Egypt Buying Trip, 1961-1962
Scope and Contents
The Aziz Suryal Atiya papers (1927-1993) contain curriculum vitae, honorary documents, membership cards, contracts, royalty information, personal and academic correspondence, memos, reports, class schedules and materials, notebooks, lecture notes, book reviews, programs, memorial materials, biographies, and maps. Some of the subjects included in the material are studies Atiya did for the Coptic Encyclopedia, an expedition he took to Mount Sinai, and Arab-Israeli relations. Also included are papers related to Joseph Smith's Egyptian papyri and Atiya's role in making them public. While searching for Coptic and Arabic papyri in the Metropolitan Museum of Art storeroom in New York City, it was brought to Atiya's attention that the Joseph Smith Egyptian papyri, which is significant because they are the original documents used for research to write Facsimile No. 1 of the Book of Abraham, a scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Since the Egyptian language could not be read in the 1830s and 1840s when the papyri were supposedly translated, this discovery provided the first chance to check Joseph Smith's ability to translate the Egyptian papyri. Atiya functioned as the mediator between the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the First Presidency of the LDS Church.
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Dates
- Creation: 1961-1962
Creator
- From the Collection: Atiya, Aziz Suryal, 1898-1988 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Extent
From the Collection: 36 Linear Feet (70 boxes and 2 oversize boxes)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
From the Collection: Arabic
From the Collection: German
From the Collection: French
From the Collection: Danish
From the Collection: Swedish
From the Collection: Norwegian Nynorsk; Nynorsk, Norwegian
From the Collection: Finnish
From the Collection: Dutch; Flemish
From the Collection: Spanish; Castilian
From the Collection: Portuguese
From the Collection: Samoan
From the Collection: Rarotongan; Cook Islands Maori
From the Collection: Japanese
From the Collection: Chinese
From the Collection: Korean
- Check payment for books purchased from Middle East Center
- Correspondence Letters and Invoice from January and February 1962 between Aziz S. Atiya and W. Heffer & Sons Ltd.
- Correspondence letters dated from 1962 to 1965 from Aziz S. Atiya to Gordan Miller, Librairie du Liban, and the Macmillan Company
- Letter dated 21 January 1961 to Dr. Aziz Aitya from Noorollah Iranparast
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu