In the Latter Day Saint scripture 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 ...

, Pharaoh is the

proper name A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa''; ''Jupiter''; ''Sarah''; ''Walmart'') as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, pl ...

of the first king of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. According to the story, all

Egyptians Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...

descended from him. He was the eldest son of Egyptus, who was the daughter of

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

and Egyptus. Pharaoh was a descendant of the Canaanites, a race of people who according to Latter Day Saint theology had been cursed with black skin. Leaders of

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 ...

(LDS Church) have taught that he inherited the curse of Cain through his grandmother, Egyptus, so that the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

might have representation upon the earth.

Anachronism

The use of the name ''Pharaoh'' is considered anachronistic during Abraham's time by virtually all scholars, including LDS Scholars. Most LDS Scholars who adhere to the historicity of the Book of Abraham point to a Jewish redactor who replaced original words with wording that would have been more understandable to his day.

Notes

{{reflist Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism) Ham (son of Noah) Mormonism and race Book of Abraham Criticism of Mormonism Legendary progenitors Mythological kings