The actual translation aside [The Book of Abraham], it just seems far too outlandish for
some traveling Irishman, who was using the Mummies as a sort of
sideshow to earn a quick buck, would happen to be carrying scrolls
that came with the mummies that are the writings of the Great
Patriarchs Abraham and Joseph, favorite son of Jacob/Israel.  Such a
discovery would be as miraculous as finding the true cross, the shroud
of Turin, the Arc of the Covenant, or the Holy Grail.  Such items, if
they exist, are the subject of life long crusades, not things that
happen to fall into your lap if you live thousands of miles away from
their origins in backwater farm country.

Let's look at all the miraculous coincidences in JS's life:  1) He was
raised with a few miles of the final resting place of the sacred
record of the Nephites; 2) He happened to purchase, by chance, the
sacred writings of the Great Patriarchs from a passing conman; 3) He
moved his followers to the midwest, where they happen to be sitting on
the site of the Garden of Eden.  If only he had lived, he may have
found Noah's ark, encountered John the Beloved and the 3 Nephites, and
discovered at least one of the 10 lost tribes (although one could say
that he did this by encountering the Lamanites, who are descended from
Manasas).

Let's not forget, he also discovered "an old Nephite tower" in Missouri, the
bones of a giant "white Lamanite" named Zelph, and declared that the
"Kinderhook Plates" were ancient records, just as the BOM and BOA had been.  
Modern archaelogists work an entire lifetime to make a single find, but ol'
Joe Smith was stumbling over some of the most remarkable ancient artifacts in
the history of the world with every step he took.

http://www.geocities.com/martsego/mormons.html

Be sure and scroll down to the bottom of this article and peruse the photo of
the broadside that was published in Kirtland to advertise the BOM for sale. 
The import of that broadside is that it depicts the "characters" that Joseph
Smith claimed were examples of those on the "gold plates."  Some modern
Mopologists attempt to question the authenticity of those "characters"
(commonly called the "Anthon transcript,"), because they correspond to no
known ancient language, let alone any form of Hebrew or Egyptian.  The 1830's
broadside refutes the Mopologists' theory of inauthenticity, because it was
published in Kirtland, under the auspices of Smith & Co., therefore
establishing the "characters' " chain of custody from Smith onwards.  The
facsimiles' failure to correspond to any ancient language is physical
evidence of the fraudulence of Smith's entire "gold plates" claim.

Randy J.