2 Samuel 5:11 - "And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, also carpenters and masons who built David a house."

1 Chronicles 22:14 - "You have an abundance of workmen: stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and all kinds of craftsmen without number, skilled in working."

Many of the most marvelous antiquities of the East were due to the work of the mason, and certain villages were famous for their masons. The farmers were usually skillful in building low terrace walls of undressed stone for the fields and vineyards. But buildings required a master mason.

When laying stones or bricks, the mason measured distances from reference points and marked guidelines on a working surface to lay out his work. Using a trowel, he next spread a soft layer of mortar as a base and binder for his block. He applied mortar to the block’s end and placed it in the mortar bed. With the trowel, he tapped the block to level, align, and embed it in mortar. Finally, he removed excess mortar from between the bricks.

The mason was acquainted with the proper kind of foundation and he knew how to lay the cornerstone. He knew how to select and lay the stones in the wall. His equipment consisted of the plumbline, the measuring reed, the leveling line, the hammer with the toothed edge for shaping stones, and a small basket for carrying off earth.

Today we have masons who work for the building contractors who construct our homes, office buildings, churches, and all the other buildings which we find necessary. We also have brick layers, cement workers, brick workers, and all the other men who work within the building trades, as counterparts to the ancient mason.