The exact burial place of the body of Jesus has been exciting the minds of Christians for several millennia. During this time, many erroneous versions were put forward, and a lot of archaeological excavations were carried out within Jerusalem, the purpose of which was the grave of Jesus Christ. Despite the fact that today the world scientific community is leaning in favor of the official version, according to which the burial is located in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, it has not yet been possible to prove it. Let's try to find out where the grave of Jesus Christ is actually located?
Scripture: Source of Burial Information
For many people, the very understanding of the term "grave of Jesus Christ" is incomprehensible, because according to the Holy Scriptures, He ascended to heaven forty days after his earthly death at Calvary. What then have pilgrims and archaeologists been looking for for several centuries? What shrine are they talking about?
In fact, the grave of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem is the place where, according to the text of the New Testament, Joseph from Arimofei and Nicodemus transferred the body of the Savior after the crucifixion. They wrapped it in cloth impregnated with incense, and left it in a cave crypt, the entrance to which was closed with a huge boulder.
It was from this cave that the body of Christ disappeared on the third day, and its location is described as a crypt in a garden near Calvary outside the city.
Ancient traditions of the burial of Jews: how did this happen?
In search of the grave of Christ, archaeologists have studied many different burials of the Jews and clearly understood how this rite occurred in the times of interest to them. Each noble Jew had his own family crypt, where several generations of the same family found peace. Traditionally, it was a cave where deceased fit into hollowed out niches. According to customs, they were laid on the stone bed with their feet east, which usually corresponded to the entrance to the cave. It is worth noting that most of the caves are man-made, they remained after the extraction of stone used for the construction of cities. On the walls of such caves, clear traces of workers' tools are visible. This is exactly what the grave of Jesus Christ should look like, which is still unsuccessfully sought by archaeologists and scientists from all over the world. This find can become the most important and significant shrine of Christianity, which will serve as the most clear evidence of the veracity of the text of the Bible.
Scientists knowingly scrupulously studied the burial places of the Jews, because in this way it is possible to accurately determine the historical conformity of the alleged grave of Christ with the traditions of a certain time. For several centuries, a mass of graves was discovered, of which they made a sensation, announcing that they had found the very burial of the Savior described in the New Testament. But after a quick study, it became clear that all this was a very crude fake, the so-called remake, created only to arouse public interest. It should be noted that the work of scientists is complicated by a large number of ancient crypts within Jerusalem, each of which can claim the title of shrine.
Where is the grave of Jesus Christ: options and assumptions
In the last century, interest in the grave of Christ has markedly increased, this is associated with the development of technologies that can determine the age of certain objects with practically one year precision. Despite this, for many decades, five burial sites have claimed the place of the main Christian shrine. Not all of them are located in Jerusalem, which is very surprising for Christians. We will tell you as much as possible about each of the alleged burials.
Holy Family Cave
Thirty-seven years ago, during the construction of one of the houses in Jerusalem, workers discovered a large crypt in which ten graves were located. On six of the tombstones were inscriptions with the names of the deceased. One of the women was called Mary Magdalene. The famous director James Cameron, who gathered a group of professionals and began to study the burial, became interested in this burial. Having collected the necessary information, they came to the conclusion that the crypt found was the burial place of Jesus Christ and his family. But the official scientific community did not accept this version, although it was quite widespread in society.
True Calvary
This place is known as the alternative grave of Jesus Christ. It should be noted that in many respects it corresponds to the descriptions given in the New Testament. The found cave in the first century from the Nativity of Christ was located just outside the walls of Jerusalem and was formed as a result of stone mining. At that time it was surrounded by agricultural land and located in the utmost proximity to Calvary. Charles Gordon discovered the cave at the end of the nineteenth century, absolutely sure that he had revealed the secret of the burial of Christ.
Grave in japan
The Japanese village of Shingo has attracted crowds of tourists for many years, because according to one version, it was here that Jesus Christ lived his life and was buried in this land after death.
No matter how incredible this version is, but it has a right to exist. Indeed, at the beginning of the last century, ancient documents were found in Japan, according to which Christ was not crucified at Calvary, and having fulfilled his mission, he came to Japan, where he had already been. He married a local girl and happily lived to gray hair on these lands.
As evidence, the villagers cite the tradition of drawing a cross on the head of newborns with coal, and the star of David is often depicted on a kimono.
India - the burial place of Christ
If you find yourself in India, then you will certainly be shown the grave of Jesus Christ. Do not be surprised, but the Indians are sure that the Savior rests in the crypt of Rause Bal. They can talk about this place endlessly.
Here they are sure that Christ was saved after Calvary and came to India, taking a different name. Here he lived until old age and was buried in Rausea Ball. It is difficult to say how true this version is, but it has many defenders. The fact is that the crypt, contrary to Muslim traditions, is oriented to the east. This is fully consistent with Jewish rituals, besides there is an imprint of the wounded feet of a person buried here. They coincide with the description of the wounds of Christ received on the cross, in addition, they repeat the drawing on the Shroud of Turin.
Christian Shrine in Jerusalem
This version is official and worthy of close study. It is in Jerusalem, in the Old City, that millions of pilgrims from all over the world come who want to get a little closer to the shrine. After all, it is believed that the temple of the Holy Sepulcher was built precisely over the cave where Christ was buried. His alleged grave has been covered with marble slabs for several hundred years. Recently, scientists opened the grave of Jesus Christ to collect the necessary information that will help determine the authenticity of the burial and, finally, to reveal this centuries-old mystery.
Church of the Holy Sepulcher: a place of Christian pilgrimage
Today's temple, which is known to almost every Christian in the world, is actually not the first building in this place. Historians claim that the Roman emperor Constantine, having adopted Christianity in 325, ordered the construction of a beautiful temple over the caves in order to perpetuate this place for centuries. For almost seven hundred years, the temple was completely destroyed several times and rebuilt again, but the arrival of the crusaders at the beginning of the second millennium on the land of Palestine opened a new page in the history of the temple.
A hundred years later, a new church was erected on the ruins of ancient buildings, which stood up to the nineteenth century, when it was almost completely destroyed by a terrible fire. Now at this place stands the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which belongs to absolutely all Christian movements. Each of the six denominations has its own part of the temple and a certain time for ministry.
A special structure, Kuvukliya, was erected over the alleged burial site of Jesus' body. And the niche itself is covered with a marble slab. This was done in order to preserve the shrine, because it is made of limestone, and pilgrims often took with them a piece of the Holy Sepulcher.
Despite the fact that the temple is considered a Christian shrine, scholars still cannot confidently answer the question of whether the temple is really built around the crypt of Jesus Christ. How to prove or disprove this fact?
Searching for the Grave of Christ: Exploring the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
At the beginning of the twentieth century, scientists carried out restoration work in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and found the remains of ancient structures that completely coincide with the description of the structure of the first millennium AD. This once again stirred up interest in the burial place of Christ, and serious research work began in the temple.
One of the scientists, Martin Biddle, carefully examined the temple for several years and came to the conclusion that the alleged burial place of the body of Jesus could very well turn out to be real. This is evidenced by several facts:
- during the life of Christ, this place was located outside of Jerusalem;
- very close to the cave and the temple were extensive gardens;
- the cave has characteristic traces of tools;
- in addition to the alleged grave of Jesus, there are numerous crypts with burials nearby (which means that a cemetery was located at this place);
- all signs of burial completely coincide with the guidelines described in the New Testament.
Scientists have said for a very long time that opening the grave of Jesus Christ will help to obtain the missing information about the alleged burial. After all, literally since the sixteenth century, no one has seen the grave itself, covered by a huge marble slab. A deep crack crosses the entire length of the plate; there is a long legend about its appearance. It is believed that Muslims wanted to take her to decorate a new mosque, but the moment they approached her, the stove cracked with a roar. This was taken as a sign, and those who came to the temple retreated. From that moment, no one even mentioned that the grave of Jesus Christ could be opened until recently. In October last year, a significant event took place, which, according to scientists, can change the course of history.
The autopsy of the grave of Jesus Christ
At the end of October 2016, an unprecedented decision was made to raise a marble slab covering the stone bed, where the body of Christ was supposedly lowered after the crucifixion. For the first time in five centuries, the grave of Jesus Christ was opened for sixty hours. What did the scientists see there? And what conclusions did they draw?
It is worth noting that, lifting a marble slab, scientists found a large number of stones filling the bed. The work continued for several hours without stopping, and hard work was rewarded - before the eyes of archaeologists and restorers, a second marble slab with a carved cross appeared. Under it was a stone bed of limestone, almost untouched by time. This fact amazed scientists, because it proves that the grave was here for several centuries, and above it the ancient temple changed its shape. After the allotted time, archaeologists again closed the tomb, collecting all the necessary data. It is planned that restoration work in Kuvuklia will be carried out until Easter 2017.
After that, the obtained data will undergo multilateral processing and only then will be presented to the world community. But now, scientists say that they do not have another object that would so coincide with the description of the burial in all respects. They hope to unravel the mysterious graffiti on the walls of cave crypts near the temple, because many see it in them as an indication of the grave of Christ.
Perhaps in April of this year, scientists will announce the results of their first studies. And humanity will finally reveal the secret of the burial of the body of Jesus Christ.