When Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon, and whose ambition had long aspired to the throne, heard of the death of the king, he hastened to return to Egypt, to put himself at the head of the discontented tribes, and lead them on to rebellion. He accordingly assem bled them together, and came to king Rehoboam and addressed himself in the language of 2 Chron. chap. x. which see.
It is necessary, in order to understand the origin and progress of arch masonry, that we should take into con sideration all those events which transpired after the building of the temple.
The tribes of Israel were divided into two distinct go vernments for 254 years, when a revolution ensued. It was then when the ten tribes revolted, having become weak and degenerated, that they fell a prey to Salmancz er, king of Assyria, who, in the reign of Hosea, king of Israel, besieged the city of Samaria, laid their country waste, and extirpated their government. Thus was the laws of the house of David trampled under arbitrary power.
It is unnecessary, however, to notice the circum stances which afterwards transpired, before the rebuild ing of Jerusalem, the temple, and the restoring of the Hebrews to their former state of grandeur and indepen dency. History indeed furnishes us, and particularly
the writings of Josephus, with an account of the wars and desolations that occurred in the reign of Nebuchad nezzar ; and particularly the circumstance of Nebuchad nezzar dispatching his principal officer, Nehuzaradan, to Jerusalem, to ransack and burn both palace and tem. ple. Among the captives he made were the following persons of eminence : Seraiah, the high priest ; Ze phaniah, next in rank ; the secretary to the king ; three principal keepers of the temple ; seven of the kings chosen friends, and other persons of distinction. By an edict of Cyrus, king of Persia, the captives were re leased from their bondage, with his permission to re turn to their own native country, to rebuild the city, and the house of tke Lord. The principal people of the .tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the priests and vites, immediately departed for Jerusalem, and menced the undertaking. See the articles TENrix,