The Queen of Sheba and Prince Hall

Part 4 of 13 in our journey from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo
(connecting landmarks in Michigan and African history)

Metropolitan Detroit
Prince Hall Masonic Temple

You've probably driven by it many times. A non-descript building that seems to blend in with its aging neighbors at the corner of Gratiot and McDougal Avenues. But on its front a sign reads, "Metropolitan Detroit Prince Hall Masonic Temple". And it's this small sign that signifies the building's connection with both African-American and African history.


Prince Hall

To explain the story of Prince Hall, one must go back to 1775, when a group of fourteen free-by-birth African-Americans were made Masons by an Irish Military Lodge. Now Mason in this context is meant to refer to Freemasons and in 1784, the Grand Lodge of England chartered African Lodge No. 459 in Boston with Prince Hall as its first Worshipful Master.

Freemasons opened lodges throughout the US, reaching Michigan in 1864.  In 1873, Michigan Prince Hall masons sought recognition from their white counter parts, the Grand Lodge of Michigan. Their request would go unanswered.  It would take almost a half a century for  Prince Hall masons to receive this recognition.  Even today, only 41 out of 51 State Grand Lodges formally recognize them.

In reality, there is very little difference between the two types of Freemasons.  And by no means are Prince Hall lodges exclusively African-American.  Both use the imagery of stone mason tools, as used to construct King Solomon's Temple, to convey moral and ethical lessons on "Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth." To both, King Solomon's Temple is the "most stable and the most magnificent structure that ever existed." All masonic temples are designed with features that can be directly traced to King Solomon's Temple.

Model of King Solomon's Temple

King Solomon would complete construction of his Jerusalem Temple around 950 BCE. Its remains are believed to be located beneath what is today the “Dome of the Rock” where Muslims believe the prophet Muhammad rose to heaven.  It was within this original Temple that the Ark of the Covenant was stored.  The ark is said to contain the stone tablets engraved by God with the ten commandments.
 

The Queen of Sheba travelling
to Jerusalem

One of the best known stories of the Hebrew Bible as well as the Qur'an and Ethiopia's Kebra Negast is that of Queen Sheba's visit to King Solomon. Most believe she was a ruler of the kingdom of Seba that included parts of today's Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen. She is said to have been drawn to the King because of the fame of his wisdom and wealth.

Our Lady Mary of Zion
Home of the Ark of the Covenant

It is the Ethiopian account that ends with King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba having a son, Menelik I. He would return to Ethiopia as the first king of Aksum.  Menelik I's rein would begin the world's longest continually ruling monarch. Lasting 2900+ years, finally ending in 1974.  He and the Queen of Sheba are believed to have brought home to Ethiopia the Ark of the Covenant, which to this day is said to remain in Axum's Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. It remains closed to public view and guarded by a single priest.

Dongar Palace

The Queen of Sheba built a palace in 1000 BCE.  Excavated in 1952, the remains of this palace, which is believed to have also held the Ark of the Covenant, lies just outside of Axum at Dongar.  And like Detroit's Prince Hall Masonic Temple, blends into its surrounding, giving little clues of its historical and religious significance. It sits waiting for someone to revitalize its forgotten regality.

  So the next time you pass by 3100 Gratiot Avenue, give yourself a moment to glance at the Prince Hall Masonic Temple and to recognize the significance of its African-American history and its connection to the Queen of Sheba's palace in Axum, Ethiopia.