more money off the exhibit. With the tidbit of information that he
received from Vienna, along with a personal letter of introduction from her to Joseph as a
means of his personal reference, Chandler made his way to Kirtland in March of 1835.
The Saints at Kirtland were impressed with the mummies—everyone that is, except
for Joseph. He had spent four years learning at the feet of the brightest and most informed
mortals that existed upon the earth. He knew all about the real truth behind the Egyptians
and their religion. The people boasted that their prophet could decipher the papyri that
Chandler exhibited. When some of the members asked Chandler to let Joseph examine
them, Chandler quickly surmised an opportunity to offload the mummies and their
accompanying relics. His hook: Chandler did not allow anyone to handle any part of the
exhibit unless they bought it.
The Church was in considerable debt. Nevertheless, the people wanted to prove
their prophet’s authenticity and power, if not to Chandler—who could have cared less what
the people believed as long as they could settle on a price—then to themselves. Without
Joseph’s authorization, some members paid Chandler’s asking price. Joseph was both livid
and filled with disappointment, neither of which he could publicly show.
He took the parchment, and through the Urim and Thummim, received most of the
text from the same advanced editors who were responsible for the Book of Mormon record.
From it, he produced the record of Abraham^54 —another biblical character that Joseph knew
was a myth and legend of the Jewish religion. Within the text of what would become known
as the Book of Abraham, a greater insight into some of the “mysteries of God” was given.
Although Joseph specifically produced the text as another stumbling block for the people,
with what he received through the Urim and Thummim, he realized that the advanced
monitors of his work had their own intent for its publication. They wanted to reiterate the
role of their true messenger.
According to the story, Abraham possessed the Urim and Thummim from which he
obtained a knowledge of the Universe.^55 Abraham also talked “with the Lord, face-to-face,
as one man talketh with another.”^56 In this way, the manner in which all true messengers
receive instruction and direction could be emphasized.
The people’s belief in Abraham as “God’s chosen one”^57 allowed for another
opportunity to hide revelations of real truth within the context of an ubiquitously accepted
story and present it to the people without taking away their free will to believe how they
chose. However, the people weren’t satisfied with only the text of the Book of Abraham. They
also wanted Joseph to decipher the drawings that they found among the mummies. Oliver
Cowdery and William W. Phelps pressured Joseph to give an explanation of the
hieroglyphic pictures.