Researchers Solve Mystery Of Engraved Crosses At Holy Sepulchre

[maximus otter]

Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located where Jesus is believed to have been crucified, features multitudes of engraved crosses on its walls.

Researchers never quite knew how they got there, though it was thought that perhaps pilgrims had etched them into the stone, as one might carve one’s name onto a tree, a statement of “I came, I saw.”

Renovation work at the church allowed archaeologists to finally examine the carvings up close, using 3D imaging and digital means to compare and date them.

They came to realize that the thousands of religious symbols had all been made by only a handful of people, and developed a new theory.

“We saw that all of [the crosses] have the same depth and even the marking of the mason,” he said. “Maybe two or three hand artists made these crosses,” said Amit Re’em, Jerusalem head of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “So it’s not graffiti, it’s something more organized.”

He offered that it had been customary for pilgrims to pay masons to make the carvings.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israe...ystery-of-engraved-crosses-at-holy-sepulchre/

maximus otter

 

[Kondoru]

They do look rather consistent, dont they?

 

[James_H]

Very seasonal!
Any reason to think they aren't decorative?

 

[Coastaljames]

It is interesting.

Not really sure if there is any great mystery there. They were either carved by one person, or maybe a handful, or maybe more.

 

[Frideswide]

Very seasonal!
Any reason to think they aren't decorative?

Things at religious sites are often both. I do like the clean lines.

 

[catseye]

I have questions. If they were carved only by a few masons, that would imply that they were carved over a shortish period of time. If pilgrims either carved, or paid masons to carve, crosses to show they'd been to the site, then why would the practice have stopped when the original masons died and not continued with a new generation of masons, and maybe onto other walls? Why would it have been such a short-lived thing and not gone on for generation after generation of pilgrim?

 

[Coastaljames]

I have questions. If they were carved only by a few masons, that would imply that they were carved over a shortish period of time. If pilgrims either carved, or paid masons to carve, crosses to show they'd been to the site, then why would the practice have stopped when the original masons died and not continued with a new generation of masons, and maybe onto other walls? Why would it have been such a short-lived thing and not gone on for generation after generation of pilgrim?

You would run out of wall fairly quickly wouldn't you?

Or maybe whoever in charge of the place knocked it on the head?


Could be any reasons...

 

[catseye]

You would run out of wall fairly quickly wouldn't you?

Or maybe whoever in charge of the place knocked it on the head?


Could be any reasons...

I'm sure there are quite a lot of walls in there!

 

[Lb8535]

I have questions. If they were carved only by a few masons, that would imply that they were carved over a shortish period of time. If pilgrims either carved, or paid masons to carve, crosses to show they'd been to the site, then why would the practice have stopped when the original masons died and not continued with a new generation of masons, and maybe onto other walls? Why would it have been such a short-lived thing and not gone on for generation after generation of pilgrim?

I wonder if they were like the practice of carving the names of donors into the walls of institutions these days - maybe at one point the church did some fund-raising selling the right to have a cross carved for you in that spot. Then new administration came in and felt it was messy and stopped it.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Older descriptions of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre characterized the crosses as Crusader or Crusader-era graffiti, without any further explanation or info.

 

[Mikefule]

I see a comparison with the story on the BBC today about the proliferation of "love locks" (padlocks) on bridges in Paris and other towns and cities. It started as a nice idea, quickly became a tradition, then became a bloody nuisance, with many bridges being cosmetically blighted and some being physically damaged by the weight.

I can imagine a period when the carving of these crosses was a new idea, then became something of a tradition, then came to be viewed as excessive. There is, after all, so much space on the wall, and defacing an earlier cross to carve a new one might be felt to be sacrilegious.

Nevertheless, I am sure they thought of something to sell to the pilgrims. Maybe amulets to ward off gullibility.

 

[Lb8535]

Older descriptions of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre characterized the crosses as Crusader or Crusader-era graffiti, without any further explanation or info.

They're very neatly carved, not like taking a pen knife to a tree. Took a while. I doubt the graffiti.