This stone was damaged and forgotten after a fire in 1808. Leaning against a wall in a back hallway of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, a stone slab bears witness only to the graffiti carved onto it by crowds of pilgrims in the over the centuries.
But the 2.5 by 1.5 meter stone proved far more valuable when its other side was exposed during recent renovations to the church, the site where, according to Christian tradition, the burial of Jesus took place.
Researchers believe the elaborate decorations they found on the long-hidden part of the slab indicate that it was once the decorated facade of a medieval high altar, which, centuries ago, held a place of honor in one of Christianity’s holiest sites.
“You can’t see it now, but originally the altar was inlaid with pieces of precious marble, pieces of glass, finely carved pieces of marble,” says Amit Re’em, Jerusalem regional archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority.
“It sparkled. It was a truly amazing artifact,” noted Re’em, who conducted the research with Ilya Berkovich of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
The unique method of decoration has been identified as “Cosmatesque,” which combines classical, Byzantine, and early Islamic art, in which intricately cut colored marble tiles are used to fill in circular carvings in the stone.
“It was at the apogee, in the sanctuary of the church (of the Holy Sepulcher),” Re’em says. “All the eyes of believers and pilgrims were fixed on this object. And just above and around it, all the priests and monks of the church celebrated the main liturgy of the church, right here on the table of this altar,” he said.
Similarly decorated altars have been found inside churches in Rome dating from the 12th and 13th centuries, the researchers said.
They believe the relic in Jerusalem corresponds to past archaeological finds and to pilgrim accounts of the consecration of the church by the crusaders and the formation of its main altar in 1149.
The altar was used by Catholic clergy to celebrate Mass until the crusaders left Jerusalem, Re’em explains. It was then used by the Greek Orthodox Church until it was damaged in a fire in 1808. It was then abandoned and forgotten until recent renovations, he added.
A medieval altar has just been discovered in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. The researchers believe that the elaborate decorations they found in a long-hidden part indicate that it was once the decorated facade of the altar.