Frozen pygmy woolly mammoth carcass unearthed in Siberia could be proof of a new species of ice age beast
Scientists have discovered relics of Mammuthus exilis, or what they’re calling a “Golden mammoth”, named after the color of its seemingly strawberry blonde colored hair.
The discovery of the carcass proves the existence of a miniature or “dwarf” species of a woolly mammoth — something that’s never been seen by scientists before.
The remains of this “Golden mammoth” was about two meters (or about six and a half feet) in height, which is extremely small when compared to a typical woolly mammoth that was on average three meters (or around ten feet) tall.
The mammoth was found on Kotelny island in the Siberian region of Russia. Scientists have heard reports of smaller mammoths being found in this particular area before, but the discovery of this carcass solidified their existence.
Dr. Albert Protopopov of the Yakutin Academy of Sciences said that scientists “have had reports about small mammoths found in that particular area, both grown-ups and babies. But we had never come across a carcass. This is our first chance to study it.”
Dr. Protopopov working on Kotelny Island.
It has been preserved in permafrost for between 22,000 and 50,000 years. Picture: Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha
Scientists have more to figure out, namely whether the discovery of the animal is a one-off or if mini woolly mammoths were specific to the region where the carcass was found.
The bones of what scientists believe were pygmy-sized woolly mammoths have been discovered in the Arctic region of Russia, but Dr. Protopopov believes that this “Golden mammoth” is an entirely new species of pygmy mammoth.
He believes that this species roamed the earth earlier and was not a rare breed, but an evolutionary adaptation specific to the location where it was found.
Dr. Protopopov was joined by a team of “paleontologists, archeologists, zoologists, botanists, entomologists and permafrost experts” on this expedition to Kotelny Island where the “golden mammoth” was discovered.
He told The Siberian Times, “I believe that this mammoth is related to the period of the heyday of the species, which was supposed to be in the Karginsky interglacial time (between 50,000 and 22,000 years ago).
Our theory is that in this period the mammoths significantly rose in numbers – and this led to the biggest diversity of their forms. So we want to check this theory.”
Where the new species of the woolly mammoth was discovered makes this find all the more interesting. Koletny island, as well as much of the Russian Arctic region of Siberia, is completely frozen in the winter — including the sea.
An Arctic expedition was undertaken by Russia’s Defence Ministry on Kotelny Island.
The mammoth was found in what Dr. Protopopov describes as “an inaccessible place, and is almost completely buried in the ground in a tidal area,” making this discovery particularly remarkable.
Europe has been experiencing one of the hottest summer’s of record, and the extreme temperatures could have enabled the ice to melt enough to make this discovery possible.
It’s a find that has scientists extremely excited, and it’s quite possible that they have the unusually hot summer season to thank for that.
Excavation of the “Golden Mammoth” has been set to start in the summer of 2019, and it’s likely that scientists will be able to find more animals that have been as well preserved underneath the ice as this latest discovery.
Archaeologists may have discovered the village where Jesus is said to have appeared after he was crucified.
In accordance with Luke’s Gospel. Following the crucifixion of Jesus, two of his disciples went to Emmaus, and a stranger walked by them on their way to the village, asked them what had just happened in Jerusalem.
The stranger disclosed that he was Jesus in this biblical story only when they reached Emmaus and stopped for supper.
Two archeologists suggest that an archeological site known as the Kiriath-jearim might be the Emmaus in a document released in the sequence “New Studies of Archeology of Jerusalem and its Region.”
The location of Emmaus has long been a topic of debate, with a few different sites proposed in the past.
While biblical scholars generally agree that Jesus was a real person, they’ve long debated which stories in the Bible actually occurred and which ones did not. The story of Jesus reappearing at Emmaus may have never happened.
The Shmunis Family Excavations at Kiriath-jearim
Complicated proposal
Several clues point to Kiriath-jearim being Emmaus. For instance, the Gospel of Luke says Emmaus is “60 stadia” from Jerusalem, a distance about equal to the 8 miles (13 kilometers) that separates Kiriath-jearim from the Old City of Jerusalem, wrote Israel Finkelstein, professor emeritus at the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University in Israel, and Thomas Römer, a professor of biblical studies at Collège de France, in the forthcoming article.
Recent excavations at Kiriath-jearim have also uncovered a series of fortifications that were renovated during the first half of the second century B.C., and according to the Book of Maccabees, the Seleucid Empire (an empire ruled by the descendants of one of Alexander the Great’s generals) controlled much of the region, fortifying several sites, including Emmaus.
Excavations indicate that these fortifications at Kiriath-jearim were renovated about 2,200 years ago, an event that appears to be described in the Book of Maccabees. Emmaus was one of the sites that were mentioned as being fortified at that time.
The researchers can’t be completely certain that Kiriath-jearim is Emmaus and not another site fortified by the Seleucids.
But the fact that the site is located 60 stadia from Jerusalem supports the proposal. Additionally, the other sites mentioned in the Book of Maccabees that the Seleucids fortified don’t appear to match up well with Kiriath-jearim.
Adding more evidence for the proposal, pottery found at Kiriath-jearim suggests that the site was inhabited around the time that Jesus is said to have lived. This means there would have been an active village at the site for Jesus’ disciples to visit and where Jesus could have appeared.
Problems with identification
There are, however, problems with the idea that Kiriath-jearim is Emmaus, the researchers wrote. For instance, there doesn’t seem to be any linguistic connection between the names Kiriath-jearim and Emmaus, the researchers noted. Also, other sites do have at least tenuous links to Emmaus: A fourth-century historian named Eusebius wrote in his book “Onomasticon” that Nicopolis is Emmaus.
Other sites also have potential. For instance, Josephus, a historian who lived during the first century, wrote that retired Roman soldiers settled at Emmaus, which he claimed was only 30 stadia from Jerusalem, at a site located near Qaluniya (a village that was not abandoned until 1948).
Finkelstein and Römer are co-directors of excavations at Kiriath-jearim. After their paper is published, scholars not affiliated with the research project will be able to evaluate the proposal’s evidence.
It is the oldest city in ancient Mesopotamia. It was located in the southern region of Sumeria (now Warka, Iraq) to the northeast of the Euphrates River. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and Babylon at one time.
The ruins of what once used to be the great city of Uruk show thousands of clay tablets that indeed it was a religious and scientific center. The oldest texts of the world were written here, according to Archeology Magazine.
A massive ziggurat at the entrance of Uruk.
A series of wedge-shaped symbols pressed into wet clay using reeds was developed around 3200 B.C. The writing system is known as cuniform. By Sumerian scribes in Uruk.
The combination of shapes represented different sounds, so the system could thus be adopted by scribes who spoke different languages. The script was used by multiple cultures for around 3,000 years.
Neo-Assyrian clay tablet. Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 11.
Uruk is also well known as the city of Gilgamesh. The mythological Sumerian hero-king was made famous in the modern world with the discovery of a collection of stories — known as the “Epic of Gilgamesh” — in 1853. The 12 cuneiform tablets on which the stories were written were discovered by archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam at the site of the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal.
According to Professor John Maier of the State University of New York College at Brockport, “Ancient writings point to the existence of an actual, historical person we now call Gilgamesh. He lived, according to our best estimate, about 2600 B.C.”
It is also believed that Uruk is the biblical city of Erech, the second city of the kingdom of Nimrod in Shinar (Genesis 10:10). Archaeologists distinguish nine different periods in the rise of the city from a simple settlement to the first urban center of the world.
The foundations of the first settlements on the site date somewhere around 5000 B.C., the Eridu period. According to the Sumerian King List (an ancient stone tablet which lists all the kings of Sumer, in Sumerian language), Uruk was founded by King Enmerkar around 4500 B.C. This was during the Ubaid period (5000–4100 B.C.)
Pottery jar from Late Ubaid period.
After 4000 B.C., Uruk rose from small, agricultural villages to a significantly larger and more complex center. This has been attributed partly to a period of climatic change; the area saw less rainfall and so people living in the hills migrated to the river valley of the ancient Euphrates. The course of the Euphrates has since shifted, an important factor in the decline of the city.
Nestled in the lush and fertile river valley, the population of Uruk continued to grow throughout the Early Uruk period (4000–3500 B.C.), Middle Uruk period (3800–3400 B.C.) and Late Uruk period (3500–3100 B.C.). Farming and irrigation techniques were refined, providing a surplus of food for the community.
By around 3200 B.C., the city of Uruk was the largest settlement in southern Mesopotamia, and probably in the world. It was an urban center with a full-time bureaucracy, stratified society, and a formal military. It was also a major hub of trade and administration.
The organization of Uruk in this period set the blueprint for cities ever since. There is evidence of social hierarchies and coercive political structures that would be familiar to most of us today. Clay tablets containing a “standard professions list” have been found, listing around 100 professions. As the city became more affluent, those at the top sought ways to display their wealth and power. Luxury goods were acquired by conquest or trade with lands as far as the Egyptian Nile Delta.
Uruk was a city of extraordinary architecture and works of art. The remains of monumental mud-brick buildings, the walls of which were decorated with mosaics of painted clay cones, pressed into the mud plaster — a technique known as clay cone mosaic — have been excavated. The most impressive creations discovered to date of this Sumerian craft are the two large temple complexes in the heart of Uruk.
Part of a relief from the Inanna Temple.
One was dedicated to Anu, the god of the sky, and the other, known as the Mosaic Temple of Uruk, to Inanna (or Ishtar), the goddess of love, procreation, and war. There was a clear division of the city into the Anu and Eanna Districts.
Another famous piece of artwork, “The Lady of Uruk,” or the Mask of Warka, was discovered in 1939 by the German Archaeological Institute in Uruk. Dating from 3100 B.C., it is most likely that the mask was part of a much larger work from one of the temples and it is considered to represent of Inanna. The marble sculpture is one of the earliest representations of the human face.
The Mask of Warka was stolen during the Battle of Baghdad in April 2003. She was recovered in September 2003 – buried in a farmers field – and returned to the Iraqi National Museum.
To this day, the mask is the most significant artifact found on the site, and it is part of the collection of National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad. It is also called “The Sumerian Mona Lisa.” Uruk continued to expand and, as the center of luxurious materials and possessions, it demanded greater protection.
Zodiacal calendar of the cycle of the Virgo Clay tablet Seleucid period, end of 1st millennium BC, copy of an older original Warka, former Uruk, Southern Mesopotamia (Iraq).
Although it was traditionally believed that the great wall of Uruk was built by King Gilgamesh himself, as it is written in the Epic of Gilgamesh, it was possibly created during the reign of King Eannutum who established the first empire in Uruk during the Jemdet Nasr Period (3100-2900 B.C.) By the time the wall was raised, it protected an area of 2.32 square miles and a population of almost 80,000.
During the Early Dynastic period (2900–2350 B.C.), Mesopotamia was governed by city-states whose rulers gradually grew in importance and power. Starting circa 2004 B.C. the struggles between the Sumerians in Babylonia and the Elamites from Elam, the Pre-Iranian civilization rose to serious national conflicts.
Possible representation of Gilgamesh as Master of Animals, grasping a lion in his left arm and snake in his right hand, in an Assyrian palace relief from Dur-Sharrukin, now held in the Louvre.
Uruk was still a prominent center during this time but suffered severely. There are recollections about the conflicts in the Gilgamesh epic. Sometime after 2000 B.C., Uruk lost importance, but it wasn’t abandoned.
The city remained inhabited throughout the Seleucid (312–63 B.C.) and Parthian (227 B.C.–224 A.D.) periods. The last people living there left Uruk after the Islamic contest of Persia in 633–638 A.D. The remains of probably the oldest city in the world laid buried until 1850 when archaeologist William Loftus led the first excavations on the site and identified the city as “Erech, the second city of Nimrod.”
The Katskhi Pillar – the Most Incredible Cliff Church in the World
It is not unusual to listen to tales of people who have lived a solemn life away from the world, whenever these stories are reported, people are fascinated and awestruck.
This idea is far from our normal life to most of us. This was the case when the news broke out of a monk alone living on a giant rock in Georgia.
Katskhi, the small town of the Katshkipillar – an enormous natural limestone column that rises 130 feet into the air – is located in the west-georgian area of Imereti.
Perched on the top is a church and three hermit cells, accessible only by climbing a precarious steel ladder. The rock was used by Stylites from at least the 9th century up until the Ottoman invasion in the 15th century.
The Stylites are a group of Christian ascetics who chose to follow the example of Saint Simeon Stylites the Elder, spending their days living in solitude on top of pillars in order to become spiritually closer to God.
In 1993, the Stylite tradition at Katskhi was revived by a monk named Maxime Qavtaradze.
Man’s monastery near the village of Katskhi, Imereti, Georgia
After being abandoned and shrouded in the legend for 500 years, the rock was scaled in 1944 by a Georgian mountaineer named Alexander Japaridze.
Upon reaching the top, Japaridze found the dilapidated remains of an old church as well as the centuries-old bones of the last Christian ascetic who resided there, reports the Daily Mail.
Climbers also came across a slew of other structures, including a wine cellar, a curtain wall, a stone crypt, and three hermit cells. The church was built to honor Maximus the Confessor, a famous Christian monk and theologian.
St. Maximus the Confessor’s church is located in the southeast sector of the pillar. The structure is fairly small, measuring just 12 x 15 feet.
When excavations were carried out, the group also uncovered eight large containers known as kvevris which are used to hold traditional Georgian wine.
“The Stairway to Heaven”. It takes about 20 minutes to climb it!
In a subsequent ascent up the rock in 2006, the presence of the kvevris along with the construction of a wine cellar provided researchers with enough evidence to conclude that extreme asceticism was a common practice for those who resided there long ago.
This would make it the third time in recent history that the rock has been examined by experts hoping to uncover more about its history.
At present, the rock is inhabited by Maxime Qavtaradze, a middle-aged monk who made the abandoned spiritual dwelling his home in 1993.
In a rare interview in 2013, Qavtaradze told photographer Amos Chapple that making the decision to live at Katshki Pillar was borne from a much-needed change in his personal life.
He explained that after being released from jail on drug-related charges, he felt that the best way to connect with God and purge himself of evil was to meditate upon the Kayshki Pillar, reports CNN.
Monolithic limestone natural rock formation known as Katskhi Pillar with a monk’s cell on the top, in Georgia.
“It is up here in the silence that you can feel God’s presence,” he claims. For him, living in isolation is the right way to establish a genuine, uninterrupted connection with God.
That said, he does come down the mountain periodically to pray together with men who live in the monastery at the bottom of the pillar — a climb that takes him around 20 minutes, according to the Daily Mail.
Inside the chapel
His efforts are supported by the men in the monastery, who send him food and other supplies via a winch.
Maxime has no regrets about deciding to live his life in borderline isolation. Although climbing a 130-foot ladder does pose its challenges to Maxime’s middle-aged frame, he told Chapple that he’ll continue to make the journey until his body gives up.
Scientists may have found one of the oldest Christian churches in the world
Scientists may have found one of the most ancient Christian churches in the world by using muon x-rays to scan a mystical subterranean building on the coast of the Caspian Sea in the ancient Russian city of Derbent. Now, thanks to the clever use of scanning technology, we might finally know what the building is.
The fortress of Naryn-Kala in Derbent, Russia, dates back to around A.D. 300
The technology known as the muon X-ray is used by researchers to track the charged subatomic particles muons, generated when cosmic rays interact with Earth’s atmosphere.
As they pass through space, nuclear emulsion plates are used as detectors to ‘catch’ the particles and develop an image of where the muons passed through, and where they were absorbed or deflected. (This same method has been used on pyramids in Egypt before.)
By using this method to meticulously scan the subterranean structure, the team arrived at a suggestion it was once a vast church.
In fact, it could be the oldest church in Russia, dating from around 300 CE.
Until now, archaeologists had been split over whether this is the site of a church, a reservoir or water tank, or perhaps a Zoroastrian fire temple. Now, thanks to the new measurements, it seems that the first hypothesis has taken the lead in terms of probability.
The view from above ground.
“The unusual building, in which we have put our detectors, has the shape of a cross, oriented strictly to the sides of the world,” says physicist Natalia Polukhina, from the National University of Science and Technology (MISIS) in Russia.
“One side is two metres [six-and-a-half feet] longer than the others.”
Scientists can’t excavate what lies beneath the Naryn-Kala fortress because it has UNESCO cultural heritage site status (only a small fragment of its dome is above ground). Instead, they lowered detectors into the depths of the structure and spent four months scanning the internal dimensions.
The building appears to be around 11 metres (36 feet) high, 15 metres (nearly 50 feet) from north to south, and 13.4 metres (nearly 44 feet) from east to west. The dome is located at the centre of the cruciform design.
While the site has been referred to as a water tank – and was probably used for that purpose in the 17th and 18th centuries – the differences between this and another nearby reservoir suggest the building wasn’t originally used for storing water.
“It seems very strange to me to interpret this building as a water tank,” says Polukhina. “In the same fortress of Naryn-Kala, there is an equal underground structure of 10 metres [nearly 33 feet] depth, and it really is a tank. This is just a rectangular building.”
“As the archaeologists who began excavations say, during construction, the building was entirely on the surface and it stands on the highest point of the Naryn-Kala. What is the sense to put the tank on the surface, and even on the highest mountain?”
How the structure is thought to look.
It’s thought that the building was buried by the Sasanian Persian Empire after it took control of Derbent around 700 CE – the area is part of a crucial trade route between Europe and the Middle East and has always been important strategically.
The scan also revealed an unusual build-up of muons in the western wing, perhaps indicating particular architectural features that have been preserved and could eventually be scanned in detail using a similar non-invasive approach.
Now the researchers want to continue their work with further scans to produce a full-size image of what’s buried under the ground at the Naryn-Kala fortress.
Before too long we might be able to say for certain what this ancient structure was originally built for.
“It is strange,” says Polukhina. “Currently, there are more questions than answers.”
Archaeologists claim 2,200-year-old ruins in Israel could be the remains of the biblical town Emmaus where Jesus travelled after his resurrection
In Israel, archeologists claimed to have found the Actual location of the biblical town of Emmaus, where Jesus first appeared to two followers after being crucified and resurrected.
Researchers have uncovered the remains of a 2200-year-old fortification at Kiriat-Jearim, a hill on the outskirts of Abu Ghosh, a town near Jerusalem.
It is believed that the massive wall of the Hellenistic forts was built by the Seleucid general who defeated Judah the Maccabee, the Jewish leader has spoken of in the Hanukkah story.
Archaeologists believe that the remains of a 2,200-year-old fortification at Kiriath-Jearim (pictured), a hill on the outskirts of Abu Ghosh, a village near Jerusalem, prove that the hill and village are the biblical towns of Emmaus
Emmaus is significant in Christianity as Jesus appeared to two of his apostles on the road to the town after his crucifixion and resurrection
Tel Aviv University professor Israel Finkelstein, who leads the archaeologist project with Thomas Romer and Christophe Nicolle of the College de France, now claims that the hill and village should be identified as Emmaus.
In Christianity, Emmaus is significant as Jesus appeared to two of his apostles on the road to the town after his crucifixion and resurrection.
In Luke 24:13-35, the town is described as being fortified and about seven miles west of Jerusalem.
This matches the location of Kiriath-Jearim, Abu Ghosh and Jerusalem, as well as the distance between them.
However, Benjamin Isaac, emeritus professor of ancient history from Tel Aviv University, warned that there are at least two other sites nearby which also have strong claims to be Emmaus.
He said: ‘Finkelstein and Römer have a good case archaeologically, geographically, and topographically.
‘However, it is a hypothesis and remains a hypothesis.’
Kiriath-Jearim is also described in the Bible as one of the places where the Ark of the Covenant stood before King David took it to Jerusalem. According to the Bible, Moses had the Ark of the Covenant built to hold the Ten Commandments.
Judah the Maccabee, a priest who led a Jewish revolt against the Seleucid empire, was defeated and killed at Kiriath-Jearim in 160 BC by the Seleucid army led by general Bacchides.
Tel Aviv University professor Israel Finkelstein claims that the hill and village the project is working on should be identified as Emmaus
Bacchides fortified the towns surrounding Jerusalem with large walls, including the biblical town of Emmaus. Archaeologists believe they have found the walls built to fortify Emmaus.
Describing the site, Finkelstein told Haaretz: ‘The importance of this site, its dominant position over Jerusalem, was felt again and again through time: in the eighth century B.C.E., and then again in the Hellenistic period and then again after the First Jewish Revolt and the sack of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.’
The latest research, including the claims about Emmaus, are detailed in a forthcoming paper published in the journal ‘New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region.’
In Luke 24:13-35, the town is described as being fortified and about seven miles west of Jerusalem. This matches the location of Kiriath-Jearim, Abu Ghosh and Jerusalem, as well as the distance between them
The project at Kiriath-Jearinm is being run by Tel Aviv University and the College de France. It is being supported by the Shmunis family from San Francisco.
Finkelstein told Fox News: ‘The finds at Kiriath-Jearim hint at its long-term role as guarding the approach to Jerusalem.
‘The Hellenistic and Roman period remains shed light on the much-debated issue of the location of the New Testament’s Emmaus.’
Romer added: ‘Geographically I think that the distance to Jerusalem fits well, so I do think that Kiriath Yearim could have been the Emmaus of the New Testament.’
Archaeologists find an ancient skeleton buried with ‘2,100-year-old iPhone’
In the mysterious burial site called the “Russian Atlantis” AN extraordinarily 2,137 years-old “iPhone” was excavated from the tomb of a young lady.
After a large, man-made reservoir in Siberia was drain during the summer, the tomb of the old fashionista – nicknamed Natasha by archeologists – was discovered.
The object is in actual fact an ancient belt buckle made of gemstone jet with inlaid decorations of turquoise, carnelian, and mother-of-pearl
It dates back to the ancient Xiongnu empire – a huge nation of nomads that ruled the area from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD.
In fact, what looks strikingly like a smartphone is actually made of black gemstone jet rock – with a regular pattern of semi-precious stones inlaid.
And rather than being a pre-historic piece of tech, the block was actually used as an ornate belt buckle.
Archaeologist Dr. Pavel Leus said: “Natasha’s’ burial with a Hunnu-era (Xiongnu) ‘iPhone’ remains one of the most interesting at this site.”
The intricate inlays are made of turquoise, carnelian, and mother-of-pearl – as well as a form of ancient Chinese coin.
Atlantis Necropolis
Dr. Leus added: “Hers was the only belt decorated with Chinese wuzhu coins which helped us to date it.”
The find is from the Ala-Tey necropolis in the so-called Sayan Sea – a giant reservoir upstream of the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam, Russia’s biggest power plant.
The 7inx3in treasure was discovered in the normally submerged “Atlantis necropolis” this summer month – when the reservoir is temporarily drained.
The ancient burial plot is usually up to 56ft underwater, according to The Siberian Times.
Graves of prehistoric civilizations dating from the Bronze Age to the time of Genghis Khan are also located there.
It comes after the two partly-mummified prehistoric women were found – they were buried with the tools of their trade.
One called “Sleeping Beauty” – dressed in delicate silk for the afterlife – was at first believed to be a priestess but is now thought to have been a leather designer.
The second was a weaver laid to rest with her wooden spindle packed inside a sewing bag. The reservoir covers 240sq miles but in summer the water level falls by almost 60ft – giving its floor the appearance of a desert.
A total of 110 burials have so far been discovered on an island in the reservoir.
The burial site is located in the Russian republic of Tuva
“This site is a scientific sensation”, said Dr Marina Kilunovskaya from the St Petersburg Institute of Material History Culture.
She added: “We are incredibly lucky to have found these burials of rich Hun nomads that were not disturbed by (ancient) grave robbers.”
Another Atlantis site in the reservoir is called Terezin and has at least 32 graves closer to the shore. Scientists admit they are in a race against time to examine the sites and save priceless treasures from damage by the returning water.
Scientists have found that the tomb of Jesus Christ is far older than people thought
The shrine (sometimes called the Edicule) that holds the tomb of Jesus is seen in this photograph. The shrine is located within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Scientific studies indicate that a tomb that, according to legend, held Jesus Christ’s body dates back nearly 1,700 years.
It is unknown whether the tomb ever really kept Jesus ‘ body. The limestone bed dates back to nearly 300 years after Jesus ‘ death. In addition, several other sites claim to hold the “tomb of Jesus.”
Jesus ‘ tomb is covered by a shrine (sometimes called the Edicule) in Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulcher Church.
According to legend, Helena, the mother of Roman emperor Constantine the Great (reign ca. 306-337), discovered the tomb around the year 327.
Constantine legalized Christianity throughout the Roman Empire and supposedly converted to Christianity before he died.
The legend says the Romans protected the tomb of Jesus by building a shrine over it as well as a church.
This church has been destroyed, renovated and rebuilt several times over the past 1,700 years.
Today, the shrine that covers the tomb is in poor shape and is in danger of collapse. To help save it, a team that includes scientists supported by the National Geographic Society has been conducting conservation work in the shrine and its tomb.
During this work, the archaeologists opened the tomb of Jesus for the first time in centuries — it has been sealed with marble slabs since at least A.D. 1555 to prevent damage from visitors — and excavated the tomb.
They found the remains of what appears to be a limestone bed that, as legend says, may have held the body of Jesus.
Tests using a technique called optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of mortar from the limestone bed revealed when the quartz within the masonry was last exposed to light.
Candles placed on top of the tomb after its restoration.
The results showed that the bed was constructed around A.D. 345, during or shortly after the reign of Constantine the Great. The test results were released by the National Geographic Society.
“Obviously, that date is spot-on for whatever Constantine did,” archaeologist Martin Biddle, who has studied the tomb extensively, told National Geographic.
Today, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is a site of pilgrimage for Christians.
A study reporting the test results will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. When the conservation work is complete, scientists hope that the marble cladding that hid the tomb will be replaced with a material that will allow visitors to see inside the tomb.
