Were the ancient Egyptian pharaohs Freemasons?

Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were not Freemasons in the modern sense, as Masonic writers regard Freemasonry as a modern successor to the ancient rites rather than an organization that existed in antiquity under its present name 13. However, Masonic scholars state that Egyptian kings were initiates of the ancient Egyptian Mysteries, which are viewed within Masonic tradition as an ancient origin of the fraternity's symbolic system 134.

Mackey notes that the Kings of Egypt were subject to the ruling priesthood and were required to undergo the severe trials of initiation into the Egyptian Mysteries 3. Pike records in his commentary on the Scottish Rite that individuals fitted to attain the throne were admitted into these secret sacerdotal bodies, binding themselves under strict oaths to conceal the sacerdotal art and the doctrine of one Supreme Being 4. Within this tradition, initiation was considered necessary for exercising high royal and administrative authority, as illustrated by Pharaoh naturalizing Joseph and requiring his initiation before elevating him to high office 4.

While modern Masonic writers trace the methods of teaching through symbols back to these Egyptian rites through intermediate historical stages 3, the pharaohs belonged specifically to the ancient Egyptian priesthoods rather than to Freemasonry itself 34. In the Royal Arch and in the Scottish Rite, these Egyptian symbolic traditions are understood to have been carried into Hebrew worship through Moses—who was initiated in the Egyptian mysteries—and preserved in later Masonic ritualism 23.