New secret tomb found in the ancient city of Petra contains the remains of at least 12 humans and a ‘Holy Grail’ cup

In the 1989 film ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’, the Temple of the Sun is the stunning Middle Eastern shrine that houses the Holy Grail. 

Now, in a case of ‘history imitating art’, human remains and a ‘Holy Grail’ cup have been found under the real-life filming location of Al Khazneh.

Experts conducted excavations under Al Khazneh, also known the Treasury – an elaborate rock-cut tomb, carved out of a sandstone rock face in Petra, Jordan. 

They found a ‘previously unknown’ tomb containing 12 skeletal remains and grave goods, including a grail-shaped cup remarkably similar to the one in the movie starring Sean Connery and Harrison Ford.

Experts hope analysis of the human remains could reveal more about the Nabataeans, the ancient Arab people who built Al Khazneh. 

‘History imitates art’: Among the artefacts was a ceramic chalice that resembled the shape of the Holy Grail (pictured)

Pictured, Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) holds the Holy Grail in the 1989 film ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’, with Henry Jones Sr. (Sean Connery) and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies)

Excavations were led by Dr Pearce Paul Creasman, executive director of the American Center of Research (ACOR), along with Josh Gates, host of The Discovery Channel. 

Gates, who presents an episode of his show ‘Expedition Unknown’ from Petra, called it a ‘hugely rare discovery’. 

‘In the two centuries that Petra has been investigated by archaeologists, nothing like this has been found before,’ Gates told CNN. 

‘Even in front of one of the most famous buildings in the world … there are still huge discoveries to be made.’

Back in 2003, expeditions discovered two tombs below the left side of Al-Khazneh, containing partial skeletal remains. 

But Dr Creasman and colleagues had suspected there were more secret tombs waiting to be discovered. 

Ground-penetrating radar – a surveying technique that emits pulses of electromagnetic waves – had suggested there were underground chambers on the right as well as the left of Al-Khazneh.

As a result, the Jordanian government gave ACOR permission to dig beneath the Treasury in an attempt to prove these additional underground chambers were really there. 

Excavations – conducted in August and filmed for Expedition Unknown – found tombs filled with 12 complete skeletal remains and well-preserved artefacts of bronze, iron and ceramic. 

Al-Khazneh, also known as The Treasury has appeared in many Hollywood films, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Al-Khazneh, also known as The Treasury, appeared in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Pictured, Sean Connery and Harrison Ford

One of the Middle East’s greatest monuments is Al-Khazneh, also known as The Treasury, located in Petra, Jordan

Dr. Fares Braizat (from left), Fadi Balawi, Josh Gates and Dr Pearce Paul Creasman look into the newly discovered tomb at Petra

Petra’s humidity and seasonal floods means some of the skeletons were found with mould on them. 

Meanwhile, among the artefacts was a ceramic chalice that astonishingly resembled the shape of the Holy Grail – a remarkable Indiana Jones reference. 

‘It really was this awesome moment of history imitating art,’ Gates said. 

Although human remains have been found inside tombs under Al-Khazneh before, such discoveries are rare, according to the experts. 

‘The burials in this tomb are articulated, so the bones haven’t been rummaged around and moved, so that’s exceedingly rare,’ said Dr Creasman. 

It’s thought that this is the largest collection of humans in one place at Petra and that there are still more to be uncovered under the monument. 

Considering their prime location under the legendary rock-cut building, Dr Creasman thinks these were ‘hugely important people’ in their time.  

Although human remains have been found inside tombs at Al-Khazneh before, such discoveries are rare, according to the experts

In the 1989 film ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’, the Temple of the Sun is the stunning Middle Eastern shrine that houses the Holy Grail. Exterior scenes were shot at Al Khazneh, but the interior scenes of the temple were filmed at Elstree Studios in England (pictured) 

They would have been Nabataeans, the ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. 

During its peak around the birth of Christ, the Nabatean Empire stretched across the Middle East to include Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia. 

Things drastically changed for the Nabataeans and Petra around AD 106 when Romans peacefully took control of Petra (the capital of the kingdom) and all of the Nabataen people. 

Petra, once a thriving trading centre, is located in what is now the southwestern corner of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. 

Today, the unmistakable carved edifice of Al Khazneh draws almost a million tourists per year.

Although the exterior statues have been much eroded by wind and rain, visitors can still see mythological figures connected with the afterlife, including four eagles to carry away the souls of the dead.

The team stress that no skeletal remains have been found within the building itself, which was likely built in the 1st century AD as a mausoleum and crypt. 

Experts will now analyse the remains in the hopes of finding out more about their lives, including professions, dietary habits and age at death.