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

FREEMASONRY AND KNIGHTS TEMPLARextended also to the adjoining countries, and ledJacob to dispatch his sons to the Egyptian granariesto purchase corn, and there the brothers werebrought face to face with Joseph, who recognizedhis unnatural brethren, and after a series of stratagems(Gen. xlii.), by which he reminded them ofand punished them for their crime, the whole family,by his request, to the number of about seventy,was brought into and established in the "land ofGoshen,"* or Ramses, as it was called by the Egyptians.(This was about i'/o6 B. C.) Here theyltwo hundred andgrew and multiplied for nearly fifteen years. Joseph married a daughterof thehigh priest of On (Heliopolis), and had two sons,Manasseh and Ephraim, who became the progenitorsof the tribes bearing those names, the mostpowerful of the future kingdomof Israel. Josephpreserved his authority until his death, whichoccurred in 1635 B- C- at the age of no. His bodywas cMiibalmed, and at the time of the Exodus wascarried to Palestine* and buried at Shechem,where his tomb is still shown.Jacob died in Egypt in 1689 B. C., aged 147years; his body was embalmed and buried withgreat pom]) and all possible honors in the burialplaceof Abraham, near Hebron (Gen. 1.).For a time the growing Israelitic tribe was heldin honor by the government and people; but laterthe ruling class began to look askance at thestrangers, and then to oppress them. They wereset to work at building and digging. They were1This date has been sharply contested.it should be about the year 1550 B. C.Some authors claim22