Page "Church of the Holy Sepulchre" Paragraph 86

The Bible describes Jesus ' tomb as being outside the city wall, as was normal for burials across the ancient world, which were regarded as unclean, but the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is in the heart of Hadrian's city, well within the Old City walls, which were built by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538 Some have claimed that the city had been much narrower in Jesus ' time, with the site then having been outside the walls ; since Herod Agrippa ( 41 – 44 ) is recorded by history as extending the city to the north ( beyond the present northern walls ), the required repositioning of the western wall is traditionally attributed to him as well.