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The Church History Library in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah,
is a state-of-the-art facility specifically designed
to preserve and store artifacts of the Church.
Among these are papyrus fragments originally
discovered in Egypt in the early part of the 19th century.
The papyrus was part of a larger discovery that
included many mummies as well.
After these items were discovered,
they were eventually exhibited around the United States.
One of the many cities where these artifacts were displayed
was Kirtland, Ohio.
It was there that the Prophet Joseph Smith
learned of their existence.
Some early Church members arranged
for the purchase of four mummies and all of the papyrus records.
Over the next several years, Joseph Smith
worked to translate these records.
They were then published in Nauvoo
in the Church's newspaper, the Times and Seasons.
After the death of the Prophet, the mummies and records
were again sold, with many of them being
destroyed in a fire in Chicago.
However, 10 fragments made it safely
to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York City, where in 1966, an Egyptian scholar
from the University of Utah named
Aziz Atiya found the fragments and arranged
for them to be returned to the Church.
These papyrus fragments are now preserved
in the state-of-the-art Church History Library.
Everything which is donated to the Church
is preserved and treated with meticulous care.
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