Church of the Holy Sepulchre's ancient altar rediscovered, researchers say

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Pressed against a wall in a back corridor of Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a stone slab bore testimony only to the graffiti etched on it by multitudes of pilgrims through the ages.

But the 2.5-by-1.5-meter stone turned out to be far more precious when its other side was exposed during recent renovations at the church, the traditional site of Jesus' crucifixion and burial.

"You cannot see it now, but originally it was inlaid with pieces of precious marble, pieces of glass, pieces of small, finely made marble," said Amit Re'em,  regional archaeologist for the Israel Antiquities Authority.

"The priests and the monks of the church did all the liturgy, the main liturgy of the church, on the table, right here on the table of this altar," he said.

The altar was used by the Catholic clergy to celebrate mass until the Crusaders left Jerusalem. Afterward it was used by the Greek Orthodox church until it was damaged in a fire in 1808. Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the chief secretary of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, welcomed such research at the church.

Source - https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/jerusalem-ancient-altar-intl-scli/index.html, https://www.omanobserver.om/article/1117679/features/church-of-the-holy-sepulchres-ancient-altar-rediscovered-researchers-say, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/church-holy-sepulchres-ancient-altar-rediscovered-researchers-say-2623781

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This is super cool. Happy for all the Palestinian Christians around the world and those in Jerusalem. This must be a monumental moment for them tbh.

[gurlyyGAGA 100]

I love ancient stuff.  Doses it say how far back this dates 

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10 hours ago, dit said:

This is super cool. Happy for all the Palestinian Christians around the world and those in Jerusalem. This must be a monumental moment for them tbh.

It is, for Christians of all denominations and ethnicities really. The church is seen as holy by Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Churches alike, furthermore this altar specifically was used by both Catholic and Orthodox believers (successively).

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10 hours ago, gurlyyGAGA said:

I love ancient stuff.  Doses it say how far back this dates 

Even though the headline says 'Ancient', a better fitting term would be 'Medieval'. In fact, the altar dates back to the Crusaders era.