The Church of the Holy Sepulchre sits embedded in the tightly packed streets of the northwestern section of Jerusalem’s Old City.  Encased within its walls are the remains of a small piece of ancient Jerusalem, which according to Christian tradition, was the site that witnessed the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  For nearly 1,700 years, its doors have been thronged by Christian pilgrims seeking the Holy Tomb.  Since the mid-19th century, the abundant historical data within the magnificent building has been the subject of scholarly interest.  Archaeological investigation in particular has been ongoing in the church and its vicinity during the past six decades, most recently between 2016 and 2017.   This research has illuminated the history of both the church and the site on which it was built.

In the final centuries of Israel’s monarchy, the Northwestern Hill of Jerusalem, where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the present-day Christian Quarter are located, was partially taken-up by a large stone quarry.  The quarry descended toward the south and extended some 660 by 493 feet.  Portions of it are still visible within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the buildings south of the church.

The old quarry probably originated in the ninth or eighth centuries BC which is evident from the pottery discovered in the earthen fills above the quarry bedrock within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and its vicinity.  It seems that the quarry was abandoned, at least partially, in the seventh century BC, and the area settled with scattered suburbs.   A rock-cut tomb dating to the eighth-sixth centuries BC, found underneath one of the Holy Sepulchre’s many chapels, indicates that the quarry was also used for burials nearly a millennium before Jesus’ lifetime.

Archaeologists are not certain what became of the quarry in the years following the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in the sixth century BC,, but it is likely that it was used in the Hellenistic period (332-66 BC) to furnish ashlars {dressed i.e. cut, worked stone] for the construction of buildings and defensive structures built by the Maccabees, and also during the early Roman period (63 BC – 130 AD). Even the First and Second Walls of Jerusalem, as described by the Jewish historian Josephus in his Jewish War, could have been built with stone from this quarry.

During Jesus’ lifetime, the quarry continued to be used as a burial ground, evidenced by the presence of at least two first-century burial caves.   From the Bible, we can also infer that the quarry had been turned into an execution site, locally called Golgotha, where criminals were killed in plain view of the people entering the city from the west.  In keeping with Roman policy, Golgotha would have been located in an area that facilitated public visibility of those suffering capital punishment.  In Jerusalem, the best place for such a site would have been the southernmost section of the old quarry nearest to the east-west road into the city.

The century following Jesus’ lifetime saw the spread of Christianity throughout the known world, as well as two major revolts by the Jewish inhabitants of Palestine against the Roman government, both of which triggered major cultural and physical changes in Jerusalem.   The Second Jewish Revolt resulted in a significant reduction of the city’s Jewish population and the transformation of Jerusalem into a Roman city in 130 AD.  Jerusalem was known for the next 200 years as Aelia Capitolina, named for the emperor in 130, Publius Aelius Hadrianus, who sponsored a number of public works to transform the city into a proper Roman civitas (city-state).  This involved the construction of large paved roads in grid-like arrangements, public market places, and various shrines and temples.

At the site of the quarry on the Northwestern Hill of Jerusalem, archaeology has revealed only meager remains from the Late Roman period [130-324 AD].  However, from the literary sources and the coinage of Aelia, we can safely conclude that Hadrian built a temple complex, probably devoted to Fortuna-Tyche, the goddess of fortune and luck, who was perhaps valued even among the city's Christian inhabitants..

In the fourth century AD, The Roman Empire underwent significant cultural and political changes due in large part to the administration of Constantine the First.   Constantine had converted to Christianity early in his reign and, subsequently, legalized Christianity.  Later, in 380 AD, Theodosius the First made it the official religion of the Roman Empire.  As Christianity took on a new life, interest in recovering sites and artifacts associated with Jesus’ life took hold among its adherents, particularly those in Jerusalem.

Part Two