Turkey wants Santa’s bones back

by Sean McLachlan on

A Turkish archaeologist is campaigning to have the bones of St. Nicholas, the model for the legend of Santa Claus, returned to the saint’s hometown in Turkey.

Saint Nicholas was the bishop of the Roman town of Myra, modern Demre in what is now Turkey, in the 4th century. He came from a rich family and was famous for giving money to the poor. People would leave their shoes out for him to put money in. This tradition is still kept in many Christmas celebrations today. In Spain it’s the Three Wise Men who bring presents, but they leave them in shoes. Another story has Saint Nicholas throwing gifts down the chimneys of poor young women so they would have enough dowry to get married.

He was buried in a local church, pictured here, but Italian sailors took his bones away when the Arabs invaded in the 11th century. Now the Turkish Ministry of Culture is considering the archaeologist’s request to put political pressure on Italy.

Do we now have a Turkish Zahi Hawass, fighting to get archaeological treasures returned to their native land? It’s too early to tell, but I bet that archaeologist got some nice presents in his shoes this year.

Tourist returns ancient piece of Jerusalem

by Sean McLachlan on

The Israel Antiquities Authority got an interesting package from the U.S. recently, Archaeology News reported. It contained a piece of early medieval stonework and came with a note.

The note said that the sender, who apparently remained anonymous, had been an archaeology student 12 years ago and stole the stone from the excavation he was on so that he would have a memento with which to “pray for Jerusalem.” Instead, it made him feel guilty and so he decided to return it. Sometimes guilt takes a while to work.

At least this idiot had to pay a lot in postage. The stone weighed 21 kilograms (more than 46 pounds) and appears to be a portion of a marble column from the Umayyid Dynasty, a Muslim dynasty that ruled the region from 661 to 750 A.D. The Umayyids had the first major Muslim empire, ruling over a vast territory from their capital in Damascus. They were responsible for building two of the major Muslim sites in the holy city–The Dome of the Rock (pictured here) and Al-Aksa Mosque.

Israeli archaeologists believe the column came from a large palace complex built near the Temple Mount that served as the local seat of government.

As some travelers set off to volunteer at archaeological excavations this summer, this former archaeologist would like to remind them that stealing antiquities is not only immoral, but illegal, and could land you in jail. It will certainly get you an F in your archaeology class.