[Music]
ever since her first appearance in the
season 4 premiere
new york-based researcher xena halpern
and her work have enjoyed a place of
prominence in the history channel's tv
series
the curse of oak island during her oak
island debut
halpern introduced the men of oak island
tours inc to three mysterious documents
the cryptic cipher dubbed la formulae a
map of nova scotia bearing the date 1179
and a map of oak island labelled in
french bearing the date 1347.
in season 4 episode 2 the oak island
crew investigated a potential connection
between
new ross nova scotia and a point on
halpern's map of nova scotia bearing the
label rodon
in season 4 episode 5 the crew
investigated an anomaly on oak island
which seemed to correspond with a point
on halpern's oak island map
labelled the hatch but which proved to
be a natural feature
in season 4 episode 12 rick laguina and
doug crowell met with xena halpern in
roslyn new york
after which the theorist outlined her
ideas regarding the nature of the money
pit
and the identity of its depositors in
season 4 episode 14
the treasure hunters attempted to
decrypt halpern's la formulae document
in season 5 episode 9 members of the oak
island team traveled to the chateau de
la rocha called in france to investigate
a potential connection between the noble
french house of larossa called and a
mysterious message
scribbled in the margins of halpern's
oak island map
in season 5 episode 13 halpern weighed
in on the lead cross found at smith's
cove
opining that it represented the sign of
tanite the symbol of a goddess
worshipped by the ancient inhabitants of
carthage
and in season 8 episode 5 the fellowship
of the dig searched for the anchor
points on halpern's map of oak island
following a lead introduced by
geographic information systems expert
erin helton
in season 6 episode 4 following xena
halpern's passing at the age of 89
rick laguina in peter fernetti drove to
halpern's home in long island in new
york
to take possession of the research files
which xena had bequeathed them
while browsing the files rick came
across a booklet called the cremona
document
which he claimed was quote at the core
of zina's research unquote
the narrator proceeded to explain that
this document was discovered in the
1970s in a church in cremona italy
and constitutes the documents authored
in part by 12th century templar knight
ralph de
specifically these documents describe
treasures discovered beneath jerusalem's
temple mount
and a medieval transatlantic voyage to
north america
the kimono document was first introduced
to the general public in zina halpern's
2017 book
the templar mission to oak island and
beyond the search for ancient secrets
the shocking revelations of a 12th
century manuscript
the first half of halpern's book
chronicles the adventures of a
mysterious character named dr william d
jackson an american researcher with
purported connections to a covert off
the books u.s intelligence agency
william jackson's tale reads like a
mystery thriller novel
replete with secret societies cryptic
warnings lost journals and coded
messages
written in invisible ink jackson's story
begins on a summer day in 1968
when he and three friends went fishing
off bannerman island in the hudson river
about 50 miles north of new york city
bannerman island is dominated by
bannerman's castle
a scottish style fortress commissioned
by scottish american arms merchant
francis bannerman vi
in the early 1900s during the fishing
trip
jackson decided to steal a stone
ornament from bannerman's castle for his
wife's garden
a year later jackson's son mark while
playing in said garden
broke the top off the stone ornament
revealing a hidden container inside
within this container was a mysterious
brass object engraved
with strange symbols this discovery
prompted jackson to follow a string of
clues which ultimately led to the city
of cremona italy
fortuitously jackson arrived in cremona
just in time to purchase a collection of
manuscripts which were scheduled for
transfer to the vatican library in rome
together these manuscripts make up the
cremona document
according to xena halpern the cremona
document is essentially a collection of
journals
written by various members of the
knights templar
all of these manuscripts are written in
the latin language with the theban
alphabet
the latter being a writing system used
by renaissance alchemists but which xena
suggests might actually be several
thousand years old
the first group of documents reports to
be the lost writings of the founders of
the knights templar
these manuscripts describe a 12th
century exploration of jewish catacombs
beneath the temple mount in jerusalem
the exploration becomes an excavation
once one of the knights nearly succumbs
to a booby trap revealing a vast hidden
chamber beneath the floor
inside this chamber the knights discover
a lost gnostic
gospel the bones of john the baptist and
the legendary lost gold of king solomon
also in the chamber are scrolls
describing a first century voyage across
the atlantic ocean
to the quote land of ontiyara unquote
as well as a number of navigational
devices
the bulk of the cremona document is
comprised of a manuscript entitled a
year we remember
which xin is sometimes refers to as the
antiyara document
this manuscript purports to be the lost
journal of ralph de soudaly
an english knight who joined the knights
templar in the late 12th century
in this journal desoudely describes
making a voyage across the atlantic with
the help of king voldemort the first of
denmark in 1178.
upon reaching the new world de soudaly
discovers a matriarchal tribe of
goddess-worshipping welshman who
initiate him into their cult
after completing the initiation rite the
priestess presents the knight with a
thousand year old clay cylinder
containing first century christian
documents which had been stored in a
cave in what is now
hunter mountain new york one of these
documents prompts to soothly to return
to the old world where he discovers the
ark of the covenant
and other treasures hidden beneath the
ancient city of petra in present-day
jordan
in her book halpern explains that the
knights templar kept the cremona
document in the library of a cistercian
abbey called the castrum sepulchre
located on the coast of northern italy
in the principality of saborga
when the knights templar were suppressed
in 1307 templar knights hid the document
in the city of cremona
located about 200 miles to the northeast
eventually the document found its way
into the archives of the monastery of
san sigismando
located just outside cremona's historic
center
it remained in san sigismando for five
centuries
in 1971 the monastery's custodian of
records
named gustavus di benvenuto arranged to
donate the san ziggismando documents to
the vatican
just before the donation was completed
dr william jackson offered to buy the
cremona document off ben venuto
with the permission of the vatican the
custodian agreed
according to a letter from one of
jackson's associates to zina halpern
jackson managed to purchase the document
for 15 000 italian lee ray
that's about 12 canadian in her book
halperin contends that the genuineness
of the cremona document is supported by
the fact that according to a letter
written to her by one of william
jackson's associates
a vatican librarian quote verified its
authenticity and that of the signature
of ralph to sudeally
unquote which appends the ontiara
document
unfortunately the veracity of this
assertion is called into question
when one considers that wax seals were
the chief form of personal
authentication in the middle ages and
that written signatures were uncommon in
the christian world until the 16th
century
furthermore the cremona document or at
least the english translation of it
which appears in zina's book
is riddled with historic and linguistic
anachronisms
including modern english idioms phonetic
renderings of modern words
and descriptions of armaments
incongruent with the period in which the
narrative is set
which seriously diminish its credibility
in the opinion of this author at least
the cremona document appears to be a
hoax
in a 2018 article published on the
personal blog of forensic geologist
scott walter
host of the tv series america unearthed
halpern's friend and fellow researcher
donald ru with whom she had a falling
out prior to her death
describes how halperin came into the
possession of the cremona document
he claims using photos of a legal
document as evidence
that the mysterious william jackson
bequeathed him the cremona document
and that he acquired it in 2008 eight
years after jackson's death
he shared the document with halpern in
2009 with the understanding that the two
of them would co-author a book on the
subject
rue claims that he had a falling out
with halperin in 2016.
shortly after which halpern contacted
the laguna brothers and informed them of
her theory
xena halpern's oak island theory as
outlined in her book the templar mission
to oak island and beyond
hinges heavily upon information that
xena received from the mysterious
william jackson
and his even more enigmatic associates
the theory which this information seems
to suggest which this author
frankly considers pure and pernicious
fantasy goes something like this
thousands of years before christ the
phoenicians of present-day lebanon began
making voyages across the atlantic ocean
to the new world
knowledge of this distant land on the
other side of the world spread to the
israelites
citizens of the kingdom of israel which
was phonicia's neighbor and closest ally
at the time of the first phoenician
transatlantic voyages
israel was ruled by king solomon a wise
monarch who acquired a vast treasure of
gold and silver
solomon kept his treasure along with the
ark of the covenant
and other jewish religious artifacts in
an enormous temple he built atop
mount moriah known today as the temple
mount in jerusalem
this building became known as the temple
of solomon
in the centuries that ensued israel was
conquered by a succession of empires
including assyria babylon persia
macedon and rome despite this the jews
managed to keep some of their most
sacred treasures
including scrolls containing knowledge
of the new world hidden in a number of
secret locations
before the babylonian conquest of 587 bc
which saw the destruction of the temple
of solomon a group of israelites managed
to transport the ark of the covenant and
other treasures down mount moriah
and overland to the city of petra in
present-day jordan
they buried these treasures nearby in a
subterranean aqueduct beneath a mountain
called
jebel al-mabda the gold of king solomon
and scrolls containing knowledge of the
new world however remained on mount
moriah
hidden in secret chambers carved from
the living rock
at the time of christ's crucifixion
which took place during the roman
occupation of israel
a number of christ's disciples also
worshiped an ancient canaanite goddess
called asherah in 70 a.d when the romans
besieged jerusalem in the aftermath of a
jewish revolt
members of this heretical christian sect
hid their gospel
along with the bones of john the baptist
in the secret chamber that held
solomon's treasure
that accomplished they fled israel with
other important christian documents
and the scrolls describing the treasure
beneath jebel al-mabda
and followed the ancient phoenician
route to the new world
a thousand years later following the
first crusade
nine frankish knights formed a monastic
military order called the knights
templar
these knights established their
headquarters atop temple mount and began
exploring jewish catacombs deep beneath
the mountain
during their explorations they stumbled
upon the secret chamber
containing king solomon's treasure and
the relics of the aforementioned
christian sect
the templars adopted the goddess
worshiping doctrine espoused by this
cult
and appropriated the gold of king
solomon in 1178
an english templar knight named ralph
dasudily decided to search for the new
world described in the scrolls beneath
temple mount
with the help of king voldemort the
first of denmark he followed old viking
routes to the new world
and follow the coast self to what is now
the state of new york
there he discovered tribes of jews welsh
celts and norsemen
who have been living there for centuries
worshiping the goddess asherah
and living in a matriarchal society
these old world people served as
guardians of the scrolls brought from
the holy land during the 1st century a.d
i.e important christian documents and
the scrolls describing the treasure
beneath jebel al-mabda
which they kept in a cave on hunter
mountain new york
after being initiated into the cult
ralph de soodely was gifted the
aforementioned scrolls by a celtic
priestess
using the information contained therein
he returned to the holy land
apparently drawing the 1179 map of nova
scotia before his departure
and discovered the ark of the covenant
beneath jebel al-mabda
centuries later in 1307 members of the
freshly outlawed knights templar took
the ark to scotland
where they assisted the scots in
defeating the english army of king
edward ii
at the battle of bannockburn in 1397
one of the templars successors henry
sinclair earl of orkney
sailed to the new world with the ark of
the covenant and buried the sacred
artifact on oak island
before he returned to the old world he
drew the 1347 map of oak island
in her book halpern makes it clear that
while the 1179 map of nova scotia is
component of the cremona document
the 1347 map of oak island and the
cryptic document called la formulae are
not
halpern donald ru and a mutual friend
named harry weimer
came across the latter two documents by
chance while visiting at helprin's home
during christmas holidays in 2011.
while examining a book that had belonged
to the late william jackson the friends
found a strange note
scribbled on the back inside cover the
message read quote
and natty holds the key now that's why i
use this page
the frenchman was right they wanted the
info about the tunnels
so they bought the documents from me but
they didn't get it who has it now
i think it was broken up into eight
parts i have four
what happened to the rest 1996 la bella
roma rollo
mia monte le austrica unquote the notes
mention of the word annati
prompted the three friends to inspect
another of jackson's old books
namely palestine before the hebrews by
emmanuel anadi
donald ru observed an unusual bulge in
this book's back cover
he slit the cover open with a knife and
found two documents inside
the 1347 map of oak island and la
formulae
a note scribbled in the margins of the
formulae designated that document a gift
to william jackson
from one tim mckinnis with the help of
her friend judy rudabush
who appeared in season 6 episode 6 and
season 8 episode 5 of the curse of oak
island
halpern discovered that tim mckinnis was
the late brother of the three mcguiness
sisters who appeared in the curse of oak
islands season 3 finale
this discovery prompted halpern to
contact the laguna brothers and initiate
her involvement with the tv show
in the aforementioned article on scott
walter's blog donald ru
argued that the 1347 oak island map was
quote
never in any way connected to the
cremona document material or the
medieval knights templar unquote
but was rather likely fabricated by bill
jackson as part of a plot to entrap a
member of propaganda douay
an italian secret society with
far-reaching political ambitions
as evidence to support his position rue
includes a photo in his article of a
redacted letter which william jackson
reportedly wrote to him on august 21st
1979. the letter mentions quote
a design that appears to have a solution
to the oak island treasure
unquote which jackson and his associates
imprinted on the back of another letter
which they hoped certain propaganda
dewey members would quote
bid on unquote one potential problem
with this document
is that it appears to have been typed
using a proportional font
probably times new roman in which each
letter has a different width
most typewriters in 1979 used monospace
fonts in which each letter has the same
width
the fact that the document appears to
have been produced with modern word
processing software
coupled with the fact that it bears a
signature of william jackson ruling out
the possibility that it is the
transcript of an original letter
suggests that the document may be a
forgery
whatever the case donald ru's testimony
adds yet another twist to the convoluted
saga of the kimono document
and the mystery of oak island