One of them is ancient Antioch. It was here in 1910 that a sensational find was made that excited archaeologists, church hierarchs and millions of ordinary Christians …
Speaking about Antioch, it is necessary to clarify which one it is about, since in ancient times 16 cities bore such a name, and each of them was known in its own way. But the most famous of them, perhaps, was the one on the site of which the Turkish Antakya is today. Named Antioch-on-Oronte, the city was an important political and cultural center, the capital of the Seleucid Empire.
Of course, most of the wealth that the city was famous for during its heyday, flowed away along with its former power. But something remained: in 1910 a large treasure of silver objects was found here. Among the vases, bracelets and ritual objects, the Arab workers in the ruins of the cathedral also found a beautiful double bowl. There was nothing surprising in this find: at the beginning of the 4th century, the founder of the Byzantine Empire, Constantine the Great, distributed silver treasures to the churches of the empire. And when persecutions began against Christians, the earth hid many rarities.
In the end, the complete set of Antiochian treasures was acquired by the Kuchakji brothers' antique firm, which had offices in Aleppo, Paris and New York.
The liturgical vessel (judging by the shape and ornamentation, the bowl was used for ritual purposes) was restored and presented at the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1933 as the Last Supper bowl, where the Lord's blood was collected after the crucifixion. This created an unprecedented sensation all over the world - has the Holy Grail been found? And is there any reason for this?
I must say, there were grounds. First of all, the bowl (its height is 19.7 centimeters, diameter is 18.1 centimeters) consists of two bowls inserted one into the other. The inner one is simple and raw, it does not contain any decorations like the outer bowl, but has the characteristic elongated shape inherent in all bowls that have existed since the time of Christ. So, most likely, it was the inner cup that could claim the role of a “great sacred relic”.
But the outer one was created a little later. There are 12 human figures on it. They are entwined with vines, weighed down by bunches of grapes. There are also animals sitting on perches and various objects with symbolic overtones. The top of the inner bowl is bent outward to form a chain of outlets.
Among the figures present on the bowl, two belong to Christ: on one of them he is depicted as a boy, on the other - after the Resurrection.
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All this testified that the bowl could well have been that very vessel.
But complete triumph never happened. After additional verification, it turned out that the bowl was created in about 500-550 by Antiochian craftsmen and, possibly, is part of some large, not yet found treasure.
At present, the Antioch Bowl, or as it is also called, the "Chalice of the Last Supper", is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York).
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 28, July 2017, Igor Rodionov