Freemasonry and secret histories – an introduction

There are some strange gaps in our knowledge of ancient history, particularly around the construction of some of the Worlds most iconic structures. Across the globe there are monumental buildings created from immense blocks of stone, often moved great distances by our ancestors using the most basic tools. Now it is true that in some cases we have written evidence from primary sources about the way in which these structures were created, but it is interesting to note that there are often conflicting reports or sections of description missing. As an example we have texts from ancient Egypt describing the quarrying of the stone blocks used for pyramids and temples, we have examples of the tools used and we know how blocks were moved within the quarry, but on the subject of how the blocks were moved to site, and how they were integrated into the structure and perhaps most importantly, how and why the structures were positioned as they were. Given the importance the Egyptian society placed on record keeping this seems rather odd. Then there are the stories of the construction of the both the Tower of Babel and the Gardens of Babylon. Again the Mesopotamian peoples were renowned for keep meticulous notes, and there are hundreds of thousands of clay tablets detailing every aspect of daily life, yet on the subject of these epic building projects which must have taken many years and many thousands of workers the tablets refer to myth and legend.

The same is true of the reports of the construction of the Temple of Solomon with stories of the great and wise King employing demons controlled by a magical ring. So we have missing evidence where we should have complete reports, but more than that we have some strange situations when it comes to reports of the designers and architects of antiquity. The best example is from Egypt again, where we see the same name cropping up over and over again across vast periods of time. This suggests that either our sense of chronology is badly wrong, or that the name Imhotep is a title of office rather than an individuals name, or that there is something more unusual going on. There have been many suggestions that the possibility of intervention by a more advanced race, possible extra terrestrial in origin exists. Certainly there is at least circumstantial evidence of the use of technology that we believe was not available during these periods, as seen in the metalwork reported to be found within the sloping shafts of the Great Pyramid at Giza and in the accuracy of the positioning of key monuments and the preparation of the initial groundworks.

So, how is this linked to freemasonry, a movement that officially has a history that only goes back to the 17^th Century in Europe? The secret is in the symbolism. Talking to senior Freemasons reveals that there is a belief that the use of Egyptian and Sumerian symbols within was created by the founders of the movement, and that the use of Solomonic scenes during initiation refers to the concept of King Solomon as the personification of the Great Architect, yet the story of Hiram Abif is rather more complex and suggests a narrative lineage directly linked through the rise of the Roman and later the Ottoman Empire and discovered by the Crusader Knights during the 11^th and 12^th Centuries and brought back to Europe. Certainly the principles and goals of Freemasonry and the insistence on secrecy with the movement hint at something more than a simple fraternal society, and the links between Freemasonry, politics and the Catholic church make you wonder exactly what secrets came back from the Holy Land, and what exactly it was that led to so many intriguing deaths and mysterious charges against certain religious orders. From the Friday 13^th plot to destroy the Knights Templar to the ritual murder of Italian banker Roberto Calvi there are many examples of a hidden history lying beneath the benign surface of this most elusive and closeted movement.