The original papyri were discovered in 1966–1967 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and given to BYU

In 1966–1967, while archivists at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York were cataloguing their large collection of ancient texts, they discovered papyri matching the drawings made by Joseph Smith. The papyri were given to Brigham Young University (BYU), the LDS Church's university. The Church officially acknowledged the documents. This was a major development because now scholars could compare Smith's facsimiles and interpretations directly against the actual originals.