The Cenacle: a reexamination of the archaeology of the coenaculum and the Pseudo-Tomb of David

Abstract

This study reexamined the authenticity of the Cenacle and the Pseudo-Tomb of David on Mt. Sion through analysis of archaeological and documentary data including testing ten research hypotheses. Based on these data this investigator rejects Research Hypothesis 4 that, in the Late Roman period, the traditional site of the original building was thought to be the house of St. Mark and the location of the Last Supper; Research Hypothesis 5 that the niche of the original building aligns with the traditional location of the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth; Research Hypothesis 8 that the original building became known as the "church of the apostles''' and Hypothesis 9 that the original building became an extension of the Basilica of Hagia Sion. This investigator cannot reject Research Hypothesis 1 and therefore tentatively accepts that the original building dates to the time of the Roman occupation of Jerusalem in the 1st-4th centuries; Research Hypothesis 2 and tentatively accepts that the original building was in an area known as Mt. Zion in the Late Roman period; Research Hypothesis 3 and tentatively accepts that the original building was not known as the Tomb of David in the Late Roman period; Research Hypothesis 6 and tentatively accepts a Judeo-Christian occupancy for the original building; Research Hypothesis 7 and tentatively regards the original building as a first-century CE synagogue; and Research Hypothesis 10 and tentatively accepts the view that the building was incorporated into the Crusader Church on Mt. Sion. By the end of the Crusader Period, the ancient synagogue on Mt. Sion had experienced only two occupancies. The first occupancy was by its Judeo-Christian builders initially as The Small Church of God and then as the expanded Holy Church of God. The second occupancy was by their orthodox successors. When the orthodox seized the building in CE 381 they erected an octagonal memorial to its west. With construction of the Basilica of Hagia Sion, the ancient building served as a detached side-chapel. Lastly, it became part of the Crusader Church on Sion.