What is the controversy over what the Mormons call the Book of Abraham?

Answer 1

Egyptologists say that damaged portions of the original text have been reconstructed incorrectly by Smith. They also point out that the translation by Smith of the original hieroglyphics has nothing whatever to do with the actual text. Smith claimed that the papyri contained the story of Abraham and he wrote an elaborate and detailed 'translation' of the material. The hieroglyphics on the papyri themselves are from standard ancient Egyptian funerary texts and have nothing at all to do with Smith's Book of Abraham.

The deeper question is that if this material from Joseph Smith can so easily be debunked, how can anyone give credence to the Book of Mormon, a supposed 'translation' of hieroglyphs on golden tablets which are now and forever unable to be critically examined?

It appears that Mr. Smith was counting on the possibility that the meaning of the hieroglyphic text would remain forever obscure. He may not have realized that even then scholars were beginning to successfully break the code, based on the now famous work on the Rosetta Stone. Smith would have had no way of knowing that this work was being done, or he would surely have changed his approach.