In Jordan, a team unearthed burials surrounded by objects including a ceramic chalice… more or less in the shape of the Holy Grail. Blessed bread for American television.
During his show on October 9, American presenter Josh Gates, dressed as Indiana Jones, accompanied archaeologists in their research in Petra. Discovery’s Expedition Unknown
By Francine Guillou
Published on November 15, 2024 at 6:09 p.m.
EWhat if Steven Spielberg had a premonition? Could the ancient city of Petra be the receptacle of the Holy Grail, this mythical cup supposed to have collected the blood of Christ during his crucifixion? In October 2024, American archaeologists from the American Center of Research, in partnership with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, unearthed the burial of twelve skeletons in Petra, under the Khazneh, the famous “treasure” whose pink sandstone facade, listed by UNESCO, is known to everyone. This facade in fact served as a backdrop for the last act ofIndiana Jones and the Last Crusadethird part of the adventures of the most famous professor of archeology, released on French screens in 1989. In a fictional place, “Indy”, after several trials, meets the last knight of the Grail and seizes the sacred chalice before the one -it is not swallowed up in the collapse of the building.
Expedition Unknown (Josh Gates and the Lost Treasures, in French), a program broadcast on the American Discovery channel, obtained exclusivity for Discovery. Josh Gates, the presenter, fedora hat screwed on his head, accompanied the archaeologists in their research, through a sensational Hollywood production.
The chalice, discovered under the Khazneh of the ancient site, could correspond to the “theoretical” forms of the Holy Grail… Discovery’s Expedition Unknown
A photo, broadcast by the television crew, aroused the interest of Indiana Jones fans and lovers of good stories: among the bronze, iron and ceramic artifacts, a flared cup on a high foot in the shape of chalice. It is the theoretical form of the Holy Grail as it was codified in the 13the – and what does it matter if, in the previous century, Chrétien de Troyes described it as a fish dish – found in a tomb in Petra: the coincidence is too good. Sometimes it just takes a little leap of faith, as Indie proved.
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More seriously, this discovery, combined with that, made in 2003, of two other burial chambers under the building, should allow researchers to know more about the Nabataeans. This ancient Arab people occupied Petra at the crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia between the 6th century BC. BC and 106 AD. It could also teach them more about the Khazneh, the precise primary function of which is still unknown.
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