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Holy Sepulcher: The Holy Sepulcher or the Calvary which means the Resurrection is the holiest site for the Christian world. On hill, inside the grounds of the church, it is believed that Yeshua was crucified, buried and rose from the dead. Various Christian denominations such as Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Roman Catholics, Copts, Ethiopians and Syrian Orthodox all share rights to the church. These rights came from an agreement negotiated for the Holy Land sites in the 18th C CE that preserved the sections of ownership and responsibilities of various Holy places important to Christians, Muslims, and Jews. The agreement includes arrangements for time and space at the church. The different denominations conduct their prayers at specific appointed hours, resulting in a continuous cycle of prayers.
The original Byzantine Church was built by Queen Helen, mother of Emperor Constantine in the 4th C CE, after demolishing the temple built by Hadrian in135 CE. Hadrian built his temple with intentions to erase any traces of Christianity and dedicated it to the goddess Aphrodite.
But most of what we see today is the work of the Crusaders, who in the year 1149 built the great basilica over the Calvary and the empty Tomb of Yeshua.
“And Yeshua walked out of the city, carrying His Cross to a place called Calvary“, which derives from ancient Aramaic name: Golgotha, the Skull, where he was crucified. After his death, Yeshua was then laid to rest in a family tomb provided by Joseph of Aramathea. It was Friday evening just before the Sabbath and that tomb was the nearest site to the place of his death. Pilgrims started visiting the Holy site about 1,950 years ago, on the resurrection day, when Mary Magdalene and Yeshua’s disciples went to the Tomb and found it empty.
By foot
">CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. Dow Hill