Located in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, the tomb has been covered by marble cladding since at least 1555 A.D., and most likely centuries earlier.Read more

The Holy Sepulchre is believed to be Christ's burial place.

The archaeologists found the mortar and marble slab covering the original burial bed dated back to about 345 AD.

This coincides with the time period that Constantine was believed to have built the shrine around the tomb, and refutes claims by many researchers that the shrine was built only 1,000 years ago, during the Crusades. Read more

The tomb's structural integrity has been a concern for over 100 years.

The tomb has just been reopened after extensive renovations.

Moropoulou says the collapse will be a slow, but catastrophic process.

The problem is the tomb itself is on unstable ground.

Its foundations are made of a mixture of "tunnels, rubble and crumbling foundation mortar".

Evidently the unstable foundations are partly a result of the limestone quarry where it was built.

This was once used as a cemetery for upper class Jews.

A lack of funds is a big problem with stabilising the foundations.

Scientists are working with Church authorities to determine the best plan for restoration work on the foundation, which is estimated to cost 6 million euro and would take about 10 months.

The tomb and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre sees nearly 4 million visitors a year.

Source

• CNA
• Image: You Tube