"The Gral [while it may be carried by the pure of heart] is so heavy that sinful mortals could not lift it from its place."
     - Wolfram von Eschenbach, Parzival

"All at once he [Moses] saw the writing vanish from the tablets, and at the same time became aware of their enormous weight, for while the celestial writing was upon them they carried their own weight and did not burden Moses, but with the disappearance of the writing all this changed."
     - Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews

In a further cryptic identification of the Grail with the Ark, Wofram tells how a troop of angels brought the Grail from the stars and " provided a strange alternative name for the Grail - 'Lapis exilis'."
     - Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal

"In Laprecht's Alexanderlied, vs. 7107, he [Wolfram] would have read that the stone sent to Alexander [the Great] from the gate of the Earthly Paradise gives 'den alden di jugint', 'gives youth to the old'. While this text would account for the identification of the Grail with a rejuvenating talisman, the Iter Alexandri and Paradisum suggests why Wolfram asserted that it was called lapis exilis. This Latin text informs us that the stone sent to the conqueror from Paradise was of great brilliance and rare color, but was like in form and size to a human eye. Alexander consulted his wise men in vain, but an ancient Jew told him that the stone, when placed in scales, would outweigh any quantity of gold; but when it was covered with a little dirt, a feather would tip the scales against it. It was like the human eye because human cupidity for earth's treasures is insatiable; but when the eye is closed with dust, all lust for power and riches departs. 'This stone [lapis] prefigures thee, master of the world, warns thee, and rebukes thee; this small [exilis] substance restrains thee from the cravings of basest ambition.' Alexander took the lesson to heart and abandoned his scheme of world conquest."
     - Roger Sherman Loomis, The Grail, From Celtic Myth to Christian Symbol

During his campaign in Egypt, Alexander undertook a risky and arduous south across the wastelands to Sais, a temple complex dedicated to the chief god Amon. At the site was a jewel encrusted prophetic stone which reputedly possessed wondrous rejuventating powers. When he reached Sais, Alexander was hailed by the priests and throng at the temple as "Amon", the living reincarnation of the God. Alexander's successors also proclaimed themselves living deities, and left a legacy of divine rule which lasted to the reign of Louis XIV of France, the "Sun King".

"Although I came across a variety of interpretations for the real meaning of this epithet, the most plausible by far was that it had been derived from lapis ex caelis ('stone from heaven'), lapsit ex caelis ('it fell from heaven'), or even lapis, lapsus ex caelis, 'stone fallen from heaven'."
     - Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal

The tradition of sacred stone tablets of meteoric origin is well established in the middle east.

"The Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple...was a place of 'thick darkness' according to the Bible. Talmudic sources recorded, however, that: 'The High Priest of Israel entered and left by the light that the Holy Ark issued forth' - a convenient state of affairs that changed after the relic disappeared. From then on the Priest 'groped his way in the dark'.
"The Ark, therefore, was a source of paranormal lambency: a dazzling radiance was emitted by it - as numerous biblical passages confirmed [Exodus 40:20-38]. In a similar fashion ChrŽtien's Grail...sent out a radiance 'so great...that....candles lost their brilliance just as the stars do at the rising of the sun or moon'.
"ChrŽtien's Grail was likewise made of 'pure gold' while the Ark was 'overlaid with pure god, within and without and was covered with a lid (known was the 'mercy seat') which was also 'of pure gold'. but is was not from this precious metal that Ark and Grail derived their light-generating quality; rather this was the product of their shared impregnation with a fiery celestial energy. "
     - Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal

"As he came down from the mountain, Moses had the two 'tablets of the Testimony in his hands. He did not know that the skin on his face was radiant...And when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, the skin on his face shone so much that they would not venture near him."
     - Exodus 34:29-30

"In the course of the development of the Grail stories, the Grail itself became symbolically equated with the Blessed Virgin Mary because it contained the blood of Christ, and before she gave birth to Him, Mary contained Christ himself in her womb; thus the Grail became a symbol of Mary herself. Accordingly, Mary Theotokos, the 'God-bearer', was the sacred vessel that had contained the Spirit made flesh. She was the Vas Spirituale (the spiritual vessel), the Vas honorabile (the vessel of honor) and the Vas insigne devotionis (the singular vessel of devotion). Mary was also referred to as the Arca Foederis (The Ark of the Covenant). Even as early as the fourth century, Saint Ambrose explicitly compared Mary to the Ark, which, he argued, was a prophetic allegory for Mary; for just as it had contained the old Law in the form of the Ten Commandments, so she had contained the new Law in the form of the body of Christ."
     - Noel Currer-Briggs, Shroud Mafia - The Creation of a Relic? (1995)

Hyperlinks

·The Stone from the Stars