Posted on 03/21/2017 3:02:14 PM PDT by mgstarr
The restored tomb in which Jesus’s body is believed to have been interred after his crucifixion will be officially unveiled at a ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday.
“If the intervention hadn’t happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse,” Bonnie Burnham of the World Monuments Fund, which had oversight of the project, told Associated Press. “This is a complete transformation of the monument.”
The delicate restoration was carried out by a team of about 50 experts from the National Technical University, which previously worked on the Acropolis in Athens and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The conservators worked mainly at night in order to allow pilgrims continued access to the shrine.
In October, a slab covering the rock-carved tomb was lifted for the first time in more than two centuries, allowing restoration workers to examine the original rock shelf or burial bed on which Jesus’s body is thought to have rested. A small window has been cut into marble slabs to allow pilgrims a glimpse of the rock. A window cut into the burial chamber of Jesus’s tomb for pilgrims to see what is believed to be the original stone
A window cut into the burial chamber of Jesus’s tomb for pilgrims to see what is believed to be the original stone wall of the burial cave.
The team also repaired and stabilised the shrine with titanium bolts and mortar, and cleaned thick layers of candle soot and pigeon droppings. The work involved the use of radar, laser scanners and drones.
Wednesday’s ceremony to mark the completion of the restoration will be in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, and a representative of Pope Francis.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Be grateful for little things...
Agreed. Rather unlikely Jesus would be buried in a “tomb” that wasn’t constructed until over a century after his death. The whole thimg was a fantasy of Queen Helena.
How can you legitimately spend $4million on a Cave? ...and still have a Cave.
The hillside was removed around the original tomb and the aedicule erected around it.
That’s Passover. 10th Plague is free.
There was no “hillside” above the supposed tomb. It was part of Hadrian’s Temple of Aphrodite.
Which was built over the tomb site.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.