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Do not fill this in! ==Relics== [[File:Nabi Yahya Mosque, Sebastia, c. 1920.jpg|thumb|[[Nabi Yahya Mosque]], traditionally held as the burial site of John the Baptist, in [[Sebastia (Palestine)|Sebastia]], near [[Nablus]]]] {{see also|Beheading of John the Baptist#Relics}} Matthew 14:12 records that "his disciples came and took away [John's] body and buried it."<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|14:12|NKJV}}</ref> Theologian [[Joseph Benson]] refers to a belief that they managed to do so because "it seems that the body had been thrown over the prison walls, without burial, probably by order of Herodias."<ref>[http://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/matthew/14.htm Benson's Commentary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209194514/http://biblehub.com/commentaries/benson/matthew/14.htm |date=9 February 2017 }} on Matthew 14, accessed 17 January 2017</ref> [[File:MonasteryOfSt.ohnInTheWildernessFeb122022 04.jpg|thumb|[[Monastery of Saint John in the Wilderness]]]] === The fate of his head === What became of the head of John the Baptist is difficult to determine. Ancient historians [[Josephus]], [[Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos|Nicephorus]]<ref>Nicephorus, ''Ecclesiastical History'' I, ix. ''See'' [[Patrologia Graeca]], cxlv.–cxlvii.</ref> and [[Symeon the Metaphrast|Symeon Metaphrastes]] assumed that [[Herodias]] had it buried in the fortress of [[Machaerus]]. An [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] tradition holds that, after buried, the head was discovered by John's followers and was taken to the [[Mount of Olives]], where it was twice buried and discovered, the latter events giving rise to the Orthodox feast of the [[Beheading of John the Baptist#Related feasts|First and Second Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist]]. Other writers say that it was interred in Herod's palace at Jerusalem; there it was found during the reign of [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]], and thence secretly taken to [[Homs|Emesa (modern Homs, in Syria)]], where it was concealed, the place remaining unknown for years, until it was manifested by [[revelation]] in 452,<ref name="Dumper">{{Cite book|last1=Dumper|first1=Michael|last2=Stanley|first2=Bruce E.|last3=Abu-Lughod|first3=Janet L.|title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia|page=172|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2007|isbn=978-1-57607-919-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=First+crusade+emesa&pg=PA172|access-date=12 October 2020|archive-date=23 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923081049/https://books.google.com/books?id=3SapTk5iGDkC&q=First+crusade+emesa&pg=PA172|url-status=live}}</ref> an event celebrated in the Orthodox Church as the [[Beheading of John the Baptist#Related feasts|Third Finding]]. [[File:The shrine of John the Baptist, Damascus, April 2008.jpg|thumb|Shrine of John the Baptist in the [[Umayyad Mosque]], which purportedly houses John the Baptist's head]] Two [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] churches and one mosque claim to have the head of John the Baptist: the [[Umayyad Mosque]], in [[Damascus]] ([[Syria]]); the church of [[San Silvestro in Capite]], in [[Rome]]; and [[Amiens Cathedral]], in [[France]] (the French king would have had it brought from the Holy Land after the [[Fourth Crusade]]). A fourth claim is made by the [[Munich Residenz|Residenz Museum]] in Munich, Germany, which keeps a reliquary containing what the [[House of Wittelsbach|Wittelsbach]] rulers of Bavaria believed to be the head of Saint John.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Relics of Munich Residenz|url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-relics-of-munich-residenz|access-date=14 August 2021|website=Atlas Obscura|language=en|archive-date=5 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405092630/https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-relics-of-munich-residenz|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Right hand relics=== According to the Christian Arab [[Ibn Butlan]], the [[church of Cassian]] in Antioch held the right arm of John the Baptist until it was smuggled to [[Chalcedon]] and later to Constantinople.<ref name="GiorgiEger"> {{cite book |last1=Giorgi |first1=Andrea U. De |last2=Eger |first2=A. Asa |title=Antioch: A History |date=30 May 2021 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-54041-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRgoEAAAQBAJ|page=251 |access-date=8 February 2024 |language=en}}</ref> An [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] [[Cetinje Monastery|monastery]] in [[Cetinje Monastery|Cetinje]], [[Montenegro]], and the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Cathedral of [[Siena]], in [[Italy]], both claim to have John the Baptist's right arm and hand, with which he baptised Jesus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hecker |first=Francesca |title=The Holy Finger at the Nelson-Atkins is an unusual piece of biblical history |url=https://www.columbiamissourian.com/special_section/tourism/kansas_city/the-holy-finger-at-the-nelson-atkins-is-an-unusual-piece-of-biblical-history/article_ebcf19d6-7b5b-11ea-98a9-d727ed4f4fe1.html |access-date=14 August 2021 |website=Columbia Missourian |date=21 May 2020 |language=en |archive-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927061625/https://www.columbiamissourian.com/special_section/tourism/kansas_city/the-holy-finger-at-the-nelson-atkins-is-an-unusual-piece-of-biblical-history/article_ebcf19d6-7b5b-11ea-98a9-d727ed4f4fe1.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bones">{{cite news |last=Hooper |first=Simon |date=30 August 2010 |title=Are these the bones of John the Baptist? |publisher=Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/12/bulgaria.john.baptist.relics/index.html |access-date=31 August 2011 |archive-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702040705/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/12/bulgaria.john.baptist.relics/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the Catholic account, in 1464 [[Pope Pius II]] donated what was identified as the right arm and hand of John the Baptist to the Siena Cathedral.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Pula |first=Milena Joksimović |date=2017 |title=Pope Pius II's charter of donation of the arm of St John the Baptist to Siena cathedral |url=http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-1361/2017/0350-13611741095J.pdf |journal=Zograf |volume=41 |pages=95–105 |access-date=2 May 2022 |archive-date=23 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423212146/http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-1361/2017/0350-13611741095J.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The donation charter identifies the relic as "the arm of blessed John the Baptist. And this is the very arm that baptized the Lord." The relic is displayed on the high altar of the [[Siena Cathedral]] annually in June. [[Topkapı Palace|Topkapi Palace]], in Istanbul, claims to have John's right hand index finger.<ref name="bones" /> [[File:Armenian Chinsurah 2.jpg|thumb|A [[Kolkata]] [[Armenians in India|Armenian]] kisses the hand of St John the Baptist at [[Chinsurah]].]] ===Various relics and traditions=== ==== Right hand – St. John the Baptist Church of Chinsurah (India) ==== The saint's right hand is allegedly preserved in the Armenian Apostolic Church of St. John at Chinsurah, [[West Bengal]], in India, where each year on "Chinsurah Day" in January it blesses the [[Armenian Apostolic Church|Armenian Christians]] of [[Kolkata|Calcutta]]. ====Decapitation cloth==== The decapitation cloth of Saint John, the cloth which covered his head after his execution, is said to be kept at the [[Aachen Cathedral]], in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The relics {{!}} Heiligtumsfahrt 2021|url=https://heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de/en/the-aachen-pilgrimage/the-relics/|access-date=14 August 2021|website=heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de|archive-date=14 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814205658/https://heiligtumsfahrt-aachen.de/en/the-aachen-pilgrimage/the-relics/|url-status=dead}}</ref> ====Historic Armenia==== [[File:Surp Garabed Vank (Hampikian, 1923).jpg|thumb|[[Saint Karapet Monastery]], where Armenian tradition holds that his remains were laid to rest by Gregory the Illuminator<ref name="Kharatyan">{{cite book|last1=Kharatyan|first1=Lusine|url=http://www.anadolukultur.org/images/UserFiles/Documents/Editor/Moush_Sweet_Moush.pdf|title=Moush, sweet Moush: Mapping Memories from Armenia and Turkey|last2=Keskin|first2=Ismail|last3=Keshishyan|first3=Avetis|last4=Ozturk|first4=S. Aykut|last5=Khachatryan|first5=Nane|last6=Albayrak|first6=Nihal|last7=Hakobyan|first7=Karen|date=2013|publisher=The Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (dvv international)|isbn=978-3-942755-12-2|page=69|quote=The Saint Karapet Monastery is one of the oldest Armenian monasteries in Moush Valley, dating back to the 4th century when Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church, is believed to have buried the relics of Saint John the Baptist (Karapet) here.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103033505/http://www.anadolukultur.org/images/UserFiles/Documents/Editor/Moush_Sweet_Moush.pdf|archive-date=3 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="Avetisyan">{{cite book|last=Avetisyan|first=Kamsar|url=http://armenianhouse.org/avetisyan/taron.html|title=Հայրենագիտական էտյուդներ [Armenian studies sketches]|publisher=Sovetakan Grogh|year=1979|location=Yerevan|page=204|language=hy|contribution=Տարոնի պատմական հուշարձանները [Historical monuments of Taron]|quote=...ըստ ավանդության, Գրիգոր Լուսավորիչը ամփոփել է ս. Կարապետի և Աթանագինե եպիսկոպոսի նշխարները։|author-link=:hy:Կամսար Ավետիսյան|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-date=7 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107092712/http://armenianhouse.org/avetisyan/taron.html|url-status=live}}</ref>]] According to Armenian tradition, the remains of John the Baptist would in some point have been transferred by [[Gregory the Illuminator]] to the [[Surb Karapet Monastery|Saint Karapet Armenian Monastery]].<ref name="Kharatyan" /><ref name="Avetisyan" /> ====Bulgaria==== In 2010, bones were discovered in the ruins of a Bulgarian church in the St. John the Forerunner Monastery (4th–17th centuries) on the [[Black Sea]] island of [[St. Ivan Island|Sveti Ivan]] (Saint John) and two years later, after DNA and radio carbon testing proved the bones belonged to a Middle Eastern man who lived in the 1st century AD, scientists said that the remains could conceivably have belonged to John the Baptist.<ref name=NG>{{cite magazine| title=John the Baptist's Bones Found?| author=Ker Than| magazine=National Geographic| url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120618-john-the-baptist-bones-jesus-christ-bible-bulgaria-science-higham/| date=19 June 2012| access-date=19 September 2012| archive-date=27 July 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727061044/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/06/120618-john-the-baptist-bones-jesus-christ-bible-bulgaria-science-higham/| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Moss, Candida. [http://candidamoss.com/national-geographic-search-for-the-head-of-john-the-baptist/ National Geographic: Search for the Head of John the Baptist.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926150147/http://candidamoss.com/national-geographic-search-for-the-head-of-john-the-baptist/ |date=26 September 2014 }} 19 April 2014.</ref> The remains, found in a reliquarium, are presently kept in the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in [[Sozopol]].<ref name=NG /><ref>[http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132804 Old Town Sozopol – Bulgaria's 'Rescued' Miracle and Its Modern Day Saviors.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907142850/https://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132804 |date=7 September 2022 }} ''Sofia News Agency,'' 10 October 2011.</ref> ====Egypt==== [[File:St John the Baptists tomb.JPG|thumb|Tomb of Saint John the Baptist at a [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic]] [[monastery]] in [[Lower Egypt]]. The bones of Saint John the Baptist were said to have been found here.]] The Coptic Orthodox Church also claim to hold the relics of Saint John the Baptist. A crypt and relics said to be John's and mentioned in 11th- and 16th-century manuscripts, were discovered in 1969 during restoration of the Church of St. Macarius at the [[Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great]] in [[Scetes]], [[Egypt]].<ref name="Stmacariusmonastery.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.stmacariusmonastery.org/eabout.htm|title=The Monastery of St. Macarius the Great|publisher=Stmacariusmonastery.org|access-date=14 February 2010|archive-date=9 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709120739/http://www.stmacariusmonastery.org/eabout.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> ====Nagorno-Karabakh==== Additional relics are claimed to reside in [[Gandzasar Monastery]]'s Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, in [[Nagorno-Karabakh]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} ==== Purported left finger bone ==== The bone of one of John the Baptist's left fingers is said to be at the [[Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. It is held in a Gothic-style [[monstrance]] made of [[Silver-gilt|gilded silver]] that dates back to 14th century [[Lower Saxony]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hecker|first=Francesca|title=The Holy Finger at the Nelson-Atkins is an unusual piece of biblical history|url=https://www.columbiamissourian.com/special_section/tourism/kansas_city/the-holy-finger-at-the-nelson-atkins-is-an-unusual-piece-of-biblical-history/article_ebcf19d6-7b5b-11ea-98a9-d727ed4f4fe1.html|access-date=30 November 2020|website=Columbia Missourian|date=21 May 2020|language=en|archive-date=8 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608064208/https://www.columbiamissourian.com/special_section/tourism/kansas_city/the-holy-finger-at-the-nelson-atkins-is-an-unusual-piece-of-biblical-history/article_ebcf19d6-7b5b-11ea-98a9-d727ed4f4fe1.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Monstrance|url=https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/10809/monstrance;jsessionid=B81F0798B585C21F5C8711729BD29C6E|access-date=30 November 2020|website=art.nelson-atkins.org|language=en|archive-date=4 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404150711/https://art.nelson-atkins.org/objects/10809/monstrance;jsessionid=B81F0798B585C21F5C8711729BD29C6E|url-status=live}}</ref> ====Halifax, England==== Another obscure claim relates to the town of [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]] in West Yorkshire, United Kingdom, where, as patron saint of the town, the Baptist's head appears on the official coat-of-arms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Halifax_(Yorkshire) |title=Heraldry of the World; Civic heraldry of the United Kingdom; Halifax (Yorkshire) |publisher=Ralf Hartemink |access-date=6 February 2017 |archive-date=17 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170217065650/http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Halifax_(Yorkshire) |url-status=live }}</ref> One legend (among others) bases the etymology of the town's place-name on "halig" (holy) and "fax" (hair), claiming that a relic of the head, or face, of John the Baptist once existed in the town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://imbolcfire.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/holy-face-of-halifax.html|title=The Holy Face of Halifax|last=Roberts|first=Kai|date=19 June 2010|website=Omnia Exeunt in Mysterium|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215165559/http://imbolcfire.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/holy-face-of-halifax.html|archive-date=15 February 2016|url-status=live|access-date=16 February 2017}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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