Sharjah24 – Reuters: Pressed against a wall in a back corridor of Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a stone slab bore testimony only to the graffiti etched on it by multitudes of pilgrims through the ages.
But the 2.5 x 1.5 metre stone turned out to be far more precious when its other side was exposed during recent renovations at the church, the traditional site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial.
Researchers believe the elaborate looping ornaments they found on the long-hidden part of the slab indicate it was once the decorated front of a medieval high altar that took pride of place centuries ago in one of Christianity's holiest sites.
They identified the unique decoration method as "Cosmatesque", which combines Classical, Byzantine and early Islamic art in which finely cut tiles of colourful marble are used to fill in circular engravings on the stone.
Similarly decorated altars have been found inside churches in Rome dating to the 12th and 13th centuries, the researchers said.
They believe the relic in Jerusalem corresponds with past archaeological findings and with pilgrims' accounts of the consecration of the church by the Crusaders and the forming of its main altar in 1149.
Archbishop Aristarchos of Constantina, the chief secretary of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, welcomed such research at the church.
The researchers' findings are due to be published by the end of the year by Israel's Exploration Society.
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