HIRAM ABIFF: Why did King Solomon ask a Pagan King, Hiram of Tyre, to help him build a Temple dedicated to the Hebrew God Yahweh? King Hiram sent Hiram Abiff, a master craftsmen and chief architect to oversee the project. Hiram Abiff plays a central role in Freemasonry and is connected to the legend of the ‘Lost Word’ a key aspect of the initiation process in the Craft. Searching for the Lost Word is similar to the search for the Holy Grail and Philosophers Stone found in Alchemy, Hermeticism and the Grail legends.