John the Baptist

=== 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>