In the 1989 film ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’, the Holy Grail is found hidden deep within the Arabian Temple of the Sun.
In an almost uncanny coincidence, archaeologists uncovered a ‘holy grail’ cup and 12 bodies inside the movie’s real-life filming location in Jordan.
Researchers made the shocking discovery this summer while excavating the 2,000-year-old Al Khazneh, or Treasury, in the ancient city of Petra.
But an expert now says that, despite its striking similarity to the prop from the film, this is not a case of ‘art imitating life’.
Writing in The Conversation, archaeologist Claire Isabella Gilmour, of the University of Bristol, unravels the mystery of the remarkable real-life object.
Rather than a hallowed chalice that gives the drinker eternal life like the one in the film, it was simply a standard drinking cup used by the Nabataeans, the ancient Arab people who built Al Khazneh, she says.
However, archaeologists are still clueless about the identities of the 12 people buried alongside it.
An expert solves the mystery of the real ‘Holy Grail’ (pictured) found inside the filming location of ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’
‘One of the most headline-grabbing discoveries has been dubbed a “holy grail” in many reports, suggesting that the vessel is similar to the fictional cup from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, also discovered at the Khazneh,’ Ms Gilmour says.
‘In fact, it’s a humble jug, not a cup offering the drinker eternal life.’
According to Ms Gilmour, Lucasfilm Ltd – the production company behind the Indiana Jones films – studied Nabataean pottery to develop the movie prop.
Ms Gilmour says: ‘The similarities between the vessels aren’t a case of art imitating life, but the result of painstaking research into Nabataean pottery carried out by Deborah Fine, who was the director of archives at Lucasfilm Ltd.’
She adds that the real-life ‘grail’ found earlier this year was actually a fairly standard example of Nabatean pottery.
‘Nabataean pottery is very fine – often only 1.5mm thick – best suited to ceremonial purposes or local use than the thicker, more robust contemporary Roman wares which could travel better,’ Ms Gilmour says.
The academic adds that these kinds of pots, while not exactly a groundbreaking find, reflect ‘Petra’s status as an important trading point, and the Nabataeans’ skill in creation and invention’.
Archaeologists believe the ancient city of Petra was inhabited from about 7000 BC until around AD 700.
Although it bears a striking resemblance to the grail shown in the film staring Harrison Ford (left) and Sean Connery (bottom), experts say the real ‘grail’ is nothing more than a standard albeit ancient drinking cup
Home to the Nabatean civilisation, an ancient nomadic Arab group, Petra was located on a key trade route connecting Egypt, the Mediterranean, and the Arabian Peninsula.
This strategic location allowed Petra to flourish throughout the first century AD into an advanced and cosmopolitan city.
Carved directly into the pink sandstone of the valley, Al Khazneh is one of the city’s most recognisable structures and was built around AD 40 by the Nabatean king Aretas IV Philopatris, most likely as a tomb.
During the filming ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ the building’s imposing facade was used to represent the exterior of the Temple of the Sun, while the interior shots were filmed at Elstree Studios in England.
Back in 2003, expeditions discovered two previously unknown tombs below the left side of Al Khazneh, containing partial skeletal remains.
Further studies with ground-penetrating radar – a surveying technique that emits pulses of electromagnetic waves – suggested that there could be even more tombs hidden beneath the floors.
When scientists finally finally dug further into the temple in August this year, they were shocked to discover a hidden tomb carved directly into the rock.
Inside were the bodies of 12 unknown individuals alongside grave goods made of pottery, bronze, iron and ceramics.
The grail was found inside Al Khazneh (pictured), a huge structure within the ancient city of Petra, Jordan. This building was used to film the exterior shots of the Temple of the Sun in the third Indiana Jones movie
Filmed as part of the Discovery Channel’s show ‘Expedition Unknown’ what really caught the researcher’s eye, however, was a simple ceramic vessel.
This grail-shaped cup looked remarkably similar to the one used in the movie starring Sean Connery and Harrison Ford which had been filmed at that very site.
The documentary’s host Josh Gates said: ‘This is perhaps the most significant tomb ever found at Petra and a discovery of historic proportions.’
Mr Gates added that the cup ‘looked nearly identical to the holy grail featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.’
Other academics, meanwhile, have been significantly more critical about Expedition Unknown’s coverage of the Petra tomb.
On X, Professor Megan Perry, an expert on Nabatean burials from East Carolina University, wrote: ‘I’ve excavated many tombs in Petra and guess what? THEY F’ING CONTAIN BURIALS! No one is amazed except people who haven’t done their research!’
However, even if this hidden tomb might not have held the holy grail, it still contains an archaeological mystery.
Since the Nabateans didn’t write down much about their own culture, there is a lot archaeologists don’t know about how these people lived and died in Petra.
The grail was found alongside the bodies of 12 people (pictured) inside a hidden tomb. Archaeologists are still clueless about who these 12 people may be
Ms Gilmour says: ‘We do not know anything yet about the identities of those buried, although their interment in separate sarcophagi and their placement at the Khazneh suggest high status.’
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Importantly, the bodies found at Al Khazneh are articulated – meaning that no one has rummaged through the bones since they were buried.
In a site that has been subject to hundreds of years of archaeological digs, vandalism and looting, this is quite a rare find.
It makes the identities of those buried in the Al Khazneh tomb an intriguing puzzle and a potential source of vital information.
Ms Gilmour adds: ‘The work on analysing and interpreting these new finds is only beginning.
‘One of the enduring mysteries is the true purpose of the Khazneh.
‘These burials could help answer that question, while revising our understanding of this cosmopolitan ancient city.’