This is a general survey on the historical and modern presence of Freemasonry in Lebanon, and Lebanese Freemasonry.
Freemasonry in Lebanon started with the charter of a Lodge by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1861, and has expanded to include Lodges working in multiple languages (including Arabic, English, and French) and chartered under multiple jurisdictions and streams.
The first regular-recognised Masonic Lodge to be erected in Lebanon was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1861 and was given the name Palestine Lodge No. 415. This lodge was operating in Beirut but then it became dormant in 1895. Four other Scottish lodges were chartered in Lebanon prior to the First World War. The Grand Orient of France chartered a lodge in 1869, working in Arabic. Two further lodges followed, but none survived the First World War.
Other new workshops of Lebanese Freemasonry formed prior to World War I were a lodge at Beirut under the Ottoman Grand Lodge (later the Grand Lodge of Turkey), and a lodge under the National Grand Lodge of Egypt, erected about 1914. A number of other Egyptian-warranted lodges were chartered thereafter, and after the First World War these were formed into a District Grand Lodge. By the end of World War Two, these lodges were extinct, merged, or had changed jurisdictional authority.
There are a number of different unrecognized Grand Lodges and Grand Orients in Lebanon. Grand Lodges include the Sun Grand Lodge (SGL) ,Grand Orient de Canaan the Grande Loge Centrale du Liban, the Grande Loge de Cèdres, the Grand Orient Arabe, and the Grande Loge Bet-El, all in the tradition of Continental Freemasonry. There are also UGLE Recognised lodges active in Lebanon (such as the Lodges operating under the District Grand Lodge of Syria and Lebanon, which is chartered by the Grand Lodge of New York, Lodges operating under the Grand District of Lebanon, under the Grand Lodge of Scotland and a lodge under the Grand lodge of Washington DC.
(the source: Wikipedia)
external links
- Metapedia about Lebanese Freemasons
- Freemasonry in Lebanon (discussion at MasonForum.com)
- King Solomon Grand Lodge Of Lebanon – Opening Ceremony (YouTube)
