Until recently it was believed that the gold Three Kings Reliquary Shrine on the High Altar of the Cologne Cathedral dated from the 12th century. However, recent research on the textile fragments of the relics indicates a much earlier date. The weaving techniques, patterns, ornamentation and materials used are being assiduously studied, and after comparisons with textiles found in the burial grounds of ancient Palmyra that can be dated, suggest the Near East and the first two centuries after Christ as the place and time of origin of the relics. See also 20-583, 20-614, and 20-617. -- AATA