The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Latin Sanctum Sepulchrum), also called the
Church of the Resurrection ( (Arabic,كنيسة القيامة Kinīsa al-Qiyāma, Greek: Ναός
της Αναστάσεως, Naos tis Anastaseos; Armenian: Սուրբ Հարություն Surp
Harutyun) by Eastern Christians, is a Christian church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. The ground on which the church stands is venerated by most Christians as
Golgotha[1], the
Hill of Calvary, where the New Testament says that
Jesus was crucified[2]. It is said to also contain the place where Jesus was buried (the
sepulchre). The church has been an important pilgrimage
destination since the 4th century. Today it serves as the headquarters of the
Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Catholic Archpriest of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.
History
Church of the Holy Sepulchre (1885). Other than some restoration work, it appears essentially the same today.
Eusebius describes in his Life of Constantine [1] how the
site of the Holy Sepulchre, originally a site of veneration for the Christian community in Jerusalem, had been covered with
earth, upon which a temple of Venus had been built. Although Eusebius does not say as
much, this was probably done as part of Hadrian's reconstruction of Jerusalem as
Aelia Capitolina in 135, following the destruction of the
Jewish Revolt of 70 and Bar Kokhba's revolt of 132–135. Emperor
Constantine I ordered in about 325/326 that the site be uncovered, and instructed Saint Macarius, Bishop
of Jerusalem, to build a church on the site. Pilgrim of Bordeaux reports in
333: "There, at present, by the command of the Emperor Constantine, has been built a basilica, that is to say, a church of
wondrous beauty" (page 594). Socrates Scholasticus (born c. 380), in his Ecclesiastical History, gives a full description of the discovery [2] (that was
repeated later by Sozomen and by Theodoret) that emphasizes
the role played in the excavations and construction by Constantine's mother Saint
Helena, to whom is also credited the rediscovery of the True Cross. Helena had been
directed by her son to build churches upon sites which commemorated the life of Jesus Christ, so the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
commemorated the end of the life of Jesus, just as the Church of the Nativity in
Bethlehem (also founded by Constantine and Helena) commemorated its beginning.
The
Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre (The Tomb of Christ) with the
dome of the
rotunda visible above.
Constantine's church was built beside the excavated hill of the Crucifixion, and was actually three connected churches built
over the three different holy sites, including a great basilica (the Martyrium visited
by the nun Egeria in the 380s), an enclosed colonnaded atrium (the Triportico) built around the
traditional Rock of Calvary, and a rotunda, called the Anastasis
("Resurrection"), which contained the remains of the cave that Helena and Macarius had identified as the burial site of Jesus.
The surrounding rock was cut away, and the Tomb was encased in a structure called the Kουβούκλιον (Kouvouklion;
Greek: small compartment) or Edicule (Latin:
aediculum, small building) in the center of the rotunda. The dome of the rotunda was completed by the end of the 4th century.
This building was damaged by fire in 614 when the Persians under Khosrau II invaded Jerusalem and captured the Cross.
In 630, Emperor Heraclius marched triumphantly into Jerusalem and
restored the True Cross to the rebuilt Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Under the Muslims it remained a Christian church. The early Muslim rulers protected the city's Christian
sites, prohibiting their destruction and their use as living quarters, but after a riot in 966, when
the doors and roof were burnt, the original building was completely destroyed on October 18,
1009 by the so-called "mad" Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacked out the Church's
foundations down to bedrock. The Edicule and the east and west walls and the roof of the cut-rock tomb it encased were destroyed
or damaged (contemporary accounts vary), but the north and south walls were likely protected by rubble from further damage.
European reaction was far-reaching, and often irrational. For example, Clunaic
monk Raoul Glaber blamed the Jews, with the result that Jews were expelled from Limoges and other
French towns. Ultimately, this destruction provided an impetus to the later Crusades.
Main Entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
A series of small chapels was erected on the site by Constantine IX
Monomachos in 1048 under stringent conditions imposed by the caliphate. The rebuilt sites were
taken by the knights of the First Crusade on
July 15, 1099. The First Crusade was envisioned as an armed
pilgrimage, and no crusader could consider his journey complete unless he had prayed as a pilgrim at the Holy Sepulchre. Crusader
chief Godfrey of Bouillon, who became the first crusader monarch of Jerusalem, decided not to use the title "king" during his lifetime, and
declared himself Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri, "Protector (or Defender) of the Holy Sepulchre." The chronicler
William of Tyre reports on the reconstruction in the mid-12th century, when the
crusaders began to renovate the church in a Romanesque style and added a bell
tower. These renovations unified the holy sites and were completed during the reign of Queen Melisende in 1149. The church became the seat of the first
Latin Patriarchs, and was also the site of the kingdom's scriptorium. The church was lost to Saladin, along with the rest of the
city, in 1187, although the treaty established after the Third
Crusade allowed for Christian pilgrims to visit the site. Emperor
Frederick II regained the city and the church by treaty in the 13th century, while he himself was under a ban of
excommunication, leading to the curious result of the holiest church in Christianity being laid under interdict. Both city and church were captured by the Khwarezmians in 1244.
The Franciscan friars renovated it further in 1555, as it
had been neglected despite increased numbers of pilgrims. A fire severely damaged the structure again in 1808, causing the dome of the Rotonda to collapse and smashing the Edicule's exterior decoration. The Rotunda and
the Edicule's exterior were rebuilt in 1809–1810 by architect
Komminos of Mytilene in the then current Ottoman Baroque
style. The fire did not reach the interior of the Edicule, and the marble decoration of the Tomb dates mainly to the 1555
restoration. The current dome dates from 1870. Extensive modern renovations began in
1959, including a restoration of the dome from 1994–1997. The cladding of red marble applied to the Edicule by Komminos has deteriorated badly and is detaching from
the underlying structure; since 1947 it has been held in place with an exterior scaffolding of iron
girders installed by the British Mandate. No plans have been agreed upon
for its renovation.
Status quo
Since the renovation of 1555, control of the church oscillated between the Franciscans and the Orthodox, depending on which
community could obtain a favorable firman from the Sublime
Porte at a particular time, often through outright bribery, and violent clashes were not uncommon. In 1767, weary of
the squabbling, the Porte issued a firman that divided the church among the claimants. This was confirmed in 1852
with another firman that made the arrangement permanent, establishing a status
quo of territorial division among the communities.
The immovable ladder. Detail from photograph of main entrance above, taken in 2005.
The primary custodians are the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic churches.
In the 19th century, the Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Syriac
Orthodox acquired lesser responsibilities, which include shrines and other structures within and around the building.
Times and places of worship for each community are strictly regulated in common areas.
Establishment of the status quo did not halt the violence, which continues to break out every so often even in modern
times. On a hot summer day in 2002, the Coptic monk who is stationed on the roof to express Coptic claims to the Ethiopian
territory there moved his chair from its agreed spot into the shade. This was interpreted as a hostile move by the Ethiopians,
and eleven were hospitalized after the resulting fracas.[3]
In another incident in 2004 during Orthodox celebrations of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross, a door to the Franciscan chapel was left open. This was taken as a sign of disrespect by the Orthodox and a
fistfight broke out. Some people were arrested, but no one was seriously injured.[4]
Under the status quo, no part of what is designated as common territory may be so much as rearranged without consent
from all communities. This often leads to the neglect of badly needed repairs when the communities cannot come to an agreement
among themselves about the final shape of a project. Just such a disagreement has delayed the renovation of the edicule,
where the need is now dire but where also any change in the structure might result in a change to the status quo
disagreeable to one or more of the communities.
A less grave sign of this state of affairs is located on a window ledge over the church's entrance. A wooden ladder was placed
there sometime before 1852, when the status quo defined both the doors and the window ledges as common ground. The ladder
remains there to this day, in almost exactly the same position it can be seen to occupy in century-old photographs and
engravings.
None of the communities control the main entrance. In 1192, Saladin assigned responsibility
for it to two neighboring Muslim families. The Joudeh were entrusted with the key, and the Nusseibeh, who had been the custodians of the church since the days of Caliph Omar in 637, retained the
position of keeping the door. This arrangement has persisted into modern times. Twice each day, a Joudeh family member brings the
key to the door, which is locked and unlocked by a Nusseibeh.
The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre
Constantine set up The Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre to guard and maintain the Church [5]
Modern arrangement of the church
The Stone of the Anointing, believed to be the place where Jesus' body was prepared for burial. It is the
13th Station of the Cross.
The entrance to the church is through a single door in the south transept. This narrow way
of access to such a large structure has proven to be hazardous at times. For example, when a fire broke out in 1840, dozens of
pilgrims were trampled to death. In 1999 the communities agreed to install a new exit door in the
church, but there was never any report of this door being completed.
Just inside the entrance is the Stone of Anointing, believed to be the spot where Jesus' body was prepared for burial. To the
left, or west, is the Rotunda of the Anastasis beneath the larger of the church's
two domes, in the center of which is the Edicule of the Holy Sepulchre itself. Under the status quo the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and
Armenian Apostolic Churches all have rights to the interior of the tomb, and
all three communities celebrate the Divine Liturgy or Mass there daily. It is also used for other ceremonies on special occasions, such as the Holy Saturday ceremony of the Holy Fire celebrated by the
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. To its rear, within a
chapel constructed of iron latticework upon a stone base semicircular in plan, lies the
altar used by the Coptic Orthodox. Beyond that to the rear of the
Rotunda is a very rough hewn chapel believed to be the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea
in which the Syriac Orthodox celebrate their Liturgy on Sundays. To the right of
the sepulchre on the southeastern side of the Rotunda is the Chapel of the Apparition which is reserved for Roman Catholic
use.
One of the altars at Calvary.
On the east side opposite the Rotunda is the Crusader structure housing the main altar of the Church, today the Greek Orthodox
catholicon. The second, smaller dome sits directly over the center of the
transept crossing of the choir
where the compas, an omphalos once thought to be the center of the world, is situated.
East of this is a large iconostasis demarcating the Greek Orthodox sanctuary before which is
set the Patriarchal throne and a throne for visiting episcopal celebrants. On the south side of the altar via the
ambulatory is a stairway climbing to the Chapel of Calvary,
or Golgotha, believed to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion and the most lavishly decorated part of the church. The main altar
there belongs to the Greek Orthodox, while the Roman Catholics have an altar to the side. Further to the east in the ambulatory
are the stairs descending to the Chapel of St. Helena, belonging to the Armenians. From there, another set of stairs leads down
to the Roman Catholic Chapel of the Invention of the Holy Cross, believed to be the place where the True Cross was found.
Authenticity
As noted above, both Eusebius and Socrates Scholasticus record that the tomb of Jesus was originally a site of veneration for
the Christian community in Jerusalem and its location remembered by that community even when the site was covered by Hadrian's
temple. Eusebius in particular notes that the uncovering of the tomb "afforded to all who came to witness the sight, a clear
and visible proof of the wonders of which that spot had once been the scene" (Life of Constantine, Chapter XXVIII
[6]).
Archaeologist Martin Biddle of Oxford University has theorized that this "clear
and visible proof" might have been a graffito to the effect of "This is the Tomb of Christ",
scratched in the rock by Christian pilgrims before the construction of the Roman temple. Similar ancient graffiti are still
visible in the Catacombs of Rome, indicating the tombs of especially venerated saints.
Floor plan of the site in the 4th Century
In the nineteenth century, a number of scholars disputed the identification of the
Church with the actual site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial,[citation needed] on the basis that the Church was inside the city walls, while early
accounts (e.g., Hebrews 13:12) described these events as outside the
walls. On the morning after his arrival in Jerusalem, General Gordon selected a
rock-cut tomb in a cultivated area outside the walls as a more likely site for the burial of Jesus. This site is usually referred
to as the Garden Tomb to distinguish it from the Holy Sepulchre, and it is still a popular
pilgrimage site for those (usually Protestants) who doubt the authenticity of the
Anastasis and/or do not have permission to hold services in the Church itself.
However, it has since been determined that the site was indeed outside the city walls at the time of the crucifixion. The
Jerusalem city walls were expanded by Herod Agrippa in 41–44, and only then enclosed the site of the Holy Sepulchre, at which time the
surrounding garden mentioned in the Bible would have been built up as well. To quote the Israeli
scholar Dan Bahat, former City Archaeologist of Jerusalem:
- "We may not be absolutely certain that the site of the Holy Sepulchre Church is the site of Jesus' burial, but we have no
other site that can lay a claim nearly as weighty, and we really have no reason to reject the authenticity of the site." (Bahat,
1986)
Influence
Plan of Santo Stefano in Bologna. (4) is the church of the Holy Sepulchre, inspired in the Anastasis.
Since the 9th century, the construction of churches inspired in the Anastasis was extended across Europe[3]. One example is Santo Stefano in Bologna, Italy, an agglomeration of seven
churches recreating shrines of Jerusalem.
See also
Notes
References
- Coüasnon, Charles (1974). The church of the
holy sepulchre.
- Corbo, Virgilio C. (1981). Il Santo Sepolcro di
Gerusalemme. The holy sepulchre in Jerusalem. Aspetti archeologici dalle origini al periodo crociata, 3
Vol..
- Bahat, Dan (1986). "Does the Holy Sepulchre church mark the burial of Jesus?".
Biblical Archaeology Review 12: 26–45.
- Biddle, Martin (1999). The Tomb of Christ.
Phoenix Mill: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-1926-4.
- (1994) Beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. London: Palestine
Exploration Fund.
- Biddle, Martin; Avni, Gideon; Seligman, Jon &
Winter, Tamar (text); Zabé, Michèl & Nalbandian, Garo (photos) (2000). The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. New York:
Rizzoli. ISBN 0-8478-2282-6.
- Krüger, Jürgen (2000). Die Grabeskirche zu
Jerusalem. Geschichte - Gestalt - Bedeutung.
- "Divvying up the Most
Sacred Place by Chris Armstrong, Christianity Today, Week of July 29, 2002, retrieved February 28, 2006.
- "Punch-up at
tomb of Jesus" by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, The Guardian, September 28, 2004, retrieved February 28, 2006.
External links
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Coordinates:
31°46′43″N, 35°13′46″E
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