The historically-significant object was covered in graffiti.
Archaeologists have discovered a long-lost altar dating from the times of the Crusades at the site of Jesus’ resurrection in Jerusalem.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is considered to be Christianity’s holiest site.
Dating back to the 4th century, the church is believed to be built on the site where Jesus was crucified and also houses his empty tomb, where he was said to be buried and resurrected.
It has been one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Christians since the fourth century, and the Rock of Calvary – where the Crucifixion is believed to have occurred – is encased in glass at the lavish Altar of the Crucifixion and is the most-visited area within the church.
The team of researchers from the Austrian Academy of Sciences called on local construction workers to help overturn a massive stone slab leaning against a wall in the church that had been sitting there for an unknown amount of time.
The several-ton hunk of marble was in a publicly accessible corridor in the rear of the church and was even covered in graffiti.
When turned over, it was revealed to be a medieval crusader altar, consecrated in 1149 – 50 years after the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem.
The underside of the slab – which vanished from history when a massive fire destroyed part of the church hundreds of years ago – was magnificently decorated
Historian at the Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), Ilya Berkovich, said: “We know of pilgrim accounts from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries about a magnificent marble altar in Jerusalem.
“In 1808, there was a major fire in the Romanesque part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” added Berkovich. “Since then, the Crusader’s altar was lost – at least that’s what people thought for a long time.”
For historians, this find is a sensation in several respects.
Firstly, the fact that the slab could have remained hidden for so long in such an intensively researched building as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – especially as it was in view of thousands of pilgrims and tourists every day.
“The fact that something so important could stand unrecognised in this of all places was completely unexpected for all concerned,” said Berkovich.
No less significant is the new information which the discovery provides about the medieval high altar.
The unusual decorations led the researchers to the so-called ‘Cosmatesque’.
This special production technique for marble decoration was practised exclusively by guild masters in papal Rome, who passed the skill down from generation to generation.
A characteristic feature of this technique was its masters’ ability to decorate large surfaces with small quantities of precious marble.
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In medieval Rome marble was mainly scraped from ancient buildings, forcing the Cosmatesque masters to optimise whatever marble they could find.
Their solution was to put small marble pieces together with the utmost precision, attaching it in such a way as to create complex geometric patterns and dazzling ornaments.
Berkovich and his team hope that additional research will reveal which Cosmatesque master was behind the work.
