Near East · 1st century AD · Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Levant
Ancient garden and rock-cut tombs found under Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Beneath the shrine's floor, excavators also found an abandoned quarry, farm plots and traces of olive trees and vines roughly dated to AD 33.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem Archaeologists have found an abandoned stone quarry, farm plots, a garden and rock-cut tombs beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Traces of olive trees and vines found there have been dated to around AD 33. The church stands in the Christian Quarter of the Old City. Many Christians believe it marks the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and rose from the dead.
Francesca Romana Stasolla of Sapienza University of Rome leads the excavation. She interprets the finds as evidence of a burial ground. According to Stasolla, the excavations suggest that cultivated land once lay between Golgotha, the Calvary of the New Testament, and the tomb.
The finds do not prove that Jesus was buried at the site. They do show that the place has geographical and archaeological features that match descriptions in the New Testament, according to a report by Euronews.
Olive trees, vines and a garden
The team found traces of olive trees and vines. These have been dated to around AD 33, the period in which Jesus's death is usually placed. The same report says the plant remains cannot yet be dated precisely to the time of the crucifixion.
The garden is significant because the Gospel of John mentions a garden at the place of the crucifixion. According to the Bible, the crucifixion took place close to the city limits of Jerusalem. The Letter to the Hebrews says Jesus suffered outside the city gate. The report says this also fits the archaeological findings.
Stasolla says the rock-cut tombs also point to an earlier burial site. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke describe Jesus's tomb as a burial chamber cut from rock.
A church rebuilt many times
Most modern historians accept that Jesus of Nazareth was a real person. He lived in the 1st century AD and was crucified under the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.
The Roman emperor Constantine the Great commissioned the first church on the site in the 4th century. It was consecrated in AD 335. The building was destroyed and rebuilt several times. It was badly damaged in 1009 under the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim and partly restored in the following decades.
The Crusaders altered the church extensively after they captured Jerusalem in 1099. Its present appearance is the result of many phases of building and restoration.
For a long time hardly any building work or excavation was allowed. Several Christian denominations share the church, and each feared that changes could weaken its rights and influence. Once the parties reached agreement, restoration began in 2016. It is the first in more than 200 years.
A full restoration of the church floor was planned in 2022. As the work went on, it turned into a large excavation. That excavation produced the quarry, farm plots, garden and tombs now reported.
What the finds cannot show
No inscription links any of the tombs to Jesus. Nor can it be shown that a tomb chamber was unused, or that it belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. According to the Gospels, Joseph laid Jesus in his own new rock-cut tomb.
The excavations therefore do not settle where Jesus was actually buried. The plant remains also cannot yet be dated precisely to the time of the crucifixion.
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