22nd Degree Jewel

The jewel, suspended from the collar, is a gold axe and handle, the symbol of the great agent of civilization and improvement. Troops armed with this weapon have conquered barbarism. Under its blows the primeval forests disappear; the farmer displaces the wild hunter; to the rude barbarism of the early ages succeed settled society, laws and all the arts that refine and elevate mankind. The axe is nobler than the sword. Masonry hews at those mighty trees, intolerance, bigotry, superstition, uncharitableness and idleness, thereby letting in the light of truth and reason upon the human mind, which these vices have darkened for centuries. The letters on the top are the initials of Noah and Solomon; those on the handle, of Libanus and Tsidunian; those on one side of the blade, of Adoniram, Kuros, Darius, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah and Azra; and those on the other side, of Shem, Kham, Yapheth, Moses, Aholiab and Betselal. These names represent the various places and persons significant in the use of the cedars of Lebanon for “Holy Enterprises”; examples include Noah’s Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, Solomon’s Temple, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Temple by Zerubbabel.