Yoram Weinberg

Signs of an ancient quarry were found everywhere beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and in its vicinity. Here we see the impressions of stone blocks that were removed by the quarriers. This particular quarry is under the Chapel of St. Vartan east of St. Helena’s Chapel. Pottery sherds found in the fill date the quarry to the seventh century B.C. and perhaps as much as a century earlier. The stone is a fine-quality type of limestone known as meleke.