Tomb of the Shroud

June 18, 2013 Tuesday

The real digging began today:  large amounts of soil/fill are being removed, put into buckets, and set aside for sifting.  Pete thinks he was removing fill from above the floor of a Byzantine-era (325 - 638 A.D. in Jerusalem) building.  Much of the floor had already been exposed in earlier excavations.  The fill, both above and below the floor, is filled with tesserae from a mosaic of some kind.  There were so many that they pretty much gave up on trying to collect them all.  He noticed only two colors:  white and a dark color.  He thinks the mosaic may have been a geometric design, simple drawing, or maybe a short text.

I stayed behind again on Tuesday.  I have my own cane now, and we've returned the borrowed one to its owner just in time for his knees to be sore too.  I had to miss the evening field trip to Akeldama, because it involved rigorous and tricky climbing -- what a disappointment!  But Pete went and took pictures.  Akeldama is the traditional site for the "Field of Blood" of Judas Iscariot's suicide.  But that's not all ....

The group took a bus ride to the southeast side of the Old City, roughly to the intersection of the Kidron and Hinnom valleys.  They hiked west and south up a steep hill until they reached the area where the tombs are.

If Pete understood correctly, this may be the tomb of Annas, the father of Caiphas who was high priest at the time of Jesus.  The first room is the mourning area.  The small opening, which is barred by a modern iron gate, in the back leads to the actual tomb.  That's James Tabor with the sunglasses.

They looked at several tombs.  This next photo shows some loculi (plural of loculus), or niches for placing a body.  These loculi are too short because some quarrying has gone on here.  There's also been a little vandalism and evidence of campfires.  A typical Herodian-era tomb has multiple loculi.

To get to the next destination, they had to climb a steep, rocky hill.  That's the village of Silwan and the Mount of Olives in the background.

Halfway up, looking back down:

At the top of the hill is a Crusader-era charnel house, or warehouse for dead bodies.  So many people were being killed in the Crusader battles that they needed an industrial scale method for disposing of bodies.  This is view is facing south.  The group isn't really here to see the charnel house -- they want to visit the Tomb of the Shroud.  The woman in the foreground is bending down to look at the tomb entrance.

These nice arches are on the east side of the charnel house -- left side of the photo above.

This is the entrance to the Tomb of the Shroud, after Pete cut away the brush in front of it with his trusty mini pocket knife.  The opening is about 2 feet high.  

Pete scooted himself in feet-first on his back.  

Now Pete's inside the tomb, looking out.  He's sitting on a rock and that's his knee in the foreground. 

Next was a longer, trickier feet-first slide to get into the lower chamber.  The chamber ceiling is about 5 feet tall so Pete had to crouch, kneel, or sit.  There is a fissure in the limestone that keep the water below the level of the loculus in this next photo.  That meant that the shroud around the body in the loculus was preserved, though it was extremely fragile when it was found in 2000.  The shroud was in two pieces -- one for the head and one for the body.  The bones and hair of the man were preserved.  The man had RED hair, and medical analysis indicated that he had leprosy!  This was true Hansen's disease, and answers the question of whether the term "leprosy" as used in the Bible really meant Hansen's disease.  The loculus entry had been plastered over, maybe because of the leprosy.  The black lines in the photo are probably plant roots.  The loculus entrance is 2-3' high, and is partially filled in with mud.  

Getting out of the tomb was tricky for Pete.  There was no place for his feet.

Dr. Tabor has written an interesting description of the Tomb of the Shroud and the leprosy findings.  This is fascinating stuff!

Mount of Olives in the distance, as viewed on the walk back.  

These are some of the college students and staff who made this hike.   Nice people!

The last two days have been tough for me.  But my knee is feeling better and I think I've done the right thing by staying off my feet for two days.  Tomorrow will be better!