Found old order of the Templars

dailytelegraph.news.com.au...
LONDON: The first bodies of the Knights Templar, the mysterious religious order at the heart of The Da Vinci Code, have been found by archaeologists near the River Jordan in northern Israel.

That is a great find!

But how do they know for sure that the body is/was a knights templar?

[edit on 12-4-2006 by DodgeG1]

That page has a lot of big adds that slow down the loading. Here is the text:

dailytelegraph.news.com.au...

First Knights Templar are discovered
April 10, 2006

LONDON: The first bodies of the Knights Templar, the mysterious religious order at the heart of The Da Vinci Code, have been found by archaeologists near the River Jordan in northern Israel.
British historian Tom Asbridge yesterday hailed the find as the first provable example of actual Knights Templar.
The remains were found beneath the ruined walls of Jacob's Ford, an overthrown castle dating back to the Crusades, which had been lost for centuries.
They can be dated to the exact day -- August 29, 1179 -- that they were killed by Saladin, the feared Muslim leader who captured the fortress.
"Never before has it been possible to trace their remains to such an exact time in history,' Mr Asbridge said. "This discovery is the equivalent of the Holy Grail to archaeologists and historians. It is unparalleled."

Looks like they are able to date it because the history of the fortification was known.

I think that the last line about it being a holy grail is hyperbole for the press.

Here's some information about it:

vadumiacob.huji.ac.il...

The decisive attack on the site begun on August 24th 1179. The Muslim forces, being commanded by Saladin himself, had to force their way up, by digging steps with their axes. The Templars locked themselves inside the castle and set fire to the outer gates. finally the Muslim sappers succeeded in breaking through the walls. The defenders asked for a truth [sic], but Saladin refused to grant it. Among the defenders there were 1500 men, 800 were killed and 700 were taken captives. Beside all this Saladin took the armor of about 1000 knights. His soldiers destroyed the castle and threw the corpses of the defenders into a deep well. This last careless operation was probably the cause of a plague which started within 3 days of the conquest causing Saladin and his men to evacuate the site on their way to Damascus.

Perhaps these bodies come from the well?

This is a photo of the site, from that same website:

Very Interesting Nygdan

ABout the find of the nights templars at the river Jordan. Did not know about the plauge part. They where attacked by these people and then thrown into a well. This happened in the 1100's . Do you have any more information on why they where at war at the time of the incedent? .

?

The KT had been part of a campaign to conquer the levant, the 'holy land', from the muslims. At first they were successful. After a while, the Muslims, under a great leader named Saladin, organized, fought the invaders, repelled them, and re-took the holy land.

Then a great christian leader named Richard reversed those successes. And so things went back and forth for a while, and ultimately the christians lost out.