Kerry Muhlestein

Bio

Dr. Muhlestein received his B.S. cum laude from BYU in Psychology with a Hebrew minor. In order to learn Hebrew, he spent time at the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies in the intensive Hebrew program. After completing his undergraduate degree, Dr. Muhlestein received an M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from BYU and then his Ph.D., graduating, from UCLA in Egyptology. He has taught courses in Hebrew and Religion part time at BYU and the UVSC extension center, as well as in history at Cal Poly Pomona and UCLA. His first full time appointment was a joint position in Religion and History at BYU–Hawaii. He has also spent time in Egypt. He and his wife Julianne have six children. He is involved with the American Research Center in Egypt and has also worked with Educational Testing Services on their AP World History exam. As a master's degree student at BYU in Near Eastern Studies he worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls data base project. He was also instrumental in arranging for the first–ever Egyptology Conference in Hawaii at BYU–Hawaii.

As a rising Biblical scholar, Dr. Muhlestein taught in both the Religious Education and History departments of BYU–Hawaii, and is now an Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Brigham Young University.

His recent publications include "One Continuous Flow: Revelations Surrounding the 'New Translation'" which analyzes the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis and its relation to the Doctrine and Covenants. He has also written an article called "Ruth, Redemption, and Covenant" to come forth in October of this year as a part of the Sperry Symposium.

Dr. Muhlestein teaches classes on the Old Testament, Pearl of Great Price, Book of Mormon, New Testament, Eternal Marriage, Egyptian History, Egyptian Historiography, History of Civilization, History of the Near Eastern Empires, and Ancient Egypt and Foreign Relations.

He focuses mostly on Ancient Egypt, Hebrew Bible, and the Pearl of Great Price and his research focuses on the texts and iconography of Egyptian religion, international contact between ancient Egypt and her neighbors, the Egyptian juridical process, Egyptian literature, and the overlap of the Biblical and Egyptian worlds, including the ancient and modern history of the Pearl of Great Price, among other things. He also travels to Egypt often to take part in the BYU Egypt Excavation Project that he is an integral part of.

Dr. Muhlestein is proficient is many languages, both ancient and modern, including Egyptian, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Moabite, Coptic, German, French, Greek and Akkadian.

Online Publications:

Kerry Muhlestein, "Ruth, Redemption, Covenant, and Christ," in The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, ed. D. Kelly Ogden, Jared W. Ludlow, and Kerry Muhlestein (Provo, UT and Salt Lake City: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, and Deseret Book, 2009), 187–206.

———. "Approaching Understandings in the Book of Abraham." FARMS Review. 18, no. 2, 229–46.

Highlighted Publications:

Articles:

Muhlestein, Kerry. "Israel, Exodus, Atonement, and Us." In Covenants, Prophecies, and Hymns of the Old Testament. Edited by Victor Ludlow. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2001, 89–100.

———. "Review of Revealing the Holy Land: The Photographic Exploration of Palestine" JUSâR, UCLA Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 15 (1999), 77–78.

———. The Use of the Palm of the Hand in the Rituals of the Tabernacle and Temple of Solomon. Thesis, Brigham Young University, 1997.

BYU Old Testament