Sunday, October 30, 2016

Repairs of the tomb

Restorers found rubble filling the area under the lid. The lid is about 500 years old, and deteriorating, so some renovation was in order. The article quotes Hiebert: "but we will finally be able to see the original rock surface on which, according to tradition, the body of Christ was laid." Actually, if I understand correctly, Hakim the Mad had the earlier building over the Holy Sepulchre destroyed and the ground beneath it chiseled away as well. If so, maybe that rubble fill was rock saved from the demolition, and is the actual rock Jesus lay on. Or replacements from nearby as relic-hunters scavenged originals. Or maybe it was something readily available to support the marble lid.

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