In 1835 , Smith encouraged some Latter Day Saints in Kirtland to purchase rolls of ancient Egyptian papyri from a traveling exhibitor . Over the next several years , Smith worked to produce what he reported was a translation of one of these rolls , which was published in 1842 as the Book of Abraham . The Book of Abraham speaks of the founding of the Abrahamic nation , astronomy , cosmology , lineage and priesthood , and gives another account of the creation story . The papyri from which Smith dictated the Book of Abraham were thought to have been lost in the Great Chicago Fire . However , several fragments were rediscovered in the 1960s , were translated by Egyptologists , and were determined to be part of the Book of the Dead with no connection to Abraham . The LDS Church has proposed that Smith might have been inspired by the papyri rather than have been translating them literally , but prominent Egyptologists note that Smith copied characters from the scrolls and was specific about their meaning
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Joseph Smith