That said, the presence of the second blade could also point to the fact that the Hallway of Doom is no site for unquestioned penitence in the Christian faith, as evil often lurks beneath the veil of goodness, which is exemplified by the contrarian nature of the riddle. Not to mention the fact that the Guardian would presumably take more issue with the intrusion. If not, the next part of the riddle - identifying the correct Grail itself would be entirely redundant. The only issue with that seems to be that the Grail's guardian suggests that the riddle was always designed to be solved. In effect, anyone who solved the riddle would still be killed, possibly due to the fact that these traps were designed by Arthurian knights, whose primary goal was to protect the Grail. The “penitent man” riddle is fundamentally misleading as the apparent message is subverted halfway through. Go on a backpacking trip and you will find Inca and pre Inca stuff Everywhere. This opens up a plot-hole of sorts in The Last Crusade, due to the fact that if Indy had followed through with the penitent man stance, which involved kneeling on the floor and progressing forward, he would have been impaled by the second blade. See Sasqsyhuaman and the Qoricancha sun temple. However, a second blade flies up from beneath the floor, spurring Indy to somersault and roll forward in order to evade certain death, proving that the riddle was always a lie. The first challenge named The Breath of God takes place within the Hallway of Doom, wherein it is hinted that “ only the penitent man will pass.” Indy grapples with the cryptic phrase and realizes at the last possible minute that penitence would refer to the act of kneeling in prayer, which initially allows him to dodge an array of circular blades that slice into the passageway. Once inside the temple, Indy faces three challenges, or lethal traps, designed to test the worthiness of the seeker by the Knight’s Templar. Much Love - Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile Brand Publisher 1. RELATED: Harrison Ford Shares Fun Indiana Jones Story About Sean Connery 15 Real Life Traps To Look Out For Be ever-wary, always vigilant, and constantly ready to BreakFree.

However, Walter Donovan shoots Henry Sr., which leaves Indy no choice but to retrieve the Grail from The Temple of The Sun, in order to heal his father’s fatal wound with the aid of the Grail’s extraordinary rejuvenating powers. During the quest for the Grail, Indy arrives at the Canyon of the Crescent Moon in Hatay, where the artifact is said to be located. There is evidence that there is mercury in there though, since 'probes revealed abnormally high quantities of mercury, some 100 times the naturally occurring rate.' I guess this could be considered a biohazardous 'trap', although the presence of the mercury was more likely for decoration than defense.The bond between father and son had perpetually been fraught, but the events of The Last Crusade serves to strengthen their relationship while undoing their estrangement to a considerable extent. The bows, if present, wouldn't likely work, as they would have either broken down over the years or have no elasticity left in the bowstring due to being held in the ready position for so long. They obviously didn't work that well.Įmperor Qin's tomb in China is still sealed, and is fabled to have crossbows at-the-ready and rivers of mercury. They were dropped once bodies and belongings were interred in the tomb, attempting to seal the passages forever. The troupe goes of the treasure seeking PhD holding archaeologist in a lost temple pushing a loose brick that sets of a set off an ancient door opening mechanism in the underground Mayan temple, which has been some how remained functional for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. Tombs in Egypt would often have large stone doors designed to drop in place and block passages, but these weren't just left dangling to fall on intruders. No, most traps like the ones in the movies would break down and become useless after many years. However, the traps would have broken down by the 1930s-1940s when Indiana Jones takes place (and the Greeks didn't seem quite so interested in protecting tombs as the Egyptians).

Most of these devices were invented by Hero of Alexandria. The Greeks also have some understanding of machinery, and gears, and feasibly could have created some of these traps.

Among the ancient Greek technology were automatic doors, vending machines, and various water powered pumps. However, it's worth pointing out that, at least in ancient Greece, they had the technology to make these sorts of traps. The slightly longer answer (taken in part from this page on The Straight Dope) is that even if such traps did exist, the accumulation of centuries of neglect would not only rot away ropes, but they would also be so filled with dirt and dust and dead snakes that they wouldn't work even if everything was made out of long lasting stainless steel. The short answer is no, ancient machines used to guard tombs and temples like those in Indiana Jones have not been found.

Real life temple with traps