Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.
appears to have been accomplished by Champollion , an able and energetic French scientist , although the honour is disputed by Drs . Young , Lepsius and others ; but to Champollion , according to Gliddon , tho credit is duo . He
not only rendered into the ; aodern languages the hieroglyphics of the Rosetta stone , but also composed a dictionary and grammar of these ancient sign languages , which makes their study comparatively easy to the
students of the present tbiv , and carries us back into speaking distance of tho Pharoahs that sat upon the Egyptian throne long before Joseph ' s brethren sold him into tho slavery which was ultimatel y to result in the
preservation of his kindred ; and I mi ght say that without the labours of this great French scholar you could only look upon these curious figures and wonder what they were intended to represent .
Our first proposition refers to tho progenitors of the Egyptian people , tho country from whence they came , and the race from whioh they sprung ; and that , naturally leads to the inquiry , When was Egypt first settled , and by
whom ? Whether it waa populated bofore the Dulugo docs not enter into our discussion , nor does it concern the Masonic connection with E gyptian history . It is onl y Post-Diluvian times that interest us ; but it is of
importance that we choose out of the many and divergent dates assigned to that vital epoch in the world ' s history , the one that most approximates to reason and sound judgment , and will bear the test of historical analysis when compared with Egyptian records and Masonic legends .
I do not propose to weary you with long and unprofitable speculations relating to the numerous and conflicting opinions as to the correct ; date of the Creation , or of the Deluge ; but will quote from a distinguished historian to
show how the opinions of men differ as to the times of the occurrence of the most impoitant events of the world ' s history . "Thus for tho threo most important events recorded in the Old Testament , i . e . the Creation , the
Deluge and the Exodus , the inquirer after truth is lost in a chaos of threo hundred different published human opinions on tho eras of tbe same events ; opinions conflicting with each other . "
Now it must be borne in mind that of those " conflicting opinions " as to tho dates and eras of those " important events " a very large number of them are of learned and conscientious men , who base and maintain their judgments
upon data obtained from the several versions of the Old Testament , but unfortunately in the numerous compilatious and translations , and iu the long procession of centuries through which tho ' •' Book of thc Law " has
passed , from the day that the great Hebrew Prophet caused tho Levitcs to place his finished work in tho " side of the Ark , " tho original has boon changed , and even mutilated , to serve tbe purpose both of Jew and Christian ,
and it is not strange that so much diversity should exist as to the actual times or dates of tho events of fi ? e thousand years ago . One of the most reliable E gyptologists , Gliddon , accepts the Sepfcuagint version of the
Bible as the most correct from which to draw deductions relating to the settlement and history of ancient Egypt , and he quotes the great Jewish historian , Josephus , in support of his assumption , which is an authority irrefutable
in itself , and no one will be far from the truth who is sustained by such evidence ; so that in this lecture I have in most instances adhered to those authorities for facts and figures .
In the year 240 B . C . there assembled at Pharos , an island at Alexandria , Egypt , by order of the reigning King , Ptolemy Philadelphia , a body of seventy learned men , for the purpose of translating the Hebrew Scriptures
into Greek . " It was a faithful translation of the copy of the Law sent by the High Priest of Israel to Phiiadelpbns in return for his liberation of one hundred thousand Jews from bondage . This Hebrew-copy came from Jerusalem to Alexandria , written on parchment in letters of gold . "
This translation was accepted by all the authorities of the day , as a perfect copy of the riginal , and for several hundred years there was no dispute as to its correctness ,
until after the birth of Christ , when ifc was challenged by the Jewish Rabbis for reasons altogether false , and not necessary to insert here .
We will take the Septnagint as our guide , so far at least as it relates to Egyptian history , and accords with Masouic tradition . By the Septuagint computation , the Deluge took place about 3200 years before thc birth of Christ , and it iB of importance for us to fix that era , because it gives a
Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.
base from which to start tho peopling of Egypt . When the Ark rested upon the dry land , and tho Patriarch ventured forth to begin the task assigned him by the Almighty , and the glad voice of humanity was again heard upon this scene of desolation , there went forth with him his three sons—Shem , Ham and Japhet . " These are the three sons of Noah , and of them was the
whole earth overspread , " Gen . ix . 19 . " Shem and Ham wero twins " and although Japhet waa the older brother , yet we always find them namod in this order— Shem , Ham and Japhet . There appears to have
been an allotment of tho different parts of the earth to the offspring of Noah , and Egypt wns assigned to Ham and his descendants . His sons wero , Cusb , Mizraim , Phut and Canaan . Mizraim was the one who took the Delta or
lower part of Egypt for his portion , and from him came this great nation of antiquity . Of course we cannot , out of the multitudinous catalogue of epochs , eras , years and dates which spring up on every
side around us , name the exact time when the grandson of Noah , accompanied by his father , his family and his followers , left tho banks of the Euphrates in Asia , and crossed the Isthmus of Suez into Egypt , but it was probabl y within a century after the flood .
That Ham also migrated into Egypt there can be no reasonable doubt ; because hieroglyphical translations show us that ancient Egypt was known to its inhabitants as the land of Ham and Kheme .
KHEM , Kah , the land of Ham . ( Gliddon . ) The names of Shem , Ham and Japhet are familiar to
those who have been exalted in Freemasonry , and we have dwelt upon them here because they are the first connecting links that bind Freemasonry to ancient Egypt , and it
must be accepted as indisputable evidence of the close relationship existing between those early settlers ou the Nile and Ancient Craft Masonry .
Thus we learn that the country which gave to E gypt its first inhabitants was Asia ; the original home of the human race , and it naturally follows that they were " White or Caucasian , " and not , as has been erroneously asserted ,
" Black or Ethiopian . bo that from the son of Noab , or bis grandson , came this people which for nearly three thousand years dominated the fairest portion of this earth ' s surface , and who iu F - T markably brief period after the first
settlement of thecountry became the most powerful , the most civilised , the most euiightened of all the nations of antiquity ; where art , so •>^ and all the attendant blessings ot a refined and cultivated people flourished to an extraordinary
degree , and whose architecture assumed such stupendous proportions that to tuij day it remains the wonder of the world , and which will continue to excite the admiration ot mankind for ages yet to come . The form of government
first adopted in Egypt , no doubt , was Patriarchal . It wa ^ natural that the sons and grandsons of Noah should continue , in their new found country , the system to which they had been born and nurtured . But the rapid increase
of population and the natural conditions and formations of Lower Egypt were unfavourable to the perpetuation of the Patriarchal system . The family had grown too large , and a Theocracy , or Government of Priests , as
was generally the case with the ancients , soon took its p lace . The Theocracy lasted for about four hundred years , until the times of the first Pharoab , " Menes . " The Brethren understand that " Pharoah " was tho common
appellation of all the Kings of Egypt , aud not the proper name of any one King . " The term Pharoah is derived from Phre or Phrd , the God , Sun . This deity was symbolised by the hawk-headed god , surmounted by the solar disc , and sacred asp , holding the emblem of eternal lifo .
Josephus tells us that the word Pharoah meant king ; and as the imago of the sun on earth , an incarnation of solar dominion and benevolence , the King of Egypt was symbolised in the sacred character by the '" solar orb . "
In the Bible , this name of the kings of Egypt is in the orig inal Hebrew letters spelt Thrfali ; rendered Pharoah in our version , and corrupted into the sound of Fayraij-o .
But even after the rise of a kingly form of governmen t , the Theocratical or Priestly , if not in name , yet in fact , was all powerful in tbe State , and we find in all their laws and edicts constant references to the Priests , aud through
them to the numerous gods and goddesses which the people of Egyp t worshipped . The government of the Pharoahs or Egyptian Kings continued until the invasi m
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.
appears to have been accomplished by Champollion , an able and energetic French scientist , although the honour is disputed by Drs . Young , Lepsius and others ; but to Champollion , according to Gliddon , tho credit is duo . He
not only rendered into the ; aodern languages the hieroglyphics of the Rosetta stone , but also composed a dictionary and grammar of these ancient sign languages , which makes their study comparatively easy to the
students of the present tbiv , and carries us back into speaking distance of tho Pharoahs that sat upon the Egyptian throne long before Joseph ' s brethren sold him into tho slavery which was ultimatel y to result in the
preservation of his kindred ; and I mi ght say that without the labours of this great French scholar you could only look upon these curious figures and wonder what they were intended to represent .
Our first proposition refers to tho progenitors of the Egyptian people , tho country from whence they came , and the race from whioh they sprung ; and that , naturally leads to the inquiry , When was Egypt first settled , and by
whom ? Whether it waa populated bofore the Dulugo docs not enter into our discussion , nor does it concern the Masonic connection with E gyptian history . It is onl y Post-Diluvian times that interest us ; but it is of
importance that we choose out of the many and divergent dates assigned to that vital epoch in the world ' s history , the one that most approximates to reason and sound judgment , and will bear the test of historical analysis when compared with Egyptian records and Masonic legends .
I do not propose to weary you with long and unprofitable speculations relating to the numerous and conflicting opinions as to the correct ; date of the Creation , or of the Deluge ; but will quote from a distinguished historian to
show how the opinions of men differ as to the times of the occurrence of the most impoitant events of the world ' s history . "Thus for tho threo most important events recorded in the Old Testament , i . e . the Creation , the
Deluge and the Exodus , the inquirer after truth is lost in a chaos of threo hundred different published human opinions on tho eras of tbe same events ; opinions conflicting with each other . "
Now it must be borne in mind that of those " conflicting opinions " as to tho dates and eras of those " important events " a very large number of them are of learned and conscientious men , who base and maintain their judgments
upon data obtained from the several versions of the Old Testament , but unfortunately in the numerous compilatious and translations , and iu the long procession of centuries through which tho ' •' Book of thc Law " has
passed , from the day that the great Hebrew Prophet caused tho Levitcs to place his finished work in tho " side of the Ark , " tho original has boon changed , and even mutilated , to serve tbe purpose both of Jew and Christian ,
and it is not strange that so much diversity should exist as to the actual times or dates of tho events of fi ? e thousand years ago . One of the most reliable E gyptologists , Gliddon , accepts the Sepfcuagint version of the
Bible as the most correct from which to draw deductions relating to the settlement and history of ancient Egypt , and he quotes the great Jewish historian , Josephus , in support of his assumption , which is an authority irrefutable
in itself , and no one will be far from the truth who is sustained by such evidence ; so that in this lecture I have in most instances adhered to those authorities for facts and figures .
In the year 240 B . C . there assembled at Pharos , an island at Alexandria , Egypt , by order of the reigning King , Ptolemy Philadelphia , a body of seventy learned men , for the purpose of translating the Hebrew Scriptures
into Greek . " It was a faithful translation of the copy of the Law sent by the High Priest of Israel to Phiiadelpbns in return for his liberation of one hundred thousand Jews from bondage . This Hebrew-copy came from Jerusalem to Alexandria , written on parchment in letters of gold . "
This translation was accepted by all the authorities of the day , as a perfect copy of the riginal , and for several hundred years there was no dispute as to its correctness ,
until after the birth of Christ , when ifc was challenged by the Jewish Rabbis for reasons altogether false , and not necessary to insert here .
We will take the Septnagint as our guide , so far at least as it relates to Egyptian history , and accords with Masouic tradition . By the Septuagint computation , the Deluge took place about 3200 years before thc birth of Christ , and it iB of importance for us to fix that era , because it gives a
Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.
base from which to start tho peopling of Egypt . When the Ark rested upon the dry land , and tho Patriarch ventured forth to begin the task assigned him by the Almighty , and the glad voice of humanity was again heard upon this scene of desolation , there went forth with him his three sons—Shem , Ham and Japhet . " These are the three sons of Noah , and of them was the
whole earth overspread , " Gen . ix . 19 . " Shem and Ham wero twins " and although Japhet waa the older brother , yet we always find them namod in this order— Shem , Ham and Japhet . There appears to have
been an allotment of tho different parts of the earth to the offspring of Noah , and Egypt wns assigned to Ham and his descendants . His sons wero , Cusb , Mizraim , Phut and Canaan . Mizraim was the one who took the Delta or
lower part of Egypt for his portion , and from him came this great nation of antiquity . Of course we cannot , out of the multitudinous catalogue of epochs , eras , years and dates which spring up on every
side around us , name the exact time when the grandson of Noah , accompanied by his father , his family and his followers , left tho banks of the Euphrates in Asia , and crossed the Isthmus of Suez into Egypt , but it was probabl y within a century after the flood .
That Ham also migrated into Egypt there can be no reasonable doubt ; because hieroglyphical translations show us that ancient Egypt was known to its inhabitants as the land of Ham and Kheme .
KHEM , Kah , the land of Ham . ( Gliddon . ) The names of Shem , Ham and Japhet are familiar to
those who have been exalted in Freemasonry , and we have dwelt upon them here because they are the first connecting links that bind Freemasonry to ancient Egypt , and it
must be accepted as indisputable evidence of the close relationship existing between those early settlers ou the Nile and Ancient Craft Masonry .
Thus we learn that the country which gave to E gypt its first inhabitants was Asia ; the original home of the human race , and it naturally follows that they were " White or Caucasian , " and not , as has been erroneously asserted ,
" Black or Ethiopian . bo that from the son of Noab , or bis grandson , came this people which for nearly three thousand years dominated the fairest portion of this earth ' s surface , and who iu F - T markably brief period after the first
settlement of thecountry became the most powerful , the most civilised , the most euiightened of all the nations of antiquity ; where art , so •>^ and all the attendant blessings ot a refined and cultivated people flourished to an extraordinary
degree , and whose architecture assumed such stupendous proportions that to tuij day it remains the wonder of the world , and which will continue to excite the admiration ot mankind for ages yet to come . The form of government
first adopted in Egypt , no doubt , was Patriarchal . It wa ^ natural that the sons and grandsons of Noah should continue , in their new found country , the system to which they had been born and nurtured . But the rapid increase
of population and the natural conditions and formations of Lower Egypt were unfavourable to the perpetuation of the Patriarchal system . The family had grown too large , and a Theocracy , or Government of Priests , as
was generally the case with the ancients , soon took its p lace . The Theocracy lasted for about four hundred years , until the times of the first Pharoab , " Menes . " The Brethren understand that " Pharoah " was tho common
appellation of all the Kings of Egypt , aud not the proper name of any one King . " The term Pharoah is derived from Phre or Phrd , the God , Sun . This deity was symbolised by the hawk-headed god , surmounted by the solar disc , and sacred asp , holding the emblem of eternal lifo .
Josephus tells us that the word Pharoah meant king ; and as the imago of the sun on earth , an incarnation of solar dominion and benevolence , the King of Egypt was symbolised in the sacred character by the '" solar orb . "
In the Bible , this name of the kings of Egypt is in the orig inal Hebrew letters spelt Thrfali ; rendered Pharoah in our version , and corrupted into the sound of Fayraij-o .
But even after the rise of a kingly form of governmen t , the Theocratical or Priestly , if not in name , yet in fact , was all powerful in tbe State , and we find in all their laws and edicts constant references to the Priests , aud through
them to the numerous gods and goddesses which the people of Egyp t worshipped . The government of the Pharoahs or Egyptian Kings continued until the invasi m