Deseret (Book of Mormon)

Deseret (/dɛzəˈrɛt/ ^ⓘ; 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" meant "honeybee" 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) 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, but which non-LDS scholarly sources translate as the "Red Crown".