{"id":620327,"date":"2026-09-18T20:14:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/620327\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T20:14:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T20:14:12","slug":"have-archaeologists-confirmed-where-jesus-was-buried-remarkable-findings-from-christianitys-earliest-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/620327\/","title":{"rendered":"Have archaeologists confirmed where Jesus was buried? Remarkable findings from Christianity\u2019s earliest days\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Centuries of war, fire, earthquakes and renovations have left Jerusalem\u2019s Church of the Holy Sepulchre<\/a> in a spectacular but chaotic state, a hodgepodge of styles reflecting the many communities that stake a claim to the site. <\/p>\n

In recent years, major work has taken place to restore and excavate parts of the building. That followed a sudden Israeli<\/a> assessment a decade ago that found the church\u2019s most important structure \u2013 the chamber known as the Edicule, said to house the burial site of Jesus \u2013 was in a dangerous state.<\/p>\n

For a few hours, the chamber was emptied. The Greek Patriarch protested against at the lack of warning. <\/p>\n

The restoration work has, however, resulted in remarkable findings about early Christianity. <\/p>\n

The Bible tells Christians where Jesus was buried and, they believe, resurrected. The Gospel of John says the tomb was in a “garden”, an account that may have received scientific support after Italian archaeologists presented botanical and pollen evidence found during a dig. The remains of grape vines and olive trees were found in a floor section next to the Edicule. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs archaeologists, we can say that this clear proof of agriculture near the venerated tomb and in the area of Golgotha during the time of Jesus makes the area compatible with the Gospel narrative, especially John,\u201d Father Amedeo Ricco, one of the archaeologists who excavated the church, told The National. <\/p>\n

More findings could now be on the way. Last week, church leaders involved in the project gathered in Jerusalem<\/a> for an update on the research and restoration phase, now that the archaeological digs have concluded.<\/p>\n

A first volume on the project, containing more than 500 pages of articles, maps and images, was shown to representatives of the churches involved. More volumes of the Hagia Polis Project are expected as researchers comb through their results and scholars review the findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the biggest and most invasive project that took place in the church since the end of the Ottoman period,\u201d said Father Athanasius Macora, secretary of the Status Quo for the Custody of the Holy Land, an order of Franciscan friars that looks after Christian sites in the area.<\/p>\n

The Status Quo is a pact dating back to 1852 that governs the often tense management of the Holy Sepulchre, where different denominations and communities have a history of quarrelling, even over seemingly minor details.<\/p>\n

Like the church that houses it, the area that is believed to be the site of Jesus\u2019s burial has taken many forms and seen much drama. For almost two centuries, it was covered by pagan temples, an attempt by the Roman emperor Hadrian to erase the memory of the site. Other setbacks included a fire lit by Persian troops in 614, the complete destruction of the church in 1009 by the Fatimid caliph Al Hakim, and another major fire in 1809. <\/p>\n

The decision to go ahead with major renovations was made in 2019, after repairs were made to the Edicule two years earlier. Previous attempts at restoration were often compromised by infighting. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe archaeology was very slow because of Covid-19 and the Gaza war. There was a lot of stopping and starting. There was an advantage at least in that there weren\u2019t any pilgrims, so it was easy for the crew to work when they could work,\u201d Father Athanasius added. \u201cThere were also cases where communities inside the church had to cancel their liturgies, but we tried to keep a regular prayer service going.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a place where fights have broken out over priests moving chairs and sweeping contested areas, it was a major achievement to agree on a project that interrupted the habits of Christian communities in such a profound way. In normal times, the church is the site of a constant stream of services and liturgies, day and night, which require continuing, and sometimes fraught, management. <\/p>\n

The results seen today from the decision to co-operate are now being hailed as an example of what can be achieved when communities choose to work together.<\/p>\n

Father Francesco Patton, the most senior member of the Custody of the Holy Land, said the co-operation between the three major communities in the Holy Sepulchre \u2013 Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox \u2013 \u201cholds not merely archaeological, historical, or artistic value, but above all ecclesial and ecumenical significance\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt demonstrates that Jerusalem\u2019s Christians can collaborate and that the Churches of Jerusalem \u2013 through centuries of coexistence at the Holy Sepulchre and ceaseless daily worship \u2013 are far closer and more united than the world might assume.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Centuries of war, fire, earthquakes and renovations have left Jerusalem\u2019s Church of the Holy Sepulchre in a spectacular…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8742,64519,85,46,3794,43,48,2865,789],"class_list":["post-620327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-christianity","tag-foreign-desk-team","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-jerusalem","tag-news","tag-palestine","tag-standard","tag-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}