New archaeological findings beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem show striking similarities to the New Testament’s descriptions of the site where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus Christ was buried.
Italian archaeologists have identified traces of an ancient burial landscape, including rock-cut tombs, cultivated land, and a garden, though the evidence does not prove that this is indeed the tomb of Jesus.
The preliminary results of the research were published in the Jerusalem archaeological journal “Liber Annuus”.
“We have found evidence of a burial landscape,” said the excavation’s lead archaeologist, Francesca Romana Stasolla, of Rome’s La Sapienza University, speaking to the Daily Mail.
The researchers were carrying out excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the fourth-century church built over the site where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose again on Easter Sunday.
The church has since become one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Christian world, drawing around four million visitors each year.
What was found beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Excavations began in 2022, as part of restoration work on the church’s floor, and in their final phases, in 2025, archaeologists came across a distinctive ancient landscape.
Beneath the church, they identified an abandoned quarry, cultivated plots of land, rock-cut tombs, and an ancient garden.
The findings are of particular interest because of their similarities to the description in the Gospel of John: that at the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
Although no human remains were found in that particular tomb, the archaeologists consider the correspondences between the site’s features and the biblical accounts to be notable.
The Gospel of John also states that the crucifixion took place near Jerusalem, while the Epistle to the Hebrews notes that Jesus suffered “outside the gate” of the city.
The site where the quarry was located was indeed outside the walls of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus.
Sections of the quarry were about six meters deep and had been filled with soil, suggesting that the area was later used for cultivation.
Olive trees and vineyards from the time of Jesus
The agricultural use of the area is further supported by the discovery of evidence linked to olive trees and vineyards dating to the period when Jesus is believed to have died, around 33 AD.
“The Gospel mentions a green area between Golgotha and the tomb, and we have identified these cultivated fields,” Stasolla told the Times of Israel.
The tombs themselves are also significant. They were cut directly into the rock, demonstrating that the area was indeed used as a burial site.
This feature corresponds to the descriptions in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, according to which the tomb of Jesus had been hewn out of rock.
The Roman structure that “sealed” a tomb
The evidence being examined by the archaeologists is not limited to correspondences with the biblical texts.
One particular burial chamber had been sealed off by a Roman structure built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, in the 2nd century AD.
About 200 years later, in the time of Emperor Constantine, builders working in the area demolished the Roman structure and excavated the site, uncovering the tomb once again.
They then separated it from the other burial chambers and created a distinct Christian shrine around it, where the faithful could gather and pray.
What the discovery can – and cannot – prove
The archaeological evidence does not definitively prove that this particular site was indeed the burial place of Jesus. However, the effort to preserve and highlight it as early as the first Christian centuries reinforces the assessment that knowledge of the site’s significance may have been passed down from the earliest generations of Christians.
For Stasolla, moreover, the excavation’s real significance is not limited to an attempt to confirm a biblical narrative.
“The real treasure we are uncovering is the story of the people who made this place what it is, expressing their faith here,” she told the Times of Israel.
“Whether or not one believes in the historicity of the Holy Sepulchre, the fact that generations of people believed in it is objective. The history of this place is the history of Jerusalem, and, at least from a certain point onward, it is the history of the worship of Jesus Christ,” she added.
Source: protothema.gr
