Editing John the Baptist (section)

=== 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 being 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 in 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]].

An apocryphal tradition claims that after John's death, his mother Elizabeth was told by an angel to bury him where his father lay. She was then led by the angel to the temple in which John's father was killed by Herod I, at which point a voice called out, an earthquake rumbled, and thunder struck, and the altar of the temple opened, revealing Zechariah's body. Elizabeth then buried John's body under this altar.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina A. Vassiliev p.2-3}}</ref>

[[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>