Why did scientists open the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem

Фото: Depositphotos

At the end of October 2016 of the year archaeologists conducted an autopsy on the tomb of Jesus Christwhich is located in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem (Israel).

This happened for the first time since the middle of the XVI century, reports The International Business Times.

Why did the scientists wait so long, and what motivated them to open the tomb exactly in 2016 year?

History

The Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem is the most revered shrine in the Christian world. Christians believe that the body of the crucified Jesus Christ rested for 3 days on a stone slab kept here. The slab (bed) measuring 2 x 0,8 meters was located in a cave carved into the rock - this is how the Jews buried their dead in the first century AD, writes “Popular mechanics".

In 326, Empress Helena, now revered by many Christian churches as a saint, undertook a pilgrimage to Calvary. As a result of excavations carried out under her leadership, a cave with a burial and a cross were found, on which, as Christians assume, Jesus Christ was crucified, the 4 nail and a sign saying: IESUS NAZARENUS REX IUDAEORUM ("Jesus of Nazarene, King of the Jews"). Elena laid a temple around the lodge, where Christian pilgrims from all over the world began to flock to. The temple looked like a domed marble chapel.

The preserved room in the temple symbolizes the cave in which the body of Christ was buried. Now there is the bed itself, part of the cave walls and part of the entrance. The old cave was destroyed in 1009 year.

The right to conduct Christian and Jewish worship in the temple founded by Helen became a powerful political instrument of the Middle Ages. The territory of Golgotha ​​changed hands many times, from Byzantine emperors to Arab rulers - and back. In 1009, the chapel was destroyed by Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah; European Christians used this event as one of the main propaganda tools during the organization of the First Crusade. The crusaders built a new temple around the bed, preserving the supports of the chapel.

After this, Christians could freely conduct ceremonies and services near the Holy Sepulcher, even during periods when Jerusalem passed into the hands of the Arab conquerors. During the 1545 earthquake, the sanctuary was badly damaged, after which the burial bed was covered with a marble slab to protect against pilgrims wishing to carry a piece of the relic with them.

Purpose of scientists

Only in the 19th century were they engaged in the restoration of the temple, but a new earthquake in 1927 year destroyed the buildings around the Lodge again. After the Second World War, a large-scale restoration of the entire temple complex that had developed over the centuries of construction and destruction began, but even then the slab hiding the bed remained in place.

It was only in 2016 that the archaeologists came to an agreement with the 6 churches: Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, Coptic, Syrian, and Ethiopian, in order to remove the slab from the tomb and examine the burial bed.

Opening the tomb.
Screenshot from video

The main question to be answered by experts is this: why did Elena decide that it was here that the body of the crucified Christ rested?

“The marble slab had been displaced, and we were surprised by the large amount of rock material underneath,” said study participant Fredrik Hiebert of the National Geographic Society. According to him, there will be “a long scientific analysis to finally see the original surface of the stone on which, according to legend, the body of Christ was laid.”

Scientists note that the analysis of the original rock can give them the opportunity to determine the original shape of the tomb, as well as the history of the formation of the object as one of the main symbols of Christianity.

Work on the restoration of the Holy Sepulcher is scheduled to be completed by the spring 2017 of the year. The total financial expenses exceed $ 4 million. Funds for the restoration donated including the King of Jordan Abdullah II.

Scientists record all manipulations on video. It is assumed that a documentary television film will be edited later on this material. In the meantime, only one excerpt was posted on the Internet, which shows the rise of the plate.

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