The Last Supper with Jesus is one of the key stories in Scripture, and after 2,000 years, researchers believe they are close to finding its location.
It is believed that the biblical supper took place in the “lighthouse” of a two-story house with limestone walls and a red roof that still stands in Jerusalem. This event is detailed in works of art and described in the Bible. The upper room of this building, known as the sanctuary, could accommodate more than 120 people.
Luke 22:11-13 tells how Jesus asked for a large, furnished altar for the Passover meal. This sanctuary is located on Mount Zion in the old city of Jerusalem, above the southern gate. Columns support the building’s vaulted ceiling and sloping red roof.
Archaeologists are not yet able to excavate to confirm the building’s history. In 1884, Greek Orthodox Christians found one of the earliest maps of Jerusalem while building a new church in Madaba, Jordan. A map created in 560 depicted the Holy Land with the Cardo Maximus and two sacred structures with red roofs.
Only in 2017, a religious scholar from the University of North Carolina, David Christian Clausen, noticed something unusual on the map. He saw a building with the same red sloping roof as in Gornica, and located in the same place. This led scholars to believe that the Upper Room was the site of the Last Supper, but more evidence was needed.
This evidence appeared in a 6th century drawing discovered in Italy in 1846. The painting shows Jesus riding through the southern gate of the city on a donkey, with the Room in the background.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) decided to test this theory in 2019 using laser technology and advanced photographic techniques. With their help, scientists wanted to remove all the updates that Gornitsa had undergone over the years to see what it was like at the time of the Last Supper.
The researchers mapped every corner of the room to create an accurate model of the space, revealing interesting features of the firefly. They discovered little-known artworks such as the Agnus Dei (“Lamb of God”) symbols and the Lion of Judah on the ceiling. “The lion was the symbol of King David, and according to the ancient scriptures, Jesus was a descendant of King David,” – explain scientists.
According to them, archaeologists still need to conduct additional research. At the moment, there is no archaeological evidence that the Upper Room was the site of the Last Supper.