The Cross of King Arthur | Reel Art

 Archeology is the search for facts, not truth, So,

When looking at the historical King Arthur, we, unfortunately, must put aside all the romantic characters and imagery that we have been exposed to throughout our lives. We forget the tales of knights in shining armor and start from scratch with the story of Arthur.

I am not even sure if there was a King Arthur. However, many Arthurian scholars do believe that there was someone who historically could fit the description.  

A beginning is a time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. We must first place Arthur in his time, born in the late 5th or early 6th century CE. And take the most special care that you locate Arthur in his place. The Isle of Brittania is forever his place.

Knowing this --- we must forget the following details:

That Camelot was not a majestic stone castle but perhaps a defensive wooden fortress on a hill.

Merlin, The story of this character comes much later. There is a Welsh bard named Myrrdren. If you know French, you may be shocked by this name.  Perhaps it was Latinized to Merlinus.

The round table is not even mentioned until the second millennium CE

Sir Lancelot, Nope a 12th-century French addition to the stories

Guenevere - again, a 12th-century addition. However, we still use this name to some degree in its modern form --- Jennifer.

the Holy Grail - definitely a French addition which was not formerly sacred or even holy 

The chivalric code is once again, a later addition to set an example for a time that needed it.

Mordred - a later addition who could be either a villain or a hero depending on a particular point of view.

And the Isle of Avalon not mentioned until the 12th century either, but this where we have some possibilities.

The late 5th century was a tumultuous time in the Roman Empire.

In 410, the Goths sacked Rome, and the legions were recalled home to defend the Eternal city.

Thus gives rise to oral tales of a  hero that turned back to the Irish's tide from the west and the Angles and Saxons from the east. At least for another 300 years.

Romano-Britons defended themselves against the invaders.

These are the times of tales of Ambrosius Aurelianus and others but not one named Authur.

However, in the 600s CE, the name Arthur started showing up in the birth records of noble families in the post roman Britain.

So let's begin.

Somewhere between 500 to 550 CE, the Britons appear to have held back the invading Angle-Saxon advance. However, in the following years, they were pushed back into Cornwall and Wales. The territory held by the Saxons eventually became known as England, and the people in Wales were called 'Welsh' from the Saxon word 'weala,'  meaning 'foreigners' or worse slaves. The Welsh call themselves 'Cymry' indicating 'fellow countrymen' and their country 'Cymru.') 

The first reliable reference to Arthur is in the 'Historia Brittonum' written by the Welsh monk Nennius around the year 830 AD. He refers to Arthur as a warrior - not a king. He lists twelve battles fought by Arthur, including Mount Badon and the City Of The Legion. Most likely, his title was Dux Bellorum rather than Rex or King.

It was the Welsh cleric Geoffrey of Monmouth, wrote down in Books Five and Six of the Histories, he establishes the basis of the Arthurian legends that we know today.  His work, 'Historia Regum Britaniae' or in English known as The History of the Kings of Britain, also known initially as De gestis Britonum (On the Deeds of the Britons), was written in the year 1133 AD. He claimed to have based the work on an ancient Celtic document in his possession. It became a 'best-seller' of its time, and two hundred manuscripts still survive. It was later foreign writers have expanded his themes and added new strands to the story. By the way, Geoffrey's History is the first to mention King Lear's story that Shakespear would later retell and expand on this story.

The Norman chronicler Wace was the first to mention the Round Table, in his Roman de Brut of 1155. He simply says that Arthur devised the idea of a round table to prevent quarrels between his barons over the question of precedence. Now, Wace's version is more of a loose and expanded translation of almost 15,000 lines of Norman-French verse of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin History of the Kings of Britain.

Around 1177, Chrétien de Troyes adds Lancelot du Lac (meaning Lancelot of the Lake, also know as the knight of the cart. It Chrétien's that is one of the first stories of the Arthurian legend to feature Lancelot as a prominent character.

Robert de Boron from Burgundy was a French poet of the late 12th and early 13th centuries who wrote several poems within the Arthurian cycle. Joseph d'Arimathie [fr] and Merlin.   The Poem Joseph of Arimathea gives the grail its Holiness and sacredness. Remember, it is at this point in 1187 that the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem was surrendered to Saladin in the Holy Land. Robert wrote Joseph after 1191, which lines up with when the monks at Glastonbury claimed to have discovered the coffins of King Arthur and Guinevere. 

The first English version was written by a priest known as Layamon in around 1200 CE. He pretty much follows Wace's 1155 release of the Histories. However, in Layamon's version, Arthur did not die from his wounds, he remained on the Isle of Avalon - to return in the future.

Almost 300 years later, in 1485 and around 40 years after Gutenburg invented the printing press, William Caxton published 'Le Morte d'Azur' - one of the first printed books. Written by Sir Thomas Malory, this was a collection of eight stories that brilliantly drew together the whole saga and gave us the account we know today.

The legendary King Arthur and History Britain are tightly intertwined. There is too much information to include here, so this is where I am going to mention the Great Courses Plus, where you can take a course with a University Professor who teaches the Arthurian Legends.  Professor Dorsey Armstrong explains in 24 Lectures the history of Britain, and the Celtic, Latin, French, and English legends from the Low to High Middle Ages. She with take you on tour through the historical sites attached to the title of King Arthur.  I highly recommend the Great Courses Plus for this and many other subjects available. Oh, I am not sponsored by the great course, but because I enjoy the classes so much, I am sharing my affiliate link so you can also take part in this learning opportunity.

Rex quondam, Rexque Futurus

This Latin phrase was supposedly carved upon Arthur's tomb at Glastonbury, according to Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur 21:7:

Yet some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place... many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse: Hic jacet Arthurus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus.

Translated in full, the phrase is "Here lies Arthur, King Once, and King in the Future"--or as T.H. White so succinctly translates it, "The Once and Future King."

Of course, the Glastonbury Cross has a different inscription, usually given as: "HIC IACET SEPULTUS INCLITUS REX ARTURIUS IN INSULA AVALONIA": Here Lies the Tomb of the famous King Arthur on the Isle of Avalon.

As for King Arthur's return, the messianic element of the Arthurian mythos is not to be overlooked. While a common theme in medieval literature--Charlemagne is also said to sleep under a mountain--the reason for its attachment to King Arthur should be examined.

It is not uncommon for an oppressed people--in this case, the Britons, soon to be Welsh--to have a type of messianic figure in King Arthur, the last great British king, who waits on Avalon and will return in the time of greatest peril. Jesus will have a second coming, and this element of Christianity is most emphasized during times of crisis. Elijah is said to return; a son of Zoroaster will come; Baldr will be resurrected at Ragnarok; Charlemagne is under Chateau Montsegur2, Francis Drake and Drake's Drum; Holger Danske will rise from his repose (either below Kronborg Castle at Elsinore, or Nonnebakken at Odense) and fight to preserve Denmark in her hour of need1; and so on. The idea that a hero/savior will appear one day and drive out the oppressors is a popular one, and understandably so.

Today we are taking a look at an ancient alien race that has visited Earth over 5000 years ago, and during this time, they have been the guardians of this world. In their own Divine language, the word guardian can be translated as Mondoshawan.  Yes, that's right, we are going back to visit the world of the Fifth Element and explore these ancient creatures.

I tend to support the artists on Etsy. While looking around, I found a couple of items that would go very nicely with my Fifth Element shrine/display.  I found one item from 3DMirrorArt,

Now Austris, the same artist that created my Five Element stones, created something special. And another who created a replica key to the secret chamber in the Egyptian temple of the Fifth Element.

In the Fifth Element, the Mondoshawan are a race of aliens that are friendly to humans. They are a bit taller than humans, roughly 7 to 8 ft tall. The Mondoshawan are semi-biblical beings that serve as the caretakers of both the Four Elemental Stones (Water, Earth, Fire, Air) and the Fifth Element guardians. Although little is known of their homeworld or race, it can be assumed that it is some distance from Earth, remaining relatively secluded from the other races. We don't know much of what the Mondoshawan actually look like, as they are only seen wearing impenetrable golden armor. But we believe that they are a peaceful and ancient sapient race that appears to be similar in anatomical structure to grounded avians.

At some point in Ancient History, the Mondoshawan visited the Humans "before time was time."

And established a priestly order to protect the Fifth Element and the Chamber in Egypt.

A Dark Force or Evil attempted to destroy the world 5 millennia before 1914, the first time we are introduced to Mondoshawan in pre-World War 1 Egypt.  Some say that dark forces attacked Earth, possibly causing the Moon to form around Earth.

Evil is an apparently sentient and sapient living planetoid supposedly indestructible, which seeks to destroy all life, starting with Earth's. To this end -- the Mondoshawans seek to destroy this evil, stating that "time is not important, only life is important."

Near the Fifth Element, a Mondoshawan ship visits Earth, specifically the Chamber in Egypt. Upon arriving, the ship's crew were greeted by the current Priest who ensured them that the stones and Fifth Element were safe, despite an archaeologist and his apprentice investigating the chamber.

The Mondoshawans render the archaeologist unconscious and then extract the stones and Fifth Element inside the secret chamber.

When the priest asked why the Mondoshawan were taking Earth's only defense against Evil, the Leader, distinguished by the large spikes on his armor,  replied, "War is coming, stones not safe on Earth anymore." Unfortunately, he was shot at by the bewildered apprentice played by Jason Priestly and was sealed in the chamber, but not before passing the Key to the Priest with the command "Pass the knowledge to the next priest as it was passed on to you." The Mondoshawan then left Earth, returning 300 years later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gN_j2oBuDg

In the year 2214 the Mondoshawan returned with the Fifth Element as promised, they made their way back to Earth as the Great Evil returned. Unfortunately, Mangalores hired by Zorg shot down the Mondoshawan's ship as it passed Jupiter in a vicious attack that left only one survivor, the Fifth Element who was later retrieved by Human Scouts and reanimated back in the modern city of New York, Earth.

Although only the Mondoshawan accompanying the Fifth Element and Elemental Stones were seen, it is assumed there are other Mondoshawan. The Mondoshawan are also excellent strategists and back-up planners.

Although they failed to safely deliver the Fifth Element to Earth themselves, they did separate the Fifth Element from the Elemental Stones, preventing the loss of them all.

So, to start off with we have from Rbreplicas Store on Etsy. Russel Brown crafted this replica prop out of brass for the key and aluminum for the stand. It was and is part machined and laser cut from solid brass,

The key is 5 and three-quarters inches long which is 14.6 cm. AND is one and a half inches wide which is 3.81 cm

Rbreplicas has many machined parts from Star Wars, Andromeda Strain, Batman, James Bond, The Avengers, and other films. I enjoyed this piece and I will leave a link in the description

Now, this big box contains my Ancient Alien.

I felt as a science fiction film lover, and The Fifth Element being one of my favorite films I thought the character of the Mondoshawan is easily recognized by anyone who has seen the film. As I mentioned, this is the second item that I purchased from Austris and his prop store on Etsy 3DMirrorArt in Latvia. Now as his shop is in Europe, it does take about a month to arrive.

Now, the Mondoshawan is made out of PLA plastic, finished with acrylic paint with a coat of varnish

It stands just under 9 inches which is 20 cm tall and is 5 and a quarter wide which is 13.4 cm and a tad under 4 inches thick which is 10 centimeters.

So here they are. What do YOU think of my little fella and the key to the secret chamber? I feel that having something like this to adorn my shelf in front of the element stones would make a great display. Or should I have a separate shelf for these two movie items?

let me know in the comments.  Also, make sure you share your thoughts about these two prop pieces

Indiana Jones and the Grail Tablet

The grail tablet was one of two markers left by three brother knights of the first crusade. The third night who was dying of extreme old age tells his story to a Franciscan friar, that he, along with his two brothers, Richard and the Grail Knight had set out to find and protect the Holy Grail of Jesus Christ.  Which they did in the temple of the sun in the canyon of the Cresent moon in Halay. 150 years after finding the grail two brothers started their journey back to France leaving the grail knight to guard the relic. The grail tablet was one of the markers left by one of the two returning brothers. The other was Sir Richards's shield buried with him in the catacombs of Venice.  Both markers were there to describe the location of the Holy Grail. The tablet was made of sandstone, made in the Middle East, and was found by Walter Donovan's people who digging out there for copper in the mountains north of Ankara, I believe.x

According to Indiana Jones, It used an early Latin text. Which was probably from the mid 12th century that was during the second major crusade during the fall of the county of Edessa. I got this piece from Propland

2000 which has a store on Etsy and they are based out of Spain. Link in the description. Ordered during the peak of the pandemic, it took about 3 weeks to arrive due to the new quarantine rules going into place. My question is how well did this item stand up to international travel and then storage until it eventually arrived. Wow, I'm impressed, there is a lot of paper and this resin cast is wrapped in some very sticky bubble wrap. This box looks a bit beaten up, however, my tablet looks like it is in good shape. Jesus over at Propland2000 kept in contact with me to let me know how my prop was progressing and then over the course of shipping the product until it finally arrived.

In the movie, the Last Crusade, without the top half, Indy still tries to translate it. As shown at the beginning of the film, Indy knows several languages by the time he was 14 such as Greek. He pours a bit of water on top of the tablet to clean it and still tries to translate it. Now it translates something like this. .whoever, or who drinks the water I shall give him, says the Lord, will have a spring inside him welling up for eternal life. Let them bring me to your holy mountain in the place where you dwell. Across the desert and through the mountains to the Canyon of the Crescent Moon, to the temple where the cup that holds the blood of Jesus Christ resides forever."―

Now, this piece is a resin and fiberglass casting. It was painted and weathered. and has a hollow back which helps with shipping costs.  This prop measures 20,07” x 18,50” x 1,18” width Centimetres 51 cms x 47 cms x 3 cms width

Okay, there is something weird wrapped up in bubble wrap and taped to the back. Okay this is a fertility idol, Thank you very much

Dune, Arrakis, Desert Planet - Unboxing the Crysknives of the Film and Mini-series

It's 2020 and a new adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic is scheduled to come out at the end of the year.

Right now Denis Villeneuve director of "Sicario," "Arrival," and "Blade Runner 2049" takes a crack at this epic story which is expected out on December 18, 2020.

This is a great way for people who missed out so far on the Dune experience to check out the material, either on the big screen or taking a look at the older materials or even reading the books.  c

Before I get into the two previous screen adaptations I want to talk about what  Dune means to me personally.

At the time I was 15 years old, I lived on the South Coast of California.  Beautiful beaches, nice weather year-round. I had Friends, Family, a paper route, there were girls and I was getting ready for High School ---  then all of a sudden.  Well, it seems like it was all of a sudden to me...

My dad moved my family out to the California Mojave Desert.  

I was devastated.

My best friend gave me a book to help in through this terrible time.  The book was Dune.

I remember telling him that I thought it was boring and I could barely get through the first 25 pages. 

He told me to read the first 100 pages then tell him what I thought.   I did and I told him and then for the 30 years, I read that book at least once a year.  Along with that, I read Dune Messiah and Children of Dune as well.

zzOf course, I read all of Frank Herbert's books.  "God Emperor of Dune," and "Chapterhouse of Dune."  I went on to read Destination Void and that whole series. I sought out the "Encyclopedia of Dune,". "Eye," and "Heretics of Dune."

Then David Lynch directed the DeLaurentis Production of my favorite book.  While I thought that Lynch's version had some good ideas and some not very good concepts I certainly hated the pronunciations of the names in his film

I could go on

Then there was Sci-Fi's mini-series  "Frank Herbert's Dune" in 2000 and 3 years later saw "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune" with James McAvoy as Leto the second

This too had some good ideas and some not so good.  I could do a whole video on both of either of these. story renderings.
While some of the characters may change genders in the upcoming film, however, one of the "main character" and the largest is SHAI-HULUD or the great sandworms of Dune.

These leviathans of the desert had segmented rings that essentially had a life of their own,

They had rings of teeth at the eating end of their bodies

The somewhat indigenous desert people known as the Fremen.

These Fremen, akin to the bedouin of the Arabian Penninsula controlled the desert and the planet is 80 percent desert.  

Therefore they controlled the planet.  

As a Fremen, they had a consecrated knife, made from the teeth of the sandworms.

So we are going to take a look at two different knives, both made of worm teeth.

Well not really.

The funny thing about this box is that I actually bought this off of Etsy and not eBay.  The seller, James Arnold of ReelArt out of Florida does sell these on eBay as well. Each of these knives is sold separately but I figured that I would just get one from the film and one from the mini-series. Why just one of each? Why would I get two?

Etsy Reel Art 
Dune Mini-Series Crysknife: https://etsy.me/3fKv4iv
Dune 1984 Film: https://etsy.me/3eqloJN

Now, personally, I am excited that Villeneuve is directing Dune.  I was tripped out by Arrival, Sicario was all too real considering I used to live somewhat near the border. And Blade Runner 2049 pretty much was food for thought when it comes to Artificial Intelligence. You know Cylons and all.

I plan on seeing this film with an open mind.  

Now although neither of the two previous versions had everything that I was hoping for, I do understand how hard a story like Dune is to bring to the big screen.  The fact that he is planning to break the story into two films will hopefully allow him to tell a complete story, or at least he will get the chance to tell that story.

This makes me think that the studios are going to have to rethink how they track the profit of a film and how they make decisions on what films get a sequel or not.  The world is changing and HAS been changing and unfortunately, the way we used to do things may not evolve as "THEY would like

Now looking at some of the photos I can see that there are some of David Lynch's design elements peeking through in this film.  Look at the stillsuits. Very similar to the 1984 film  They just need the Jubba cloak, IMHO

I am thinking that the choice of actors is interesting. I mentioned that there is a couple of characters whose gender and ethnicity were altered.  In the case of Liet Kynes --- Sharon Duncan Brewster of Rogue 1  will be taking over for the recently passed Max Von Sydow. and Zendaya will play Chani.  

Considering how well I think that worked with Battlestar Galactica, I am hopeful.

Dark News Update

Today, I want to talk about some movie release updates and what you can watch in the meantime.

So, last week I let you know of the Summer Blockbuster Release schedule
And I asked the question, ARE YOU READY TO RETURN TO THE MOVIE THEATERS IN SPITE OF THE PANDEMIC? 

Those who did answer did so with a resounding NO!

I think the Studios heard me because they pushed back the release dates to August.  I probably should have put up a disclaimer, and Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all dates are tenative

So what are we to do NOW!\

I tell you in a moment, but I want to address something very quickly,

People ask me, Rob, why do you claim to have a constantly racing mind?

Well, because I do, and do you wanna know why?

xxxBecause of films like "Memento," where  Leonard, a guy with short term amnesia, tries to avenge the murder of his wife. Or was he? He is helped by Cypher from the "Matrix," or is he? The movie flows backward and forwards, and while it tells a fascinating character study and of human nature, it confounds the brain, leading to many sleepless nights contemplating the film structure and humanity itself

Then there is "Donnie Darko." Jake Gyllenhaal's Donnie faces a rabbit from the future, family issues, his issues with sleepwalking, adolescence, the impending end of the world. You know, crap like that

Then there is "Inception," the dream traveling, time-bending and questionable narration by a possibly unreliable narrator who travels through people's dreams to plant an idea that the sleeping individual believes is his own. 

All of these films I watched many times just trying wrapping my head around the many currents that time may flow, does flow, and where it ends

Now, the film, "Tenet," the word itself is a palindrome, as of our last discussion was set for June 30th, that got pushed back until August 12th, and I'm guessing that will change as well

Again, all dates are tentative due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Tenet another Christopher Nolan film deals with time inversion, I'm not sure what that means, but this sci-fi film sure does look interesting

Damn you, Christopher Nolan. DAMN YOU

ARE YOU READY TO GO BACK TO THE THEATERS? If so, what precautions should they take to ensure your safety, or is that YOUR responsibility?

So what do we do NOW

Well, lucky for us, or those of us who have Netflix, "Dark:" Season 3 just dropped on Saturday, June 27th

What is "Dark," you ask?

Well, it's a German-produced web series that follow four families in the small yet fictitious town of Widin Germany. 

First, there are the Kahnwalds whom the main character is Jonas Kahnwald, an older teen still in high school whose father hangs himself at the beginning of the film, which is on June 21st, 2019 

Jonas goes away to a psychiatric institute for the summer.  In the meantime, his mother, Hanna, a woman in her 40s, starts having an affair with Ulrich Nielson, a man she's had a crush on since she was in High School

While he is gone for the summer, Jonas' girl-friend Martha Nielson takes up with Jonas's best friend Bartosz Tiedemann.

Oh, by the way, Martha's dad is Ulrich, (the one having an affair with Jonas's mom, Hanna.  Ulrich is also a police officer who is investigating the disappearance of the High School drug pusher, supplier, party favor guy Erik Obendorf

Jonas, Bartosz, Martha, her older brother Magnus, and her younger brother Mikkel along with Franziska Doppler, whose mother is the police chief and Ulrich's boss decide to go to a cave in the woods near the towns nuclear plant, where else kids go to get high to see if they can find Erik's stash.

As the kids get closer to the cave, weird sounds start emanating from the cave, and their flashlights start flickering, of course.  Chaos ensues, and they scatter,  Jonas realizes that young Mikkel was left behind, goes back calling for him but can't find him

Later, Ulrich and Katherina, his wife, the kid's mother, and the principle of the High School are devastated, and Ulrich now has two kids to find, and one is his son

Worse yet, when Ulrich was a rebellious teenager, his younger brother went missing in 1986, which is a 33-year time difference. 

Family drama ensues. Mikkel is the talk of the town, Ulrich breaks up with Hanna, oh beware of a woman scorned, and things get weirder for the town of Widin

Mikkel woke up in 1986. Not sure what to think, he ends up at the hospital where Ines Kahnwald, the attending nurse, helps the kid and eventually decides to adopt him

Oh, oh, you know means. 

Soon after that, "the Stranger" delivers a package to Jonas that contains Michael's suicide note and instructions on how to access the wormhole in the caves

There's a wormhole in the caves?

The nuclear reactor went live in 1953 oh yeah, 33 years

Jonas tries to go back to 1986 and bring Mikkel back, but the stranger tells him that he would form a paradox and erase himself

Did I forget to mention back to the future?

Turns out that the stranger is Jonas from guess when?
33 years in the future.  2052

Ulrich, while searching for his son Mikkel, find a fresh body in the woods. The boy cannot be identified, but Ulrich knows who it is? It's his brother Mads who disappeared in...   wait for it, 1986

It turns out that the is a man who dresses like a pastor, who is kidnapping the kids and is trying to do time-traveling experiments with.  Either sending kids back to from 1986 to 2019 or from 2019 to 1953.  

Confused, don't be.  That was only season 1

Season 2 is just a strange, yet still pulls you into the story and where the hell is this thing going?


All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again?

Don't worry about this film being produced in Germany with a German cast, The audio is in English dubbed very well by American actors

My intention was not to give a complete rundown of this series but to get you to at least take a look at Dark as they will do a full recap at the beginning of this new and final season

Indiana Jones and the Cross of Coronado

In this article, we are looking at The Cross of Coronado from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.

If you're new here, I cover film, sci-fi, horror, action-adventure, and the historical genres as well as props and cosplay.

The Cross of Coronado is an artifact that only appears in the first scenes of the 1989 George Lucas produced, and Steven Spielberg directed blockbuster.

Far more importantly, the cross helps to establish the mindsets of Father and Son in the early days and how their stories or motivations have changed over the next 30 years.

Indiana, an altruistic teen, looking out for the public good who believes that historical artifacts should be shared with the world and not in the hands of the private collectors.  Indy later turns somewhat mercenary. So, by 1935, we find Jones willing to sell the ashes of Emperor Nurhaci to crime boss Lao Che for diamonds to eventually moving closer to wanting more than material objects to something somewhat spiritual as he does in Raiders of the Lost Ark.  
It also shows how Jones's succumb to their obsessions and tend to lose themselves to them.  

The Cross of Coronado does all this within the first half of the first act of the film.



The year is 1912, Somewhere in the southwest desert, Indiana Jones is a teenaged boy scout. His troop is out for some cave exploring. 

However, Indy and his friend have left the scouts behind to go exploring on their own.

 They enter a cave only to find that there are treasure hunters already in the cave.   

One man dressed in a leather jacket and a brown fedora. He could pass for Indiana Jones from a distance. He and his gang have just come across a 400-year-old artifact --  The Cross of Coronado.  Indy tells his friend that this is the cross that Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico gave to Coronado in 1512/  And it belongs in a museum.\

He sends his friend back to get the sheriff to do what ... I don't know after a long-drawn-out chase on a train that is transporting a circus to their next town.  The gang, lead by the man in the leather jacket and the fedora chase him towards the back of the train where he finally gets off and escapes the railroad and runs back to the house where he and his widower father live.\

It is revealed that Jones Sr. was intent on his passion project as he writes in his diary.  The Grail Diary. Moments later, his friend from the boy scouts whom he sent to get the sheriff arrives blowing his trumpet to announce his arrival.  The sheriff walks in with the treasure hunting gang behind him. 

Do you still have it? The sheriff asks Indy.  Indy gives it to the sheriff, who tells him that it was reported stolen earlier that day. Roscoe, the bowery kid, runs out to give the cross to a man in a white Panama hat. 

The man in the leather jacket and brown fedora takes off his hat and places it on the young Indiana Jone's head and tells him. "You lost today, but you don't have to like it. Next thing you know, we are out in the middle ocean in the midst of a storm. 

Indy looks up just in time to get a punch in the face.  We can see the man with the white Panama hat come down from the bridge area to the main deck to reclaim his cross.  Indy tells him that the cross belongs in a museum ---- again. 

The sailors go to throw Indy into the raging sea and leave him to drown.  But of course, he escapes their clutches as the boat is thrown from side to side. Indy goes after the man in the Panama hat as he climbs a set of stairs.  Indy grabs him, and the Panama hat man loses the cross, and as it is about to slide off the deck, Indy grabs it. Indy still has a fight on his hands. As he is fighting, cargo is starting to break free. Once again, Indy breaks away and climbs to the top of some crates and grabs a cargo line and swings out over the ocean and into the sea. In the meantime, knocking over several large oil drums that catch on fire and crash onto the deck. 

Indy lands in the water as the cargo ship, the Coronado sinks into the deep.

Back at the college where he teaches, professor Jones is finishing a class when Marcus Brody arrives. Indy concludes the sale of the cross to the National Museum, where Marcus is the curator.  And that is the last we hear or see of the Cross of Coronado.\

The Amazon seller where I got this piece is the  Costumebase,


Now, this piece of art is made of a metal alloy, plated, and comes with a 3 feet long gold chain which is attached with a  gold plated jump ring. Now this Cross measures 8"x 6" (21cm x 15.5cm) and is 3/4" (2 cm) thick and has 12 artificial pearls & 4 artificial aqua gems. Now, the makers used a sketch from  "Lost Journal of Indiana Jones" for the back inscription.

The Cross of Coronado was a jewel-encrusted golden crucifix with a chain. It was believed to contain a piece of the real cross upon which Jesus Christ was crucified.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján was born in 1510 and died in 1554. He served as the Spanish Governor of the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia. He was also an explorer and conquistador who, in 1540, based on an overly embellished report by Friar Marcos de Niza, who was the first European in what is now the State of Arizona.

Fray Marcos de Niza at the age of 44 in 1439 traveled north from Mexico to Arizona and up to Hopi and Navajo area and over through the present-day New Mexico over to the Zuni peoples saw the city of Cibola one of the Seven Cities of Gold.

In 1540, reports brought back from explorations made by the shipwrecked explorers Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and confirmed by missionary de Niza convinced Viceroy Mendoza of the presence of vast riches to the north, located in the so-called Seven Golden Cities of Cíbola.

Reaching the area in question, Vasquez de Coronado found simple pueblos but no gold.  Not wanting to call the expedition a failure -- the conquistador pushed on to Kansas, and the Texas panhandle in search of another fool's errand based on the rumor passed on to him by a native they called the Turk to a wealthy civilization called Quivira.

During his expedition from time to time, he would get into fights with the native American peoples and would slaughter many.  Upon ending the voyage and returning to Nueva Galicia, he was eventually brought up on charges of war crimes but was absolved.

Many on the internet ask the question, is the Cross of Coronado real.  The answer is no. Coronado did not go to Utah but bypassed it into New Mexico, According to Indy fandom the cross was given to him by Hernan Cortez have the cross to him in 1521. However, Vasques do Coronado was only 11 at the time and still in Spain.

That being said, the cross may have been based on the cross of Emperor Justin, the second, Eastern Emperor of Rome. The cross, called "Crux Vaticana," or the Vatican cross was given to the people of Rome by the Emperor sometime around 568 or 569 AD.







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