This Ritual is based upon important historical

occurrences at the time of the building of the

Temple, and deals with a chapter of its history

which is not treated in any other degree.

In Holy Writ, (see I Kings v.) we learn that

King Solomon sent to Hiram, King of Tyre, asking

that cedar trees might be hewed out of the forest of

Lebanon, for, said he, “thou knowest that there is

none among us who can skill to hew timber like unto

the Sidonians.” King Hiram consented, saying,

‘amy servants shall bring them down from Lebanon

unto the sea: and I will convey them by sea in floats

unto the place thou shalt appoint me, and will cause

them to be discharged there.”

The scene of this Ritual is laid in the Royal

Court of Tyre of Sidon, and, in a manner, portrays

the means by which the workers of Sidonia were

gathered together for labor in the forests of

Lebanon.

Although it is not a historical fact, we may

readily believe that the hewers of wood in Lebanon

were bound together in fraternal brotherhood, as

well as the hewers of stone at Jerusalem.