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WHEN Solomon--the beloved of
God, builder of the Everlasting House, and Grand Master of the Lodge of
Jerusalem--ascended the throne of his father David he consecrated his
life to the erection of a temple to God and a palace for the kings of
Israel. David's faithful friend, Hiram, King of Tyre, hearing that a son
of David sat upon the throne of Israel, sent messages of congratulation
and offers of assistance to the new ruler. In his History of the Jews,
Josephus mentions that copies of the letters passing between the two
kings were then to be seen both at Jerusalem and at Tyre. Despite
Hiram's lack of appreciation for the twenty cities of Galilee which
Solomon presented to him upon the completion of the temple, the two
monarchs remained the best of friends. Both were famous for their wit
and wisdom, and when they exchanged letters each devised puzzling
questions to test the mental ingenuity of the other. Solomon made an
agreement with Hiram of Tyre promising vast amounts of barley, wheat,
corn, wine, and oil as wages for the masons and carpenters from Tyre who
were to assist the Jews in the erection of the temple. Hiram also
supplied cedars and other fine trees, which were made into rafts and
floated down the sea to Joppa, whence they were taken inland by
Solomon's workmen to the temple site.
Because of his great love for
Solomon, Hiram of Tyre sent also the Grand Master of the Dionysiac
Architects, CHiram Abiff, a Widow's Son, who had no equal among the
craftsmen of the earth. CHiram is described as being "a Tyrian by birch,
but of Israelitish descent," and "a second Bezaleel, honored by his king
with the title of Father." The Freemason's Pocket Companion
(published in 1771) describes CHiram as "the most cunning, skilful and
curious workman that ever lived, whose abilities were not confined to
building alone, but extended to all kinds of work, whether in gold,
silver, brass or iron; whether in linen, tapestry, or embroidery;
whether considered as an architect, statuary [sic]; founder or
designer, separately or together, he equally excelled. From his designs,
and under his direction, all the rich and splendid furniture of the
Temple and its several appendages were begun, carried on, and finished.
Solomon appointed him, in his absence, to fill the chair, as Deputy
Grand-Master; and in his presence, Senior Grand-Warden, Master of work,
and general overseer of all artists, as well those whom David had
formerly procured from Tyre and Sidon, as those Hiram should now send."
(Modem Masonic writers differ as to the accuracy of the last sentence.)
Although an immense amount of
labor was involved in its construction, Solomon's Temple--in the words
of George Oliver--"was only a small building and very inferior in point
of size to some of our churches." The number of buildings contiguous to
it and the vast treasure of gold and precious stones used in its
construction concentrated a great amount of wealth within the temple
area. In the midst of the temple stood the Holy of Holies, sometimes
called the Oracle. It was an exact cube, each dimension being twenty
cubits, and exemplified the influence of Egyptian symbolism. The
buildings of the temple group were ornamented with 1,453 columns of
Parian marble, magnificently sculptured, and 2,906 pilasters decorated
with capitals. There was a broad porch facing the east, and the
sanctum sanctorum was upon the west. According to tradition, the
various buildings and courtyards could hold in all 300,000 persons. Both
the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies were entirely lined with solid gold
plates encrusted with jewels.
King Solomon began the building
of the temple in the fourth year of his reign on what would be,
according to modern calculation, the 21st day of April, and finished it
in the eleventh year of his reign on the 23rd day of October. The temple
was begun in the 480th year after the children of Israel had passed the
Red Sea. Part of the labor of construction included the building of an
artificial foundation on the brow of Mount Moriah. The stones for the
temple were hoisted from quarries directly beneath Mount Moriah and were
trued before being brought to the surface. The brass and golden
ornaments for the temple were cast in molds in the clay ground between
Succoth and Zeredatha, and the wooden parts were all finished before
they reached the temple site. The building was put together,
consequently, without sound and without instruments, all its parts
fitting exactly "without the hammer of contention, the axe of division,
or any tool of mischief."
Anderson's much-discussed
Constitutions of the Free-Masons, published in London in 1723, and
reprinted by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1734, thus describes
the division of the laborers engaged in the building of the Everlasting
House:
"But Dagon's Temple, and the
finest structures of Tyre and Sidon, could not be compared with the
Eternal God's Temple at Jerusalem, * * * there were employed about it no
less than 3,600 Princes, or Master-Masons, to conduct the work according
to Solomon's directions, with 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountain, or
Fellow Craftsmen, and 70,000 labourers, in all 153,600 besides the levy
under Adoniram to work in the mountains of Lebanon by turns with the
Sidonians, viz., 30,000, being in all 183,600." Daniel Sickels gives
3,300 overseers, instead of 3,600, and lists the three Grand Masters
separately. The same author estimates the cost of the temple at nearly
four thousand millions of dollars.
The Masonic legend of the
building of Solomon's Temple does not in every particular parallel the
Scriptural version, especially in those portions relating to CHiram
Abiff. According to the Biblical account, this Master workman returned
to his own country; in the Masonic allegory he is foully murdered. On
this point A. E. Waite, in his New Encyclopędia of Freemasonry,
makes the following explanatory comment:
"The legend of the
Master-Builder is the great allegory of Masonry. It happens that his
figurative story is grounded on the fact of a personality mentioned in
Holy Scripture, but this historical background is of the accidents and
not the essence; the significance is in the allegory and not in any
point of history which may lie behind it."
CHiram, as Master of the
Builders, divided his workmen into three groups, which were termed
Entered Apprentices, Fellow-Craftsmen, and Master Masons.
To each division he gave certain passwords and signs by which their
respective excellence could be quickly determined. While all were
classified according to their merits some were dissatisfied, for they
desired a more exalted position than they were capable of filling. At
last three Fellow-Craftsmen, more daring than their companions,
determined to force CHiram to reveal to them the password of the
Master's degree. Knowing that CHiram always went into the unfinished
sanctum sanctorum at high noon to pray, these ruffians--whose
names were Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum--lay in wait for him, one at each
of the main gates of the temple. CHiram, about to leave the temple by
the south gate, was suddenly confronted by Jubela armed with a
twenty-four-inch gauge. Upon CHiram's refusal to reveal the Master's
Word, the ruffian struck him on the throat with the rule, and the
wounded Master then hastened to the west gate, where Jubelo, armed with
a square, awaited him and made a similar demand. Again CHiram was
silent, and the second assassin struck him on the breast with the
square. CHiram thereupon staggered to the east gate, only to be met
there by Jubelum armed with a maul. When CHiram, refused him the
Master's Word, Jubelum struck the Master between the eyes with the
mallet and CHiram fell dead.
The body of CHiram was buried
by the murderers over the brow of Mount Moriah and a sprig of acacia
placed upon the grave. The murderers then sought to escape punishment
for their crime by embarking for Ethiopia, but the port was closed. All
three were finally captured, and after admitting their guilt were duly
executed. Parties of three were then sent out by King Solomon, and one
of these groups discovered the newly made grave marked by the evergreen
sprig. After the Entered Apprentices and the Fellow-Craftsmen had failed
to resurrect their Master from the dead he was finally raised by
the Master Mason with the "strong grip of a
Lion's Paw."
To the initiated Builder the
name CHiram Abiff signifies "My Father, the Universal Spirit, one
in essence, three in aspect." Thus the murdered Master is a type of the
Cosmic Martyr--the crucified Spirit of Good, the dying god--whose
Mystery is celebrated throughout the world. Among the manuscripts of Dr.
Sigismund Bastrom, the initiated Rosicrucian, appears the following
extract from von Welling concerning the true philosophic nature of the
Masonic CHiram:
"The original word חירם, CHiram,
is a radical word consisting of three consonants ח ר and ם i. e.
Cheth, Resh and Mem. (1) ח, Cheth, signifies
Chamah, the Sun's light, i. e. the Universal, invisible,
cold fire of Nature attracted by the Sun, manifested into
light and sent down to us and to every planetary body belonging to
the solar system. (2) ר, Resh, signifies ריח Ruach, i. e.
Spirit, air, wind, as being the Vehicle which
conveys and collects the light into numberless Foci, wherein the solar
rays of light are agitated by a circular motion and manifested in
Heat and burning Fire. (3) ם, or מ Mem, signifies
majim, water, humidity, but rather the mother of
water, i. e. Radical Humidity or a particular kind of condensed air.
These three constitute the Universal Agent or fire of Nature in one
word, חירם, CHiram, not Hiram."
Albert Pike mentions several
forms of the name CHiram: Khirm, Khurm, and Khur-Om,
the latter ending in the sacred Hindu monosyllable OM, which may
also be extracted from the names of the three murderers. Pike further
relates the three ruffians to a triad of stars in the constellation of
Libra and also calls attention to the fact that the Chaldean god
Bal--metamorphosed into a demon by the Jews--appears in the name of each
of the murderers, Jubela, Jubelo, and Jubelum. To
interpret the Hiramic legend requires familiarity with both the
Pythagorean and Qabbalistic systems of numbers and letters, and also the
philosophic and astronomic cycles of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, and
Brahmins. For example, consider the number 33. The first temple of
Solomon stood for thirty-three years in its pristine splendor. At the
end of that time it was pillaged by the Egyptian King Shishak, and
finally (588 B.C.) it was completely destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the
people of Jerusalem were led into captivity to Babylon. (See General
History of Freemasonry, by Robert Macoy.) Also King David ruled for
thirty-three years in Jerusalem; the Masonic Order is divided into
thirty-three symbolic degrees; there are thirty-three segments in the
human spinal column; and Jesus was crucified in the thirty-third year of
His life.
The efforts made to discover
the origin of the Hiramic legend show that, while the legend in its
present form is comparatively modem, its underlying principles run back
to remotest antiquity. It is generally
admitted by modem Masonic scholars that the story of the martyred CHiram
is based upon the Egyptian rites of Osiris, whose death and resurrection
figuratively portrayed the spiritual death of man and his regeneration
through initiation into the Mysteries.
CHiram is also identified with Hermes through the inscription on the
Emerald Table. From these associations it is evident that CHiram is to
be considered as a prototype of humanity; in fact he is Plato's Idea
(archetype) of man. As Adam after the Fall symbolizes the Idea of human
degeneration, so CHiram through his resurrection symbolizes the Idea of
human regeneration.
On the 19th day of March, 1314,
Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templars, was
burned on a pyre erected upon that point of the islet of the Seine, at
Paris, where afterwards was erected the statue of King Henry IV. (See
The Indian Religions, by Hargrave Jennings.) "It is mentioned as a
tradition in some of the accounts of the burning," writes Jennings,
"that Molay, ere he expired, summoned Clement, the Pope who had
pronounced the bull of abolition against the Order and had condemned the
Grand Master to the flames, to appear, within forty days, before the
Supreme Eternal judge, and Philip [the king] to the same awful tribunal
within the space of a year. Both predictions were fulfilled." The close
relationship between Freemasonry and the original Knights Templars has
caused the story of CHiram to be linked with the martyrdom of Jacques de
Molay. According to this interpretation, the three ruffians who
cruelly slew their Master at the gates of the temple because he refused
to reveal the secrets of his Order represent the Pope, the king, and the
executioners. De Molay died maintaining his innocence and refusing to
disclose the philosophical and magical arcana of the Templars.
THE
SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES by Manly P. Hall |