Virgin Mary's Rock Found In Jerusalem

JERUSALEM - Archaeologists have discovered the rock revered by early Christians as the place where the Virgin Mary rested on her way to Bethlehem, officials said yesterday.

The limestone rock protrudes from the floor of a fifth century, octagonal Byzantine church, the largest of its kind in the Holy Land.

The rock was unearthed after construction workers laying pipe for the controversial Har Homa Jewish housing project accidentally damaged the church's foundation, spurring an excavation to make repairs.

Gideon Avni, Jerusalem District Archaeologist at Israel's Antiquities Authority, said Christians made pilgrimages to a rock, on the five-mile Jerusalem to Bethlehem road, at least 1,700 years ago, believing it was the place where the Virgin Mary rested on her way to Bethlehem, where she gave birth to Jesus.

Avni said the Church of the Kathisma - "the seat" in Greek - was built around the rock. Excavations show the church was destroyed and rebuilt at least once before it was finally destroyed in the eighth or ninth century and largely forgotten, Avni said.

Israeli archaeologists discovered the church almost by accident during the widening of the Jerusalem-Bethlehem highway six years ago.

The Antiquities Authority uncovered the octagonal foundations of the church - which is 173 feet long and 143 feet wide.

"It struck me that since the legend says there is a rock here, and we had established that the church was octagonal, I felt sure that the rock must be in the middle," said Rina Avner, the archaeologist in charge of the dig.

In the past month, archaeologists dug down to the base of the rock, which is about six feet across and protrudes a few inches above the floor.

The fact that the rock is above floor level, surrounded by a low wall and cleared area, indicates the rock was revered by pilgrims, archaeologists said.

The Rev. Jerome Murphy O'Connor, a Roman Catholic biblical scholar, yesterday said the site was "architecturally important."

The site, which is on land controlled by the Greek Orthodox Church, will not be opened to the public until excavations are complete. Both the Israeli government and the Greek Orthodox Church said they want to develop it as an attraction, but that could take years.