The Chalice of Magdalene: The Search for the Cup That Held the Blood of Christ Paperback – January 30, 2004

This book is well researched and well written on a unique and controversial topic. I highly recommend it if you are interested in such things.

I was interested in this book because it was about the Alabastar jar that Mary Magadalene used to collect the blood of Jesus. It had nothing to do with the cup that was used at the Last Supper.I find the review by "Shar" to be interesting. As a Catholic all of my life and a grand-daughter of Spanish immigrants, this cup she speaks of was never mentioned in my home or church. It was never mentioned in the 12 years of Catholic school I attended either. I find it interesting that this cup in Spain shows up now in the news just as the DaVinci Code comes out when it was never heard of before.

Just as advertised. Wonderful service

If you think this book is gonna read like a Dan Brown book you're gonna be disappointed.If you think you're gonna read a book with science to back up anything in the book, again, disappointment.If you think you may find something that's in the very least as plausible as the Shroud of Turin being the real deal then you're gonna find this on the mark.As I remember, been a year since I read it, my biggest disappointment is all the history that's in the book that goes on and on and doesn't seem to have anything to do with the subject. Ultimately, it does all come together but there's so much in the first 2/3rds of the book that frankly I think it may have been filler.The real subject itself would fill a pamphlet, or two. But this part is quite good and worth the read. It does appear this guy may be more on the mark than off it. I do think that at one point someone hid that little jar/cup thinking they did have the real McCoy.At the heart of this book is the story of a small perfume jar from the apparently correct time period and region of the world to have been used the hold a small sample of Christ's blood. It's intriguing in the least. The author seems to have done his research, although the early part is hard to follow as stated earlier.This read reminds me of Second Messiah: Templars, the Turin Shroud and the Great Secret of Freemasonry by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas. I read this also and couldn't put it down. These two books are very kin to each other although Knight and Lomas are clearly better authors in the way of representation.If you're into this sort of thing then this will be a good read once you finally get to the meat of the book. Too bad it's like the last couple chapters or so. I realize the first stuff is there to present his historical argument but damn it drags like a text book. Do I believe this is the real cup that held Christ's blood? I'm still fuzzy on this Jesus fellow but I do believe someone felt it did strongly enough to put together this elaborate puzzle to hide it away.

good book

Nice

Mary, Mary, Quite ContraryIn the Bible, Mary Magdalene is a mysterious follower of Jesus about who almost nothing is revealed. No wonder then that for almost 2000 years most people did not regard her as important enough to write entire books about. That all changed in the 1980s after the publication of Holy Blood: Holy Grail by three British authors who proposed that she was really the bride of Christ and that they had children whose descendants are alive today. In the 1990s Mary again slipped into obscurity until the publication of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code made her the historical buzz word of the early third millennium. In the last couple of years dozens of books have been written about the enigmatic female disciple who may have been the sinful woman that Jesus saved from a stoning. However, in my opinion, none of these books actually produce solid, physical evidence to support their various claims about her - except one - this book by Graham Phillips. In the Chalice of Magdalene the author claims to have found a cup that was made in first-century Palestine and was used by Mary to collect a few drops of Christ's blood. This, Phillips argues, was the original Holy Grail, the sacred cup of the early Christian faith. This book requires a few leaps faith by the reader itself, but it is an entertaining and thought-provoking experience. Even if you don't accept the authors claim to posses the original Grail then the book is still worth a read. It's a mine of information about the development of the Grail legend throughout history.

The book was an enjoyable read that dealt the history of post-Roman Britain and the historical existence of the man we know as King Arthur. From there, the medieval literature and legends surrounding the Holy Grail were explored. The "The Chalice of Magdalene" covered a lot of territory, but at the same time provided a great deal of historical information. It is a must read for anyone interested in the legends of King Arthur and the Grail Romances.

Very interesting book

Very informative

Originally titled ''the search for the grail'', Graham had done a tremendous research and wrote in greate lengh about the arthurian saga and the legend of the holy grail wherein he segemented this book to two parts: the first part is titled the search for King arthur , and the second one is titled the search for the grail .in both parts , the the main topics covered were the king arthur as historical figure, his connection to the holy grail, and the holy grail itself as a legend as well as an historical fact,quoting from many historical and litterature books written around one century after first miilinium , such as ''the history of the kings of britain'' by geoffrey of manmouth, '' and Parzival'' by Wlofram Von eschenbach.overall, anyone is interested with arthurian history as as the holy grail history and litterature, this book is a good add to his/her collection.

Obviously, as with any book dealing with such a subject, it does need concentrated reading. However, it is well written and contains so much information - some recognised and some completely new. An excellent and well researched publication.