The discovery was made when construction workers turned around a giant stone slab covered in graffiti that was leaning up against the wall of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
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The stone, eight feet long and five feet wide, was decorated with ribbon ornaments, a Roman practice during Medieval times, and distinct markings which lead researchers to believe it was the altar consecrated in 1149.
They wrote: ‘Firstly, the fact that the slab could have remained hidden for so long in such an intensively researched building as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – especially as it was in view of thousands of pilgrims and tourists every day.’ The site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is identified as the place of both the crucifixion and the tomb of Jesus, and sees around four million visitors each year.
The church, which exceeds nearly 5,400 feet in diameter, was built on top of a Roman temple dedicated to the goddess Venus in 335AD.
The construction was commissioned by Roman emperor Constantine I and during the conversion, a tomb was uncovered that is believed to be that of Jesus who died nearly 300 years earlier.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was under attack throughout centuries, destroyed by the Persian army in 614, nearly demolished in 1009 and then burst into flames during the 1800s, which is when the altar was believed to have been lost.