STB-FE86
OLD LEGENDS OF HIRAM ABIFF
This Short Talk Bulletin has been adapted from a paper presented at the Southern Arizona Research Lodge in 1982 by Bro. Paul T. Hughes and is published with the gracious permission of Southern Arizona Research Lodge.
According to an ancient Greek historian,
Hiram Abif was "a son of a man of Tyre and
whose mother was a Jewess of the House of
David" -- that is, of Judah. I Kings, Vll,
13-14, tells us that he was a "widow's son of the
Tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of
Tyre." In 11 Chron., 11, 13-14, he is described
as the son of a "woman of the daughters of
Dan." The stories of his skill and "cunning" as
an artificer and metal worker are told in scrip-
ture, as well as Masonic lore, and myth and
legend.
The central character which he plays in
Masonic teaching and ritual needs no repeating.
The legends which exist about him, but which
are not incorporated into Masonic work, form
a fascinating and illuminating picture of a man
about whom little factual knowledge exists.
He may have been a member of the cult of
Dionysian Artificers. (1) One old legend tells
that prior to the start of construction of the
Temple, King Solomon held a contest and of-
fered a prize for the best design which could be
drawn by any of the prospective workman. It
was Hiram who drew the figure which we know
as an illustration of the forty-seventh problem
of Euclid.
He displayed and used the trestle board
about which we hear in our ritual. It was a table
of wood coated with wax. On this he drew his
designs with a stylus of iron. Upon seeing the
figure of the 47th problem and recognizing its
significance, Solomon, with joy, laid the foun-
dation stone of the Temple.(2)
There is a Moslem account that the jewel
worn about the neck of Hiram Abif was in-
scribed with the "word." He wore this jewel on
a chain of gold; and when he was attacked, he
threw it down a well to prevent his assassins
from obtaining it. It was later recovered from
the well, which gives us yet another version of
the "recovery of the word."(3)
Part of the credit for obtaining materials to
enrich and adorn the Temple is given to Hiram
Abif according to another old legend. Four
years before construction of the Temple began,
he purchased some curious and precious stones
from an Arabian merchant. He was told that
they had been found on an island in the Red
Sea. He traveled there to investigate and was
able to discover great quantities of topaz, which
later was imported by ships of Hiram of Tyre in
the service of King Solomon.(4)
There is an interesting legend of a Temple
workman whose name was Cavelum. He was
kinsman of King Solomon and was the house of
David; thus he had high status among the other
workmen. In the process of inspection of work
in progress on the north wall of the Temple at a
place where the north gate was to be, Hiram
Abif accidentally dislodged a stone. It fell and
struck Cavelum, who was killed. Hiram Abif
was so overcome by grief that he ordered the
north gate sealed and closed forever. (5)
This legend was once used as the basis for a
degree called Fellow Craft Mark. Dr. Albert
Mackey has stated that this was an early trace
of the present Mark
1. Dionysian Artificers, Hippolyte Joseph da Costa
2. George Oliver, The Antiquities of Freemasonry
3. Author Unknown, Fire and Sword
4. Alex Horne, King Solomon's Temple in the
Masonic Tradition
5. Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert G. Mackey,
Rev. Hawkins and Hughan
6. 11 Chron. IV, 11, King James Version
7. Josephus, Antiquities, Vlll, 3:4
8. Arabian Nights, Unabridged, Translated by Pror.
Honus Watmer, Oxford U.
Bro. Paul T. Hughes is a member o~ Union l.odge
~31, New London, Conn.
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