Lost Tomb of the Knights Templar by Ben Hammott
A Rennes-le-Château Mystery
100 years ago a French priest embedded clues in his church leading to a secret location.
Those clues have been solved.
That location has been found.
The SECRET is revealed!
Lost Tomb of the Knights Templar by Ben Hammott
Treasure, Tombs, Secret Codes and Hidden Clues, a Brutal Murder, the Knights Templar and 2000 year old Relics, are all parts of a Mystery to be solved. It could be the premise for a new archaeological thriller. Except that it is real.
What begins as a treasure hunt and a bit of fun and adventure, leads an Englishman to the tiny French village of Rennes-le-Château, where he unlocked a mysterious puzzle set up by a priest 100 years ago.
Abbé Bérenger Saunière (1852-1917) became mysteriously and fabulously rich after finding a hidden parchment in his Church of Mary Magdalene.
As many believe, the mysterious priest had embedded clues in his church decoration leading to a treasure or a secret, & the source of his wealth. When Ben Hammott enters the church he soon spots something that everyone else has somehow missed – a key that deciphers some of the embedded clues.
Painstakingly deciphering and following the clues, Ben is led to a discovery of 2000-year-old artefacts, a treasure of gold, and a Knights Templar Tomb containing a shrouded body!
Digging up Danger – Unearthing the Truth – What Secrets will the Tomb Reveal?
Read Lost Tomb of the Knights Templar Chapter 1 – low-res PDF
Praise for Lost Tomb of the Knights Templar by Ben Hammott
“This book is good to read, I enjoy it so much. It make me laugh and so very interesting I read it again. I very much like the so many photos. I want more to read.” F.T.G Finland
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Tea-Drinking and Excavations: The Adventures of Ben Hammott at the Ninja Dixon Blog
In November last year I saw, and wrote an review of, Bruce Burgess documentary Bloodline. I’ve seen work by Mr Burgess before, and though I like him as a character and the subjects he focuses on, I’ve always felt that he is very, very uncritical. Bloodline is, of course, about the theory that Mary Magdalena and Jesus had children and that their dad probably survived and moved to France, or just died on the cross and was buried there. This is not a new theory at all, but it became very popular when Dan Brown hit gold with The Da Vinci Code. The first time this was mentioned was in the nine or tenth century, and has been discussed ever since. Anyway, I wrote about the documentary and also about a detail that I thought was fishy – and good some unexpected feedback.
Bloodline features Ben Hammott (an anagram for The Tomb Man), a British hobby-researcher that claims that he found a tomb outside Rennes-le-Château. He found it through decoding the clues that the priest Bérenger Saunière has buried around the landscape. Bruce follows Ben on the hunt, and they also finds some interesting stuff and films the tomb! This is sensational stuff, but somehow it’s TO good. It’s like a movie, a novel. Something made up using wild imagination. But still, it has nothing to do with UFO’s, Bigfoot, Yetis or ghost – so why not.
Ben commented on my second post about the Bloodline-documentary, and he’s a nice bloke and obviously a good salesman too, so I bought his monster of a book, over 600 pages of facts about his quest for the treasure and tomb: Lost Tomb of the Knights Templar! So, what do we have here? First of all, it’s a very detailed account of his interest in the Rennes-le-Château-mystery, from how he first saw a documentary about it on TV and how this led him to go on expeditions first together with his brother Mick and then together with other fellow researchers. What happens in the documentary seem to take five minutes, which raised my suspicions about a hoax, but according to the book it involved more people over a long period, and many hours on every place they found a lead. But that would probably be to boring to show in a documentary.
Some stuff is… no, I just don’t agree with Mr Hammott on everything. It seem to far-fetched. But on the other hand, there’s stuff that’s very impressive. Would you risk everything, many years of your life, career, friends, family, to just make such an elaborate hoax? Maybe, but the down-to-earth style of Ben Hammott makes me believe that he’s on to something here. He also himself admits to stuff that some of his critics had said before and after – and also seem convinced that some of the leads was made to “real” leads by Saunière by just using the details in them without changing anything himself, which seem more logical in many of the cases.
But 600 pages of dry facts, turning of stones and walking in the French forests wouldn’t be so interesting if it wasn’t good written, and to my surprise (I have to admit), it’s not a bad writer we have here. Ben writes with a lot of that classic British dry humor, with small witty remarks – sometimes a bit to mean – but still very funny. If you’re not that interested in the mystery, this is also quite a good travel book with a lot of information about culture, nature, food and friendships. And tea-drinking. LOTS of tea-drinking.
My advice to you who are interested, is to read the book first (the link is to Ben Hammotts official site). After that, go buy the DVD and see some of the stuff for real. Lost Tomb of the Knights Templar is the child of Ben Hammott, and it shows. This is his life (and I hope his wife can stand him!) and his labor of love and passion.
I’m still a skeptic, but boy, this was great reading!
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“Hello Ben. I just finished reading your book in January. I am very impressed with it and it was probably my favorite read of 2008! I have been following Bruce and his documentary for about a year and a half now, and was very excited to hear that you were writing a book on the bloodline topic, and your findings in Rennes le Chateau. I think the photos included in your book made me understand the findings in more detail, good job. It was very well written, and I thoroughly enjoyed your sense of humor throughout the book, regardless of the seriousness of the topic. It truly is an incredible journey you have been on, and I hope it is not the end for you. Congratulations on your findings, on your book, and everything else, and best wishes for you and your discovery in the future.” ( Josh Speers)
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“Hi Ben! Just finished the book, and i must say that i am quite amazed. As a reader of the RLC mystery for several years, i not afraid to say, that your discoveries gives the mystery a whole new dimension. A journey filled with excitement!” (HD – Denmark)
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“I was a skeptic, and then I read your book, I am a skeptic no longer. I absolutely loved the book and your writing style. What an exciting quest you have been on and thank you for sharing it.” (DW Canada)
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“Hi Ben, I just finished your book, I love it, fascinating & fun.” (JG)
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“Loved the book. Very interesting and very easy to read. The 100’s of photo really brought the story alive. I bought your book, Lost Tomb of the Knights Templar, after watching the Bloodline movie and boy am I glad I did. It fills in a lot of stuff not included or just hinted at by the movie. The clue solving was amazing. Great stuff Ben. You get 10/10 from me. (ST UK)
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“I’ve found your book to be very informative and entertaining. I enjoy very much the way you have told your story.” (Mario-Austrailia)
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“…very interesting… I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Rennes-le-Chateau mystery.” (LH-USA)
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“Congratulations! Absolutely amazing! I love it! Well done Ben, well done!” (Holger – Germany)
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“… one of the best books I have read in many a year… It is always a good sign that I didn’t want to put the bloody thing down… it was like I was also there on your journey, experiences and discoveries. So I would just like to thank you in a big way as been waiting for something like this for many a year, well since I read The Holy Blood and Holy Grail.” (Ali New Zealand)
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“One of the best books I have read…Beg, borrow or buy this book… you will not be disappointed”. (Alan Scott)
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“Great book, buy it!” (Shadowfox) – “Fantastic book, well done Ben.” (T.P)
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