already indicated, namely, that the necessity of the religious sentiment
in the Jewish mind, to which the introduction of the legend of Dionysus
would have been abhorrent, led to the substitution for it of that of
Hiram, in which the ideal parts of the narrative have been intimately
blended with real transactions. Thus, that there was such a man as Hiram
Abif; that he was the chief builder at the temple of Jerusalem; that he
was the confidential friend of the kings of Israel and Tyre, which is
indicated by his title of _Ab_, or father; and that he is not heard of
after the completion of the temple,--are all historical facts. That he
died by violence, and in the way described in the masonic legend, may be
also true, or may be merely mythical elements incorporated into the
historical narrative.

But whether this be so or not,--whether the legend be a fact or a fiction,
a history or a myth,--this, at least, is certain: that it was adopted by
the Solomonic Masons of the temple as a substitute for the idolatrous
legend of the death of Dionysus which belonged to the Dionysiac Mysteries
of the Tyrian workmen.




VII.

The Union of Speculative and Operative Masonry at the Temple of Solomon.



Thus, then, we arrive at another important epoch in the history of the
origin of Freemasonry.