Deseret (Book of Mormon)

Deseret (/dɛzəˈrɛt/ ^ⓘ;^[1] Deseret: 𐐔𐐯𐑅𐐨𐑉𐐯𐐻) is a term derived from the Book of Mormon, a scripture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and other Latter Day Saint groups. According to the Book of Mormon, "deseret"^[2]^[3] meant "honeybee"^[4] in the language of the Jaredites, a group in the Book of Mormon that were led by God to the Americas after the construction of the Tower of Babel (see Ether 2:3). Latter-day Saint scholar Hugh Nibley (extending the work of Egyptologist Sir Alan Gardiner^[5]) suggested an etymology by associating the word "Deseret" with the ancient Egyptian deshret (Egyptian: 𓂧𓈙𓂋𓏏𓋔), a term he translated as the "bee crown" of the Lower Kingdom,^[6] but which non-LDS scholarly sources translate as the "Red Crown".^[7]

^ churchofjesuschrist.org: "Book of Mormon Pronunciation Guide" (retrieved 2012-02-25), IPA-ified from «dĕz-a-rĕt´»
^ "Book of Mormon Reference in the Book of Ether, Chapter 2, Verse 3".
^ "On the Etymology of Deseret". by Kevin L. Barney, BCC Papers. November 3, 2006. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
^ "A Brief Survey of Ancient Near Eastern Beekeeping". by Ronan James Head, FARMS Review. Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
^ Gardiner, Alan (1982). Egyptian Grammar (3rd ed.). Oxford. pp. 73–74.
^ Nibley, Hugh (1955). Lehi in the Desert, The World of the Jaredites. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft. pp. 177–178. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
^ Allen, James P. (April 15, 2010). Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-1-139-48635-4.