Edward H. Ashment

EDWARD H. ASHMENT earned a B.A. in History and Anthropology from Brigham Young University where subsequently he began graduate work in Ancient Studies and was for two years a religion instructor, teaching Book of Abraham, Book of Mormon, and Old Testament. He transferred to a Ph.D. program in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, majoring in Egyptian philology with a minor in Hebrew and was admitted to candidacy in 1978. While at the University of Chicago, he developed the Scripture Translation Research program for the Translation Division of the LDS Church and thereafter worked as the Supervisor of Scripture Translation Research. He has developed exegeses (translator's guides) and a lexicon for the LDS Scriptures. Presently he is reviving his dissertation, a study of ancient Egyptian underworld books from the New Kingdom. Mr. Ashment has also authored several articles analyzing the historicity of Mormon scripture

The Temple: Historical Origins and Religious Value

Articles/Essays – Volume 27, No. 3

Dialogue 27.3 (1994): 289–298
Over time Joseph Smith changed his stance on freemasonary, which led to him being included as part of the group. Some of the common aspects of freemasonry introduced into the endowment ceremony.

Joseph Smith’s Identification of “Abraham” in Papyrus: JS the “Breathing Permit of Hor”

Articles/Essays – Volume 33, No. 4

Dialogue 33.4 (Winter 2000): 91 – 119

In 1967, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York made a gift to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of eleven papyrus fragments once owned by Joseph Smith and employed as the basis for “The Book of Abraham.”