Archaeologists excavating beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem have discovered an ancient landscape of rock-cut tombs and cultivated gardens that closely matches biblical accounts of where Jesus was buried.
For nearly 1,700 years, Christians have believed that the rock-carved tomb of Jesus lies within the church. The completed excavations reveal that the building stands over an abandoned stone quarry outside the ancient city walls, where farming plots existed alongside multiple burial chambers.
The landscape closely mirrors the description in the Gospel of John, which states that Jesus was laid to rest in a new tomb situated in a garden near the site of his crucifixion.
The findings are detailed in a new 98-page preliminary report published in Liber Annuus, the archaeological journal of Jerusalem's Studium Biblicum Franciscanum.
The report covers results from the final 2025 excavation campaign, completing a project that began in March 2022 during a major restoration of the church floor. While researchers first announced evidence of the ancient garden in 2025, the completed work has allowed them to reconstruct the wider site.
Lead archaeologist Francesca Romana Stasolla said the team discovered a funerary landscape next to areas planted with olive trees and vines.
"We have found evidence of a funerary landscape, alongside small areas planted with vines and olive trees, as well as a pastoral landscape characterized by sporadic human activity," Stasolla told the Daily Mail.
Abandoned stone quarry
The landscape began as a vast stone quarry cut into a hillside outside the ancient walls of Jerusalem. Archaeologists found that some sections reached nearly 20 feet beneath the present floor of the church.
As stone extraction gradually ended, the deepest areas were filled with soil. Builders constructed low dry-stone walls to divide the space into small plots for cultivation.
"Evidence of cultivation is provided by archaeobotanical and pollen remains, which have enabled us to reconstruct a landscape suitable for pastoralism, with natural vegetation used for grazing," Stasolla said.
Researchers recovered traces of legumes, fruits and wild vegetation. The plant remains reveal an open Mediterranean landscape that was visited, cultivated and used for grazing, but was not permanently inhabited.
"This type of Mediterranean landscape was widespread throughout the region and coexisted with the abandoned quarry area and the presence of rock-cut tombs," Stasolla added.
Archaeologists dated the cultivated landscape using pottery recovered from the quarry fills and its position within the archaeological layers. The evidence places the garden after the quarry was abandoned but before Roman Emperor Hadrian rebuilt the area in the second century AD, a broad period encompassing the lifetime of Jesus.
Biblical clues aligned
The plant remains have not received an absolute laboratory date, meaning researchers cannot prove the garden was cultivated at the exact time of the crucifixion. However, the site's layout aligns with multiple clues in the New Testament.
The Gospel of John 19:41 reads: "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid."
John also states the tomb was close to the crucifixion site, allowing a quick burial before the Jewish Sabbath began. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke each describe Jesus' grave as having been carved from rock.
The excavations confirmed the presence of a genuine ancient burial ground with chambers cut directly into the exposed stone of the quarry.
The location also matches the biblical geography. John 19:20 places the crucifixion close to Jerusalem, and Hebrews 13:12 says Jesus suffered outside the city gate. The quarry stood outside the city walls during the time of Jesus but remained close to Jerusalem.
Inside the modern church, the rock of Calvary and the chamber traditionally identified as the tomb of Jesus exist within the same compact area. Multiple tombs opened into the former quarry at different heights, connected by narrow winding paths between the cultivated plots and graves.
Centuries of Christian veneration
Abandoned quarries were commonly reused for burials and cultivation in ancient Jerusalem, meaning the individual features were not unique. However, the Holy Sepulchre site brings all the biblical clues together in one place: cultivated land, a rocky crucifixion site, and a cemetery with rock-cut tombs located just outside the ancient walls.
The Bible states that Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy Jewish council member, asked Pontius Pilate for the body of Jesus after the crucifixion. He wrapped the body in clean linen and placed it in his own unused, rock-hewn tomb. Important gaps remain today, as no inscription identifies Jesus, and archaeologists cannot definitively prove the chamber was new or belonged to Joseph.
Despite the lack of physical proof identifying the occupant, one particular chamber within the burial ground became the focus of centuries of Christian veneration.
During the second century, a Roman structure erected during Emperor Hadrian's reign stood directly against the tomb. It made the chamber inaccessible and cut into the nearby rock of Calvary, the traditional crucifixion site. The archaeological report suggested the surviving Roman walls belonged to a smaller cult site, rather than a massive pagan temple to the goddess Venus described in traditional accounts.
About two centuries later, workers under Roman Emperor Constantine demolished the Roman buildings and excavated the site to expose the venerated tomb. They removed the surrounding rock to separate the chamber from the other graves and built the first Christian shrine around it.
Architects considered the tomb's position so important that they allowed different sections of the enormous church complex to fall out of alignment rather than move it. The first monument was probably open to the sky and featured a small circular shrine ringed by 12 columns where early pilgrims could gather.
The original church was dedicated in AD 335 to house the burial place of Jesus, who died nearly 300 years earlier. Generations of pilgrims have since travelled there to pray where Christ is believed to have been crucified, buried and resurrected. The site attracts an estimated four million visitors each year.
The second church, which stands today, was built and restored starting around 614 to 626 AD after the Persian Sassanid invasion caused destruction and fire.
The discoveries add to an ongoing debate over the burial location. Many scholars support the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, pointing to the presence of first-century rock-cut tombs. Others argue that the Garden Tomb, another ancient burial site in Jerusalem, is a better match for the biblical descriptions.
Monument to tradition
Although none of the evidence proves Jesus was buried inside, the decision to return to and preserve one specific tomb centuries later raises the possibility that early Christians passed down knowledge of its location.
Stasolla said the archaeological area reveals the long history of a part of Jerusalem that underwent the monumentalization of Christological memory in the early fourth century AD.
"In this case, I believe that the archaeological evidence should be used primarily to understand the places and contexts in which Christian memory took shape and became firmly established," Stasolla said.
While the evidence shows Christians were commemorating the location by the fourth century, it cannot confirm Jesus was buried there three centuries earlier. The discoveries demonstrate that the traditional site contains the principal geographical and physical features described in the New Testament.
"The Church of the Holy Sepulchre gives monumental form to the sites where, since very early times, tradition has located the memory of Christ's death and resurrection," Stasolla said. "Archaeology undoubtedly attests to the enduring nature of this commemorative tradition."
