The Holy Grail

Might as well continue the Monty Python theme that I've been using. This time, I'm choosing to write about a mythical object that is at the center of the Monty Python movie in question and can be found in many popular movies and books such as Indiana Jones and The DaVinci Code. In case those hints aren't enough, the object I'm referring to is the Holy Grail. Traditionally, the Holy Grail is believed to be the cup Jesus drank out of during the Last Supper. However, there is also a hypothesis that the term "Holy Grail" refers to the bloodline and descendants of Jesus himself. This is the idea put forth in The DaVinci Code and in the book, had something to do in the difference between "San Greal" and "Sang Real." Apparently while one meant "Holy Grail," the other meant "Royal Blood."

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones races against the Nazis to find the Holy Grail, which is believed to be the Cup of Christ. Interestingly enough, there's apparently some truth in this story. The article on the website below deals with archaeology under Hitler. Evidently, Heinrich Himmler, the chief of the SS, went to Spain at one point to investigate a possible location of the Grail. And, the article says that "The chief architect and manager of the Nazi Holocaust believed that finding the grail 'would help Germany win the war and give him supernatural powers.'" Fascinating. It seems as though the Nazis actually were interested in obtaining Biblical artifacts.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2298716/The-REAL-Last-Crusade-Nazi-search-Holy-Grail-inspired-Indiana-Jones.html

I have had problems embedding clips lately, but if you search Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade clips on youtube, one involving the scene where they find the Holy Grail should appear.



This is the Holy Grail as depicted in the Monty Python movie.



This is the Grail seen in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.



Much of the Holy Grail legend is tied to the Last Supper.  This painting, as I'm sure most of you know, is called The Last Supper and was painted by Leonardo DaVinci.  Needless to say, it comes up in The DaVinci Code.