The tomb where Jesus is said to have been buried and rose to heaven has been dated to the Roman era, for the first time.
Experts sampled mortar taken from between the original limestone surface of the tomb and a marble slab that covers it.
They believe it dates to around 345 AD, which would tie in to historical accounts which state the early Roman Catholic enshrined the tomb upon discovering it in around 326 AD.
The tomb where Jesus is said to have been buried and rose to heaven has been dated to the Roman era. Experts sampled mortar taken from between the original limestone surface of the tomb and a marble slab that covers it. It dates to around 345 AD, tying in to historical accounts of the early Roman Catholic enshrining the tomb upon discovering it in around 326 AD
The discovery was made by researchers from the National Technical University of Athens who worked to restore the Edicule shrine, which houses the tomb, at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Experts took samples of mortar from various locations within the Edicule back in 2016, with the results only now becoming public.
The earliest architectural evidence found in and around the tomb complex until now, dates to the era of the Crusades .
This would make it no older than 1,000 years, aligning with the church’s total destruction and subsequent rebuilding in 1009 AD.
But the Athens’ teams dating suggests that the Edicule is a much older structure.
Speaking to National Geographic, Antonia Moropoulou, who directed the Edicule restoration project, said: ‘It is interesting how [these] mortars not only provide evidence for the earliest shrine on the site, but also confirm the historical construction sequence of the Edicule.’
When the first Holy Roman Emperor Constantine sent representatives of the church to Jerusalem to locate the tomb in around 325 AD, they were directed by people in the region to a Roman temple built 200 years previously.
This was destroyed and a tomb was discovered beneath, carved into a limestone cave.
Constantine ordered that the interior of the tomb be revealed, and the Edicule was built around it.
The tomb itself features a long shelf, or burial bed, which Christian tradition says is where Jesus was laid to rest, following his crucifixion.
This is surrounded by a marble covering, thought to have been installed at a much later date, potentially as late as 1555 AD.
A Greek priest stands by a window into the burial chamber of Jesus’ tomb for pilgrims to see what is believed to be the original stone wall of the burial cave inside the renovated Edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem’s old city Monday, Mar. 20, 2017. A Greek restoration team has completed a historic renovation of the Edicule, the shrine that tradition says houses the cave where Jesus was buried and rose to heaven.
But when the marble cladding was opened on October 26, 2016, during restoration work to the Edicule, an older slab of marble was found resting on top of the original limestone surface of the burial bed.
The mortar tested was taken from between this limestone surface and the slab of marble on top of it, which is marked with a cross cut into it.
Experts determined that this older marble was installed around the 4th Century AD, lending credence to the Christian timeline of events.
Scientists also dated the surrounding limestone tomb using two brick samples taken from the structure.
Mortar samples from remains of the cave’s southern wall were dated to 335 and 1570 AD.
A Greek priest stands inside the renovated Edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem’s old city Monday, Mar. 20, 2017. A Greek restoration team has completed a historic renovation of the Edicule, the shrine that tradition says houses the cave where Jesus was buried and rose to heaven.
Researchers used a technique known as optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to make their finding.
The method allows scientists to date ancient stone by measuring when sediment was most recently exposed to light.
When sediments are buried or blocked from sunlight, natural background radiation results in energy being stored in minerals such as quartz.
If the mineral grains are not exposed to light the energy builds up and represents the amount of time since their burial.
Scientists can then measure the stored energy in the laboratory and pinpoint when the layers of mortar last saw sunlight.
Earlier this year, further work was undertaken to restore the historic site.
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE
Christian tradition says Christ’s body was laid on a slab cut from a limestone cave after his crucifixion by the Romans more than two thousand years ago, shown in this painting by Friedrich Overbeck
Christian tradition says Christ’s body was laid on a slab cut from a limestone cave after his crucifixion by the Romans.
The burial slab was enclosed in a structure known as the Edicule – a word derived from the Latin term aedicule meaning ‘little house’.
An ornate structure with hanging oil lamps, columns and oversize candlesticks, the Edicule was erected above the spot where Christian tradition says Jesus’ body was anointed, wrapped in cloth and buried before his resurrection.
Jewish tradition forbade burial within the walls of a city, and the Gospels specify that Jesus was buried outside of Jerusalem, near the site of his crucifixion on Golgotha, also known as ‘the place of skulls’.
However, soon after the burial, the walls of Jerusalem were expanded, putting Golgotha and the nearby tomb within the city itself.
According to Eusebius of Caesarea, the Roman emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century AD built a temple dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite in order to bury the cave in which Jesus had been buried, and assert the dominance of Roman state religion.
The first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great, ordered in 325 that the temple be replaced by a church.
When his representatives arrived in Jerusalem to attempt to locate the tomb, they were sent to the temple built by Hadrian 200 years earlier.
The Roman temple was razed and excavations beneath it revealed a rock-cut tomb.
The top of the cave was sheared off to expose the interior, and a church was built around it to enclose the tomb.
During the building of the Church, Constantine’s mother Helena claimed to have rediscovered the ‘true cross’.
It is claimed that she found three crosses she tested each by having it held over a corpse and when the corpse rose up under one, that was the true cross.
The church was then completely destroyed by in 1009 by the Fatmid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, known as the ‘mad Caliph’ or ‘Nero of Islam’ in a bid to destroy Christian sites.
What and where: A floor plan of Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, with the Edicule chamber marked in red on the left
It was then rebuilt once again in the mid-11th century, when an agreement was reached between the Fatimids and the Byzantine Empire in 1027–8.
The rebuilding was finally completed with the financing at a huge expense by Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos and Patriarch Nicephorus of Constantinople in 1048.
The rebuilt church site consisted of ‘a court open to the sky, with five small chapels attached to it’.
A 12th-century restoration by the Crusaders gave the Holy Sepulchre its current appearance, while in 1808 a fire all but destroyed the Edicule.
In 1852, the Ottoman authorities then governing the Holy Land provided a framework for resolving disputes inside the church.
This picture shows workers removing the top of the tomb of Jesus Christ in the Church of Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The burial slab was enclosed in a structure known as the Edicule – a word derived from the Latin term aedicule meaning ‘little house
It was last reconstructed in the early 19th century after a fire destroyed it but repairs are long overdue as the structure was damaged in an earthquake in 1927.
Excavations inside of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during the 20th century revealed remains of what is believed to be Hadrian’s temple and walls from Constantine’s original church.
Archaeologists also found an ancient limestone quarry and at least half a dozen other rock-cut tombs, some of which can be seen today.
Just in time for Easter, a Greek team completed a renovation of the Edicule.
Restorers cut a small window from the shrine’s marble walls for pilgrims to see – for the first time – the bare stone of the ancient burial cave.
Gone is the unsightly iron cage built around the shrine by British authorities in 1947 to shore up the walls and the black soot on the shrine’s stone façade from decades of pilgrims lighting candles.
And gone are fears about the stability of the old shrine, which hadn’t been restored in more than 200 years.
‘If this intervention hadn’t happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse,’ Bonnie Burnham of the World Monuments Fund said.
‘This is a complete transformation of the monument.’
The fund provided an initial $1.4 million for the $4 million restoration, thanks to a donation by the widow of the founder of Atlantic Records.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also chipped in about 150,000 euros each, along with other private and church donations, Burnham said.
The limestone and marble structure stands at the center of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, one of the world’s oldest churches – a 12th-century building standing on 4th-century remains.
The shrine needed urgent attention after years of exposure to environmental factors like water, humidity and candle smoke.
Three main Christian denominations jealously guard separate sections of the church, but they put aside their longstanding religious rivalries to give their blessing for the restoration.
In 2015, Israeli police briefly shut down the building after Israel’s Antiquities Authority deemed it unsafe, and repairs began in June 2016.
A restoration team from the National Technical University of Athens stripped the stone slabs from the shrine’s façade and patched up the internal masonry of the shrine, injecting it with tubes of grout for reinforcement.
Faithful visit the renovated Edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem’s old city Monday, Mar. 20, 2017. A Greek restoration team has completed a historic renovation of the Edicule, the shrine that tradition says houses the cave where Jesus was buried and rose to heaven.
THE BURIAL SLAB WHERE CHRIST’S BODY WAS LAID
Christian tradition says Christ’s body was laid on a slab cut from a limestone cave after his crucifixion by the Romans more than two thousand years ago.
The burial slab was enclosed in a structure known as the Edicule – a word derived from the Latin term aedicule meaning ‘little house.’
The burial slab (pictured being revealed from its marble case) many Christians believe once held the body of Jesus Christ has been uncovered by scientists for the first time in centuries. The original surface, partially shown in this picture, was exposed during restoration work at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem
An ornate structure with hanging oil lamps, columns and oversize candlesticks, the Edicule was erected above the spot where Christian tradition says Jesus’ body was anointed, wrapped in cloth and buried before his resurrection.
It stands a few hundred yards from the site of Jesus’ crucifixion.
With its stone staircases, gilded ornamentation and many dark chambers, the church is one of Christianity’s holiest shrines.
Each stone slab was cleaned of candle soot and pigeon droppings, then put back in place.
Titanium bolts were inserted into the structure for reinforcement, and frescos and the shrine’s painted dome were given a face-lift.
The restorers also made some discoveries.
On October 26, the team entered the inner sanctum of the shrine, the burial chamber of Jesus, and temporarily slid open an old marble layer covering the bedrock where Jesus’ body is said to have been placed.
Below the outer marble layer was a white rose marble slab engraved with a cross, which the team dated to the late Crusader period of the 14th century.
Beneath that marble slab was an even older, grey marble slab protecting the bedrock, and mortar on the slab dates to the 4th century, when Roman Emperor Constantine ordered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher built.
The restorers have cut a small window from the shrine’s marble walls for pilgrims to see – for the first time – the bare stone of the ancient burial cave.
‘It seems we are in front of levels of history that are validated,’ said Antonia Moropoulou, who supervised the renovation.
The renovated Edicule is seen in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem’s old city Monday, Mar. 20, 2017. A Greek restoration team has completed a historic renovation of the Edicule, the shrine that tradition says houses the cave where Jesus was buried and rose to heaven.
The renovated Edicule is seen in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem’s old city Monday, Mar. 20, 2017. A Greek restoration team has completed a historic renovation of the Edicule, the shrine that tradition says houses the cave where Jesus was buried and rose to heaven.
The team is dismantling its worksite ahead of a ceremony Wednesday to mark the completion of the renovation, in the presence of two representatives of dueling Christian denominations – Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who is the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, and a representative of Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church.
Concern for the church’s stability has brought Christian denominations together, and Moropoulou hopes it ushers in a ‘new era’ of cooperation.
She hopes the communities will make some changes in longstanding customs inside the church, like pilgrims smashing their lit candles onto the Edicule’s stone wall, so the structure is not compromised.
Now, money is being raised for another round of restorations – consolidating drainage and sewage pipes underground, around the tomb, to stabilize its foundations – so renovations won’t be needed for years to come.
‘Here is a monument that has been worshipped through the centuries, and will be worshipped forever,’ said Moropoulou.