Leaning against a wall in a back aisle of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, a slab of stone showed only evidence of the graffiti left on it by crowds of pilgrims through the ages.
But the 2.5mx 1.5m stone turned out to be much more precious when its other side was exposed during recent renovations to the church, the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial.
The researchers believe the elaborate ornaments they found on the hidden part of the slab indicate that it was once the decorated front of a medieval altar highlighted centuries ago at one of Christianity’s holiest sites.
“You can’t see it now, but originally it was decorated with pieces of precious marble, pieces of glass, small pieces of marble,” said Amit Re’em, a regional archaeologist in Jerusalem for the Israel Antiquities Authority.
“It was glowing and this was a really amazing artifact,” said Re’em, who led the research with Ilya Berkovich of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
They identified the unique decoration method as “Cosmatesque”, which combines classical, Byzantine and early Islamic art, in which finely cut colored marble tiles are used to fill in circular engravings in the stone.
“It was at the top, in the sanctuary of the Church (of the Holy Sepulcher),” Re’em said.
Similarly decorated altars have been found inside churches in Rome dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, the researchers said.
They believe the relic in Jerusalem matches archaeological finds from the past and pilgrim accounts of the crusaders’ consecration of the church and the formation of its main altar in 1149.
