Saint Stepanos Skeletons Could Belong to John, the Baptist

Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency (IRNA), Iran
Aug 4 2005

Iran’s Armenian Archbishop believes that the newly discovered
skeletons in Saint Stepanos Church could belong to John, the Baptist.

Tehran, 4 August 2005 (CHN) – Following the recent discovery of
skeletons in Saint Stepanos Church, in a letter to CHN, Iran’s
Armenian Archbishop talked of the possibility of their belonging to
John the Baptist.

A few months ago, a team of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism
Organization (ICHTO) who were studying documents from Iranian churches
for international registration, came to discover some skeletons in
Saint Stepanos Church, located in the northeastern province of East
Azarbaijan.

Saint Stepanos Church is Iran’s second most important church after
Qareh Kelisa (the Black Church) in West Azarbaijan.

With regard to this discovery, Sabveh Serkisian, Iran’s Armenians’
archbishop and head of the Prelacy of Tehran and North of Iran,
wrote a letter which reads as follows:

“With regard to the box found in Saint Stepanos Church of remains of
Apostles, it is said that the box consists of remains of John, the
Baptist. According to Armenian historian, Aracle Davar Yareshti, when
the Taslis-e Moghaddas (Trinity) Church of Old Jolfa was destroyed,
a box of sacred remains and a scroll were found at the location of the
main church altar and handed after a while to Shamon, bishop of Saint
Stepanos Church in Darsham region. The scroll was then transferred
to the afore-mentioned church in 972.

“Most probably the discovered remains are of great historical value.
According to the church tradition, we know that when Gregor was
selected as the bishop of Gheisarieh (Constantinople), on his way back,
Bishop Ghiondios gave him parts of the remains of John the Baptist to
show his affection and respect. Parts of the remains were transferred
to the town of Mush and put in the main church of John, the Baptist.

“The transfer of these remains to another location has been the
result of killings and destructions in the region. Priests and true
Christians changed the location of the skeletons to preserve the
skeletons, and as a French traveler recalls he saw the box when he
was passing Saint Stepanos Church in 16th-early 17th century where
he was told that the box belonged to one of the 12 Apostles of Christ.”

The bones discovered by Iranian experts in Saint Stepanos Chruch
were collected in attendance of a representative from the Prelacy of
Armenian Church and transferred to East Azarbaijan Prelacy until the
completion of the restoration project of the church.

Existence of the bones of Apostles and Christian Saints, namely Saint
Stepanos (saint Etienne), Saint Minos and Daniel, has been pointed
out in different sources including “six journeys of Jean-Baptiste
Tavernier” (1676), some photo-albums in Golestan Palace, and also
the photo archives of Adl clan, which were taken by Ali Khan Vali,
the ruler of northern Azerbaijan in Qajar era.

The discovery of these bones in Saint Stepanos Church highlights the
importance of the church and is hoped to facilitate its registration
on UNESCO World Heritage List as desired by Iranian officials.

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