Bloodline (2008 Film) - Abstract

Abstract

Accepting as valid the testimony of an amateur archaeologist codenamed "Ben Hammott" relating to his discoveries made in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Château since 1999 (testimony which the archeologist has since admitted to being false - see below); Burgess claims Ben has found the treasure of Bérenger Saunière: including a mummified corpse (which he believes is possibly Mary Magdalene) in an underground tomb possibly having connections to the Knights Templar and/or the Priory of Sion.

The 2008 documentary was originally released in cinemas on 9 May. "Ben Hammott" relating to his discoveries made in the vicinity of Rennes-le-Château since 1999; Burgess claims Ben Hammott would have found the treasure of Bérenger Saunière: a mummified corpse, which he believed were Mary Magdalene. In the film, Burgess interviews several people with alleged connections to the Priory of Sion, including a Gino Sandri and Nicolas Haywood. A book by one of the documentary's researchers, Rob Howells, entitled Inside the Priory of Sion: Revelations from the World's Most Secret Society - Guardians of the Bloodline of Jesus presented the version of the Priory of Sion as given in the 2008 documentary, which contained several erroneous assertions, such as the claim that Plantard believed in the Jesus bloodline hypothesis. By 21 March 2012 Ben Hammott confessed and apologised on Podcast interview (using his real name Bill Wilkinson) that everything to do with the tomb and related artifacts was a hoax; revealing that the actual tomb was now destroyed, being part of a full sized set located in a warehouse in England.

Although the disclosure of a fourth century papyrus fragment which was revealed at the International Congress of Coptic Studies in Rome on 18 September 2012 by Karen L. King might bring about a revival of the theory. It's called the Gospel of Jesus' wife and is a small piece of ancient papyrus with writing in Egyptian Coptic that includes the words, "Jesus said to them, 'my wife...'". The fragment is a fourth century copy of what is thought to be "a gospel probably written in Greek in the second half of the second century." Professor Karen L. King and her colleague AnneMarie Luijendijk named the fragment the "Gospel of Jesus's Wife" for reference purposes. But King has insisted that the fragment, "Should not be taken as as proof that Jesus, the historical person, was actually married". But on September, 28th the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said in an editorial by its editor, Gian Maria Vian: "Substantial reasons would lead one to conclude that the papyrus is indeed a clumsy forgery, In any case, it's a fake."