Pearl of Great Price Central Zeptah and Egyptes
Pearl of Great Price Central wrote:The name of Ham’s wife in all three Kirtland-era manuscripts is either “Zep-tah” or “Zeptah”
Splitting the name of the god Ptah is proof that Smith and his scribes had no idea they were dealing with a god's name in the first place. The Mormon translators were clueless about what Zeptah might mean in the Egyptian tongue and the serious implications of what the hyphen did to the word -- split him in two. Separation of the
'P' from the rest of the name goes to show the Mormons had no grasp of the Egyptian language, whatsoever.
Pearl of Great Price Central wrote:The name Zeptah stands out since it could very plausibly be a rendering of the Egyptian name Siptah (sꜣ ptḥ), meaning “son of [the god] Ptah.”
Yes, that's correct. The name Zeptah means "son of Ptah" and let's be clear that a
SON is always a
MALE! So, whoever bears the name must be a male. But in the case of the Book of Abraham manuscript the name is being applied to a female! Females are not sons and neither are they male.
Pearl of Great Price Central wrote:This name, as well as its feminine equivalent “daughter of [the god] Ptah” (sꜣt ptḥ), is attested during the likely time of Abraham (circa 2,000–1,800 BC).5 It is also the name of an Egyptian king who lived many centuries after Abraham
You are absolutely mistaken when you say
"equivalent" in stating the feminine version is
"equivalent" to the male. One is male and the other is female. There is nothing
"equivalent" about it! The same standard could be applied to English: Paul and Paula are not equivalent names. Paula has the letter
'a' which makes it feminine but Paul does not. Similarly,
"sꜣt ptḥ" has the letter
't' which makes it female, a daughter.
Pearl of Great Price Central wrote:The spelling of the name with a Z instead of an S is not a problem for the Book of Abraham, since in the Egyptian language of Abraham’s time “these two consonants were pronounced the same, like English s as in set.” They were “essentially one consonant [in the Egyptian language of this time], and could often be written interchangeably.”
I agree that the spelling of the Z or the S is not a problem -- it's the same. But where the problem lies is that there is no determinative
T in the name Zeptah to make it female as one who is a daughter of Ptah. The person in the Book of Abraham is given the masculine name. That is utterly wrong. It's proof the Book of Abraham is false.
Pearl of Great Price Central wrote:But why would a woman have a man’s name like Zeptah? One possibility is that the name was confused by ancient scribes copying the text after Abraham’s lifetime.
That has to be the most stupid and silliest excuse to defend Joseph Smith's blunder that I've ever heard. Give me a freaking break. Do not insult my intelligence. You're trying to blame the Egyptian scribes just like Nibley tried to blame Smith's scribes. It's all about blaming anyone and everyone other than who the blame properly belongs to, Smith. Blame it on Smith for God's sake.
The story of the Book of Abraham is quite clear. There are 8 people in the whole story. Noah and his wife. That leaves 6 people left. Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives. The story makes it perfectly clear that the Ham's wife was a woman -- having a curse -- and that she bore a son who became the first king of Egypt.
Mormon apologists do nothing but insult my intelligence trying to sell their snake oil. Their tactics are evil and reprehensible. Oh how Mormons love to be deceived and deceive others. It's in their blood. It's who they are. Brainwashed and altogether sold to lying.