Hiram Abif and King Solomon’s Temple

26 June 24

The Jerusalem ‘Ram’s Horn’ of sometime in BC 1014 trumpeted the headline ‘Solomon Imports Architect from Tyre’.

Even in those days of the King’s absolute power, a great deal of bad feeling was generated. ‘Have we no architects of our own?’ ‘Are we, God’s chosen people bereft of skilful artisans and engineers of our nationality?’ Such were the repercussions and bad publicity that King Solomon, on the advice of his press agent (or chief scribe as he was then known) issued the following statement.

 ‘My father King David left me with the responsibility to build a Temple to Jehovah, as the Lord had forbidden him to fulfil this duty because of his sin with my mother Bathsheba. Our Lord God Jehovah is the One True God and it is necessary, essential even, that His Temple shall be such that its beauty surpasses all previous ideas. Therefore it is a basic requirement that we get the best man for the job. This man is Hiram Abif and I have persuaded King Hiram of Tyre to release him from his current contract for a long period. This, and my promise to purchase from him shekels worth of timber, gold, precious stones and thousands of talents of brass has just about secured the future of this building. Hiram Abif is also an expert metallurgist and a genius in the craft of casting. He has been successful in making the world’s largest casting to date and will be challenged even further by the two great pillars I want him to design and build for erection in the new temple courtyard. These will serve to remind you all of the great deliverance our forefathers experienced when they escaped from their Egyptian bondage more than 450 years ago. I have appointed Adoniram as the Clerk of Works and Chief Inspector so our people will be represented in the project at a high level of responsibility. That is all I am prepared to say at present.’

And so, by Solomon’s prompt action, the problem blew over. The people in Jerusalem watched as the foundations on the temple mount were dug. The stones which had been fully prepared off-site due to the local noise regulations soon started to arrive and the temple steadily took shape year by year. Some people even went to the clay ground around Zeradatha to witness the casting of the great pillars and the other major brass vessels which King Solomon had ordered for the Temple service. They were all amazed at the skill shown by Hiram Abif and wondered why there had been so much fuss at his appointment.

Progress continued until the Temple was almost completed, when, during the year BC 1005 another headline announced the dreadful news, ‘The great architect and builder of the Temple, Hiram Abif, has disappeared’. Every Master Mason can complete this story.

Early 18th Century Russian icon depicting King Solomon holding a model of the Temple - Image courteous of Wikipedia.

Article from the December 2009 Freemason