THE REAL TOMB OF JESUS

by Msgr. Michael V. Reed, JCL, KCHS

I find it surprising and humorous that James Cameron has produced what is supposed to be a documentary entitled "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." Any visitor, archaeologist or pilgrim to Jerusalem would know that the tomb of Jesus has never been lost but has been known and revered since the crucifixion and resurrection.

During the time of Jesus the city walls of Jerusalem did not extend as far north as they do today. The walls were extended in 41AD. The extension enclosed the area we call “Golgotha.” All the way back in the 8th Century BCE this area was a limestone quarry. Later, in the 1st Century BC – Herod the Great promoted construction projects throughout the city – fortifications, palaces, aqueduct, hippodrome, amphitheatre and theatre recreated Jerusalem into a Roman city, using stone from this quarry.

Golgotha was a skull shaped rock formation in the midst of the quarry. Basically, workers quarried around this area because the stone there has a crack/fissure that made it as unsuitable for building material. After quarrying around the rejected stone in the quarry, the formation soon came to resemble a skull, albeit the people of Jerusalem called it "Golgotha" or the "Skull Place." By Jesus' time this limestone quarry and the formation resembling a skull was the place where criminals were executed. This was also a perfect area for the cutting of tombs. Numerous burial caves have been found around what is today known as the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

The Romans under the rule of the Emperor Hadrian in order to turn Christians away from venerating the place where Jesus was crucified, entombed and resurrected, built a temple to Zeus and an altar to Venus over Jesus' Tomb. By doing this, the Romans actually preserved the location of "Golgotha" and the tomb for posterity. The Christian mother of the emperor Constantine, Helena, came to Jerusalem after her son's victory in 312 at the Milvian Bridge in Rome and after her baptism as a Christian in 313AD at the age of 63.

Helena came to the Holy Land in the early 4th century seeking out the holy places of Jesus' death and resurrection and all she had to do was go to the temple of Zeus and altar of Venus which marked the spot. Interestingly, Helena found three crosses at this location after digging several levels below ground. The place where the crosses were found is accessible from the present Church of the Holy Sepulcher to this day. Helena isolated the tomb of Jesus from the surrounding cliff by enclosing it in an aedicule or small shrine-like building. The aedicule was surmounted by a dome which connected in an east-west direction to a five–aisle basilica, covered with a roof with two pitches. This first church/basilica was begun in 326 AD at the insistence of Helena and the encouragement of Bishop Macarius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. This original basilica church enclosed the tomb and allowed the area known as "Golgotha" to remain in the open air/outdoors.

In 614, the Persians destroyed the basilica church and a new church was reconstructed. This new church was no longer in the basilica style and was an extended structure that included within its walls the area of "Golgotha." Over the next 400 years, this church was repeatedly ravaged and repaired. The enclosed Golgotha was nearly destroyed in 1009-1010 by el-Hakim, the Fatimid caliph. This rallied Europe to begin the First Crusade.

It took 50 years for crusaders to re-build the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in a Romanesque style and this church was dedicated in 1069. This Romanesque church also included a bell tower.

A dome over the aedicule/tomb was restored in the 18th Century. The exterior of this Church of the Holy Sepulcher was left untouched until 1808 when the Rotunda was destroyed by fire. The Greek Orthodox were charged with reconstruction. The Czar of Russia financed a reconstruction of a dome or "Great Cupola" over the aedicule/tomb in 1860. The present Anastasis (Greek for "Resurrection") dome or "Great Cupola" over the tomb of Jesus was dedicated on January 2, 1997. This amazing dome features rays of sunlight coming down to illuminate the area where the tomb of the Lord stood.

Today there are six Christian communities who maintain the present Church: Greek Orthodox; Armenian Christians; Latin (Roman) Catholics; Syrian Orthodox; Coptic Christians; and Ethiopian Christians.

My knowledge of Jerusalem and the tomb of Jesus comes from a pilgrimage I made there in 1996 when the "Great Cupola" dome or "Anastasis" dome was not yet completed. Even more importantly, I am a member of a Papal Order that specifically provides financial support for the maintenance of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. I was recently promoted as Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher in September 2006. I also have pictures of the various stages of construction of the Church as it was believed to look through the ages. It's a very well documented history, I think.

I am sure that you can see how surprised I was to hear first that the tomb was lost and second that the tomb of Jesus had only recently been found. I can't imagine what the other Christian communities who maintain the Church of the Holy Sepulcher must think except that James Cameron's efforts are absurd and ridiculous - certainly not the makings of a documentary. Msgr. Michael V. Reed, J.C.L., KCHS