26/07/2024
Archaeologists make remarkable discovery at Christianity’s holiest site — covered up by graffiti
A long-lost altar dating from the times of the crusades was discovered hidden in plain sight by archaeologists at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem — one of the holiest sites in Christianity where Jesus is believed to have resurrected from the dead.
The stunning discovery was first made when construction workers overturned a massive stone slab leaning against a wall in the church that had been sitting there for an unknown amount of time, according to the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
The several-ton hunk of marble was in a publicly accessible corridor in the rear of the church and was even covered in graffiti.
The other side of the stone, however, was magnificently decorated and identified the slab as the front panel of the altar used by Crusaders in the middle ages from when it was consecrated in 1149 up until it vanished from history when a massive fire destroyed part of the church hundreds of years later.
The altar is believed to date from the 12th century, 50 years after the crusaders conquered Jerusalem.
