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BAR May/Jun 2005

By Gregon

The contents list of the latest issue of Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) has been posted online with the usual short ‘tasters’ available for the featured content. This month you’ll find articles on the construction of Noah’s Ark, the ‘discovery’ of the cave of John the Baptist, and even more on the Ossuary ‘find or fake’ controversy. Full details of the latest issue at the website.

Greg
Editor
Greg is the owner-editor of The Daily Grail, as well as the author of a number of books including Stop Worrying, There Probably is an Afterlife.
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  1. Native Decodes the Oak Island Treasure Mystery
    LOST TREASURE MAGAZINE

    April 2007 Edition
    Hard Copy
    Oak Island Update! – Cree Code Breaker Challenges 140-Year Old Cipher

    MAHONE BAY, Nova Scotia –The enigma of Oak Island has been called one of the greatest archaeological and engineering achievements of mankind. Often referred to as Canada’s best known unsolved mystery, Oak Island proudly boasts it’s title for hosting the site of the World’s longest treasure hunt in recorded history. Now in its 212th year this 10 million dollar project that has selfishly taken the lives of six young men is no closer to being solved than it was in 1795 when three teen boys discovered a shaft here and began digging for what they believed to be pirate treasure! The boys excavated down to the 30 foot mark, exhausted and unable to continue they realized the dig would be a much larger effort then they first imagined. What the boys found as they dug convinced all three that they had indeed discovered a man-made vertical shaft of sound engineering. Their only conclusion was that it had been built to hide an enormous treasure. Knowing that a proper excavation required equipment, animals and manpower the boys set out to find investment capital. It took years but they did find an investor with whom they became the founders of the Onslow Company, the first of many treasure recovery companies that would come and go on Oak Island. To date the cost of this intoxicating treasure hunt has far exceeded ten million dollars and consigned six sturdy treasure hunters to an early grave.

    Now for the first time since the 1860’s one man has come forward to challenge the translation of a cryptic message found etched into a stone that was discovered at the 90-foot mark in the original shaft in 1803 by the Onslow Company. The stone vanished about 1900 and no known image or text was preserved showing the cryptic message. However a Mahone Bay school teacher in 1909 claimed to have copied the two line, forty-character coded text directly from the stone hoping that he could break the code himself. He provided the only image of the codex known to exist stating the code was a simple letter-for-cipher that was accurately translated by Professor James Leitchi, a professor of languages at Dalhouse University in 1860’s. Leitchi’s translation reads… “Forty feet below two million pounds are buried.” Although Leitchi’s translation has never been directly challenged it has always been suspicious since a business relationship is known to have existed between Leitchi and the Oak Island Association, the 1860’s recovery company.

    Recently Keith Ranville, a Cree First Nations researcher announced his challenge of Leitchi’s translation stating… “Birch Island holds the secret to the meaning of the construction on Oak Island. According to the Lunenburg Progress Enterprise, Ranville claims that Leitchi’s method to break the code was flawed, citing that his translation using the First Nations tradition, sees the codex as individual abstract symbols that were never intended to be translated into a single message. Using Ranville’s method to decipher the code, which reads more like a map, Oak Island is directly linked to its sister island, nearby Birch Island by underwater man-made shafts. He cites the repeated use of the triangle from the original inscription and points to the large triangle that he discovered on Birch Island which is only visible from the air. The triangle on the 16-acre Birch Island takes up much of the Island which Ranville believes is also the ancient burial grounds for those who were involved with the complex construction found on Oak Island.

    Ranville’s work offers a completely different approach to solving the Oak Island mystery. Traveling across Canada Ranville has presented his findings to a number of scholars and groups many of whom have supported his work in principal. He has been interviewed on radio programs and his currently looking for funding to help pursue his research further. Those supporting Ranville’s research include mining engineer, Steve Zou, P.Eng.,PH.D, the Bear River First Nation of Nova Scotia, the Sault Ste. Marie Museum and to learn more you can log on to Ranville’s web site at: http://kr.mendhak.com

    Interview with Mr. Ranville December-2006

    Is Oak Island’s treasure really on Birch Island?
    First Nations translator deciphers ancient stone as a treasure map

    By Angie Zinck- Lunenburg Progress Enterprise – October 18, 2006
    WESTERN SHORE – You many have heard about the Da Vinci code, but the Ranville code could be what solves the longest running treasure hunt in recorded history.
    Keith Ranville, a First Nations man, has traveled from Winnipeg to Nova Scotia in hopes of unlocking the secret codes on Oak Island. He says he has done so by re-translating one of the stones found on the island over 200 years ago.
    The was first found in 1803 by the Onslow Company. Found 90 feet down the Money Pit, the stone was believed to be two feet long and 15 inches wide, weighing approximately 175 lb.
    Since that time, it has been said that the inscription on the stone read, “forty feet below two million pounds are buried,” as translated by James Leitchi, a professor of languages at Dalhousie University. Some researchers have questioned this translation, as Mr. Leitchi was involved in a treasure hunting company trying to sell stocks.
    Today, the actual stone is lost. It was used as a hearthstone in two homes on Oak Island, but it was moved to a Halifax store front where it went missing when the building was torn down. Its last known location was around the Centennial Pool area.
    Mr. Ranville used pictures of the stone to decipher its series of shapes, lines and dots to reveal a new translation that reads more like a map.
    “I’ve brought some new stuff to the table,” he says, adding that the stone’s etchings could be used to figure out the mystery of Oak Island.
    By his translation, much of the digging in the Money Pit area has been a waste of time and money.
    “I believe the pit wasn’t meant to go beyond 100 feet,” he says. “I believe it wasn’t meant to go beyond these symbols.”
    If one were to take Mr. Ranville’s code and follow it, it would lead you off Oak Island the site of all the treasure hunting for the past 211 years, under the water of the bay and onto the neighbouring Birch Island via man-made shafts.
    “The instructions at the bottom of the pit tell you about where and how to locate these shafts and I believe they’re in Mahone Bay,” he says.
    Mr. Ranville believes the two islands are connected by these shafts. He said that aerial shots of Birch Island prove the island has been touched by human hands. These aerial shots of the 16-acre Birch Island do show a large triangle which takes up a good portion of the island landscape.
    “What I want to do is investigate this island where I think these symbols lead to,” he says.
    Mr. Ranville has contacted the owner, Christopher Ondaatje, to inquire about doing some soil testing and exploring on the island.
    In addition to being the home of the famous treasure, Mr. Ranville believes Birch Island may also be an ancient burial site of those who were involved in the original treasure hiding scheme.
    “This is a significant Nova Scotia heritage discovery and that is Canada’s national treasure brought here for our guardianship long before Canada was established,” he says. “We should respect the civilization that is responsible for the makings of these structures.
    “They were a very unique culture and may hold the secret to many ancient structures.”
    Although he doesn’t know who actually buried the treasure, Mr. Ranville believes Oak Island and Birch Island need to be protected from further change to unlock their true history.
    At the time of this interview, Mr. Ranville had yet to hear from Mr. Ondaatje regarding the island. He says he will continue to research the island and its tales of mystery and treasure. Check out Google Earth on the World Wide Web to see satellite photos of Birch Island and its triangle.
    CANADIAN
    Native Treasure Hunter
    Keith Ranville
    http://kr.mendhak.com

    NEWS RELEASE

    NEW READING OF MYSTERIOUS OAK ISLAND INSCRIPTION

    Theory points to possible connection with nearby Birch Island

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    HALIFAX, Nova Scotia: Friday, July 14th, 2006 – – For the past two centuries, the tunnels of Nova Scotia’s Oak Island have piqued the imagination of historians and treasure hunters alike. Now, a new theory by First Nations researcher Keith Ranville may add fresh speculation to the mystery. Based on a unique reading of an inscription once found in the “Money Pit,” Mr. Ranville believes that the answer to the riddle may be found on nearby Birch Island.

    Oak Island, located on the scenic Mahone Bay about an hour’s drive south of the provincial capital of Halifax, has been associated with buried treasure since the late 18th century. Local settlers reportedly found a ship’s tackle block hanging from a tree branch, overhanging a large depression in the ground. Early efforts to dig down failed when the diggers encountered layers of timber every 10 feet. In the ensuing generations, several organized excavation attempts have drilled down nearly 200 feet, en route encountering some artifacts within the staggered layers of logs, clay, putty, charcoal, flagstones and most perplexingly, coconut husks. Among the scores of enthusiastic treasure hunters was a young Franklin Roosevelt, one of the investors in a 1909 excavation attempt.

    During the earlier diggings of 1800’s, the tunnel had become flooded by seawater – which many believed was the result booby trap being sprung – thus complicating further digging since then. A drilling effort in the mid 1800’s was said to have uncovered fragments of a gold chain. In 1971, a camera was lowered into the pit and reportedly captured images of wooden chests and human remains.

    One of the most fascinating artifacts from the pit was said to be a flat stone recovered at the 90 foot depth, carrying a mysterious inscription. A fragment of stone with similar symbols was found nearby in Smith’s Cove in the 1930’s. The stone tablet itself has gone missing, but a record of its symbols remains. Until now, the consensus is that the symbols are a code translated as “forty feet below two million pounds are buried.” However, Keith Ranville’s theory offers a different interpretation as to the stone’s symbols, which could lead to a new explanation of the Oak Island mystery.

    “I believe these symbols have been incorrectly assumed to stand for something else. In the First Nations tradition that I’m a part of, we believe symbols should simply be looked at in and of themselves, rather than thinking of them as codes that have to be cracked,” Mr. Ranville explained. “In the pictograms of Cree Salavics, for example, the images are meant to be descriptive, not abstract.” Using this approach, Mr. Ranville examined the Oak Island symbols and found what may be a set of instructions about a tunnel system involving both Oak Island and nearby Birch Island.

    For example, the stone inscription begins with a triangle symbol, which is repeated throughout. Mr. Ranville believes that this represents nearby Birch Island, which has a distinctly triangular clearing on its north shore. Likewise, a symbol showing a circle divided into two hemispheres can be thought of as representing north/south directional markers. A series of dots in singles, pairs and triplets may be quantitative symbols.

    Examining all the symbols in this way, Mr. Ranville believes that the symbols on the Money Pit’s stone tablet are actually technical instructions describing the location and layout of a possible underground network involving both Oak Island and Birch Island. “There was a fragment of another stone tablet that was found on Oak Island’s Smith Cove in the 1930’s,” Mr. Ranville explained. “It too has these types of symbols, but one in particular appears to be a Greek symbol designating ‘underwater door’. In conjunction with the other symbols, I believe this points to underwater doors and additional shafts on Birch Island itself.” Smith’s Cove is on the part of Oak Island that is closest to Birch Island, and is said to have yielded several artifacts itself over the years.

    “Based on the inscribed symbols, I think we should be looking at Oak Island and Birch Island together in order to solve the mystery. If Birch Island proves to have underwater doors and tunnels around its triangular clearing, then it would be a huge step forward in our understanding of what Oak Island is all about.”

    There have been many, occasionally bizarre, theories as to what the Oak Island tunnels may contain: a Masonic vault containing the Holy Grail, Viking or Pirate booty, Inca treasure, the French Royal Crown Jewels, payroll for colonial British soldiers or even the secret writings of Francis Bacon. Mr. Ranville prefers not to speculate. “Those are interesting and sometimes funny theories, but I’d rather just look at the evidence that we do have, and go from there.”

    Mr. Ranville is a self-taught researcher born in Manitoba. While living in Vancouver, he became acquainted with the Oak Island mystery and began studying it. In October 2005, he relocated to Nova Scotia to further research and advance his theories on the subject.

    Both Oak Island and Birch Island are private property, and access must be sought by permission of the landowners.

    # # #

    For further information, please contact
    Keith Ranville
    http://kr.mendhak.com

    1. First Nations National
      First Nations National News

      Birch Islands Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia

      North American Cree Native, Keith Ranville

      December 25 2006
      Birch Island has the hallmarks of the North American National Treasure, says a Canadian Cree Native Indian. He believes the Triangle impression on Birch Island is a signature of the American pyramid that is on the U.S currency, if the U.S treasury has an answer to why this emblem is on there American currency, they have not really disclosed it to the general public.

      Mr. Ranville Is leading the pursuit in this new generation of treasure hunters, his concepts and theories are all original and are under-rated by the media and some Oak Island long standing organizations involvement in this treasure mystery.

      While listening to Mr. Ranville, I was fascinated with his journey across Canada and with only limited resources to none; he believes his dreams are the corner stone of understanding the Oak Island treasure mystery. He also believes his dreams are how the ancients fortified the capacity to process knowledge to a conscious of a limitations of mechanism’s of our own reasoning & thinking capabilities.

      He tells of amazing theories of involvement of Sir Francis Bacon, Templars, and Tumbez or Inca Treasure and how they are all connected, by a community Repository built to deposit ancient spiritual artifacts and treasures of incredible wealth to house these covenanted artifacts.

      Keith Ranville born in Winnipeg, Manitoba the province of the buffalo, of Father Elie Ranville and mother Christine Sinclair, at a young age of two, Keith left Winnipeg with his Family to Vancouver B.C he then became a ward of the court at a early age due to the loss of a parent he spent his childhood years & teenage years in group homes and foster homes. With his rocky up bringing he manage to a education himself to a grade of 9 or 10, he later educated himself on his own he then constructed a custom way of learning that he was able to build on and develop a unique way of processing information. What escapes me is his Sinclair Heritage; he explains that his mothers grandfather Albert Sinclair worked for the missionaries in the Cross Lake, Native Reservation in Northern Manitoba, he languished seven languages and what is known of him is that he traveled from the United States.

      In conclusion, Mr. Ranville’s heritage background, there can be a link to him to the Inca’s and the Templars there is no evidence that Keith’s great grandfather Albert Sinclair was a Freemason. I can only speculate that he was a genius and his linguist abilities were handed down to Keith. Also with Keith’s tenacious Scottish Heritage and spiritual Native Heritage may just be the link that is the combination to unlocking the secrets to the Oak Island Treasure Mystery.

      If you ever have the chance to meet this individual, the depth of his understandings will captivate your imagination, he has added a tremendous new spark to a once dying oak Island Treasure Mystery. His Popularity is drawing in crowds of people to this mystery like never before, the first by only one person. When it comes to treasure hunting he is far, the coast to coast the most fascinating Treasure Hunter of North America.

      “THE OAK ISLAND MYSTERY NATIVE TRE/SURE HUNTER”

      Mr. Ranville is a self-taught researcher born in Manitoba. While living in Vancouver B.C, he became acquainted with the Oak Island mystery

      READ–> http://kr.mendhak.com

      1. Oak Island Treasure Mystery and Sir Francis Bacons Watermark Cip
        SIR FRANCIS BACON’S WATERMARK CIPHER

        New: Oak Island Secret Treasure Cipher
        Recently Mr. Ranville made it known of a translation of a watermark cipher that he broken down from top to bottom descriptively, while Mr. Ranville was investigating the Oak Island treasure mystery’ he came across a watermark in a book the Oak Island Mystery by the Fanthorpes. The theory of Sir Francis Bacon and his relation to Oak Island is not relatively new, many books on Oak Island mention Sir Francis Bacon as contender of who? As a possible suspect that he may have involvement in the Oak Island treasure mystery that is now in it’s 212th year of many searches for the trophy treasure that past treasure hunters failed to grasp. Perhaps with more advanced treasure-hunting equipment and exploring Mr. Ranville’s Oak islands research concepts will give us a better understanding of this enigma. It is said Sir Francis Bacons personal writings were and preserved in mercury and hidden some where in the Oak Island treasure mystery?

        Keith Ranville a Canadian First Nations Native, is known for his translation’s of the Oak Island Money pit symbols, and for his newly discovery the Birch Island triangle.
        Mr. Ranville explains his theory in diagrams: http://www.treasurestories.losttreasureh…

        http://www.losttreasurehunting.com/image…

        A Sinclair Grail Knight
        First Nations Native Treasure Hunter/Researcher

        Keith Ranville

        http://kr.mendhak.com

        1. Oak Island and Sir Francis Bacon Secret Cipher
          Sir Francis Bacon

          Sir Francis Bacon was always accepted as the younger son of Sir Nicholas Bacon however there exist reasonable grounds to suggest that he was actually the secret son of Queen Elizabeth I and the famous explorer, Sir Francis Drake. He is an enigmatic figure and some actually believe he is the true author of the works of Shakespeare, and Christopher Marlowe.

          Bacon held a fascination with mysterious codes and ciphers, which could link him to the enigmatic inscribed stone discovered in the Money Pit. In fact, a Dr Orville Ward Owen, a follower of Bacon’s ciphers followed instructions in a Baconian cipher and discovered a mysterious underground chamber beneath the bed of the River Wye, in the West of Britain. Although it was disappointingly empty, further Baconian ciphers were to be found carved on the walls.

          In the opinion of Dr Owen, Bacon had always intended to conceal his manuscripts below the Wye. This was in the tradition of the ancient Visigoths who redirected rivers and buried their dead beneath in secret tombs. Issues of plagiarism were particularly of issue at this time, with censorship developing into a heated area of debate.

          Could it be that Bacon, feared that his secret might be discovered had had second thoughts, deciding that the River Wye location was not secure enough? To link Bacon with Canada, in 1610, King James I granted Bacon land in Newfoundland, connecting him to the proximity of Oak Island.

          Sir Francis Bacon was familiar with the science of preserving manuscripts in mercury. This coupled with his fascination in secret chambers points directly to the Money Pit. The finding of ancient flasks containing mercury plus the recovery of a piece of mysterious parchment allows the theory to become more credible.

          Consider the expert knowledge of geography which could have been made available to Bacon, had his father really been Sir Francis Drake. The acclaimed explorer could have quite possibly come across Oak Island on his travels and the pit, maybe a natural shaft, would have made the ideal location for the hiding of such valuable documents in a protective bath of mercury.

          It is certainly possible that Bacon had the contacts and status to arrange a secret burial of his valuable manuscripts in a preservative mercury bath. By making use of much older techniques, present at the Money Pit, Bacon was just adding to the mystery lying beneath Oak Island.

          He was connected with Shugborough Hall in England, the site of a strange inscription referring to Arcadian treasure. This same treasure is linked to Rennes le Chateau in France and the Knights Templar.

          Surely, with his contemporaries familiar with the mysterious disappearance of the fabled Arcadian treasure from France and the possibility that Sir Francis Drake could have informed his illegitimate son about Oak Island, this connection is worth consideration. Had the Arcadian treasure made it to Oak Island through the Knights Templars’ journey to Canada, the location would be an ideal place to hide further valuable items, especially if Bacon himself was a follower, fuelling his interest in ciphers, a typical trait of the Masons.

          http://www.mythandmystery.com/birch_isla…
          &
          http://www.mythandmystery.com/sir_franci…

          Oak Island treasure hunter/Researcher

          Keith Ranville

          SIR FRANCIS BACONS DIRECT CONNECTION TO OAK ISLANDS TREASURE
          Francis Bacons secret cipher
          THE BACONIAN WATERMARK SEAL

          It is from the 1669 edition of Sir Francis Bacons
          –> The New Atlantis.

          The Watermark is described as a triangle with tub bottom, with a circle below followed by two more circles then under a triangle on a horizontal rectangle.

          This watermark reads:

          Triangle with round bottom or Oak Island stone triangle
          One or first
          Two or second
          Triangle
          On rectangle or rectangle stone

          Keith’s cipher?

          The Oak Island triangle first, second triangle is on the rectangle stone at the bottom.
          If this translation of Sir Francis Bacon holds true, with my descriptive cipher of his watermark seal, and this cipher is done very much the same method as the Money Pits symbols, then Francis Bacon is in the front running of ?who? In my treasure theory.

          I am excited to think that the secrets to Atlantis can be in the Birch Island Triangle. My research is getting closer to the objective to treasure and it’s exciting to.
          It feel’s great to understand some as brilliant as Sir Francis Bacon.

          Bibliography
          THE OAK ISLAND MYSTERY
          THE SECRET OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST TREASURE HUNT
          BY LIONEL & PATRICIA FANTHORPE
          (Page 187 diagram 5)

          Wisdom of the Ancients and the New Atlantis London: Odhams, (undated).
          Cipher By Treasure Hunter/Researcher
          Keith Ranville

          LINKS
          http://www.mythandmystery.com/birch_island_triangle.htm
          &
          http://www.mythandmystery.com/sir_francis_bacon_oak_island_connection.htm
          http://www.treasurestories.losttreasurehunting.com/2007/02/13/oak-island-treasure-mystery-watermark-cipher/

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