Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.
HISTORICAL RELATION OF FREEMASONRY TO ANCIENT EGYPT .
A Lecture delivered by Bro . Alexander II . Morgan , before Montgomery Lodge , No . 19 , F . and A . M ., at a special meeting , held in the Egyptian Hall , Masonic Temple , Philadelphia , 2-5 th February 1 S 89 . R EPRINTED FROM THE KEYSTONE . PART SECOND .
PASSING from those interesting historical associations which in themselves are so fruitful that they tempt us to an indefinite extension , we take up the second part of cur discourse , relating to the manners , customs and
doctrines of ancient Egypt , and will endeavour to establish an intimate relationship with the corresponding parts of Freemasonry as they exist to-day . Manners and customs are almost synonymous terms , at least when applied to a nation , and they aro generally
shaped and fashioned by the laws of the established government .
Now , in Egypt the entire system which dominated all classes , and consequently made the manners and customs of the people , was an esoteric or unwritten creed , known
only to those who had been initiated into the Egyptian Mysteries , which was to be kept inviolate , and the divulgence was punished with inflexible severity . While it was true that there existed an innumerable mass of
sects , orders , societies and fraternities , each having its own peculiar signs and observances , yet the one known to the priests of Egypt , and which no doubt was given to them for the preservation of those sublime truths " derived
from the Omnipotent , imparted by Him to the patriarchs , preserved through the storms and terrors of the deluge by Noah , and from him to his sons , and by them transmitted to the Egyptian priesthood , was the only secret organisation worthy of comparison with the Masonic Fraternity .
What were those mysteries which were so zealously guarded by those early workers in the valley of the Nile ? All the nations except one were idolaters or worshippers of
false gods . Ifc was in punishment for those iniquities that the flood-gates of heaven wero opened , and for " forty days and forty nights" the storms raged that finally engulfed the earth .
But the desire of mankind for a multiplicity of deities again asserted itself . The " curse of Canaan " appeared in the numerous heathen mythologies ; but among them all , before or after the deluge , Egyptian , Assyrian , Persian
Greek or Roman , there was always one mysterious , undefined , ineffable , unknown Being , to whom these people , heathen though they were , erected a temple , set up acolumn , inscribed a tablet or outlined a cartouche . Sometimes
without a name , a mark or symbol , but generally either in their written language or in hieroglyphical lines , they dedicated ifc " to the unknown God . "
Thus the great First Cause asserted Himself , and whether walking in the Garden of Eden , smiting the first born of Egypt , speaking out of the thunders of Sinai or glowing from the mercy-seat of the Shekinah , He was ever
present . That universal feeling which pervades all diversified humanity , and runs through all creation , savage , civilised and enlightened , ancient and modern , was just as
full of life and being five thousand years ago , among the priests and kings and people of Egypt , as it is to-day around the known and unknown globe .
One of the most striking characteristics of the ancient Egyptians was their intense devotion to the worship of the numerous deities found in tbe Egyptian pantheon . There is no people on record whose religious ceremonies were so
ostentatiously displayed , and apparently so sincerely kept , as with the people of Egypt , and the multiplication of deities went on unceasingly . Each succeeding king was assigned a place in the pantheon and received divine
honours , while beasts , birds and reptiles were held sacred and even worshipped ; and we find monstrous additions made to their gods and goddesses , such as heads of crocodiles , goats , serpents and hawks . Even Temples were
erected and dedicated to animal worship . " Apis has his priests and priestesses , and a ' white bull , and a ' sacred heiler' are also mentioned as invested with a divine character . " Bnt while it may seem strange that a people whose advancement in arts and sciences , even at that early period
Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.
compares favourably with those of the present day , could indulge in such strange and even brutal customs ; yet it is not difficult to account for such anomalies in Egyptian humanity . The country itself was of unique and even wonderful
formation . A mighty river , emerged out of an unknown region , into which no white man had ever penetrated , and this river , flowed nearly fifteen hundred miles through a narrow plain , the lands of which had been formed by the deposits made by the waters through countless ages .
You cannot speak of Egypt without mention of the Nile , just as you cannot treat of Freemasonry without reference to the Temple ; and as the one was and is the great
Masonic symbol , so was the " river of Egypt" to th © Egyptians , the head and life and source from whence was born their country , and to the action of which was due its continued existence .
During the intervening months , from November until June , the river pursues its course smooth and tranquil to the sea . Suddenly and without apparent cause the waters begin to rise , and in a few days the wholo country is
submerged , the banks are lost , the river becomes a broad and continuous lake . The waters are dark and heavily charged with the alluvium brought from the unknown lands down in the interior of Africa , and so it continues for several
months , when almost as suddenly as it rose , it subsides , and is again within its proper channels , leaving the country on either side covered with a rich soil , the most prolific in the yielding of bounteous crops aud the most easily cultivated of any known religion under the sun .
A soft , dry , delicious climate , no storms , no rainfall , a sky never clouded , almost constant sunshine , heats tempered with cool breezes from the Mediterranean sea , all these circumstances combined to make an indolent ,
imaginative people devoted to the mysterious and supernatural . Those of the population who had been initiated into the Mysteries , being the educated and most intelligent portion of the community , encouraged the
diversity of worships , and even assisted to increase them , and while pandering to the popular demand for the curious , the strange and even the monstrous , so shaped and directed the idolatry of the masses , that , unknown to themselves ,
the ignorant and superstitious Egyptians were paying homage to the one , true God . To those who will make themselves acquainted with the mythology of ancient Egypt , these facts will present themselves , and it is a
comparatively easy task to commence at the entrance of the Egyptian pantheon , and by successive steps follow the different gradations of gods aud goddesses , until we reach the head and source from which they all emanate , beginning and ending in the One I Am .
Amon or Ammon was the head Divinity , out of whom emanated all the others . He was the great being corresponding to tho Jehovah of the Israelites . " His name signified concealment or that which is concealed . "
He is the one whose voice might be heard , but whose face could not be seen , the dispenser of life , the creator of all things . Ammon is sometimes confounded with Osiris ; but
they were entirely distinct . One was spiritual , known only to the initiated , the other universal through all Egypt , before whom the dead were judged and sentenced .
Ammon to those initiated into the Mysteries was the " king of the gods , " the " Lord of heaven , " the Alpha and Omega , the beginning and end . He is represented standing or seated upon a throne , holding in his hands the emblems
of eternal life . The colour of his body when painted is blue , " -which was supposed to indicate his exalted and heavenly nature . " Ammon , originally a distinct and single god , was afterwards combined with Ra , the
sunone of the curious features of Egyptian polytheism , which made and unmade gods at the pleasure of the priests , and joined them together or separated them at will ; thus Ammon in time became Ammon Ra !
Perhaps the deities most frequently mentioned in Egyptian mythology are Osiris and Isis . The titles given to these two deities are very numerous and conflicting . Osiris , generally taken as symbolic of the sun , was really
the sun of the lower world , " the great deity of Amenti or Hades , " while Isis is represented in the several characters of mother , sister , daughter and wife to Osiris , aud is seen
nursing their child , Hor or Hovus . The story of those two Egyptian deities has been told so often that it is almost superflous to mention it here . The legend as known to the Egyptians was that Osiris was at one time King of Egypt , Leaving the government in the care of Isis , he
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.
HISTORICAL RELATION OF FREEMASONRY TO ANCIENT EGYPT .
A Lecture delivered by Bro . Alexander II . Morgan , before Montgomery Lodge , No . 19 , F . and A . M ., at a special meeting , held in the Egyptian Hall , Masonic Temple , Philadelphia , 2-5 th February 1 S 89 . R EPRINTED FROM THE KEYSTONE . PART SECOND .
PASSING from those interesting historical associations which in themselves are so fruitful that they tempt us to an indefinite extension , we take up the second part of cur discourse , relating to the manners , customs and
doctrines of ancient Egypt , and will endeavour to establish an intimate relationship with the corresponding parts of Freemasonry as they exist to-day . Manners and customs are almost synonymous terms , at least when applied to a nation , and they aro generally
shaped and fashioned by the laws of the established government .
Now , in Egypt the entire system which dominated all classes , and consequently made the manners and customs of the people , was an esoteric or unwritten creed , known
only to those who had been initiated into the Egyptian Mysteries , which was to be kept inviolate , and the divulgence was punished with inflexible severity . While it was true that there existed an innumerable mass of
sects , orders , societies and fraternities , each having its own peculiar signs and observances , yet the one known to the priests of Egypt , and which no doubt was given to them for the preservation of those sublime truths " derived
from the Omnipotent , imparted by Him to the patriarchs , preserved through the storms and terrors of the deluge by Noah , and from him to his sons , and by them transmitted to the Egyptian priesthood , was the only secret organisation worthy of comparison with the Masonic Fraternity .
What were those mysteries which were so zealously guarded by those early workers in the valley of the Nile ? All the nations except one were idolaters or worshippers of
false gods . Ifc was in punishment for those iniquities that the flood-gates of heaven wero opened , and for " forty days and forty nights" the storms raged that finally engulfed the earth .
But the desire of mankind for a multiplicity of deities again asserted itself . The " curse of Canaan " appeared in the numerous heathen mythologies ; but among them all , before or after the deluge , Egyptian , Assyrian , Persian
Greek or Roman , there was always one mysterious , undefined , ineffable , unknown Being , to whom these people , heathen though they were , erected a temple , set up acolumn , inscribed a tablet or outlined a cartouche . Sometimes
without a name , a mark or symbol , but generally either in their written language or in hieroglyphical lines , they dedicated ifc " to the unknown God . "
Thus the great First Cause asserted Himself , and whether walking in the Garden of Eden , smiting the first born of Egypt , speaking out of the thunders of Sinai or glowing from the mercy-seat of the Shekinah , He was ever
present . That universal feeling which pervades all diversified humanity , and runs through all creation , savage , civilised and enlightened , ancient and modern , was just as
full of life and being five thousand years ago , among the priests and kings and people of Egypt , as it is to-day around the known and unknown globe .
One of the most striking characteristics of the ancient Egyptians was their intense devotion to the worship of the numerous deities found in tbe Egyptian pantheon . There is no people on record whose religious ceremonies were so
ostentatiously displayed , and apparently so sincerely kept , as with the people of Egypt , and the multiplication of deities went on unceasingly . Each succeeding king was assigned a place in the pantheon and received divine
honours , while beasts , birds and reptiles were held sacred and even worshipped ; and we find monstrous additions made to their gods and goddesses , such as heads of crocodiles , goats , serpents and hawks . Even Temples were
erected and dedicated to animal worship . " Apis has his priests and priestesses , and a ' white bull , and a ' sacred heiler' are also mentioned as invested with a divine character . " Bnt while it may seem strange that a people whose advancement in arts and sciences , even at that early period
Historical Relation Of Freemasonry To Ancient Egypt.
compares favourably with those of the present day , could indulge in such strange and even brutal customs ; yet it is not difficult to account for such anomalies in Egyptian humanity . The country itself was of unique and even wonderful
formation . A mighty river , emerged out of an unknown region , into which no white man had ever penetrated , and this river , flowed nearly fifteen hundred miles through a narrow plain , the lands of which had been formed by the deposits made by the waters through countless ages .
You cannot speak of Egypt without mention of the Nile , just as you cannot treat of Freemasonry without reference to the Temple ; and as the one was and is the great
Masonic symbol , so was the " river of Egypt" to th © Egyptians , the head and life and source from whence was born their country , and to the action of which was due its continued existence .
During the intervening months , from November until June , the river pursues its course smooth and tranquil to the sea . Suddenly and without apparent cause the waters begin to rise , and in a few days the wholo country is
submerged , the banks are lost , the river becomes a broad and continuous lake . The waters are dark and heavily charged with the alluvium brought from the unknown lands down in the interior of Africa , and so it continues for several
months , when almost as suddenly as it rose , it subsides , and is again within its proper channels , leaving the country on either side covered with a rich soil , the most prolific in the yielding of bounteous crops aud the most easily cultivated of any known religion under the sun .
A soft , dry , delicious climate , no storms , no rainfall , a sky never clouded , almost constant sunshine , heats tempered with cool breezes from the Mediterranean sea , all these circumstances combined to make an indolent ,
imaginative people devoted to the mysterious and supernatural . Those of the population who had been initiated into the Mysteries , being the educated and most intelligent portion of the community , encouraged the
diversity of worships , and even assisted to increase them , and while pandering to the popular demand for the curious , the strange and even the monstrous , so shaped and directed the idolatry of the masses , that , unknown to themselves ,
the ignorant and superstitious Egyptians were paying homage to the one , true God . To those who will make themselves acquainted with the mythology of ancient Egypt , these facts will present themselves , and it is a
comparatively easy task to commence at the entrance of the Egyptian pantheon , and by successive steps follow the different gradations of gods aud goddesses , until we reach the head and source from which they all emanate , beginning and ending in the One I Am .
Amon or Ammon was the head Divinity , out of whom emanated all the others . He was the great being corresponding to tho Jehovah of the Israelites . " His name signified concealment or that which is concealed . "
He is the one whose voice might be heard , but whose face could not be seen , the dispenser of life , the creator of all things . Ammon is sometimes confounded with Osiris ; but
they were entirely distinct . One was spiritual , known only to the initiated , the other universal through all Egypt , before whom the dead were judged and sentenced .
Ammon to those initiated into the Mysteries was the " king of the gods , " the " Lord of heaven , " the Alpha and Omega , the beginning and end . He is represented standing or seated upon a throne , holding in his hands the emblems
of eternal life . The colour of his body when painted is blue , " -which was supposed to indicate his exalted and heavenly nature . " Ammon , originally a distinct and single god , was afterwards combined with Ra , the
sunone of the curious features of Egyptian polytheism , which made and unmade gods at the pleasure of the priests , and joined them together or separated them at will ; thus Ammon in time became Ammon Ra !
Perhaps the deities most frequently mentioned in Egyptian mythology are Osiris and Isis . The titles given to these two deities are very numerous and conflicting . Osiris , generally taken as symbolic of the sun , was really
the sun of the lower world , " the great deity of Amenti or Hades , " while Isis is represented in the several characters of mother , sister , daughter and wife to Osiris , aud is seen
nursing their child , Hor or Hovus . The story of those two Egyptian deities has been told so often that it is almost superflous to mention it here . The legend as known to the Egyptians was that Osiris was at one time King of Egypt , Leaving the government in the care of Isis , he