Silas' Tombstone

Silas' Tombstone is purportedly the world's first tombstone, according to occult expert Atticus Shane, and it is one of the keys to raising Silas. It is also considered extremely valuable in some witch circles, worth even more than the , as it contains Qetsiyah's calcified blood, making it a powerful source of magic. It was first seen in the episode We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes, when Shane displayed it at an exhibit held at Mystic Falls High School.
==Appearance==
Silas' tombstone appears to have once had ancient symbols etched onto its surface, which have since been eroded in the roughly two thousand years it marked the location of Silas' tomb. It is a sedimentary rock, probably sandstone infused with quartz, or dolomite. It is probably very heavy. It is possible that the stone is native to Nova Scotia, where Silas was entombed on one of the province's islands.
==Interpretations of Etchings==
<tabber>
|-|Shane's Exhibit=
Aramaic writing.jpg|Aramaic Writing Pertaining to the Headstone
|-|Headstone=
Inscription of Silas on headstone.jpg|Inscription of Silas' name on headstone
|-|The Ankh Symbol=
An is shown during Shane's exhibit. It portrayed as a cross with a handle on it. In the image shown, the ankh is between the hands (on the right) and the nose of the face (on the left) of the figure in the motif. Though the Ankh's literary origins remain a mystery, it is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph that means "life" and is also used in many Gnostic sects, as well as by many neo-pagans.
Eternal Life symbol.jpg|Ankah Symbol
|-|Ouroboros=
During Shane's exhibit at Mystic Falls High School, a motif of an was shown that symbolizes Silas' eternal life. An ouroboros represents cyclical nature of existence, especially in the sense of something constantly re-creating itself. It can also be thought of as the eternal return, and is commonly, though not always shown as a snake or dragon with its tail in its mouth. The earliest ouroboros known at this time was discovered in the found in the tomb of , dating to 14th century BCE.
Ouroboros.jpg|Ouroboros
</tabber>
==History==
===Season Four===
In We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes, Shane asserted that the headstone had been donated to Whitmore College, though it is not clear if Shane donated the stone himself or if the stone came into his collection at that point.
In After School Special, Kol acknowledged, along with Shane, that the headstone was needed to raise Silas. Later in the same episode, Stefan, who was still determined to obtain the cure, convinced Rebekah to join him in his efforts.
In Catch Me If You Can, Rebekah and Stefan acknowledged that, with the exception of themselves, the others who were searching for the cure each had one of the keys needed to awaken Silas. They decided to steal the headstone from Shane, which they believed was one of the keys to freeing Silas. To further convince Stefan to help her, Rebekah argued that by obtaining the stone, they would force 'Team Shane' to join 'Team Rebekah' and leave 'Team Klaus' "out in the cold where he belongs." Later, while Rebekah and Stefan were searching Shane's office for the stone, someone unlocked the door and entered the room. Rebekah and Stefan hid nearby and watched as the unknown intruder procured the headstone from its hiding place. It is presumed that he was sent to steal it by Katherine. Rebekah caught the intruder off-guard, took the headstone from him, and tied him up to interrogate him for additional information. In response, the intruder bit off his tongue and shortly thereafter stabbed himself to prevent from revealing any secrets to them. Though it has never been stated, the intruder was most likely compelled, insinuating that he was sent by another vampire player in the race (Katherine).
In O Come, All Ye Faithful, Shane joined Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy and Damon at the Gilbert Family Lake House in hopes that he could use some of the occult techniques he had learned in his career to condition Jeremy to overcome the urge to kill vampires that came with his hunter's mark. He also brought the headstone with him to entice the group in helping him find and raise Silas by telling them he could help them find the cure.
In Into the Wild, Rebekah, Stefan, Shane, Bonnie, Elena and Jeremy traveled to the Island off the coast of Nova Scotia where Silas was reportedly buried, with plans to awaken the immortal in order to obtain the cure. After Jeremy and Bonnie went missing, Rebekah realized that the headstone had been taken as well, and she accused Elena of stealing it. Unknown to Rebekah, however, the headstone had actually been taken by Shane.
In Down the Rabbit Hole, Shane revealed that the stone had no purpose in the actual raising of Silas, and that he was only using it as a form of payment to Massak, a witch and mercenary who helped put his plan to raise Silas into action by showing them to the tomb. Shortly after Massak was given the stone, he was killed by Katherine Pierce, who took the stone as further leverage. 
In She's Come Undone, Bonnie struck a deal with Katherine to obtain the stone in exchange for promising to summon the spirit of Qetsiyah to get the immortality spell from her for Katherine. With the stone, Bonnie planned on channeling the energy from Qetsiyah's blood in order to drop The Veil to The Other Side.
In The Walking Dead, Bonnie succeeded in channeling the blood inside the stone to fuel the spell that lowered the veil between the Other Side and the living world within the bounds of the Expression Triangle, with the hope of speaking with Qetsiyah and learning how to take down Silas once and for all, as well as fulfilling her part of the deal for Katherine. What happened to this headstone after the spell was cast is unknown. 
===Season Six===
In The Day I Tried To Live, Damon realized that Silas' headstone was the only thing they could think of that Bonnie, who was trapped in the 1994 Prison World, could use as a source of magic after having sent her own magic back to the living world to prevent Kai from using it to escape. Damon then, along with Elena, Jeremy, and Kai, performed a kind of astral-projection to the prison world so Damon could leave Bonnie a note to remind her of the 1994 version of the stone's existence, since part of the prison world involved the creation of a "carbon copy" of every non-sentient object in the world.
In Let Her Go, Bonnie traveled back to the island in Nova Scotia and found the 1994 version of Silas' headstone in the prison world. Once she returned to the prison world-version of Mystic Falls, she channeled the magic within Qetsiyah's calcified blood and used it to portal back into the living world.
In I'm Thinking Of You All The While, Kai revealed that he used Bennetts' blood (de facto Qetsiyah's blood) to escape from 1903 Prison World.
==Uses==
Because it contains Qetsiyah's calcified blood, it is considered extremely valuable in some witch circles. Shane used the as an example of the headstone's comparable value. According to Katherine, the stone can be channeled as a source of power, similar to using a celestial event like the moon or a comet, or channeling the power of a dark object. Bonnie has channeled the magic of Silas' headstone twice; she used the original version to drop the veil to the Other Side within the Expression Triangle, and used the 1994-prison-world version to replace her own magic, which she had hidden for safe-keeping, in order to return to the living world.
==Trivia==
==See also==
Category:The Vampire Diaries (series)
Category:Objects
Category:Supernatural
Category:Enchanted Objects
Category:Witchcraft
Category:Bennett Family