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Question: Does Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 show a hand, or does it show the wing of a second bird?
Question: Does Book of Abraham Facsimile 1 show a hand, or does it show the wing of a second bird?
The high-resolution photos of the papyri clearly show that it was a hand, not a wing
The Larson restoration presumes that the upper hand represented in Facsimile 1 is instead the wing of a bird. There are several elements which disprove this.
- It is clear that the Egyptian artist drew wings in a specific manner, as can be observed by the wing of the bird on the right.
- The two hands have distinct thumbs.
- The assumption that ink spots on the hand represent spots on the birds wing is disproven by close examination of the original, which shows ink traces that indicate that the lines were originally connected.
- It is also clear that the missing ink correlates with cracks in the papyri. Note that the cracks extend across all fingers, and that the ink has flaked off along the cracks.
- Note that the index finger (the one next to the thumb) is continuous in the original, but was broken into two parts in the Larson restoration.
Notes