A priceless Christian relic has been found in a monastery in the Czech Republic
Archaeologists have discovered a box with a chipped part of a nail allegedly from the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified
The box was found in a hidden cavity in a treasury room at the monastery in Milevsko
The six-centimeter nail is decorated with a small inlaid cross made of 21-karat gold
Researchers have dated the oak wood used to make the shrine to between 260 and 416 AD
“From a historical point of view and from a symbolic point of view, this is even greater than the reliquary of St. Maurus, a beautifully decorated box that is more than a meter large,” archaeologist Jiří Šindelář, who took part in the discovery, told the Czech News Agency (ČTK).
Maurus was discovered in 1985 beneath the boards of a chapel in Bečov nad Teplou in West Bohemia
The 13th-century gold-covered chest has been considered the second-most important historical relic in the Czech Republic
The value of the nail according to Šindelář cannot be quantified
the Milevsko Monastery was one of the richest institutions in what is now the Czech Republic
Representatives of the monastery likely hid the relic during the Hussite Wars
Hussites opposed the use of relics and iconography in practicing the Christian faith
The monastery was looted during the wars and its records were destroyed
but the looters did not find the hiding place of the nail and its gold-decorated box
“Because the Hussites destroyed the archive
there was no information that such a thing was here," said Šindelář said
He added that next year the authenticity of the nail will be verified by other experts
Prague Archbishop Cardinal Dominik Duka said the relic showed that from the historical viewpoint
the present-day Czech Republic was an important location
Major events from the Celtic and Germanic eras already took place here
It has turned out that Christianity did not start here with the Byzantine mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius,” Duka said
referring to the arrival of the missionaries to the Great Moravia Empire in the ninth century AD
The cavity in the treasury room in which the box was stored has dimensions of 26x16 centimeters
A secret corridor that archaeologists discovered in the spring leads to the room
The lid of the box was originally made of a solid gold plate with a wrought inscription IR
“The letters can be understood in this context as an abbreviation for Latin for Jesus Rex
Archaeologists have been researching the Milevsko Monastery for several months
The Premonstratensian monastery is the oldest monastery in South Bohemia
It was founded around 1184 by Jiří z Milevska (George of Milevsko)
as over the centuries dozens of nails have been linked to the Crucifixion
“Very little reliance can be placed upon the authenticity of the 30 or more holy nails which are still venerated
or which have been venerated until recent times
in such treasuries as that of Santa Croce in Rome
etc.,” the Catholic Encyclopedia stated in the early 20th century
The reference to Prague refers to another nail allegedly from the Crucifixion that is in the golden Coronation Cross of Bohemia
The cross also has a chip of wood allegedly from the True Cross along with part of the Crown of Thorns and other relics
though their authenticity has long been questioned
“Probably the majority [of the nails] began by professing to be facsimiles which had touched or contained filings from some other nail whose claim was more ancient
Without conscious fraud on the part of anyone
it is very easy for imitations in this way to come in a very brief space of time to be reputed originals,” the encyclopedia states
The most famous of the alleged nails from the cross is in tip of the Holy Lance
The spear was in Prague under the reign of Emperor Charles IV
but later was moved to Nuremberg and then passed through several hands before winding up in its current location
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Archaeologists have found a secret corridor while creating a 3-D scan of the Premonstratensian Monastery in the Czech town of Milevsko, which was first constructed in the 12th century and burned down in the early 15th century during the Hussite Wars. https://t.co/cS3DaoJdkN pic.twitter.com/Bkg0lI4MG6
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2020–The relic has apparently remained undiscovered all these years because the monastery where it was kept got looted during the Hussite Wars and the monastery’s archives were destroyed in the process
An item that may be related to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ has recently been discovered by archaeologists at the Milev monastery in the Czech Republic
a “six-inch-long piece of a nail”
was found in a cavity in the monastery’s vault
stored in a box made of oak wood dated approximately to the 4th-5th century
an archaeologist who took part in the discovery
noting that these letters are likely “an abbreviation for Latin – Jesus Rex
Due to Milev monastery’s past wealth and prominence
researchers argued that the claim that it harbored a nail from the so-called True Cross
with Sindelar suggesting that the destruction of the monastery’s archives during the looting might explain why “there was no information” that the relic was there
Researchers excavating the scene say that they cannot confirm if the nail came from the ‘True Cross,’ but note the discovery ‘is even greater than the reliquary of St. Maurus, reports the Czech News Agency (ČTK)
The Maurus Reliquary is a large box made of gold that holds fragments from bodies of three saints: Saint Maurus
There has also been dozens of nails uncovered that are linked to Jesus’s crucifixion
leading scientists to be skeptical about the recent find
Archaeologists have been working at the Milevsko monastery for several months and recently uncovered a secret passage that led to the treasury room
but was captured by Hussites in 1420 and taken over by the group’s nobility
those who called the monastery home built a secret room to hide rare and priceless artifacts
After analyzing the box through radiocarbon dating
the team found it was made with two types of wood
which is found in Israel’s subtropical climate
A similar discovery was unearthed in October when a team found nails with ancient bone and wood embedded in them
The nails were allegedly found in Jerusalem
in a first-century burial cave believed to be the resting place of Caiaphas
the Jewish priest who sent Jesus to his death in the Bible
but further scientific tests will be carried out to determine the age of the nail
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