Screenshot of email response from Dr. Kara Cooney, last accessed 2018-09-03.

Hello Dr. Cooney,

My name is blackedout. I’m a big fan of your work. I’m not an Egyptologist, but I am a former member of the LDS church. Because of this I have come to find great interest in the field later in my life.

Recently, I have come across a quote attributed to you.

“I watched the three videos, and I don’t agree with any of it. The ancient Egyptians had no concept of Abraham, so I don’t know where he gets these comparisons… And No, most Egyptologists do not agree, despite what Kerry says. I know Kerry, but I do not have much respect for his work. Now I have even less. The fact that he is digging in Egypt is even more worrisome… This PhD was awarded before I arrived at UCLA, although I know that Kerry finished his text based dissertation after only two years of Egyptian language training, which is rather laughable.”

“Have you read Robert Ritner’s work about this in Journal of Near Eastern Studies? It’s the best out there… Kerry is just spinning out the same Mormon rhetoric. What is different is: Mormons are funding PhDs in Egyptology and Biblical Studies and then funding positions at BYU and elsewhere and passing these people off as experts, when they are only ideologically driven researchers, not experts interested in actual evidence.”

The person posting this quote on a message board claimed to have had an email correspondence with you inquiring about UCLA alumni and LDS Church employee, Kerry Muhlestein’s opinions on the Mormon Church’s Book of Abraham.

I have read all I could get my hands on by non-Mormon Egyptologists regarding the Mormon claims regarding Egyptian translations and have come to the conclusion that I have been deceived my entire life. I am forever grateful to Egyptologists all over the world and their tireless work. Even in this conclusion, I would still love to authenticate the source of this quote floating around the exMormon internet forums attributed to you.

Thank you for your time.

That quote is legit. I didn’t expect it to be published in as public a forum as it was, but there it is… I stand by what I said.

Kara

Kathlyn M. Cooney

Associate Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art & Architecture

Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures University of California Los Angeles

FairMormon rebuttal here [which seems valid in many ways]