The history of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (HS) embodies the history of Christianity in the Middle East. A visit there is an uplifting spiritual experience, especially so when entering the Holy Tomb.
The HS encompasses the tomb of Jesus Christ; the site of His Crucifixion, the Golgotha; the site where St Helena found the Holy Cross, and many other memorable sites. Each of these sites has its own history, but the history of the HS as a whole speaks of the turbulent times it underwent.
Temple of Venus
After the entombment of Christ, His Resurrection and Ascension, the Apostles started the journey of spreading the faith. The early faithful knew the place and time of what happened during the Passion week. They used to visit the site of the tomb during the appropriate times.
In 70AD, Titus attacked Jerusalem and squashed a Jewish rebellion. This, however, did not stop the faithful from continuing to visit the holy site.
In 136 AD Emperor Hadrian, following another Jewish rebellion and more destruction, rebuilt the city and called it Aelia Capitolina. He forbade the Jewish and Christian inhabitants from residing in the new city. He was informed of the Christian practice of visiting the site of Crucifixion and the tomb, so he built over Calvary a Roman Temple dedicated to Venus with the intention that no Christian visits to these sites would ever take place again; he did the same with the site of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. His aim was to erase the memory of Jesus Christ. Actually, what he achieved was to preserve the sites and protect them from any harm till Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, came to look for them in the first half of the fourth century.
Demolitions .. and Status quo
Empress Helena knocked down the temple and built a church on the site. A number of Egyptian workers helped build the original church, hence the close proximity of the Coptic Patriarchate to the HS. She also found the true Cross.
When the Persians invaded the Holy Lands, they demolished the HS which was then rebuilt following their defeat by Emperor Heraclius in 626AD.
The church was preserved during the Arab occupation in the 7th century. In 1009, however, the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim, known as the mad Caliph, ordered its demolition, which was duly done. This was one of the reasons for the First Crusade. The successor of al-Hakim ordered its restoration, and the Greek Orthodox Patriarch Nicephorus started the task. The Crusaders added to the buildings and the HS was consecrated in 1149. A fire erupted in 1808, but the church was thereafter restored.
Owing to severe squabbles among the various Christian sects in Jerusalem over who owns what in the HS, a firman was issued by the Ottoman Sultan in 1852, which stipulated that the “Status Quo” should be maintained, a principle to this day honoured.
As one approaches the HS, it is noticed that the church is at a lower level than the surrounding streets. This owes to the 2000 years time difference between them in history.
Above the entrance stands a conspicuous small wooden ladder. This ladder (or a variant thereof), known as the immovable ladder, has been in that same spot since 1852, confirming the strict Status Quo.
Holy Fire
On the left hand of the entrance there is a number of marble columns, one of which is split, with a dark area around. This split is related to the Coptic history of the HS. The story goes back to Ibrahim Pasha, the eldest son of Muhammad Ali who wasViceroy of Egypt in 1805 – 1848. Having heard of the Holy Fire that erupts in the Holy Tomb on the Saturday preceding Easter Sunday, Ibrahim Pasha wished to see for himself that Holy Fire. He entered the Holy Tomb with the Coptic Patriarch accompanied by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch. The church was emptied, but the crowds would not leave; they stood outside the HS closed door, waiting. Once the Holy fire appeared right on time in the Holy Tomb, it also sprang from a pillar at the entrance of the HS, for the benefit of the faithful outside the church; hence the split column.
The Greek Orthodox have a slightly different version of the story, albeit with the same outcome. Their story goes that the ones in the Holy Tomb were the Pasha and the Coptic Patriarch, while the Greek Orthodox Patriarch was with the crowds outside the church. The Holy Fire erupted in the column and split it.
Sites of Crucifixion and Resurrection
Inside the HS, the first thing a person encounters is a large marble slab, the Stone of Unction or Anointing. This is the site where the body of Christ was laid down to be washed and prepared for burial once it was taken down from the Cross. Eight lamps hang over the Stone of Unction, adorned with cross-bearing chain links; they are contributed by the Armenians, Copts, Greeks and Latins.
On the right hand to the Stone are stairs which lead to the site of Crucifixion. This area is divided to a right-hand smaller part where Our Lord was nailed to the Cross. The main part encompasses the area of The Cross. Invariably one would need to join a queue to gain the blessing of the site where the Cross stood. It is marked in the floor with a square hole. Beneath this hole is the place reputed to be the site where Adam was buried. This is why some paintings of the Crucifixion include a skull and bones under the crucified Christ.
On the left of the marble Unction slab is an area marking where the Holy Virgin stood watching her crucified son. Behind are stairs ascending to the area belonging to the Armenian Orthodox.
Opposite, there is the “Aedicule” sitting in the middle of the “Rotunda”, under the largest “Dome” in the HS. The Aedicule is a marble monument that houses the Holy Tomb. To enter the tomb, one has to pass through the chapel of the Angel where a small piece of the stone that sealed the tomb is present.
Coptic altar
Once inside the chapel of the Angel, the Holy Tomb is to the right, and behind the wall in front there is the Coptic altar. When Christ was laid in the tomb, His head was towards the present-day Coptic altar. The Coptic “church” is actually a small iron enclosure. Behind it, on the opposite side of the Tomb, is the Syrian Orthodox church which includes the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
Opposite the Holy Tomb is the Catholicon of the Greek Orthodox. Sixty per cent of the HS belongs to the Greek Orthodox, 30 per cent to the Armenian Orthodox, and the remaining 10 per cent is divided between the Latins, Syrians, and Copts. In the past, the Copts used to have seven altars, only one remains today.
At the lowest level of the HS is the site where St Helena found the Holy Cross.
Dr Ahmes Labib Pahor, PhD, FRCS, FICS. Freedom of The City of London.
Watani International
16 April 2023
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