Remains of circular marble monument found around tomb at Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre

What the monument shows

The Daily Mail reported that recycled marble slabs, carefully shaped and joined with mortar, formed a circular platform centered on the burial chamber. Fragments of the structure were found beneath the present-day shrine, and the surviving marble may belong to a later phase of construction. A narrow channel carved into the marble appears designed to carry water around the monument and into a nearby collection system. Researchers described the surviving structure as "the earliest archaeologically documented monument built around the venerated tomb."

Stasolla described the chamber as "the chamber in which tradition recalled the deposition of Christ." The Daily Mail reported that the discovery raises the possibility that the monument was built around this particular tomb because early Christians knew it was Jesus' burial place. The newspaper said that identification may have survived through an ancient chain of memory. "It is nonetheless possible that the memory of this tomb had crystallized within the early community and had been transmitted across generations," Stasolla wrote.

Newsweek reported that the chamber had been singled out for Christian veneration by Constantine's reign, although the evidence does not establish when worshippers first identified it or prove who had been buried there. Marca reported that the team has not discovered an inscription identifying Jesus, nor recovered physical remains that can be attributed to him.

Why the circular shape matters

The monument's circular shape closely matches early depictions of the shrine, leading archaeologists to believe the original fourth-century structure may have followed the same design, the Daily Mail reported. That early monument may also have featured a circle of small columns, an arrangement shown in ancient depictions. Two surviving slabs bear faint traces of decorative patterns that appear to date from after Constantine's reign, suggesting the structure may have been rebuilt or repaired centuries after its original construction, the Daily Mail reported. Stasolla raised the possibility that the surviving marble belonged to restoration work after the Persian attack on Jerusalem in 614 AD. Researchers are examining the mortar to establish when different parts were assembled.

The tomb and its setting

The excavation began in 2022 during restoration of the church floor. Beneath the floor, the team documented an abandoned quarry that later held cultivation plots and rock-cut burials. Some quarry cavities reached depths of about 20 feet before soil filled them, MailOnline reported. An archaeobotanical study examined material from four areas and identified cereals, figs and other cultivated or wild plants, along with olive wood and pollen. Low dry-stone walls divided small plots that held soil.

Greek City Times reported that the quarry dates to the Iron Age, between 1200 and 586 B.C., and that by the time of Jesus the area had become a burial ground with several rock-cut tombs. ThePrint and Marca reported that the site lay outside the city walls during his lifetime. The Daily Mail reported that the original church was dedicated in AD 335 after Roman buildings at the site, traditionally described as a temple to the goddess Venus, were demolished, and that the church attracts an estimated four million visitors a year. Constantine's workers excavated around one tomb to separate it from surrounding graves.

The findings are detailed in a 605-page report on excavations from May 2022 to October 2025, the Daily Mail reported. Newsweek reported that a preliminary report on the 2025 campaign was published in the journal Liber Annuus. Francesca Romana Stasolla of Sapienza University of Rome leads the team.

The dating dispute

ThePrint reported traces of olive trees and grapevines "dating to around 33 AD," the approximate time of Christ's death. Arkeonews reported that radiocarbon dating had not produced such an exact figure and that claims of "olive trees and grapevines dating to AD 33" go further than the published evidence supports. Express reported that radiocarbon results still needed confirmation. Stasolla said the archaeobotanical context placed the remains in the pre-Christian phase, not at a specific year.

What happens next

Geological testing on the marble tombs and mortar is still to come, ThePrint reported. Part of the church's northern aisle remains unexcavated. The three communities that share the church agreed in 2019 to allow excavations alongside the renovations. They are the Orthodox Patriarchate, the Custody of the Holy Land and the Armenian Patriarchate.