New photos show the historic limestone slab where the body of Jesus is believed to have been laid out after his crucifixion.
The burial slab inside the chamber of Jesus?s tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem has not been seen since at least 1555 AD, when it was encased by layers of marble.
Last week, the burial tomb was opened and the marble covering the original surface removed by a conservation team from the National Technical University of Athens. Researchers had 60 hours of access to the tomb before it was resealed.
?I?m absolutely amazed. My knees are shaking a little bit because I wasn?t expecting this,? said Fredrik Hiebert the archaeologist-in-residence for National Geographic, which had exclusive access to the restoration project at the church.
?We can?t say 100 percent, but it appears to be visible proof that the location of the tomb has not shifted through time, something that scientists and historians have wondered for decades.?
Jesus? burial slab uncovered for the first time in centuries | New York Post