Joseph Smith and the Egyptian Mummy
Name: Huh?
Comments: What is the reason for Joseph Smith buying Egyptian mummies? He gets the gold plates by a divine source but has to purchase mummies for other scripture?
That is a fairly simple thing to answer.
Due to his rather intense exposure to ancient religious history through the Book of Mormon and angelic visitations, he sought more knowledge. I truly doubt that he expected to gain the Book of Abraham through it.
Another point of view would be that the Holy Ghost prompted him to purchase the artifacts when they became available.
That is not an official position of the Church, and so is your speculation only.
I don't believe the Church has a position on why Joseph actually purchased the papyri. So, the fact is, we don't really know why he bought them.
I agree with Elphaba, we can't really say why Joseph Smith bought the mummies, I recall though that when he checked the mummies (before purchasing them) he saw the Book of Abraham and Joseph and that's why he bought them.
Folks but then it kind of contradicts when Joseph Smith said the following: