Oliblish is the name given to a star or planet described in the

Book of Abraham The Book of Abraham is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1842 by Joseph Smith. Smith said the book was a translation from several Egyptian scrolls discovered in the early 19th century during an archeologic ...

, a text considered sacred to many denominations of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

, including

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

. Several Latter Day Saint denominations hold the Book of Abraham to have been translated from an

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

papyrus scroll by

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

, the founder of the movement. According to this work, the term Oliblish was given as the meaning of the main symbols in one of the images of Smith's hypocephalus. Smith stated that the image is meant to represent a heavenly body located nearest to the central

Kolob Kolob ( ) is a star described in the Book of Abraham, a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement, where it is described as the heavenly body nearest to the throne of God. Several List of denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement, La ...

, the planet or star closest to the

throne of God The throne of God is the reigning centre of God in the Abrahamic religions: primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The throne is said by various holy books to reside beyond the Seventh Heaven which is called ''Araboth'' ( ''‘ărāḇōṯ ...

.Rhodes, M. D. (1994)
The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus… Twenty years later

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS) was an informal collaboration of academics devoted to Latter-day Saint historical scholarship. The organization was established in 1979 as a non-profit organization by John. W. We ...

. The image appears on Figure No 2 of the scrolls, over the shoulders of which are jackal heads. In the left hand of the character is the staff of

Wepwawet In Egyptian mythology, Wepwawet ( hieroglyphic ''wp-w3w.t''; also rendered Upuaut, Wep-wawet, Wepawet, Apuat, and Ophois) was originally a jackal deity of funerary rites, war, and royalty, whose cult centre was Asyut in Upper Egypt (Lycopolis in ...

. The figure to the right was not present in the damaged original.Ritner, Robert Kriech. The Joseph Smith Egyptian Papyri: a Complete Edition ; P. JS 1-4 and the Hypocephalus of Sheshonq. The Smith Pettit Foundation, 2013. page 268. Accessed 1 April 2021. The symbol of life is said to be held by this celestial object that represented a symbol of God's power.

Exegesis

The first published reference to Oliblish is in the

, first published in March of 1842 in ''

Times and Seasons ''Times and Seasons'' was a 19th-century Latter Day Saint newspaper published at Nauvoo, Illinois. It was printed monthly or twice-monthly from November 1839 to February 1846. The motto of the paper was "Truth will prevail," which was printed ...

'' and now included within the Pearl of Great Price as part of the canon of the Latter-Day Saint movement. Joseph Smith stated that this figure; In Smith's work, Oliblish is understood to be equal to Kolob in its revolution as well as the peculiar measurement of time, that is, diurnal rotation on its axis equals one thousand of our years according to the measurement of the Earth. The

Joseph Smith Papers ''The Joseph Smith Papers'' (or Joseph Smith Papers Project) is a documentary editing project to collect, research, and publish all documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith (1805–1844), the founder of the Latter Day Saint m ...

stated that the word is used to represent one of three central stars from which power emanates to govern all the other creations, including Earth which is called with the term ''Jah-oh-eh''. The text states that this power has been sought out by ancient prophets since the creation of the Earth using the

Urim and Thummim In the Hebrew Bible, the Urim ( ''ʾŪrīm'', "lights") and the Thummim ( ''Tummīm'', "perfection" or "truth") are elements of the '' hoshen'', the breastplate worn by the High Priest attached to the ephod, a type of apron or garment. The pair ...

Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Grammar

The word Oliblish appears in the Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language (GAEL), an 1835 working document created concurrently with the Book of Abraham by Smith and his associates.

Dan Vogel Daniel Arlon Vogel (born 1955) is an independent researcher, writer, and author on a number of works that include '' Joseph Smith: The Making of a Prophet'' and is most known for his work on early Mormon documents. Joseph Smith biography Vogel ...

and Brent Metcalfe suggest that the structure of the cosmos outlined in the GAEL perhaps mirrors the priesthood hierarchy, with three governing planets similar to the

First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...

, and twelve additional planets similar to the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a group necessary to constitute the group at a meeting. In a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature), a quorum is necessary to conduct the business of ...

. Because

Oliver Cowdery Oliver H. P. Cowdery (October 3, 1806 – March 3, 1850) was an American religious leader who, with Joseph Smith, was an important participant in the formative period of the Latter Day Saint movement between 1829 and 1836. He was the first bapt ...

was a member of the First Presidency, and Oliblish was one of the three governing planets, Christopher Smith has speculated that the similarity between the words Oliver and Oliblish might have been intentional.

LDS Church Scholarship

The explanation given by Smith of the imagery in the scrolls stated that the word Oliblish had been used by the Egyptians, although the word doesn't have Egyptian origin. It may have had its origin from the ''Apocalypse of Abraham'' where similar references are made to the power of God and the Egyptian concept of the hypocephalus representing all that is encircled by the sun. In the same facsimile, the word is associated with a transliteration Hebrew word, ''Raukeeyang'', meaning the expanse of heaven.

Hugh Nibley Hugh Winder Nibley (March 27, 1910 – February 24, 2005) was an American scholar and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) who was a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) for nearly 50 years. He was a prolif ...

and Michael Rhodes suggests these symbols by Smith have been correlated with the symbolism of the Seker-boat in the festival of

Seker Seker may refer to: *Sokar, a falcon god in Egyptian mythology *Şeker, a Turkish name See also

*Şəkər (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

Memphis, Egypt Memphis (, ; Bohairic ; ), or Men-nefer, was the ancient capital of Inebu-hedj, the first Nome (Egypt), nome of Lower Egypt that was known as ''mḥw'' ("North"). Its ruins are located in the vicinity of the present-day village of Mit Rahina () ...

References

{{Authority control 1842 documents Book of Abraham Book of the Dead Egyptian papyri containing images Pseudoastronomy Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism) Works originally published in Times and Seasons