Archaeologists in Israel have made a “sensational” discovery at the site where Christ was resurrected.
Construction workers at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem discovered a long-lost medieval altar that historians previously believed had been destroyed in a fire back in 1808.
Believing they were simply repositioning a graffiti-covered stone slab, the workers discovered it was actually adorned with ribbon-like carvings, a typical Roman decorative method from medieval times.
The marble piece, weighing several tons, had been placed in a publicly accessible hallway at the church’s rear, also marked by graffiti.
Local scholars have dated the altar to 1149 based on its unique inscriptions. An Australian team from the Academy of Sciences described the finding as “sensational.”
“Firstly, the fact that the slab could have remained hidden for so long in such an intensively researched building as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – especially as it was in view of thousands of pilgrims and tourists every day,” the team wrote, according to Mail Online.
The altar was designed in the “Cosmatesque” style, a technique originating from the Cosmati family in Rome, renowned for their multi-generational stoneworking tradition.
A mark of papal prestige, the style involved assembling small, repurposed marble fragments from older structures into intricate geometric designs.
The sole surviving example of Cosmatesque work outside of Italy is located in London’s Westminster Abbey, created by an artist sent by the pope.
“The Cosmatesque altar now rediscovered in Jerusalem must also have been created with the Pope’s blessing,’ the researchers explained.
“By sending one of the Cosmatesque masters to the Kingdom of Jerusalem to make the new high altar in Christianity’s holiest church, the Pontiff supported Christianity’s claim to the city.”
