When Ben Hammott first fought his way through the overgrown brush to find the hidden cave entrance, he saw to his dismay that someone had been there before him. On closer examination he determined that the footprints were not new. Perhaps the Abbe Sauniere had been there. The shoes of a turn-of-the-century priest would leave far different impressions than those of a hiker with modern tread-patterns.
"The Parchments, the Priest, and the Tombstone"
Since Sauniere deliberately defaced the 19th century flat cover-stone of the last surviving member of the Hautpoul-Blanchefort line, it is obvious that he had found the cache to which the alignment indicators pointed. Was this the recently discovered Templar tomb up in the hills?
The encoded message in the first Blanchefort parchment declared that: "This treasure belongs to Dagobert II King and to Sion and he is there dead." The mention of "Sion" refers to the Hebrew - Merovingian lineage of King Dagobert II, and it would seem that his treasure was located within a tomb. The 2nd parchment makes references to landmarks and to the blue apple windows of Rennes-le-Chateau church. The text mentions the "demon guardian" as well. It was the demonio statue at the entrance to that church that guided Hammott to the maps drawn by Beranger Sauniere and left buried in wine bottles. Another clue was in one of the painting that the priest obtained on his trip to Paris, that of the Teniers "St. Anthony and St. Paul". The 2nd parchment says "…no temptation that Poussin Teniers hold the key…." This was the only Teniers painting of St. Anthony that was not a "Temptation of St. Anthony" - "no temptation". The two saints sit outside the entrance to a cave which is the main clue to the finding of the tomb. The other landmarks mentioned in the 2nd parchment probably form a triangulation. Trigonometry, the science of triangles, was the method used by the Templars to construct maps. They learned it in the Holy Land during the Crusades.
"The Cave"
Ben`s first trip up to the cave that he found using the clues left by Beranger Sauniere was taken in the company of his brother. By the light of his flashlight he saw to his dismay that someone had been there before him, but there were none of the usual carvings or initials on the cave walls to indicate that the priest had been there. The cave reached 20 meters into the cliff and in places there was just enough room for a man to stand up. A tight curved passage-way turned a corner and it was filled with bats and spiders. Ben crawled back there as far as he could, but saw nothing. He then thought to press the record button on his video camera and push it around the corner using a tree branch. That was when the camera dropped down and disappeared. Fortunately the shaft it fell into was not straight down. It descended at a slight angle so that the camera was retrieved without too much trouble.
As luck would have it, their camper van broke down so they had to stay in a hotel. When Hammott viewed the footage captured by the video camera when it fell below the floor of the cave, he was amazed to see the dim image of a shrouded body surrounded by wooden chests and the glint of golden objects. There was a long red Templar cross on the white burial cloth covering the body. They had found the right place after all following the directions left in the church by Sauniere!
"Professional Equipment"
Movie producer Bruce Burgess provided the explorers with an investigative swivel camera which could be extended on a long support pole. This camera had a much brighter light and was moveable. The video from their second trip shows the camera descending into the ceiling of the tomb and then illuminating the figure of a knight, perhaps wearing armor, beneath the Templar shroud. Ben could see that there was a square tomb entrance on the left of the cave floor and that the grave goods seemed to have been somewhat scattered.
The third journey to the site was taken in the dark of night. It had been a few years since the first visit and the cave entrance was overgrown and difficult to find by torchlight. A wild boar crashing around in the brush near- by added to their apprehension. This time Bruce accompanied Ben and brought a more specialized camera on a flexible rod that could be moved to the left and right. With this new equipment they were able to see that the body was resting on a plinth of rose-colored marble. An open wooden chest revealed gold cups and chalices next to the body. Most intriguing of all, an old book or codex lay on another wooden chest to the right and they were able to make out a few of the Latin letters on the cover. One chest was covered with a white cloth bearing a large Star of David on it. This star was visible in both of the films and looked exactly like the wide star drawn by Sauniere on his diagram found inside of the wine bottle.
The cave appeared dryer on the third trip, there had been a bowl placed below a leak that was no longer holding water. A beam had fallen, as well as some loose rocks and dust. As Ben had suspected on the first visit, the roof of the tomb was unstable. At that time he had feared that it would cave in as they were standing there and it was only the presence of the previous footprints that had given him the confidence to remain and not flee an immanent collapse.
"The Treasure Awaits"
The newly discovered Templar tomb still awaits excavation and the explorers are anxious to examine its contents more closely. It is a controversial subject to be sure, but it is not a hoax. The question remains as to how the Abbe Sauniere was able to view inside the cave without special cameras. How did he see the large Star of David to draw it so exactly on his map? "Bloodline" the movie is just the introduction, there is much more to come. It is playing in select theaters now and will be available on DVD on Sept. 16.