Freemasonry and Ancient Egypt
A Quick Trail
By Cathie Bryan
1 Fragment of the Book
of the Dead
1
10
2 Model stoneman’s
tools: UC16166 and
UC16165 plumb bob
11
12
3 UC1674 Cubit rod. and
UC7508 Rope.
13
2
4 UC14362 Stela of the
stonemason Bakenmin
14
5 UC14309 Tomb relief
of Tepemankh.
6 UC408 Relief depicting
a tomb court with
colonnade
3
15
4
8
7
9
7 UC14226 Stela of
Nesykhonsu
8 UC14404 Stele with
the barque of Amun
9 UC8709 Statue of
Imhotep
10 UC14230 Coffin case
of Niry ti sit nefer
6
11 UC28005 Pottery
figure of a sphinx
12 UC8787 Pottery
figure of Isis and Horus
5
13 UC30489 Bronze
figure of Isis and
UC30493 Apis Calf
14 UC15941 Painted
pottery slab
15. Bronze figurines of
Harpocrates and a bronze
figurine of a winged Isis..
Introduction
This is a trail that accompanied a lecture on the uses of
ancient Egypt by freemasonry, which was given by
Cathie Bryan at the Petrie Museum, before moving on to
a tour of relevant objects at the Library and Museum of
Freemasonry in November 2010 and February 2011.
1 UC32444 Fragment of the Book of the Dead,
illustrated in ink on linen. Ptolemaic. This vignette
shows the judgment of the dead before a tribunal of
gods.
Book of the Dead
judgement scene
(UC32444).
2 Model stonemason’s tools: UC16166 Square and
UC16165 plumb bob. Sedment. Dynasty 9-10.
The mason’s square enables determination with great
accuracy of both 90 and 45 degree angles. It is still in
use today. Both of these builder’s tools feature as
symbols in Freemasonry: the square represents
morality, and the plumb rule represents justness and
uprightness. Freemasons meet ‘on the square’.
3 UC1674 Cubit rod. UC7420 and UC7508 Rope. All
objects are from Lahun, Dynasty 12.
The royal cubit, equal to 7 palms, was the main unit of
measurement in ancient Egypt (52.4 cm). The cubit was
represented as hieroglyph of a forearm and hand. A cubit
system of measurement was already used for the layout
of a mastaba of the 1st dynasty at Naqada.
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4 UC14362 Stela of the stonemason Bakenmin.
Memphis. Dynasty 18. Bakenmin is shown with 23
members of his extended family. Those who sniff lotus
flowers are deceased, i.e. breathing in the Afterlife. This
Egyptian stonemason was wealthy enough to
commission a fine funerary stela.
5 UC14309 Tomb relief of Tepemankh. Saqqara.
Dynasty 5. Craftsmen at work
6 UC408 Relief depicting a tomb court with
colonnade, Two statues and a heap of offerings.
Memphis. Late Dynasty 18-19. Before the purpose and
meaning of tombs in the Valley of the Kings were
understood through archaeology and decipherment of
texts, some people thought these monuments were sites
of the Mysteries. Representations of the king before the
gods, and views of the trials in the afterlife were often
interpreted as rituals of initiation by the Freemasons.
7 UC14226 Stela of Nesykhonsu, wife of the High
Priest of Amun, Pinedjem II, offering incense to Osiris.
Thebes. Dynasty 21.
8 UC14404 Stele with the barque of Amun carried by
priests in a religious procession. Koptos. Dynasty
19? The shrine of the god carried in a barque is an
ancient Egyptian prototype of the Ark of the Covenant.
9 UC8709 Statue of Imhotep. Saqqara. Late Period.
Imhotep is the world’s first named architect, designer of
the Step Pyramid of Djoser. Later deified and identified
with Asclepios, the cult of Imhotep at Saqqara was also
associated with medicine and writing.
10 UC14230 Coffin case of Niry ti sit nefer. Dynasty
26? The deceased appears before the gods on the front
of the case. The interior bears inscriptions from the Book
of the Dead. A mummy case would have been a
desirable object in a 19th century Masonic Cabinet of
Curiosity.
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Most of the objects we have looked at so far look date to
the pharaonic period, up to the end of the 30th dynasty,
332 B.C. The new rulers of Egypt were descended from
Alexander’s General, Ptolemy, and from this time many
aspects of Egyptian art and culture experienced Classical
influence. Representations in art of the gods and
traditional Egyptian icons during the Graeco-Roman
period could sometimes look more Greek than Egyptian.
11 UC28005 Pottery figure of a sphinx. Roman.
period. The sphinx no longer looks traditionally Egyptian
– he is reinterpreted in Graeco-Roman fashion. Similar
Roman Egyptianising sphinxes may be seen on Egyptian
themed Masonic certificates of the 19th century.
12 UC8787 Pottery figure of Isis and Horus the
child. Memphis. Roman. Isis has been syncretised, or
assimilated, with several important Graeco- Roman
goddesses. Isis went on to be worshipped beyond Egypt,
and had a great sanctuary in Rome itself. Here she holds
the young Horus, known as Harpocrates, who has his
finger to his mouth.The Greeks and Romans mistook this
Egyptian gesture of childhood for a caution to silence,
hence Harpocrates was thought of as a god of Silence.
Silence is a virtue to Freemasonry. Harpocrates
sometimes features in Masonic iconography.
13 UC30489 Bronze figure of Isis, mother of the
Apis and UC30493 Bronze figure of the Apis Calf (on
shelf 1). Both Saqqara, Dynasty 30 – Ptolemaic. An
alternative view of Isis, associated with the Egyptian
goddess Mehet-Weret. In this combined form, Isis
represents the mother of the Apis bull. At its death, each
bull was mummified and buried in a necropolis known as
the Serapaeum in Saqqara.
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14 UC 15941 Painted pottery slab (sistrum handle?)
with Hathor headed column. Qurna. Dynasty 18.
Views of the Temple of Hathor at Denderah by Vivant
Denon (1802) and in Description de l’Egypte (1809 for
volume 1) made the Hathor headed column a popular
element of the Napoleonic Egyptian Revival. Note the
cow ears of the goddess. Hathor headed columns
feature in Masonic Lodge architecture and decoration,
and on Egyptian themed Masonic certificates of the 19th
century.
15. Bronze figurines of Harpocrates and a bronze
figurine of a winged Isis are located in the stairway
gallery. The display cases here are enriched with lotus
capital columnettes.
Further Reading
Curl, J. S., (1991), The Art and Architecture of Freemasonry
Curl, J. S., (2005), The Egyptian Revival: A Recurring Theme in the
History of Taste
Hamill, J. and Mollier, P. (2003),’Rebuilding the Sanctuaries of
Memphis: Egypt in Masonic Iconography and Architecture’ in
Humbert, J. M. and Price, C. (eds.) Imhotep Today: Egyptianising
Architecture, pp. 207-220
Iverson, E. (1993), The Myth of Egypt and Its Hieroglyphs in
European Tradition
MacNulty, W. K. (2006), Freemasonry: Symbols, Secrets,
Significance
Montserrat, D. (2000), Ancient Egypt: Digging for Dreams (exhibition
catalogue)
Tompkins, P. (1981), The Magic of Obelisks
Trope, Quirke and Lacovara (2005), EXCAVATING EGYPT: Great
Discoveries from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology
Witt, R. E. (1997), Isis in the Ancient World
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