|
RECAPITULATED PROOFS OF ANCIENT
MASONRY
CHAPTER VII
the arcane schools
John Yarker
THE information embodied in the foregoing pages might
have been extended to a great length; and in giving so condensed an account the
tastes of the general reader have been consulted. Some recapitulation of the
salient points may be advisable as a short preparation for the chapters upon
Masonry which follow; by way of laying the foundation for the introduction of
the Association of Geometry, Craft and Art, or what is now called Freemasonry,
into England.
Though Free Masonry, using this term to indicate a
Brotherhood embracing religion, morality, symbols, and art, has passed under
various names according to the language of the country in which it has existed,
yet the most casual reader must have observed that the various Schools which we
have described, as derived from a primitive system, had all the same essential
Rites, and are in agreement with the Masonic System. The mere fact of the use
of an organised system of esoteric Marks in architecture, in all time and in all
countries, is itself proof of equal continuance of degrees, and ceremonial
rites, in affinity with them; but we are not solely dependent upon this, and
though the proofs of a continuation of a secret Society is naturally less
prominent than in the case of a Church or a Sect, they are strong enough to
remove all reasonable doubt on the subject. {219}
The evidence which we have already adduced goes to shew
that the first Great Mysteries were, at the very least, a union of the
traditions of religion and art. The various phenomena of life, the revolutions
of the heavenly bodies, their effect on vegetable and animal life were carefully
studied; astronomy and all those arts which are so largely indebted to
mathematics and geometry, were combined with Theosophia in the ancient
Mysteries; and all the facts of physical science and art were embraced in their
instruction.
A widespread Ugro-Finnic, or proto-Aryan, civilisation
preceded the Aryan and Semitic developments, and it is even amongst the earliest
of these people that we can trace a system which combined tuition in religion
and science and which corresponds in its essential features with Freemasonry.
The Mongolian races of Thibet and China afford us proof of this, equally with
the "Masters of Secrets," who left us above 8,000 years ago the ruins of Erech,
Serpal, Eridu, and Babel on the plains of Shinar.
China. The primitive Indian Manu, whose era is so
remote that no date can be assigned, speaks of a written character composed of
geometrical Symbols. We find in China amongst a people who spread from Thibet
at a remote period, and were contemporary with primitive Babylon, a system of
operative and speculative Masonry of which the Kings, as was the case upon the
plains of Shinar, were the Grand Masters. One of the oldest words in the
Chinese language is literally square and compasses; and the "Skirret" is
an hieroglyphic; the altar was a cube. Aprons with emblems
of office were worn; and one of the most ancient books contains the square
and plumb as jewels of office, which had to be returned on the death of a
Monarch-ruler, whose emblem was the hammer. The Diety was designated
"First Builder," and the Magistrates Level men. At a later period, but
still 3,000 years ago, the then Emperor has the circle and rule as
his attributes, as the Egyptian Osiris had the Cubit. Coupled with this
we have the doctrine of Universal {220} Brotherhood, and the use of North-east,
and South-west to indicate the beginning and end of any object in view.
Confucius, Mencius, and other philosophers, equally apply the use of Masonic
tools in their writings. In every sense of the word this system is Freemasonry
without its name, and traditional Jewish legend. Sir John Mandeville, in 1356,
mentions a coincidence with the Societies of the Essenes, Pythagoreans, and
Ancient Masons. He says that the Khan of all Tartary before the eruption into
China, decreed that all men should be governed by Masters of tens, hundreds, and
thousands. Moorcraft<<Quoted by Dr. Kenealy.>> says that when he entered Thibet
he was met by an officer of the Government named the "Nerba" and "on the back of
his habit, and on the right shoulder were sewn the saw, adze, chisel, rule, and
all the insignia of Freemasonry in Iron, the Symbols of a fraternity of which he
said he was a member." Japan 2,500 years ago had the Chinese Guilds introduced
by way of Korea.
Egypt. The most ancient Memphis of Egypt has
traces of this system; in the use according to Diodorus of tools in the hieratic
writing; in the use of the cubit-rule as an emblem of truth; in the building
symbolism of the "Ritual of the Dead," a book so old that 4,500 years
ago, it could not be understood without a commentary added to an older
commentary, that had become unintelligible. The architect at this period, and
6,000 years ago, was a "Royal Companion," and some of them mated with
Princesses. The Very Rev. C. W. Barnett, Dean of Capetown, says in a recent
address, that he had himself seen, on buildings 3,000 years old, the square,
triangle, circle, sun, moon, pentacle, and that the evidences of Masonry are
found at Thebes Luxor, Philae, Abu Simbel, Osioot, Dendera, Carnac, and on other
noted archaic ruins, as well as in the pitch dark recesses of the great pyramid;
and that the Sphynx holds in its colossal paws an exquisite small temple, which
has Masons' marks indented into the solid walls, roof, and monolithic columns.
{221}
Babylon. Ancient Babylon was allied in blood and
religion with the two races that we have just mentioned. What we have not yet
to record in Symbols we find represented in their language. The earliest
Monarchs were termed Pat-te-shi, which is interpreted literally to strike or
anoint the foundation stone, and with the addition of tsi-ri is translated
Sublime Master. Again the seven Cabiric gods, or eight with one slain by his
brother-gods, are named Patecei, from Patasso, a hammer, and though we need not
go to Asgard, which is believed to be near the Caspian, the God Thor has the
hammer for his weapon and the Svastica  for his
emblem. There is similar proof that the first Kings and Viceroys were Masters
of the builders, and probably the designers, or at least superintended the
erection; and such edifices were consecrated with the Rites of Modern Masonry.
The Kings are represented with a Maltese Cross worn from the neck. We seem to
lose the Akkadian Symbols of the Mason in the conquests of the Tent-dwelling
Semites. The highest chamber of the tower of Borsippa or Babel was a perfect
cube. Brother G. W. Speth, the late eminent Secretary of Lodge 2076, has
pointed out some interesting bearings which Cabiric emblems have upon modern
Freemasonry. We have shewn that the most ancient style of building was termed
Cyclopean, of which the Cabiric Initiates were the Masters, and that it is a
prehistoric style existing in all countries, running in later times into level
work and often cruciform in its plan. The Cabiri recognised seven ancient gods,
of which three were Chiefs, and an eighth was slain by the others. In Masonry
whilst three rule a lodge, seven make it perfect, and the eighth, or Initiated
Candidate, is represented by the slain god. There is also the common symbolism
of a cube with 8 corners, which the Greek Cabiri termed Eshmon, and the
Phoenicians applied to Ouranos, or heaven, and as Esh is eight it equally
represents the Ashlar.<<"Ars Quat. Cor.," v, pt. 2.>> These Cabiri laid claim to
be the inventors of {222} all the arts of life, including the smelting of
metals, and were termed Technites or Artificers. Æschylus introduces Prometheus
as a Cabiric god, inasmuch as amongst the arts that he taught mankind are the
erection of houses of brick, the construction of ships, the invention of
letters, and the art of digging gold and silver from the prolific earth, and of
fabricating instruments for ornament and use; he is the Tubal-Cain of the
Semites, and Greek Mythology condemns him to a cruel punishment on Caucasus, for
stealing the fire of heaven to aid mankind.
Greece. Primitive Greece was allied in its culte
with the races already mentioned; and its early gods were those of the Cabiri,
and their buildings Cyclopean; early Greek culture is found in tombs and palaces
3,000 B.C. excavated by Dr. Schliemann, and the contents of these tombs appear
to ally the occupants with the Scythians. A long period of barbarous wars
succeeded, attendant upon the invasion of the country by the Hellenes, an Aryan
or Celto-Iranian people, spreading general devastation. In Hellenic Mythology
it is figured to us in wars with a race of giants, Titans whom Jupiter at length
conquered and condemned to servile employment in the forges of Vulcan. Reduced
to plain matter of fact, it is the war between the Aryan invaders, who invented
the mythology, and the primitive inhabitants who worshipped the Cabiric gods,
and were reduced to artistic labour for their conquerors. By this invasion the
Cabiric Mythology became Hellenised; in one direction the conquerors Aryanised
the old myths that had grown up in the country, and in another direction they
appear to have Grecianised the legends of Egypt and Phoenicia.<<Vide "Origin of
the Aryans," Isaac Taylor, M.A., LL.D.>>
For some centuries Greece sank into semi-barbarous
desolation; its true civilisation was that of Egypt, whence culture passed
through the Romans to Europe. Egyptian colonists with their religious mysteries
settled at Argolis, the ancient seat of those Cyclops or Cabiri who built the
enormous walls of Tyrenes, and Mycenae, at a period too {223} remote to be
defined; their chief Inachas it is said lived 1976 B.C., and was succeeded by
his son Phoroneus, whilst the deluge of Ogyges, in Boetia, occurred 1796 B.C.,
but it is probable that little reliance can be placed on these dates. To the
new race is attributed the destruction of the older Cyclopean towns. At dates
from three to four centuries later there entered Greece fresh colonies of
Egyptians and Phoenicians: Cecrops arrived in Attica from Sais, in Egypt, 1687
B.C.; assembled the well-disposed inhabitants, laid the foundation of Athens,
and of that peculiar tribunal termed the Areopagus. Cadmus settled with his
colonies in Boetia 1594 B.C., and founded Thebes; he brought with him into
Greece the Phoenician alphabet, which, originating in Egypt, forms the basis of
our own alphabet. Danaus settled a new colony in Argolis 1586 B.C., which had
previously been settled by Egyptians, and to this year is also credited the
deluge of Deucalion.
India and Media. Primitive India and Proto-Media
shared the same fate as ancient Greece; Aryans equally invaded these countries
and reduced the ancient inhabitants. Egypt also received Colonies of the same
race, and the great pyramid is constructed upon the Mystic design of the temple
of the realms of Osiris. The Aryan invaders of India established bounds beyond
which the artizan, as a third caste, was not allowed to proceed. Accordingly
this third class, which was largely the prehistoric inhabitants of the country,
continued Rites of their own, in which as we have seen, they used art Symbols
and measurements to typify the truths of a religion, which differed only from
that of the Brahmins and Maharajahs in the use of art instead of nature
Symbols. The priests of Benares say that this Fraternity constructed all the
marvellous works that are spread over the land. As in China, it was a Society
of the Level and Plumb.
Persia. The ancient Persians say that their ruler
Jemschid erected the Artizans into a class, though the country never accepted
strict caste laws. This ideal king {224} gave them laws which he superintended,
and allowed them to appoint a Chief or Grand Master to oversee them. Hence in
strictly Aryan countries, governed by firm caste laws, we have a triple set of
Mysteries, those of the Brahmins, or Priests, with an intangible Diety; in the
warrior Caste such Mysteries as those of Mythras, Bacchus and Serapis; and
amongst the Artizans the Art, or Cabiric gods.
When an apprentice has completed his time he applies to
his Guild for his Freedom and makes the customary payment. A priest is called
in and after prayers he receives the acolade from the Master of the
Guild. The Rev. P. J. Oliver Minos says that he has traced 20 Masonic
Landmarks to Hindu Rites; and that in Persian Mazan is a Sorcerer, -- a
Scientist, and that "Free" may be the Sanscrit Pri to love as brethren,
as distinct from slaves, the root "vri" or "var" to choose. Mazandun is land of
sorcerers, scientists.
As the caste system extended itself in India to different
trades, a Guild system arose, such as we had in old times in England. In India
at this day, each caste forms such a Guild, embracing the whole of that class,
exercising an influence for the general advantage. Some of these lay claim to
the "twice born thread" of the Brahmins. The deserving members are rewarded by
titles and offices, the undeserving are punished by fines, or condemned to
furnish a feast; the refractory suffer by temporary or permanent caste
deprivation.
Aryan Greece. The origin of Classical Greek is
Aryan, and was first introduced into Thessaly by the followers of the Mythical
Deucalion, in three great tribes designated Hellenes. The Dorians are said to
take their name from Doris, son of Helen; the Æolians from another son Æolus;
and Ionians from a grandson Ion. It is noteworthy that it is after the
recivilisation of Greece and the introduction of the Egyptian Mysteries that the
method of building edifices of squared and level blocks in contradistinction to
the polygonal and irregular style {225} of the Cyclops, arises in that country;
hence it would appear that either the Dionysian artificers must have superseded
the Cabiri or instructed them. There are traces in India, Greece, Palestine,
and other countries, of a gradual improvement, as exemplified by the use of both
styles in the same building, and there can scarcely be a doubt that the
improvement came from the Aryan race. Ancient Greek writers identify the
Pelasgi with the older style and attribute it to Assyrian introduction. The
Etrurians were of the Pelasgic race, and their buildings are of the Cyclopean
style, and from them we derive the Tuscan style of column; Varro mentions a
tradition that they conquered North Italy 1044 B.C. To the Aryan Greeks the
solidity of Cyclopean Masonry, which went beyond their early Kings Inachides and
the Oenostratus, could only be the work of giants, and similar views were held
in other countries. It is from the tribes of Dorians and Ionians that we derive
the Doric and Ionic styles, after follow the Corinthian and the Composite, as
the developments of the three original Greek styles, with the Tuscan. But
Isocrates justly says that the Greeks borrowed their ideas, and the forms of
their temples, from the Egyptians. It is known that the Phoenicians often
employed Egyptian architects; and it was from the former that Solomon obtained
his chief workmen for the erection of the temple of Jerusalem, and the style had
points in common with that of Etruria, from which Rome derived much of its art.
The Dionysiacs. There are three questions to be
considered in reference to the application of the name Dionysius to the slain
and resurrected sun-god of Greece. In the first place, Herodotus positively
asserts that these Mysteries were derived from Egypt, it is certainly not the
Cabiric version. But Assyria had its God Dionisu, and the Aryan Greeks in some
cases Hellenised the older Mythology. It therefore seems to be pretty evident
that the Hierophants, who first organised the system, found it politic and
expedient to use the Assyrian name in place of the {226} Egyptian. It is
somewhat doubtful whether the Great Mysteries of Dionysos were practical Masons,
as well as teachers of secret truths of a spiritual nature. The usually
accepted statement is that the builders were Initiates into the Mysteries of
Dionysos; but as these Mysteries, according to the savant Heeren, were allied
with those of the warrior class of Persia and India, it is possible that there
was a separate class of builders, as in India, under the designation of
"Dionysian Artificers," for though neither Egypt nor Greece were caste ridden,
and the latter left the Aryan home before caste laws were promulgated, yet both
in Egypt and Greece there was a custom of hereditary transmission of Art, as
honourable in itself.
The probability of the evidence is that the Dionysiacs
were an operative body who had their Initiated Masters or Chiefs appointed by
the Hierophants of the Mysteries, and who taught them and superintended their
labours; and that they developed in Greece the method of building with flat,
squared blocks. As the priests of the Mysteries in early times had the
superintendence of the erection of their temples, they may have reserved the
right of Initiating Masters; and the echo of this may be found in the old MSS.,
which caused King Athelstan to grant a Master's Charter in Witenagemote, which
new body then proceeded to add "points" for the governance of subordinate
workmen.
We read that in the year 1263 B.C. the Council of
Amphictyons built the temple of Apollo, a combination of Architects two
centuries before the time of Solomon. These Dionysiacs existed in Greece above
3,000 years ago; hence Cabiric art fell into abeyance, and became a tradition.
On the Ionic emigration they carried their art into Asia, and the erection of
the Temple of Heracles at Tyre has been attributed to them, and which had two
Pillars, one of gold, the other of emerald. They were divided into Lodges under
Masters, had emblematical Jewels, degrees, ceremonies, and tokens of
recognition; {227} they also admitted amateurs as Honorary members. They became
a powerful body which exercised much political influence, and were incorporated
as a Society of Architects by the Kings of Pergamos. At one time they were
termed Daedalidae, from Dedalus, the architect of Crete, and the Labyrinth,
respecting whom there is a myth which has some analogy to Masonic legend; he is
often represented with the square and compasses in his hand, hence the Greeks
fabled that he invented these working tools and that he was father of
architecture in general; and was banished for murdering a Fellow out of
jealousy. Lord Bacon, in his Wisdom of the Ancients, allegorises the
legend as to Daedalus, coupled with the death of his son Icarus by falling from
a flying machine which his father had invented; by the Labyrinth, he says, is
typified Art in general. It is admitted that the Dionysiacs were attached to
the Osirian legend; and one of the walls of Thebes has a representation of the
Ark of Osiris, with a sprig of five branches, and the legend "Osiris sprouts
forth," being an analogue of the Jewish Ark, and the Rod which budded. A
symbolic ladder had its place in the Greek Temples, and Aelian says that
Pittacus of Mitylene introduced a ladder into the temples of his country to
imply "the rise and fall in the vicissitudes of fortune, according to which the
prosperous might be said to climb upwards; the unfortunate to descend." This is
but the exoteric explanation of an esoteric spiritual Mystery. We mentioned in
our third chapter a Mosaic table of a Masonic character found at Pompeii. There
can be no doubt that we have in the Book of Chronicles the Hebrew
equivalents of the divisions of labour in the great building operations of other
nations, these cannot be a Hebrew invention, but equally represent the
organisations of Chaldea, Egypt, and India. We read (1) of Ish Chotzeb, or men
who hew at the quarries; (2) Ghiblim, stone cutters or artists; (3) Ish Sabbal,
or men of burdens; (4) Bonai, the builders or setters; (5) Menatzchim, the
comforters or foremen; (6) Harodim, rulers or princes, who {228} superintended
the whole levy. It may be noted that Gebal, where Solomon's Masons wrought, was
a seat of the Adonisian Mysteries, and that he was said to have been slain in
Lebanon. Even the more ancient Job, according to our modern translators, though
said to be incorrect, may have had a knowledge of Masons' Marks, for he says:
"In the hands of all men he (God) putteth a Mark, that every man may know His
work." Solomon's Temple was completed in the year 1004 B.C. and the old York
lectures taught that its erection occupied 7 years, 7 months and 7 days.
Josephus, in his treatise against Apion informs us on the testimony of Menander,
that Hiram rebuilt the temple of Melcart -- the City King, which, if Herodotus
is correct in his data, must then have existed for over seventeen centuries.
Hiram then abandoned old Tyre and took up his residence on the adjacent island,
and encompassed the City square with high walls of cut stone. Hence the temple
which Herodotus saw was that of Hiram then near six centuries old. The Talmud
has a legend that Hiram was granted 600 years of Paradise for reward, for the
Cedars of Lebanon which he supplied to the builders of the temple of Jerusalem,
and the book Yalkutt which is a compilation from the Midrash, a
word which means "to gather together," says that Hiram built himself, in the
midst of the sea, a paradise of seven heavens (as was Babel), and that, for his
great pride, Yod sent Nebuchadnezzer against him who destroyed his Paradise and
cut him to pieces when he was about 600 years old.
Roman Collegia. In Rome the Arts were erected into
Colleges by charter of Numa Pompilius, 703 B.C. The early architecture of Italy
was Pelasgic, but Greece contributed much to its advance, and their Colleges of
Artizans have such a close resemblance to the Dionysic system that the rule of
one must have been the rule of the other. In point of fact Latin historians
assert distinctly that the founders of Numa's Colleges were Greeks, which {229}
would lead us to suppose that Dionysian artificers were brought to reconstitute
older schools.
Zosimus informs us that Numa was created Pontifex Maximus,
and all his successors, and he derives the origin of the title, which may be
translated Bridge-Master-General, from Thessalian Greeks who, before statues and
temples began to be built by them, had images placed on a Bridge over the Peneus
from which the Sacrificers were termed Bridge-priests. It is curious that the
civil government had a similar constitution to the Masonic Colleges. At the
birth of the republic there were 3 tribes -- Sabines, Albines, and Strangers.
Each was divided into ten Curies, these into Decuries, at the head of which were
placed Curions, or Decurions, and above these 100 Centurie. Gradually, however,
this gave way to an enlargement, the Umbrians were the most ancient population
and the Dacians, Thracians, and Italian Celts were Aryans, but not closely
related to the Hellenes of Greece. It is believed that Numa was an Initiate of
the Etruscan priests, and Salverte holds that he was acquainted with electricity
and used it in his rites. Herodian says that the Romans obtained from the
Phrygians a statue of the "Mother goddess," by representing that they were of
the same blood through the colonies of Æneas, 1270 B.C., when Troy was destroyed
by the confederate Greeks.
The Roman formula was that "three form a College," but
when formed one might continue it. According to the Laws of the "Twelve
Tables," the Collegia had the right to make their own laws, and were also
permitted to form alliances amongst themselves. They were divided into
"Communities"; had a common Arca or chest; elected their officers annually;
accepted Honorary members as "Patrons"; had priests, as there is mention of a
"Priest of the builders or artificers." They had emblems of office; signs of
recognition; many of the symbols used by Freemasons, as, says Schauberg, the
rough and perfect cube, and they could distinguish a {232} brother by day as
well as by night. Their Wardens ruled ten men, a custom which Sir C. Wren says
was in use amongst the old Free-masons. The Communities or "Maceriae" were held
secretly and in secluded rooms; generally met monthly; each member was bound by
oath to assist another; some of the Registers of Members are yet extant. Their
officers were, a Magister, who presided over a hundred men and was elected for
five years; Decurions or Wardens, each of whom presided over 10; Seniores or
Elders; Scribe or Secretaries; Sacerdotes or priests; Tabularii or archivists;
Erratoris or Messengers; Viatores or Serving brethren; Signiferi or Flagbearers.
One inscription informs us that the Collegium held a yearly feast in anniversary
of its foundation. Throughout the whole Roman Empire the Collegia were in
active operation, and the Corpus Juris mentions amongst the Arts legally
existing, and free from taxation, the architects, masons, stone cutters,
painters, sculptors, carpenters, and ship and machine builders. We know the
Collegia were established in Britain, as last century an inscription was found
in Chichester which says that the "Collegium Fabrorum" had erected a temple to
Neptune and Minerva and the safety of the family of Claudius Caesar, circa
52 A.D. The great architect Vitruvius defined the art of Masonry, 2,000 years
ago, as "a science arising out of many other sciences, and adorned with much and
varied learning"; he also shews us that the Romans had a canon of proportion,
which being a secret goes far to shew that he was an Initiated temple architect,
and which canon is still represented in our Masonic Lodges by a tessellated
pavement.<<"Ars Quat Cor.," viii, p. 99.>> Aristophanes, in one of his
Comedies, introduces Meton, the astronomer, with rule and compasses in his
hands, preparing to lay out the plan of a new city. Upon the tombs of Roman
members of these Colleges are found emblems identical with those of modern
Freemasonry, and we find upon tessellated floors, and mural paintings, the {231}
triangle, double triangles, square and compasses, gavel, plumbrule, five-pointed
star, the branch. There has recently been dug up at Rome, near the Triano, a
glass bowl, upon which, on one side, is a square and above that the blazing star
or sun, and the letters J. N. Underneath the square are two pillars, standing
upon a Mosaic pavement.<<"Liberal Freemnson," 1888.>>
Mr. Toulmain Smith points out that contemporary with the
Roman Collegia were the Greek Eranoi, or Thiasoi, numerous at
Rhodes and Piraeus, and other parts. Their organisations had even a closer
resemblance to Freemasonry than the Collegia.
Although the Celtic races of Britain had in early times
many fine cities, and though the York Lectures state that Ebrank, Bladud, and
Croseus were eminent as Masons, yet it is considered that the Latin term
Marus indicates that we had stone building from the Latins. This Ebrank is
Ebroc, the great founder of York; Bladud founded Bath, and brought from Athens
four philosophers whom he located at Stamford; he is said to have been a great
Mathematician, and having invented a flying machine fell from the temple of
Apollo on the site of St. Paul's, London, and was killed; Croseus will be
Carausieus, once Emperor of Britain, and Patron of the Collegia.
We mentioned in our last chapter the Benedictine Monk
Henry Bradshaw, of St. Werberg Monastery, Chester, before 1513. Speaking of
that city he has the following lines: --
"The
founder of this citie, as saith Polychronicon,
Was Leon
Gaur, a myghte strong gyaunt,
Which
builded caves and dongeons many a one,
No
goodlie buildyng, ne proper, ne pleasant,
But King
Leir a Britain fine and valiaunt,
Was
founder of Chester by pleausant buildyng,
And was
named Guar Leir by the King."
"Syria." It is not improbable that a Masonic School {232}
continued to exist in Palestine during the centuries: the Macabees were
considerable builders. Recent discoveries in Jerusalem shew that stones of a
remote, but uncertain, antiquity bear Masonic Marks, some of which are cut in
the stone and others painted thereon in red; some of these marks are assumed to
be Phoenician characters.
In the Talmud, in Sabbath, 114, it is said that
"the wise-men are called builders because they are always engaged in the
upbuilding of the world." The Essenes were called Bonaim or builders because it
was their duty to edify or build up the spiritual temple in the body. Chief
Rabbi Henry Adler says that the Jewish Sages followed all professions, including
Masoning, and that Shammai is, on one occasion, represented with the cubit rule
in his hand. The Sages were termed Chaberim, associates, friends, brethren.
There is found represented the triangle, square, and circle, as constructive
rules, as, for instance, in the erection of the Succuth, or Booths, at the feast
of Tabernacles.<<"Vide Ars Quat. Cor.," 1898, Yarker.>> In the Book of
Maccabees<<2nd ch. ii, 29-34.>> there is a very interesting paragraph which
says: "For as the Master Builder of a new house must care for the whole
building; but he that undertaketh to set it out and paint it, must seek out fit
things for the adorning of it, even so I think it is with us. To stand upon
every point, and go over things at large, and to be curious in particulars,
belongeth to the first authors of the story; but to use brevity, and avoid much
labouring of the work, is to be granted to him who will make an abridgement."
Now although such passages as these, which are fairly common amongst Jewish and
Christian writers, may not prove that the authors were Masons, as the term is
now understood, it confirms the belief of those writers who assert that the
Arcane Schools of Christians did make use of building symbolism; and indicates
moreover that the art of building, or masoning, was one which the learned
thought to be symbolically useful, and how much more then by the {233} builders
themselves, to whom it would recommend itself so aptly.
There exists to-day a Jewish Guild at Assuan in Egypt
which claims great antiquity, and practises Jewish Rites connected with the
building of the two first temples, and for that purpose meet annually at sunrise
and labour till sunset. An Architect who is now out there, and received
initiation in Derbyshire, 1866-75, says that they practise the very same
ceremonies which he there received. Of course in a Jewish Guild circumcision is
necessary for reception. The native Copts have similar Guilds, but their ground
diagrams are designed for the square pyramid and not for a 3 to I temple like
that at Jerusalem, but they assert that Solomon had his initiation from Pharaoh,
to whom he paid a great price. The triplicity of a pyramid is one of their
symbols, as it is equally in the ancient Guilds of this country and in the
modern Royal Arch degree of Freemasonry. Of course in the building of the 1st
temple Yah was the God of Jedediah; Baal of the King of Tyre; and On (which is
both Egyptian and Greek, if not also Hindu) the god of Hiram the Abiv. Plato
has a line which says "Tell me of the God On, which was, is, and shall be," it
is therefore the equivalent of the tetragrammaton. Oliver quotes in the like
sense, Rev. i. 4:  ("God (On) is, and was, and
is to come.")
We are told that Herod, King of Judea, employed 10,000
Masons besides Labourers, in rebuilding the temple of Zerrubabel; and it is
quite certain that recollections of the temple of Solomon had not died out. It
is even believed that, from the time of Alexander the Great, large numbers of
Jews emigrated into Spain and were the founders and builders of Toledo, Seville,
and Barcelona, besides other buildings in Bohemia; and the best time of their
race was during the Moorish rule, when Oriental and Secret Societies were
prevalent.
The Journal "Israelite" of 1860 contained a paper in
reference to the existence in Spain of certain old legends {234} in proof that
the Jews emigrated thither in the days of the tyrannical Rheoboam and of
Adoniram's journey thither to gather taxes and was slain. The writer says: "It
is a fact that there are numerous tombstones with old Hebrew or Samaritan
inscriptions in Seville or Toledo -- we cannot positively say which of these two
places -- and among them is one which bears the name of Adoniram the Collector
of Solomon and his son Rheoboam. . . . The Jews were the founders and builders
of most of the ancient cities of Spain -- Toledo, Seville, Barcelona, and
others; and also that the Jews were the inhabitants of these places at the time
when the Ostragoths invaded the peninsula. Al Tanai Synagogue is of great
antiquity, neither Greek or Gothic. The most ancient chronicle of Bohemia says
that this building was found there when the founder of the city of Prague laid
the first corner stone of it." There is an ancient Hebrew book, certainly 1,500
years old, entitled the "Testament of Solomon," which gives a full account of
the legions of daemons employed by Solomon in the construction of the Temple,
and the positions assigned them, but it is more than probable that these
Talmudic legends originally referred to the 72 Suliemen of pre-human times, and
were engrafted in Babylon upon the personality of the Israelite King. Sir
Charles Lemon informed his P.G. Lodge in 1846, that when visiting Poland he saw
an ancient Jewish Synagogue which was built 600 years B.C., where he found
Masonic emblems now used by the Fraternity. (See "Freemason," 1814 page 176.)
The Mishna, or oldest portion of the Jewish
Talmud, preserves the measurements, and details, of the first temple, with
its utensils, and, very recently, a representation of it was found in the Roman
Catacombs. According to Josephus, Clemens, and Eusebius, each and all its
details, were symbolical of the Universe.
The third temple, or that of Herod, was destroyed in the
year 70, and the Emperor Hadrian erected in 136 a fourth temple upon its site
which he dedicated to Jupiter {235} Capitolinus, and compelled the Jews to pay
taxes for its maintenance. It is said in Hadrian's time that there was a temple
erected to Astarte which was destroyed at the instigation of Helena, the mother
of Constantine. In the 4th century many churches were erected in Palestine, and
the Emperor Justinian built a great number in that country.
The Emperor Julian attempted to rebuild on the site of
Solomon's temple, and there is a very curious account, which confirms in a
remarkable manner the Rites of the Guild of Free Masons, namely -- that a Reed
below the floor (about 10 feet) there was a vault which contained a pedestal,
with the plans, and the centre diagrams, and which is drawn upon to form the
Arch degree in modern Freemasonry, and that this centre had to be discovered on
the erection of the 2nd temple. An old writer relates that when the Emperor's
labourers were set to clear away the rubbish they came upon a vaulted chamber
into which one of the workmen was let down with a rope; he returned and reported
that in the centre was a square pedestal surrounded with water, and produced a
scroll which Nicephorus relates was a verse of the Bible. The Guilds say that
this was and is the first lines of Genesis, and that it was carved over the
Eastern entrance of the 1st temple. Julian was obliged to desist from his
intentions as Nicephorus says that fire broke out which destroyed his workmen.
An older writer Philostorgius circa 853 A.D. has the same account.
It may be convenient to mention here the Holy-sepulchre at
Jerusalem which led to the introduction of round churches into England; though
the temples of the Greeks and Romans were often circular, as was that of Venus
in Cyprus mentioned by Homer; that of Vesta and the Parthenon. The Christian
Church of the Holy Sepulchre was consecrated in 335. Its round part represents
the Sepulchre of Christ, and leading from it is a broad aisle, at the end of
which is a rectangular church on the site of Golgotha. This was partially
destroyed by {236} Chosroes, King of Persia, in 614, and restored 14 years later
by Bishop Heraclius, to fall in 636 into the hands of the Islamite Caliph Omar.
On the death of Haroun al Raschid his three sons contended for the throne, and
the churches were burnt, but shortly after restored by Bishop Thomas. In 1010
the Caliph Hakem destroyed them, but they were again rebuilt next year. In 1048
the three churches were reconstructed by Constantine Monomachus; the original
rectangular church would seem to have perished by the year 1102, and many
changes were made in the remaining portions<<"The Holy Sepulchre," Northampton,
1897. Wm. Mark.>> During all the period of their occupation the Saracens
erected numerous buildings, and the building art was not extinguished down to
the time of the Crusaders, who added largely to the structures existing.
Greco-Egyptian. Although we do not know much about
the remote organisation of the building fraternities in Egypt, yet M. Maspero
opened the tomb of an architect, builder, and carver of inscriptions at Thebes,
and with the mummy was found a square, level, compasses, and other implements.
At Tel-el-Amarna, 1500 B.C., Bek the hereditary successor of a line of
Architects, terms himself the teacher of the King; and, as we have seen, the
symbols and representations, however ancient, are more Masonic than in any other
country. It is not, however, an unreasonable supposition to suppose that from
500 B.C. when the Persians had conquered the country, to be succeeded by the
Greeks and Romans, gradual changes took place, under this foreign influence, in
the more ancient Corporations of Masons.
The Roman Collegia may have modified Guild life of the
more ancient native fraternity, and it is this explanation which must be placed
upon the English tradition of the "Charges of Euclid." Draper mentions the
conquests of Alexander the Great as leading to the establishment of "the
mathematical and practical Schools of Alexandria, the true origin of science."
When the "Needle" {237} which Cleopatra had re-erected 22 B.C. came to be
removed in 1880, there was found at the base a peculiar arrangement of stones,
which was held to symbolise a Masonic Lodge as now known; thus a portion was
laid so as to form a square, on which rested a rough Ashlar, and a perfect Cube,
also an oblong of the purest limestone carefully polished and without spot or
flaw.
We have expressed a decided opinion that the origin of
Free Masonry is to be found in the primitive system of a secret School which
developed a Mystery in which natural religion was taught in union with science
and art, and that, before the divorce of the two, the great State Mysteries
organised a better style of building with squared blocks, in other words the
Osirian, Dionysian, or Bacchic Mysteries, which were a highly spiritualised
faith, still more subtilised and spread by Greek philosophers as the Mysteries
of Serapis, a Gnostic pre-Christian system, which used the cross, and had all
the characteristics essential for the faith "before Christ came in the flesh."
It is idle to suppose that the Ceremonial Rites of Masons were then absolutely
uniform; those of a Cabiric or Pelasgian civilisation could not be entirely
uniform with those of the Aryanised Dionysiacs, yet such ceremonial rites
existed beyond doubt, and each had their slain-god if the mode of his death was
not quite uniform, and Initiates only had acted a part in the ceremony, nor need
we have any doubt of the possibility of the transmission of such Rites, from the
earliest period, though we cannot produce yearly minutes for it. What right
have we to expect this? It means the violation of solemn oaths, perhaps death.
Take the universality of laying a foundation stone, and we see that the modern
ceremony was exactly paralleled in ancient Babylon and Egypt. Even Job must
have known something of it in his desert home, for he says: "Where was't thou
when I laid the foundation of the earth? Who laid the corner stone thereof:
when the morning stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy."
If a Rite which professed to date {238} from Solomon's temple existed in early
times, as it probably did, it would be amongst a small number of Jewish Masons,
and a modification of the Phoenician Cabiric Mysteries, but we can leave this
for the present.
The Legend of the Origin of English Masonry which has been
handed down to us from the times of Edwin and Athelstan repeats a tradition
which traces the Society to Egypt, and particularises its derivation and
organisation. It is clearly a legend which existed at the time, and there is no
probable basis which would justify us in expressing a doubt that, as a legend,
it had actual existence in Athelstan's time, nor in going beyond it to invent a
theory that the forerunners of the Society were at the building of Solomon's
temple, an assertion which is not there, and never intended to be there; and the
absence of which is a good proof of the antiquity of the account related.
The Legend to which we refer may be inaccurate in some of
its details; the name of Euclid, the eminent Geometrician, may have been
inserted for Thoth or Hermes as the Greeks termed the god of art; and we may be
sure, that in the centuries through which the legend had passed, before it
reached the form of our oldest MSS., it would be modified in minor particulars;
but we may be well persuaded that it contains a basis of truth, as it would be a
likely Legend to be handed down by Romans and Romanised Britons who worked by
Euclid's traditions, and onward through Culdee monks who taught the rules of
handicraft to the people at York, and other places, practised the teaching of
the Mysteries of Serapis in the Arcane Discipline of the Church, and even
superintended, built, and laboured with their own hands at the erection of their
churches and monasteries.
This tradition alleges that Egypt finding her people to be
generating a too numerous population of well-born youths, for whom it was
difficult to find suitable employment, sought anxiously for a remedy. A
proclamation was made, and Euclid an Initiate of Serapis, of the Platonic
Academy, and it may even be of the Colleges {239} of Builders, undertook to
provide a remedy. For this purpose he accepted these Lords' sons, and taught
them Geometry "as the most honest art of all," and when they were capable
proceeded to organise them into a Brotherhood, and give them a "Charge," which
examination will shew to agree in all essential points with the Roman Collegia.
There may be something in the alleged Grand Mastership of Euclid, who is said in
Anderson's Constitutions of Masonry to have acted as the architect of
some noble edifices in Egypt, but it is more probable that he owes the rank
assigned to him from his eminence as a Geometrician, about 276 B.C., and it is
noteworthy that in the old Masonic MSS. it is not claimed for Masonry that it
was exclusively a society of Sculptors and Stone-cutters but embraced all arts
that work by the rules of Geometry. There is good reason to accept judiciously
this alleged Alexandrian descent of Masonry into England. We are told that the
original builders of St. Mark's at Venice were Alexandrian refugees, and, it may
be, the style of the palace of the Doge, which is called Moorish but is not so.
The Byzantine style was probably Alexandrian, and when the Saracens took Egypt
the Artists were dispersed over Persia, Greece, and Europe.
In the light of what has preceded, the traditional legend
resolves itself broadly into this: that besides the great State Mysteries, but
derived from them, there were minor schools of Philosophers, and Colleges of the
Arts and Sciences, all with special, but similar, ceremonies of their own, and
that Euclid held a prominent position in all these. Further that the Masonic
association was of Greco-Roman introduction into England, a genealogy which
attaches itself to the divine Father, Mother, and Son of old Egypt.
Nor was Art itself in Egypt confined, in its practice to
mere Artisans, for there were sacred images which could only be wrought by the
priests of the Mysteries. Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemais, has a peculiar passage
(Calvit.), in which he writes: "The prophets or hierophants, {240} who
had been Initiated into the Mysteries, did not permit the common workmen to form
idols or images of the gods, but they descended themselves into the sacred
caves, where they have concealed coffers, containing certain spheres, upon which
they construct their image secretly, and without the knowledge of the people,
who despise simple and natural things, and wish for prodigies and fables." We
see from-this that there was a Craft secret and symbolism known only to the
priests, and that like the "Four crowned Martyrs," of Christian Masonry, they
were capable of practical sculpture. The "sacred caves" were the Crypts of
their temples; and the word translated "sphere" is indefinite, for there are yet
drawings to be found in Egypt which shew that the Canon of proportion was
a chequered tracing even from the time of the very ancient 5th dynasty. The
primitive canon divided the human figure into 19 squares, of which the head
occupied 3 squares, the pubis began at 9 1/2, and the knee-joint at 6th square
from the bottom one. A seated figure occupied 15 squares; but the proportions
varied in the course of ages.<<"Ars Quat. Cor." (W. H. Rylands). vi.>> The
learned Dr. Stukeley was of opinion that the Isaic Tablet of Cardinal Bembo<<Pub.
by Dr. W. W. Westcott.>> was a tracing-board of the Egyptian Mysteries, a temple
spread out in plane, and that it could be divided into Porch, Sanctum, and
Sanctorum.
In the time of Euclid one of the most beautiful buildings
in all Egypt was in progress and dedicated to the divine Triad, namely, the
re-erection, on its ancient site, of the temple of Philae, which was begun about
300 B.C. and continued for two centuries. Mr. James Ferguson thus eulogises it:
"No Gothic architect, in his wildest moments, ever played so freely with his
lines and dimensions, and none, it must be added, ever produced anything so
beautifully picturesque as this. It combines all the variety of Gothic art,
with the massiveness and grandeur of the Egyptian style." In it are nine
sculptured tablets {241} on the wall which pourtray the death, resurrection,
ascension, and deification of the god to whose honour it was erected. The most
sacred oath a Copt could swear was, "By Him that sleeps at Philae, and by Him
that sitteth upon the throne." The Mysteries of the god continued to be
celebrated in this temple until about 450 A.D., after which it was probably used
for Christian worship.<<"Egypt," Wm. Oxley.>>
Another building of great extent was erected by Ptolemy
Philadelphus as a temple of Serapis, the Greco-Egyptian triad in an Eclectic
form. It was the most magnificent temple then in existence, and had numerous
subterraneous passages and caverns, artificially constructed for the Rites of
the Mysteries. It contained a library said to consist of all known books in
700,000 volumes; a library destroyed by the Moslems in 638 A.D. It was
partially destroyed previously by the Christians when emblems of a cruciform
character were exposed. The steady advance of Christianity, developing into a
ferocious intolerance, necessitated even greater secrecy in the celebration of
the Mysteries, followed by persecutions of the Initiates by the later Emperors,
made it essential to reorganise them under other names, with the assumption of a
humble disguise. It is in this way that we renew our acquaintance with them in
the Colleges of Art, and in the Gnostic and Occult fraternities.
So far as this country is concerned we know nothing from
documents of a Masonry dating from Solomon's temple until after the Crusades,
when the Constitution believed to have been sanctioned by King Athelstan
gradually underwent a change. To advance an opinion amongst well read people,
that all Craft Masonry must necessarily date from Solomon's temple, can only
raise a smile. The building was erected by Phoenicians and partly of wood, and
its magnificence is no doubt greatly exaggerated in the Talmud; and the Jews,
with a special God for their own race, were unpopular with all other nations;
and far more extensive and magnificent buildings, {242} of which the ruins exist
to this day, are found in Egypt, India, and the Americas. It is, however, a
curious thing, in regard to Solomonian legends, that there seems to have existed
amongst the oldest proto-Aryan races, we have knowledge of, a dynasty of Solymi,
or Sulieman, entitled Kings; and it has also been discovered amongst the ruins
of Babylon as the name of a God of these ancient people, whilst the real name of
King Solomon was Jedediah, or the beloved of Jah. It is therefore possible that
the title may have been prehistorically known in some Cabiric Rites, and that
Ouranos, Ur, Urim, has been corrupted to Hurim, or Hiram Abif, and perpetuated
from the building of the 2nd Temple; for we may assume that the graphic form of
the legend has been the gradual growth of centuries, though perpetuated as a
drama in the Mediaeval Guilds, and when the Talmud and the Koran tells us that
Solomon employed troops of daemons to erect the temple we may feel sure that the
Talmud is drawing upon the pre-human Suliemen, or Kings of the Jins or Afreets.
There can be no doubt that the early Christian Monks found
amongst their skilled Masons certain forms of reception, or Mysteries, similar
to, if not identical, with those which had descended to themselves as heirs of
the Epoptia of these Mysteries. It suited some of these Monks to transform the
Serapian Sun-god into Jesus, in obedience to the prevailing policy of the
church; whilst it pleased others, whether Jews, Christians, or Moslems, matters
little, to substitute Hiram; these Rites would also vary in different countries,
and at different eras; hence sects of Masons arose, and, as we shall see later,
have come down to our own days.
When we first began to examine the ancient MSS. of the
Masonic Craft, of which the result will be found in these pages, we scarcely
expected to find more than chance coincidence between Masonry and the Arcane
Colleges, but the resemblances which we have before us in Rites, Symbols, and
Organisation, will admit of no such general {243} explanation. It must be clear
to the most superficial thinker that there is far more in the Masonic MSS. and
the Rites than they have yet been credited with, for their whole tenor proves
the intimate affinity which existed, even in the most ancient times, between all
the Arcane Schools of knowledge. This is equally apparent whether we seek it in
the Egyptian Constitution of Athelstan, which informs us it was originally a
Craft for the study of Geometry, and which therefore implies a Society equally
speculative and operative; or in the Semitic Constitution which came into
England later; for such a distinction only shews the transmission of certain
rites, with the same aim, through two different channels; the one a continuous
type of that Speculative Masonry which erected the great Pyramid to represent
the Egyptian's faith in the soul's future destiny; the other of that Chaldean
faith symbolised in the tower of Borsippa; somewhat opposed as Rites, but one in
general aim; two systems pointing respectively to Egypt and Babylon. In this
chapter we have leant rather to the Greco-Egyptian than the Semitic view, but
when we reach Anglo-Norman times of the Masonic Guilds we shall see much change
in this respect and that a close connection with Palestine introduced new
legends and their concomitant Rites. {244}
back to top |
