The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar: Solving the Oak Island Mystery

Offers compelling evidence that the Knights Templar may have taken the Ark of the Covenant to the British Isles

• Presents scientific evidence affirming the powers attributed to the Ark

• Traces the Ark and the Stones of Fire from Jerusalem to Jordan and finally to central England, where the Knights Templar hid them in the 14th century

According to legend the Ark of the Covenant was an ornate golden chest that was both a means of communicating with God and a terrible weapon used against the enemies of the ancient Israelites. In order to use it the high priest had to wear a breastplate containing twelve sacred gemstones called the Stones of Fire. These objects were kept in the Great Temple of Jerusalem until they vanished following the Babylonian invasion in 597 B.C.E.

At the ancient ruins of Petra in southern Jordan, Graham Phillips uncovered evidence that 13th-century Templars found the Ark and the Stones of Fire, and that they brought these treasures back to central England when they fled the persecution of French king Philip the Fair a century later. The author followed ciphered messages left by the Templars in church paintings, inscriptions, and stained glass windows to what may well be three of the Stones of Fire. When examined by Oxford University scientists these stones were found to possess odd physical properties that interfered with electronic equipment and produced a sphere of floating light similar to ball lightning.

The Bible asserts that the Ark had the power to destroy armies and bring down the walls of cities. Now Graham Phillips provides scientific evidence that these claims may be true and offers compelling documentation that the Ark may be located in the English countryside, not far from the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon.

What if everything we have been told about the origins of Christianity is a lie?

What if a small group had always known the truth and had kept it hidden . . . until now?

What if there is evidence that Jesus Christ survived the crucifixion?

In Holy Blood, Holy Grail Michael Baigent and his co-authors Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh stunned the world with a controversial theory that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene married and founded a holy bloodline. The book became an international publishing phenomenon and was one of the sources for Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code. Now, with two additional decades of research behind him, Baigent's The Jesus Papers presents explosive new evidence that challenges everything we know about the life and death of Jesus.

The Mystery

What is it that brings so many people to this out-of-the-way chapel? Not only is Rosslyn Chapel (or, to give it its official title, the Collegiate Church of St Matthew) a stunning example of late medieval architecture and the stonemason’s art, but it contains many clues that it is more than just a place of worship – and even that it was never intended to be simple a Christian church.

History of Rosslyn Chapel

The mastermind behind the project was Sir William St Clair, known as 'Prodigus', 3rd Prince of Orkney. Sir William was the grandson of Prince Henry St. Clair of Orkney, known as 'the Navigator', who many believe led an expedition to America a hundred years before Columbus's 'discovery' of the New World.

The Mystery of the Carvings

Although ostensibly, like other collegiate churches, Rosslyn Chapel was intended as a place of Christian learning, there is much to suggest that Sir William St Clair's intentions were, to say the least, unorthodox.

Knights Templar & Masons

Rosslyn Chapel is seen by many as the 'missing link' that demonstrates continuity between the Knights Templars and the Freemasons.

The St. Clairs of Rosslyn

A brief history of the Chapel builder's family; the St Clairs (modern day Sinclairs)

What lies beneath Rosslyn Chapel?

It has long been speculated that the chapel was designed to hide something of great importance - a treasure or sacred object. There are legends of treasure attached to Rosslyn Castle and some believe that it is the treasure of the Templars that Philip IV of France failed to seize when he suppressed the Order in 1307.

Rosslyn Chapel & the Thule Society

On 9 May 1930 Dr Karl Hans Fuchs, a former member of the Thule Society - the occult/mystical group that flourished in Munich in the early 1920s and which was closely associated with the origins of the Nazi Party - visited Rosslyn Chapel. While visiting the Edinburgh Theosophical Society, Fuchs informed the members that he had been sent to Scotland.

Related Locations

According to local tradition, treasure worth 'several million pounds' is buried beneath the castle vaults, and is guarded by one of the St Clair ladies, who, like sleeping beauty, sleeps through the centuries. If she can somehow be awakened, she will point to the place where the treasure is buried, and when this happens Rosslyn Castle will rise from its ruins.

Rosslyn Chapel Today

Today Rosslyn Chapel, still a place of worship and in great demand for weddings, is an important tourist attraction, receiving around 25,000 visitors a year. Although it is currently undergoing major restoration work, the site remains important to both Freemasons and modern-day Knights Templar alike.

In Racing Toward Armageddon, Michael Baigent, the New York Times bestselling author of The Jesus Papers and Holy Blood, Holy Grail, exposes the conspiracy of religious extremists in the Holy Land and their efforts to bring about the end of the world in our lifetime. Baigent expose the many diverse, public, and clandestine figures who are driving this perilous messianic message forward, and poses a pressing question: can we really afford to remain oblivious much longer?