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Whether God exists or not is a matter of dispute around the world. A large majority of modern historians are, however, convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was a real historical figure who lived in the 1st century and was crucified under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Christians across the globe have long believed that the tomb of the Jewish itinerant preacher lies beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, known to Orthodox Christians as the Church of the Resurrection, stands in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City. It is one of the most important shrines in Christianity, as it is believed to have been built on what was thought to be the site of the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was commissioned by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, and was built in the fourth century.
The first church was consecrated in 335 AD. Over the course of its history, the building was destroyed and rebuilt several times. It suffered particularly heavy damage in 1009 under the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim. In the following decades the church was partially restored.
After the Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, extensive alterations were carried out. The church’s present appearance is therefore the result of numerous phases of construction and restoration.
For a long time hardly any structural changes, renovation work or excavations were permitted, because several Christian denominations share the church and each feared that changes could weaken their rights and influence. Now the different parties have reached agreement. Since 2016 the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been undergoing restoration, for the first time in more than 200 years.
Ancient tombs and a garden found beneath the church floor
In 2022 a comprehensive restoration of the church floor was initially planned. As work progressed, it turned into an extensive excavation project. Researchers discovered, beneath the church, an abandoned stone quarry, agricultural plots, a garden and rock-cut tombs.
The garden is of particular significance, as the Gospel of John mentions a garden at the place of Jesus’s crucifixion. According to the Bible, the crucifixion took place close to the city limits of Jerusalem. The Letter to the Hebrews notes that Jesus suffered outside the city gate. This, too, is consistent with the archaeologists’ findings.
Lead archaeologist Francesca Romana Stasolla of Rome’s “La Sapienza” university interprets the finds as evidence of a burial landscape. The excavations suggest that cultivated land once lay between Golgotha, known as Calvary in the Bible’s new testament, and the tomb, according to Stasolla.
The archaeologists also found traces of olive trees and vines, dated to around 33 AD, the period in which Jesus’s death is usually placed.
According to Stasolla, the tombs carved into the rock also point to an earlier burial site. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke describe Jesus’s tomb as a burial chamber hewn from rock, so this detail fits as well.
No conclusive proof
The finds do not provide scientific proof that Jesus was buried underneath the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. There is no inscription to that effect, nor can it be shown that the tomb chamber was unused or belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, who, according to the Gospels, laid Jesus in his new rock-cut tomb. The plant remains also cannot yet be dated precisely to the time of the crucifixion.
The excavations therefore do not settle the question of Jesus’s actual burial place. They do, however, show that the site venerated by Christians for centuries has geographical and archaeological features that correspond to the descriptions in the New Testament.