


Saturday, March 05, 2016

The Tomb of King Hiram of Tyre

I received a note from a Freemason in France last week, alerting me that the supposed historic burial tomb of Hiram, King of Tyre, located in modern day Lebanon, is sorely in need of repair. Until his message, I had no idea that the tomb even existed, so it came as quite a surprise. The Brother says that there has been some preliminary talk of trying to raise money to hire qualified stonemasons to restore the site.

I found this description on the website of Methven Lodge No. 51 in Methven, New Zealand:

Hiram King of Tyre, Tomb from about 950 BC. 
Positioned alongside a Road near Hanaway just a few minutes SE of Tyre.
The Tomb of King Hiram is located a couple minutes drive Southeast of Tyre in the village of Hanaway.  It is a colossal limestone sarcophagus built upon a high pedestal, just north of the border with Israel.  This Tomb can be found and seen on Google Maps with a brown tourist pointer sign on the road nearby.  The following is a brief researched report of King Hiram. 
King Hiram of Tyre is a significant character in Craft Masonry. He is introduced into Masonry as a friend and ally of King Solomon who assists the latter in building the famous House of God in Jerusalem. What isn’t as widely known is that he was also an ally of King David, Solomon’s father, and assisted him in the building of his palace in Jerusalem. Tyre is an ancient Phoenician seaport and is located in what is now known as Lebanon and is currently known as Sur. It was from Lebanon the famous cedar found in both David’s palace and King Solomon’s temple came from. Aside from supplies, King Hiram was known for supplying artisans, woodsmen, carpenters, stone masons, and other such workers to assist in the building of various famous edifices as Tyre was a well-known center for architects and artificers. 
King Hiram was a Phoenician King who reigned from around 980 to 947 BC (although this date may vary by 10-years).  He is said to have lived to be 53-years of age, but reigned only 34 of them having taken the throne after his father Abibaal passed and was succeeded by his son Baal-Eser.  Although there exists some confusion from Biblical text as the timelines don’t quite match up as Solomon and David deal with a “King Hiram” for a time of around 54-years.

I did some more looking and came across an article on the Livius.org website that questions the claim that this is, in fact, King Hiram I's tomb. It says, in part:

Although named after the legendary king Hiram, who may have reigned Tyre in the tenth century BCE, this tomb, which can be found near Hannaouiye (some six kilometers southeast of Tyre along the road to Qana), in fact dates to the Persian age (i.e. 539-332 BCE). There is some typological similarity to the tombs at Pasargadae and Gur-e Dokhtar. There are several Byzantine tombs in the neighborhood. 


  1. 1)King Hiram cannot be Hiram Abiff.
    2)Hiram Abiff the architect of Solomon's Temple was murdered. His killers fled across the Red Sea. Masonic lore.
    Note. They fled across the Red Sea because the Bible came from West Arabia or Yemen. Solomon's Temple had to have been in West Arabia. There is a gold mine there. Cedars from Lebanon? That's a long way. The Book of Genesis refers to camels. No camels in ancient Israel, only Arabia. No Pharaohs in Egypt but Faroahs? from Mizraim, Yemen

  2. Nobody said King Hiram of Tyre was Hiram Abiff, or that Hiram Abiff existed outside of Masonic legend. What's your point?

    And no, Solomon's Temple was on the Temple Mount, not in Arabia, and archeological findings from the First Temple Period confirm it. You've been reading propaganda from the Waqf.

    1. The article referred to King Hiram and him helping Solomon with his temple. He may have been the architect we hear about and who in turn is referred to as Hiram Abiff. I am merely trying to join the dots. Masonic lore would have the murderers of Hiram Abiff fleeing across the Red Sea which would be easy from the Arabian west coast and very difficult from modern day Jerusalem which would be a journey and may not not be fleeing as in a quick getaway.
      Kamal Salibi wrote an interesting book The Bible Came From Arabia and he puts it in South West Arabia which could make sense. The Biblical frankincense and myrrh could have originated in Yemen.
      The Queen of Sheba ruled Yemen and Ethiopia and would then make a much shorter trip up the coast to visit Solomon. Are things now coming together and making sense.

  3. You can read a description of the tomb in Rob Morris's book "Freemasonry in the Holly-land" from his visit over 100 years ago. (Page 102)
    Already then it was in bad shape.


  4. Hiram king of Tyre the Phoenician canaanite due to the Bible is the one who transported the cedars wood craftsmen and wood men to build solumons tremble in jurosalem and was sucsseded by alsisar his daughter and pijmalion his son and whom took over the thrown from his siater and forced her to flee with her supporters to North Africa and later she built the city of cortage

    1. Could that North Africa be Ethiopia which was opposite Yemen both of which were included in the empire Sheba. The Queen of Sheba.
      It is hard to believe Solomon's temple was in modern day Jerusalem.

    2. Please excuse my ignorance of this most fascinating topic. I too am trying to figure out where in 2nd Chronicles Hiram Abiff is mentioned if at all. Is it possible that Huram-Abi is actually Hiram Abiff? This seems an overly simple solution to an age old question. Sort of an Ocums razor approach.

  5. 1 Kings 5: 8-9
    Hiram took the cedars to the sea (Aqaba harbour) and floated (along the Red Sea) to Solomon's place of choice.

    This suggests that Solomon's temple could have been in West Arabia though above Yemen. See, The Bible Came From West Arabia by Kamal Salibi

    To take the cedars from Lebanon to modern day Jerusalem would involve overland and no floating.

