We are holding a News Conference at 11am on Monday May 5th to announce the film and its discoveries to the world’s media.
The event will take place in the Scheuer auditorium at The Jewish Museum on 5th Avenue in Manhattan.
We are delighted to announce that Bruce and Rene will be joined by an impressive panel.
Dr Gabriel Barkay, senior lecturer, Bar Ilan University, Jerusalem
One of the world’s leading biblical archaeologists and the recipient of the prestigious Jerusalem Prize in Archaeology. Dr. Barkay will discuss his analysis of the 1st Jerusalemite relics discovered in the wooden chest by Ben Hammott and Bruce in the ‘Cave of the Magdalene’
Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe, senior lecturer, Cardiff Academy, Wales
A fully ordained Anglican priest, Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe is now a popular TV and Radio presenter, researcher and author of over 250 books, many on the Knights Templar, and the Rennes-Le-Chateau mystery.
Detective Inspector Colin Taylor, Metropolitan Police (ret)
A former Detective Inspector at New Scotland Yard, Colin Taylor was Commander of the Drug Squad and Deputy Divisional Commander of the Major Crime Squad. Taylor twice received the Police Commissioner’s Commendations for outstanding work. In 2007, Colin was asked by Ben Hammott to re-open the files on the unsolved 1897 murder of Abbe Gelis in Coustassa, and re-examine the facts, and the evidence through the eyes of a modern forensic detective.
The Right Reverend Shelby Spong, Bishop of Newark (ret)
The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001 is considered the champion of an inclusive faith by many, both inside and outside the Christian church. A visiting lecturer at Harvard and at universities and churches worldwide, the outspoken Bishop will explain why he believes that traditional Christianity is ‘dying’, why the traditional story the Church tells about Jesus is ‘inaccurate’ and why Jesus and Mary Magdalene ‘were probably married.’
Monday, April 28, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
French Government and DNA Lab speak out about Tomb & Corpse
The French Government agency, Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles Languedoc-Roussillon (DRAC-LR) has issued a statement on Ben Hammott’s tomb discovery.
The DRAC Commissioner of archaeology in the region, Jean-Pierre Giraud said, “This is certainly a very intriguing discovery, but it's just too early to tell how important it is. We need to do a full survey of the site to determine the age of the corpse and the other items in the tomb. The archeology department of the DRAC-LR will be carrying out an examination of the site as soon as access has been made possible.”
Bruce Burgess said, “Everyone has been asking about the excavation of the site, but the next step is just working out how to get in. The access into the burial chamber right now is limited to a small air shaft, far too small for Ben, let alone me, to enter. But plans are underway with the DRAC spelios for a full scale survey of the site to determine the best way in. Once that is done, we can get into the chamber and really examine the tomb.”
As most of you know, Ben was able to extract a few hair strands from the skull of the corpse, which underwent testing by the Paleo-DNA Laboratory at Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada. They too have just issued a statement about Ben’s discovery. Renee Praymack Fratpietro, the analyst who worked on the sample said:
“Like most ancient or degraded samples, we knew our best chance for successful results would be to focus our efforts on mitochondrial DNA. Once we obtained that information, we were able to determine a Middle Eastern maternal origin of the individual based on haplotyping information. After we found out where this hair sample came from, we realized the significance of this work.”
Producer, René Barnett, said: “This is a really intriguing result. The haplotype indicates a Middle Eastern ancestry of the corpse, which is rare to find in Europe. We can’t wait until we can get total access to the corpse and then do a full DNA test to determine the age and sex.”
The DRAC Commissioner of archaeology in the region, Jean-Pierre Giraud said, “This is certainly a very intriguing discovery, but it's just too early to tell how important it is. We need to do a full survey of the site to determine the age of the corpse and the other items in the tomb. The archeology department of the DRAC-LR will be carrying out an examination of the site as soon as access has been made possible.”
Bruce Burgess said, “Everyone has been asking about the excavation of the site, but the next step is just working out how to get in. The access into the burial chamber right now is limited to a small air shaft, far too small for Ben, let alone me, to enter. But plans are underway with the DRAC spelios for a full scale survey of the site to determine the best way in. Once that is done, we can get into the chamber and really examine the tomb.”
As most of you know, Ben was able to extract a few hair strands from the skull of the corpse, which underwent testing by the Paleo-DNA Laboratory at Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada. They too have just issued a statement about Ben’s discovery. Renee Praymack Fratpietro, the analyst who worked on the sample said:
“Like most ancient or degraded samples, we knew our best chance for successful results would be to focus our efforts on mitochondrial DNA. Once we obtained that information, we were able to determine a Middle Eastern maternal origin of the individual based on haplotyping information. After we found out where this hair sample came from, we realized the significance of this work.”
Producer, René Barnett, said: “This is a really intriguing result. The haplotype indicates a Middle Eastern ancestry of the corpse, which is rare to find in Europe. We can’t wait until we can get total access to the corpse and then do a full DNA test to determine the age and sex.”
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