ABSTRACT
Freemasonry is the world's oldest secular fraternal society. It teaches moral lessons and self-knowledge through participation in a series of ceremonies which are learnt by heart and performed within each lodge. There are many theories as to the origins of Freemasonry, the general consensus amongst Masonic historians today being that it developed either directly or indirectly from the organizations of the stonemasons who built the great cathedrals and castles of the middle Ages. The earliest evidence for Freemasonry comes in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, a period of great religious and political turmoil in Great Britain, when differences of opinion split families and eventually led to civil war. In this way the precursors of Freemasonry unwittingly gave rise to the later theory that Freemasonry had its origins in Ancient Egypt. That idea was echoed in England in the early 19th century. This mid-19th century interest in Ancient Egypt coincided with the development of Masonic architecture.
