Archaeology & History

Lost tomb unearthed beneath Indiana Jones filming location in Petra

By T.K. Randall
October 14, 2024 ·  3 comments

Petra was carved from the stone by hand. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 Boris Debic Archaeologists have announced the discovery of a long-lost tomb beneath the ancient city of Petra, Jordan - the filming location for the final scenes of the third Indiana Jones movie.

While in the film the location was the entrance to the final resting place of the Holy Grail, in reality, the more than 2,000-year-old city - which consists of buildings and water conduit systems carved from the area's distinctive pink sandstone - has nothing at all to do with the long-sought biblical relic.

That's not to say that it doesn't have some secrets of its own, however - as the new discovery of a hidden tomb beneath the city is one of the most significant finds in the region for some time.

Archaeologists found 12 skeletons and a range of artefacts dating back over 2,000 years.Bizarrely, one particular ceramic cup looks almost exactly like the Holy Grail from the movie.

The new tomb was found using ground-penetrating radar in an area near two other tombs that had been unearthed within the vicinity a few years ago.

Because most tombs found in Petra are usually empty after being looted in antiquity, the discovery of a tomb with all its contents still intact will offer archaeologists a unique opportunity for study.

"This is a hugely rare discovery - in the two centuries that Petra has been investigated by archaeologists, nothing like this has been found before," said Josh Gates, the host of the Discovery Channel's new series of Expedition Unknown which will be covering the excavation.

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


Source: CNN | Comments (3)

Tags: Petra, Indiana Jones