As Christmas approached, archaeologists near the southern coast of Turkey appeared to have unearthed a sarcophagus belonging to one of the holy men the Santa Claus mythos is said to originate from.
According to Turkiye Today, work at the St. Nicholas Church in Demre, Antalya, has been ongoing since 1989 in the area where the discovery was made.
The apparent grave of Saint Nicholas himself was only recently found, and as of Dec. 6, work was still underway to fully uncover it.
Earlier this month, only the lid had been fully unearthed.
The excavation is led by Hatay Mustafa Kemal University associate professor Ebru Fatma Findik and backed by Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The sarcophagus itself is made of local limestone quarried from somewhere in the surrounding area.
Buried nearly two meters under the surface, a primary problem faced by archaeologists is how to fully uncover the grave while preserving any information carved into the surface.
Carvings and other stonework could provide vital clues to the tomb’s occupant. The burial chamber itself may also hold critical names or dates.
“Our biggest hope is to find an inscription on the sarcophagus,” Findik said. “This would help clarify the burial contents and allow us to determine the exact period it dates to.”
Most telling of all may be the discovery’s location.
“Some sources suggest that St. Nicholas was buried near the sacred area of the city of Myra,” Findik said. “The fact that we have found a sarcophagus near the church, which is thought to house his tomb, may indicate that this is indeed the sacred area we have been searching for.
“This is a significant archaeological confirmation of historical sources regarding the burial place of St. Nicholas.”
The 4th Century saint that flourished in Asia Minor was not quite the jolly red-suited man that can be seen swigging Coca-Cola when the holidays begin.
According to Britannica, no proof of the Lycian St. Nicholas’ existence can be found in historical documents. Discovery of hard evidence of the saint on the recently-found tomb would undoubtedly be big news.
The real St. Nicholas is believed to have been a bishop of Myra.
He was likely imprisoned and tortured under Emperor Diocletian but later freed by Constantine the Great. The saint is also believed to have attended the Council of Nicaea, where he is said to have struck a heretic.
Outside of throwing hands with heretics, St. Nicholas was also known for his legendary generosity.
After his death, the legend of his storied and devout life grew, and a shrine was erected at the Myra church by the 6th Century. In 1087, sailors stole some of his alleged remains and took them back to their native Italy.
The bones these pious pirates pilfered were enshrined at the San Nicola Basilica in Bari, Italy, where the relics remain on display.
Britannica stated, the legend of St. Nicholas, enflamed by the relocation of the relic bones, spread throughout Europe and persisted until it was abandoned by Protestant countries after the Reformation.
The lone exception was Holland, where he was venerated in the Dutch tongue as Sinterklaas.
Colonists from the Low Countries brought tales of Sinterklaas to the unforgiving winter nights of New Amsterdam — now New York City. The legend was then absorbed and anglicized by English colonists as Santa Claus.
Whether you know him as Santa Claus, Sinterklaas, St. Nicholas, or just Ol’ Saint Nick, the figure stands as an enduring testament to Christianity’s foundational place in Western culture.
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