Tomb of Lazarus

The tomb[edit]

The entrance to the tomb today is via a flight of uneven rock-cut steps from the street. As it was described in 1896, there were twenty-four steps from the then-modern street level, leading to a square chamber serving as a place of prayer, from which more steps led to a lower chamber believed to be the tomb of Lazarus.^[13] The same description applies today.^[14][15]


The steps enter the antechamber (3.35 m long by 2.20 m wide) through the north wall; the outline of the former entrance via the mosque can still be seen on the east wall. The floor of the antechamber is two steps above the floor level of the mosque, possibly due to rock falls from the soft limestone ceiling during construction of the Crusader-era church above the tomb. The Crusaders strengthened the tomb itself with masonry, which obscures most of the original rock surface (except for a few holes).^[3] The alignment of the tomb and antechamber suggests they predate the Byzantine churches and may very well be from the time of Jesus.^[15]


Three steps connect the antechamber with the inner burial chamber (which measures a little more than two square metres in size). It contains three funerary niches (arcosolia), now mostly hidden by the Crusader masonry. One tradition places the tomb of Lazarus to the right of the entrance, which was formerly closed by a horizontal stone. Tradition also says that Jesus was standing in this antechamber when he called Lazarus from the grave.^[13]