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Researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences uncovered a long-lost altar inside Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site traditionally believed to be the place of Jesus’ burial and resurrection.
The altar was first discovered when builders flipped over a massive stone slab that had been leaning against the church wall and was covered in tourist graffiti.
The slab, measuring 2.4 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, was adorned with ribbon-like patterns, a style typical of medieval Roman work. Archaeologists also found markings on the stone that led them to identify it as the long-lost altar consecrated in 1149.
The altar had been thought destroyed in a fire in 1808, making this find a major sensation for historians. The team was particularly surprised that the slab had remained hidden for so long at such a heavily studied and visited pilgrimage site.
The Altar and Cosmatesque
This church, which attracts around four million visitors a year, was built in 335 AD on the site of a Roman temple to the goddess Venus. Emperor Constantine I commissioned the new church, and builders discovered a tomb during construction that is believed to be Jesus’ burial place.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre has faced attacks over the centuries: it was destroyed by the Persian army in 614 and nearly obliterated in 1009. The church later burned again in the 1800s. Since then, the altar had been considered lost.
Tourists had long covered the back of the altar with graffiti, which may be why it went unnoticed. On the hidden side, researchers found decoration executed in the cosmatesque technique, according to the Daily Mail.
Cosmatesque was used by Roman craftsmen who passed the technique down through generations. A key feature is decorating large surfaces with small pieces of precious marble.
“In medieval Rome, marble was mostly salvaged from ancient buildings, so cosmatesque artisans repurposed any usable marble. With precise technique, they joined small pieces into intricate geometric patterns and ornate designs.”
Experts say the Pope valued cosmatesque works so highly that they rarely appeared outside Rome. To date, only one example has been found outside Italy — at Westminster Abbey in London.
Austrian researchers suggest the altar in Jerusalem was likely made with papal approval.
A Treasure Trove of Discoveries
Restoration work is ongoing at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and experts frequently uncover historical treasures during the process.
In 2016, restorers from the National Technical University of Athens found a limestone burial slab inside Jesus’ tomb that had been covered with layers of marble around 1555.
According to Scripture, after his crucifixion by the Romans, Christ’s body was laid on a slab hewn from a limestone cave. He rose three days later, and the women who came to anoint his body found no remains.
“We cannot be absolutely certain that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is Jesus’ burial place, but we have no other site that can claim it, and no reason to deny its authenticity,” said leading Israeli archaeologist Dan Bahat.
In 2018, dozens of crosses were discovered on the church walls, likely carved by Crusaders. In 2021, archaeologists analyzed the marks and determined the carvings were made by 15th-century masons who were paid by pilgrims seeking extra assurances of protection.
