Joseph Smith Hypocephalus

The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus, also called the Hypocephalus of Sheshonq or Facsimile Number 2, is an ancient Egyptian funerary object dated to between 300 and 100 BC and originating in Thebes, Egypt, made for a person named Sheshonq whose name appears in its hieroglyphic text. A hypocephalus is a small disk, most often made of stuccoed linen, placed under the head of a deceased person to provide protection and transformation in the afterlife. It was among the Egyptian papyri acquired in 1835 by Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, from a traveling exhibitor in Kirtland, Ohio, and a woodcut reproduction of it was first published in 1842. Scholars agree that the hieroglyphic text on the surviving fragments does not match the translation Smith gave for it, which he presented as records of the biblical patriarch Abraham. The location of the original object today is unknown. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/