W Bro Stan Marut, News Editor considers the next Step in Freemasonry – The Royal Arch – Biblically and historically pertinent.

Our masonic journey started with the three degrees of Craft Masonry.

The story would concern the characters, Solomon King of Israel, Hiram King of Tyre and Hiram Abif, a journey veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.

King Solomon – King Solomon is one of the central biblical figures in Jewish heritage who has had a lasting religious, national, and political influence.

As the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem and as the last ruler of the united Kingdom of Israel before its division into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah, Solomon is associated with the peak “golden age” of the independent Kingdom of Israel, a source of judicial and religious wisdom.

Hiram King of Tyre – is mentioned in 2 Samuel 5:11 and 1 Kings 5:10.

Hiram Abif – is referenced in 1 Kings 7:13-14 as the widow’s son and also 1 Kings 7:46 where many of the vessels in the house of the Lord were made of burnished bronze.

This was Hiram Abif’s particular contribution to the works.

Apart from our own ritual books and the references to the Bible, perhaps little more is known.

However, it doesn’t stop there and Craft Masons are encouraged to take their next step in freemasonry by joining the Royal Arch where there is ample evidence of events and the characters involved.

For the keen Craft Mason he may seek out the relatively small segment of the 2nd Temple built on the site where King Solomon’s Temple formerly stood.

The Next Step –

Biblical references have been shown above to endow our ritual with a sense of history.

In the Royal Arch the story can also be found in the Bible and in history books and the ritual represents a profound moment in Jewish History.

It was also a significant moment for the rulers of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and subsequently Cyrus King of Persia in the history of that period.

In a sense the story does not represent an allegory as it did actually happen, albeit the ritual does truncate the history to a manageable level.

Our Royal Arch story is about the conquest when part of the population of the Kingdom of Judah was taken into exile to Babylon, the subsequent release of the Jews from captivity and the steps taken to complete the rebuilding of the Temple after the destruction by the Babylonian ruler.

This can be read in the Biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Also read – Second Temple – Wikipedia

There is a relatively small segment of a far longer ancient retaining wall, known also in its entirety as the “Western Wall”.

The wall was originally erected as part of the expansion of the Second Jewish Temple begun by Herod the Great.

Herod’s temple was a continuation of the Second Temple construction.

According to the Hebrew Bible, it replaced Solomon’s Temple (the First Temple), which was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BC.

The Ritual Book Comes To Life – Babylon in Berlin –

It is possible to visit the Western Wall today as mentioned above.

A visit to Babylon (modern day Iraq) may not have an appeal given the situation in the Middle East.

However, it is possible to get an idea of what ancient Babylon looked like.

You do not have to go far and a trip to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin will give the interested Royal Arch Mason and would be Exaltee a glimpse into a magnificent past.

The lion was meant to put fear into their enemies, by showing a lion trampling a man to scare their enemies. It represented Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, love, and war – photo – Stan Marut ©

On a visit to the Pergamon Museum a few years ago, I was taken aback by the sheer beauty of the that small portion of the city of Babylon which had been restored and put on public display.

To my mind I was sharing a view with those Judean captives who had been taken Babylon, even more so than the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem.

This is the Ishtar Gate but strictly it is not the whole edifice.

But it does give an impression of the scale and beauty of the structure.

See – Ishtar Gate – Wikipedia.

It was constructed in about 575 BCE by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of the city.

It was part of a grand walled processional way leading into the city.

The walls were finished in glazed bricks mostly in blue, with animals and deities in low relief at intervals.

There is a mock-up of what the whole would have looked like.

German archaeologists excavated Babylon in the 1930s and dismantled the Ishtar Gate and took it to Berlin.

It was meticulously reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum.

However, the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in Berlin is not a complete replica of the entire gate.

The original structure was a double gate with a smaller frontal gate and a larger and more grandiose secondary posterior section.

The only section on display in the Pergamon Museum is the smaller frontal segment.

Babylonian ceramics in the Pergamon Museum – Berlin – photo Stan Marut ©

The captivity formally ended in 538 BC, when the Persian conqueror of Babylonia, Cyrus the Great, gave the Jews permission to return to Judah.

To my mind to be able to feast my eyes on this wonderful reconstruction from antiquity is see what these Judean captives and their successors would have experienced.

This makes it real for me and brings this exceptional and colourful masonic degree to life and light.

Indeed, Royal Arch Masonry is described as the foundation and keystone of the whole masonic structure.

I would say that your masonic journey is incomplete until you have been Exalted into the Royal Arch, a rich and colourful degree.

For those with a thirst to explore this wonderful masonic degree then if your Lodge has an attached Royal Arch Chapter you should seek your Lodge Royal Arch Representative for further information.

Alternatively, you may contact Excellent Companion Stan Marut PPrAGSoj LGCR who will direct your enquiry – stan.marut@pglm.org.uk

Do first check out the Provincial Web Site: – https://pglm.org.uk/the-royal-arch/welcome/

Also try this to link to Solomon and a talk on the Mysteries of the Royal Arch (scroll down a bit):-

Course: Starting Your Journey in Freemasonry (ugle.org.uk)

Other Links:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Royal_Arch#Purpose_and_Teaching

https://www.supremegrandchapter.org.uk/about-royal-arch-masonry/what-is-royal-arch-masonry