Long lost altar discovered at location of Jesus's empty tomb 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.

Erlich believes that these stones were laid by religious pilgrims around 400 A.D., generations after the site was used as a temple, in order to memorialize the miracle Jesus performed there.

In Jesus’ day, while the Temple still existed, devout Jews made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to be in the Holy City for Passover, the most important feast of the Jewish year.

After the Nativity, Luke recounts the circumcision, the Presentation in the Temple and the family's return to Nazareth and, finally, the family's adventure with 12-year-old Jesus lost and found.

A religious shrine sealed up by the ancestors of Jesus, preserved for nearly 3,000 years, has been discovered in the ancient heart of Jerusalem. Experts believe that the destruction of the shrine ...