The Arcana of Freemasonry (1915) - The Masonic Trowel

50 THE ARCANA OF FREEMASONRY
which in Egyptian is Maat-Heru, meaning " One
whose voice must be obeyed."
The emblem of Power and Might which is given
to the W.M.— the Gavel— took its origin from the
original sacred sign still used amongst the Pygmies
in Inner Africa (Fig. 10). It is their symbol for
The Great One, The Chief. It is just three sticks
crossed.
The Nilotic Negroes, who followed the Pygmy
all over the world, converted the crossed sticks
><
Fig. io. Fig. ii. Fig. 12.
into a double cross (Fig. n) by placing the
two sticks in a different way.
In a later phase it was used as a symbol to
represent the Great One, the Great Prince, in the
form of a double-headed Hammer or Axe (Fig. 12),
when stones took the place of these crossed sticks,
and primitive man began to acquire the knowledge
of hafting (Nilotic Negroes).
In the Third, or M.M. degree, the death of
H.A.B., and the legend attached thereto,
borne out by facts, as we see from 2 Chron. iv. 11:
is not