Daniel Wolfram
Archaeologists are certain they have found the place where Jesus was buried.
During an $11 million restoration of Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, archaeologists uncovered ancient ground underneath the structure.
Lead archaeologist Francesca Romana Stasolla from Sapienza University of Rome explained the findings. “We have found evidence of a funerary landscape,” Stasolla confirmed to Radar Online.
Pollen samples retrieved beneath the floor revealed olive trees and vines. “The gospel mentions a green area between the Calvary and the tomb,” Stasolla noted. “We identified these cultivated fields.”
They also identified a “pastoral landscape characterized by sporadic human activity.” Behind these fields, excavators found a forgotten quarry sitting just outside Jerusalem’s old walls.
Layers of memory
Workers carved tombs into exposed rock. That physical layout directly matches biblical descriptions of where Jesus was laid to rest.
“The archaeological area beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre reveals the long history of a part of Jerusalem that, in the early fourth century AD, underwent the monumentalization of Christological memory,” Stasolla stated.
“The Church of the Holy Sepulchre gives monumental form to the sites where, since very early times, tradition has located the memory of Christ’s death and resurrection,” Stasolla added.
Piecing together history
Nearby, another team led by Dr. Steven Notley claims to have found the biblical city of Bethsaida. “Everything we bring out of the ground affirms and strengthens that identification,” Notley insisted.
Back at the Jerusalem church, digital tools are mapping the site. “While we have not been able to see the entire church excavated in one glance, new technologies are allowing us to reconstruct the bigger picture in our labs,” Stasolla shared.
The team is building a full digital model. “If we were talking about a puzzle, we could say we are only excavating one piece at a time, but eventually, we will have a complete multimedia reconstruction of the full picture,” Stasolla said.
