The Church of the Holy Sepulcher

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, or the Church of Resurrection according to the Eastern Orthodox Church,^[1] is located in the Christian Neighborhood in the northeastern quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem.,^[2] It lies on the hill of Golgotha where, according to Christians, Jesus was crucified and buried.^[3]

Importance of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Since 1810, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has been home to the Stone of Anointing. Christians believe that Joseph prepared the body of Jesus was for burial by Joseph on this stone.^[4]

The building serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and has been a place of pilgrimage since the fourth century AD.^[5]

In the second century AD, before the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its formal religion, one of the temples of Aphrodite existed at the site instead of the Church.^[6] When, in 325 AD, the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and declared it the official religion of the empire,^[7] his mother, the Empress Helena, ordered that a church be built there. She visited Jerusalem to supervise the process of construction.^[8] Some historians even claim that she engaged personally in the work and thereby discovered what is known as the True Cross upon which Jesus was believed to have been crucified.^[9]

In 614 AD, Persian empire sent forces to raid Jerusalem. They burnt the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and captured the True Cross and took it to Persia.^[10] Fifteen years later, in 629 AD, the Byzantine Emperor Hercules recaptured the city and the cross was returned as part of the conditions agreed upon in the peace treaty that ended the war between the Persian and Byzantine empires.^[11]

The Church after the Muslim Conquest

Churches remained protected institutions following the Muslim conquest of the city in The Umari covenant guaranteed the safety of the Christian citizens in the city and their freedom to worship. In general under Muslim rule, Christian-Muslim relations in the city were peaceful and tolerant–with few notable exceptions. At the end of the tenth century, during riots caused by some Fatimids followers, the roof and doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher were burnt and damaged.^[12]

Destruction and Renovation

In 1009, in the reign of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was completely destroyed. ^[13] Christian Europe was enraged, but an agreement was reached between the new Fatimid Caliph, Al-Zaher who was the son of Al-Hakim and took over after his father’s death, to rebuild The Church and restore the damaged churches in the time of his father in addition to re-establish the patriarchate in Jerusalem in exchange for the of release of five thousand Muslim prisoners in Byzantium, and the re-opening of all the mosques that were closed in Europe.^[14] The agreement was reached in 1027-1028 but the re-construction continued until 1048. When the Turkish Seljuk dynasties took over the rule of Jerusalem after the Fatimids, relations between Christians and Muslims improved..^[15]

When the Crusaders took over Jerusalem, a series of renovations were undertaken, and The Church became the seat of the Latin Patriarchate.^[16] When Salah Al-Din recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, the Church remained a protected place and was a popular destination for pilgrims .^[17] Salah Al-Din then entrusted the keys of the Church to two Muslim families: Al-Nuseibah, and Al-Huseini who still hold them, and are responsible for opening The Church and closing on a daily basis.^[18] The Church was renovated many times after that, most notably in 1555 and 1808 when fire damaged the structure.^[19]

Control over the Church

Many churches, including the Catholic, Orthodox, Latin, and Armenian churches, have monasteries inside the Church itself. The Coptic church has one beside the Holy Sepulcher itself.^[20] Occasional violence and riots occur among different Christian communities over control of the Church. In the beginning of the Ottoman era, control over the church alternated between Franciscans and the Orthodox Church, depending on which part obtained the favor of the ottoman authorities. However, towards the end of the Ottoman era, in 1853, a decree was issued by the Ottoman Sultan to divide the territories of the church between the different Christian communities present within in the city. Periodic clashes continued to occur every once a while after.^[21]

The Church under the Israeli Occupation

Since the Israeli occupation, Arab Jerusalemites and Palestinians in general–regardless of religion, have sought to protect the Church and emphasize its importance as a historical and religious landmark.The Church is a primary target for the Israeli occupation. On February 25th, 2018, the Church was closed in protest against the Israeli policy of imposing arnona taxes (municipality taxation) on the church’s owned-prosperities that do not have worship houses on.^[22] This was the second time the church was closed–the first was in 1990, also under the Israeli occupation,^[23] the first closure was imposed by Palestinian Christians to protest a Jewish settlement in Jerusalem’s old city.^[24]