The cathedral of Reggio Emilia in northern Italy. A five hundred year old stone altar, and inside, a tomb – for thousands of years the faithful have believed this to be the final resting place of two holy saints, Chrysanthus and Daria ... But are their bodies really inside the tomb? Mystery of the Murdered Saints: Reggio Emelia, National Geographic 2011
Authenticity is a question that haunts the world of holy relics. Most saintly remains have been dismembered. ibid.
His last request – to be buried with two nails from an act that haunted him – the Crucifixion of Jesus? Did Caiaphas, one of the most vilified characters in Christianity, regret what he’d done? The discovery of a tomb in Jerusalem and two nails could hold the key to a new take on a two-thousand-year-old villain, and reveal one of Christianity’s greatest relics. Biblical Conspiracies: Nails of the Cross s1e1, 2014
They have traces of bone and ionised wood on them. ibid.
Eight days after his birth, Jesus of Nazareth was circumcised. During the Middle Ages the Holy Foreskin of Christ became one of the most important relics in Christendom. Quest for the Holy Foreskin, National Geographic 2013
Then in 1983 international newspapers reported it had been stolen. ibid.
By the twentieth century the Church had grown embarrassed by the Holy Foreskin. ibid.
The Prieuré de Sion was a religious order founded upon Mount Sion in Jerusalem. The Order set for itself the goal of preserving and recording the bloodline of Jesus and the House of David. Through every means available to them, the Prieuré de Sion had found and retrieved the remaining relics. These relics were entrusted to the Knights Templar for safekeeping ... The relics are hidden in France. I know the location ... Bill Cooper, Secret Societies/New World Order
The Spear of Destiny: believed by many to have survived the centuries to become the treasured talisman of Germany’s first, second and third Reichs. Decoding the Past s1e29: Relics of the Passion, History 2005
Today there are at least four Spears. ibid.
It began as an instrument of mercy in the hands of a Roman soldier who was present at the Crucifixion, and it became one of the holiest relics in Christian tradition. The Spear of Christ has been associated with many miraculous episodes, some involving powerful rulers and arduous military campaigns. Today four artefacts have survived through the ages. One in Krakow, one in Vienna, one in the Vatican and one in Armenia. Each has been proclaimed to be the lance that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the Cross. Decoding the Past s2e38: The Spear of Christ
This one, housed in the Schatzkammer Museum in Vienna, is probably the best known of the four. It is also known as the Lance of St Maurice. ibid.
As Christ was dying on the Cross it is said that a Roman spear was thrust into his torso, transforming a common weapon into a holy relic. A relic shrouded in mystery and legend. Ever since, the Holy Spear has been said to bestow power on the one who possesses it. Unsolved History: Hitler and the Spear of Destiny, Discovery 2012
Like all tyrants Hitler coveted the trappings of power. So when the Third Reich invaded Austria in 1938 they stole the ancient relics of the Holy Roman Emperors, including the Holy Spear. ibid.
The Spear of Destiny ... has been pursued by everyone from Napoleon to Adolf Hitler. Brad Meltzer’s Decoded s2e9, Spear of Destiny, History 2011
Where is it? ibid.
The true cross … The relic was thought to be lost to history … Is the true cross a hoax that mocks the crucifixion? Jesus Code: The True Cross, Discovery 2016
Among all the remarkable crown jewels, Hitler’s eyes were magnetically drawn to a plain unremarkable lance. Latin words were engraved on the blade. Ancient Mysteries: The Quest for the Holy Lance s3e17, A&E 1995
In 66 A.D. the Jews seized the armoury and the Holy Lance disappeared. ibid.
The Persians sacked Jerusalem in 614 A.D. ibid.
On September 11 2001 more than 3,000 people in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York City were killed in an unforgettable act of terrorism … This is the story of the quest to find relics from the rubble of September 11th. Relics from the Rubble, History 2002
From tiny items like these incinerated eye-glasses to forty-ton fragments of the Tower’s structural steel, these are the things that can be touched by future generations to help them understand what happened here. ibid.
‘It takes thousands of degrees to bend steel like this.’ ibid. steel worker with box-beam U-bend
One of the more unusual artefacts to emerge from the rubble is this rock-like object that has come to be known as the Meteorite. ibid.
A sad picture of lives cut short … There’s some $75,000 in cash and coins. ibid.
Right across Britain archaeologists are unearthing the relics of ancient lives. Julian Richards, Stories from The Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited: Pagans of Roman Britain, BBC 2013
A village celebration attended by human remains. An underground labyrinth filled with skeletons. And a remote mountain lake that hides a deadly secret. After we die, what do we really leave behind? Our bones? That’s it? But there are those who believe that our bones are much more than your mindless reminders of our existence. The UnXplained with William Shatner s3e6: Sacred Bones, History 2022
One of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance (λόγχη), and immediately there came out blood and water. John 19:34
Just as he had ripped the heart out of the Welsh sense of independence by carrying off their sacred relics, Edward now took the Stone of Scone, the symbol of the independent Scottish Crown, to Westminster. Simon Schama, A History of Britain s1e4: Nations, BBC 2000