Heroines of Jericho

HEROINES OF JERICHO -  The Heroines of Jericho is an androgynous degree conferred in America on Royal Arch Masons, their wives, mothers, widows, sisters and daughters.  Historically awarded to the female family members of the Royal Arch Masons, the Heroines of Jericho enabled women to apply for protection, security and subsistence while living in a patriarchal and misogynistic society. A distaff counterpart to the Knights of Jericho, being named a Heroine of Jericho indicated a woman was sufficiently inculcated in the freemasonry fold and was entitled to aid from their fellow Masons and Companions.  The award derives its name from a biblical heroine known the Woman of Jericho, Rahab, who hid Israelite spies from the soldiers and thus kept her family safe when the walls of Jericho fell (KJV Joshua 2:1-22).