To exhaust the possibility of the symbols being Masonic after all, I wrote to an Israeli Masonic historian and 33 Degree Freemason Leon Zeldis, who was the editor of the Israeli Masonic periodical "Haboneh Hahofshi". Mr. Zeldis has done extensive research into the history of Freemasonry in Palestine, and has written a highly informative monogram on the founding of the First Lodge in the Holy Land. (http://www.freemasonry.org/leonzeldis/1st%20Lodge.htm)

Zeldis replied in very similar words to Dennis, that all of the depictions on the cross are straightforward Christian and have no connection, which he sees with Freemasonry. All of the symbols are very well-known Christian icons, including the crown of thorns, the cup of Jesus, the dove and the tools of the carpenter's trade.

Based on these conclusions of two highly respected and knowledgeable Masons, we would therefore have to agree that this pendant is indeed not connected with a Masonic group. And although Freemasons are notoriously secretive about their rituals and symbolism, further inquiry into the extensively available Masonic material and the rituals themselves shows that the two historians were not concealing anything here.

The symbols on the cross may not be specifically Masonic, and yet a possible link with Freemasonry may still exist. The Lamb reposing on the Book with the Seven Seals is a symbol on the Jewel of the 17th Degree of Scottish Rite Freemasonry, the degree known as "The Knight of the East and West." (http://www.albertpikedemolay.org/scottishrite/about/chapter.html )

(Though for the sake of precision, it should be noted that the lamb on the Masonic Jewel is facing left, and the seals are arranged four in front and three on the left of the book; where on our pendant the lamb faces right and all seven seals are on the front. Nonetheless, it's really an identical symbol.)

Admittedly this is a long stretch and is likely a mere coincidence, but this degree was particularly stressed by Albert Pike in his "Morals and Dogma" as having a significant mystical bearing upon the mixing between Eastern and Western philosophies, which symbolized the Templars as "returning" to the Holy Land to continue the spiritual tradition of their Essene forbearers. (http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/morals_and_dogma/knight_of_the_east_and_west.htm)

The theme of the "returning Templars" could thus be related to what the Christian Pilgrims felt upon returning to the Temple Mount after six hundred years. Moreover, it could represent the belief of many of those Christians that Jews should also return to live in their old homeland, in order to fulfill certain biblical prophecies pertaining to the "Latter Days". The Agnus Dei reposing on the Seals is of course a famous Apocalyptic symbol from the Book of Revelations, which deals precisely with that subject.

It seemed that the sheer wealth of detail on the cross would lead to a quick identification with a particular group or denomination, but at first the task proved harder than anticipated. I wrote to several other researchers of esoteric subjects, in the hope of obtaining further leads to the meaning of the symbols. Well-known recent authors Philip Gardiner and Crichton Miller offered highly involved interpretations of the mystical significance of the pictured objects. (http://www.phil.fah-designs.com/gardinerosborn/articles/response.html)

Mr. Miller saw this pendant as a typified representation of a Celtic Cross with the circle in the center, which according to his theory was a most important measuring tool used by some ancients for telling time and navigating at sea. He feels that this was The Secret, which the Order of the Knights Templar had discovered and was guarding in the Middle Ages, and what gave them such a major advantage over their adversaries for a long time. This interpretation does offer an interesting connection between our cross and the Templars, even though we've decided that we're dealing with a much more modern artifact here.

Mr. Gardiner eloquently pointed out that every single symbol on the cross hailed from well-known Pagan origins. The hammer and pliers were tools of the various Thunder Gods, and dealt with the creation of the Universe. The nail is the axis on which the Universe and our lives revolve, as well as symbolic of some Egyptian fertility rites, and three nails also make a Pyramid. The masculine warrior-spears are juxtaposed against the feminine grail/cup, signifying a union of opposites, and the crown of thorns is, in fact, the two intertwined snakes of Chaos and Creation, also indicate such union. The sunburst is of course an ancient symbol of the Sun God, and the word IHS (which was pronounced "ee-yes") denotes the old "cry of Bacchus" from Ancient Greece. The Lamb signifies the end of the Age of Aries, and the seven seals are the Seven Sisters, the constellation of Pleiades that follows Aries in the night sky.

Gardiner had also noted that this is in fact not a "Templar Cross" (the name which was tentatively assigned to our pendant,) as this shape was used by the Vatican only since around the 1400's, after the destruction of the Templar Order. The typical Templar cross is also equal-sided, but the edges of the sides are either even or flared, and not pointed like on this one.

Other researchers who have looked at the close-ups have pointed out the interesting resemblance between the three nails and the various stylized depictions of mushrooms or even sperms which can be found in the art of various cultures, notably from South America, early England, and the Far East. This would tend to further strengthen the Pagan "fertility rites" symbolism.

And yet, despite the obviously Pagan origins of the different symbols on this pendant, it is clearly a piece of Christian jewelry, a relatively recent cross that belonged to a Christian (as opposed to, for example, an esoteric emblem from Ancient Egypt, which would be a much older object and the metal would be in different condition.) All of those early symbols were absorbed into Christianity, and they have come to mean entirely different things in that religion for a "spiritually honest" believer in Jesus. Their earlier meaning, however, could have a mystical significance, which would be known to members of the sect to which this cross belonged.

I had originally hoped to connect this cross with a group of people who would have had the most opportunity to lose an object like that in caverns under the Temple Mount. This was my chief reason for contacting the Masonic historian Leon Zeldis. As mentioned above, Mr. Zeldis wrote an extensive article about the founding of the First Freemasonry Lodge in Modern Palestine, in a ceremony, which took place in the Zedekiah Caves, underneath the Old City of Jerusalem in 1873.

The Zedekiah Caves are a vast complex of underground passages, which are said to have served as the quarries from which the stones for the original Solomon's Temple were taken. Tunnels branch off in many directions, some leading under the Temple itself. Here is a painting of caverns underneath the Temple Mount, done in 1870 by an artist accompanying a group of archeologists, which shows the immense proportions of the place:

The location of the Zedekiah Cave and its use as the quarries for the Temple stones would have had immense symbolic significance for Freemasons, which is why that location was chosen for the founding ceremony. Mr. Zeldis has an interesting story on his site about the founders of the First Masonic Lodge getting lost in the dark tunnels after the ceremony and wandering there for hours. The Lodge held meetings in the caves for many years afterwards. It seemed very likely that one of the members may have dropped an object like our cross during one of those times.

The founders of the First Lodge were mostly British officers and archeologists, as well as members of the American Colony in Jaffa. This colony was started in 1865 by a group of settlers from Maine, led by a Messianic preacher who was a former Mormon and in his younger years a friend of Joseph Smith. Although the colony is usually considered a failure and most of the members returned to the US within two years, some stayed behind and became involved in various local enterprises, which later greatly facilitated the arrival of the Jewish immigrants and the subsequent founding of the State of Israel.

Concludes on Page 3 (Copyright 2006, Sol Aris)