There are many exciting things in Hugh Nibley and Michael D. Rhodes' new book, "One Eternal Round." But more than 700 pages of insights is a bit much for one article. So let's take just one little slice of the book and see what we find — like taking a spoonful of a stew to test the flavor.
The book focuses on Facsimile 2 in the Book of Abraham, a round diagram called a "Hypocephalus." The drawing was part of a collection of Egyptian papyrus that Joseph Smith purchased in 1835. Joseph Smith gave an explanation for many of the pictures in the drawing — except they are not really pictures or even drawings in the modern sense. Something deeper is going on here.
"In the first place," Nibley writes, "these are not pictures of anything; to use Smith's terms, the drawings only 'represent,' 'signify,' are 'pertaining to,' 'answer to,' (and so forth)."
So what are the drawings doing?
"If we single out the nouns and verbs in the official explanation, "we can see what it is talking about," Nibley wrote. "(And) there is nothing mystical or magical about it."
In the book, Nibley listed all the words that supported each category. Here, I'll just list a few under each category to give the flavor.
1. Cosmology:
Earth, planets, stars.
2. Measurement and number:
Measurements of time, day, cubit, revolution.
3. Transmission of power or energy:
Receiving light, governs planets or stars.
4. Hierarchy or dominion — intelligence and purpose:
Creation, government, power, crown, light, throne.
5. Ordinances and procedures — relating the above to humanity:
Key words, sacrifice, Abraham, Temple of God.
6. Special idiom or notation to convey the above:
Represent, signify, called by the Egyptians, not to be revealed.
Although Nibley wrote that these subjects were not mystical, they certainly are weighty. These are the general themes Nibley explored in the book, "One Eternal Round," as he ranged throughout the ancient and modern world to coax out specific details hidden in Facsimile 2.
The content of this article comes from just two pages (240-241) in "One Eternal Round." <