The Origin of Freemasonry and Knights Templar ... - Lodge Prudentia

SUPPLEMENTAL ENCYCLOPAEDIAthe northwestern part of Arabia. Subsequently they, withthe descendants of Joktan, the fourth son of Shem, andJoksham, the son of Abraham by Keturah, occupied thewhole peninsula of Arabia, located near their "brethren"the Jews, they have always led a roving, wild and predatorylife. To a great degree unchanged, they are to thisday the untamed though tributary masters of the desertJebusitesSee JERUSALEM.JerichoOnce one of the most flourishing cities of Palestine,seven miles westward from the Jordan and eighteenmiles northeast from Jerusalem. Westward from Jericholies a waste tract of limestone mountains rising in stages;but the immediate vicinity is well watered and fruitful,yielding dates, raisins, etc. in ;early times a favorite abodeof poisonous snakes. The capture of Jericho by the Israeliteson their first entry into Canaan, its destruction andthe rebuilding of itby Hiel the Bethelite in the reign ofAhab, about 918 B. C, are found recorded in Joshua vi. ;I.Kings xvi. 34. It appears to have been afterwards the seatof a school of prophets, and was the residence of Elisha.Herod the Great resided in Jericho and beautified it. Inthe time of the Crusades it was repeatedly captured and atlast completely destroyed. At the present day its placeisoccupied by a miserable village called Richa or ErishaThe road from Jericho to Jerusalem ascends through narrowand rocky passes amid ravines and precipices. It is anexceedingly difficult and dangerous route, and is still infestedby robbers, as in the time of the good Samaritan(Luke x. 30-34).Jerusalem Its origin and early history are very obscure.The Jebusites, who were the descendants of Canaan, werethe first known occupants of that elevated ground uponwhich rests the city, which they called Jebus, and we knowthat the Jebusites retained possession of the strong positionr8i