Lipsanotheca

Lipsanotheca (Italian lipsanoteca) is a word for a reliquary, or specifically a small box containing the actual relics inside a reliquary. It is a Late Latin word, derived from the Greek. In modern English it usually refers to a small number of individual very old reliquaries, most often the 4th century ivory Brescia Casket, which is the most likely meaning of the plain term, especially in its Italian version. A 13th century wooden box in Alicante, Spain, is also called a lipsanotheca.