Christ's Burial Place Restoration

[airboy]

A substantial restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is being done.  The church was built over where Christ was crucified and the tomb where Christ lay for three days after his  crucifixion.  The last upgrade on the Church was in the 1940s just before the British left Palestine.   

They removed the top marble slab and second known marble slab.  But under that they discovered a third slab thought to be from the 12th century.  They then removed it and exposed the stone crypt.  This is arguably the most Holy site in the Christian faith.

The Times of Israel has the story and photos of the restoration:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/at-the-holiest-spot-in-christendom-delving-for-jesuss-resting-place/

[JasonPratt]

Wait, the church also is built over the Golgotha site? That doesn't seem right (even accounting for the two variations of where Golgotha actually was).

I do however recall that this church has the best claim to being built on the tomb (which couldn't be very far from the site of crucifixion). The tomb was venerated until around the time of the Bar Kochba rebellion (early 2nd century, not the earlier zealot rebellion in 70 when the Temple was destroyed), when Rome converted Jerusalem into a thoroughly non-Jewish city and built a number of pagan temples on top of Jewish and Christian holy sites. This church is the one with the running history back to that time, including in archaeology, right?

[airboy]

Jason - I don't know the history of that church.  From the article it states:
The church itself dates originally from the 4th century, and much of today's edifice was constructed in the 12th, with the Edicule built in the early 1800s.

So the original church is from late Roman times (300AD) with the more modern edifice constructed in the 1100s. 

[Sir Slash]

That's the site Constantine's mother Helena founded as the place of Christ's burial. The site where he's thought to have been crucified is in the same building but a little further away from the tomb. All of it is enclosed by the massive Church of the Holy Sepulcher which was built much later from the Byzantine era. My wife and I went there in 2009. It's an incredible site to see but six different Christian denominations run the church jointly and constantly bicker over all things done there. So much so that they hire Palestinians to lock and un-lock the church each day because they cannot agree on an otherwise equitable schedule.  :o  I'm surprised they're allowing so much work to be done there. When I was there they didn't even allow photography or video taping.

A second place has recently become very popular as the site of Christ's burial, The Garden Tomb. I won't go into all the detail behind why it's supposed to be a more correct place historically, but there's a pretty good argument for it. It's also a beautiful place to see as well.

[Ubercat]

... six different Christian denominations run the church jointly and constantly bicker over all things done there. So much so that they hire Palestinians to lock and un-lock the church each day because they cannot agree on an otherwise equitable schedule.

   

[Sir Slash]

Too true.  :'(

[JasonPratt]

Jason - I don't know the history of that church.  From the article it states:
The church itself dates originally from the 4th century, and much of today's edifice was constructed in the 12th, with the Edicule built in the early 1800s.

So the original church is from late Roman times (300AD) with the more modern edifice constructed in the 1100s.

True, the church itself was only built once Christianity became a legal religion; but the site was venerated long before then (and then desecrated in the 100s, with a temple to Venus if I recall correctly.)

[JasonPratt]

That's the site Constantine's mother Helena founded as the place of Christ's burial.

Fun fact: St. Helena is the patron saint of archaeologists.  O0

[Nefaro]

[bbmike]

^ Ha! My favorite Jack Handey quote:

[Nefaro]

^ Ha! My favorite Jack Handey quote:

Muhahaha!!   

~~~>



:)

[bayonetbrant]

There's an episode of Expedition Unknown where they go to the church and are looking for remnants of the cross.  It's rather fascinating, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is right in the middle of a major city area.

[bbmike]

There's an episode of Expedition Unknown where they go to the church and are looking for remnants of the cross.  It's rather fascinating, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is right in the middle of a major city area.

And from the episodes of Expedition Unknown that I've watched, I would guess they never find what they are looking for and only create more questions.  :P

[bayonetbrant]

There's an episode of Expedition Unknown where they go to the church and are looking for remnants of the cross.  It's rather fascinating, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is right in the middle of a major city area.

And from the episodes of Expedition Unknown that I've watched, I would guess they never find what they are looking for and only create more questions.  :P

Actually, they find what they're looking for, but are limited on what the guys at the church will let them do with it.

The episode on the Viking Sunstone is actually pretty excellent in what they find.

[Sir Slash]

I saw those too. Expedition Unknown is good just for the scenery and seeing what other people eat as well as some of the interesting stuff they TRY to find. I think when I watch an episode, if they'd found anything important, we'd have heard about it before now.