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Figure 2. The rock-cut "Tomb of Zechariah" circa 100BC 
in the Kidron valley, Jerusalem. 
of Comninos, but in 1927 it was badly damaged by an 
earthquake which also weakened the dome over the 
Rotunda and other parts of the Church. The Mandate 
Government of Palestine took remedial action to stop the 
collapse of the Edicule. A steel cradle (Fig.1) was erected 
around the outside. Timber wedges were inserted between 
the steel girders and the load-bearing stone walls of the 
Edicule. In the 65 years since then, it has not been possible 
for the Christian communities in the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre to agree on what should be done to repair the 
damage sustained in the 1927 earthquake. The structure is 
in a parlous state. The temporary steel and timber shores 
show signs of loosening. Misalignments of important 
structural stonework are obvious. Despite such 
dilapidations, the Edicule is in almost continuous 
occupation by priests, pilgrims and tourists. In the 1960's 
the improved ecumenical atmosphere engendered hopes 
that action could be agreed and work put in hand to renew, 
restore or repair the Edicule, or at least to make it safe. A 
survey of the Edicule was required before any 
reconstruction began, not only to provide a historical 
record never before made in accurate detail, but also to aid 
reconstruction. This paper is a description of the surveys, 
photography and some photogrammetry undertaken as a 
result of the 1989 and 1990 site visits. Some descriptions 
and illustrations of photogrammetrically derived graphics 
which are being produced are also given. The overall 
objectives of the combination of archaeology and 
photogrammetry are to be found in Biddle et al (1992). 
2. REASONS FOR A PHOTOGRAMMETRIC 
SURVEY. 
Several complex and very sensitive matters must be 
recognised and understood before any survey can be 
undertaken. Some of these have been described in the 
previous section of this paper. Others originate in history 
but are part of the daily lives of those who live and work 
in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. These matters are 
related to ownership of and responsibility for the Holy 
Places. They are governed by an arrangement known as 
the "Status Quo" which has been ratified by the Treaties 
of Paris (1855) and Berlin (1878), by the British during 
the Palestine Mandate, by the Hashemite Government of 
Jordan and most recently by the Government of Israel. 
Under the Status Quo, ownership of, access to and 
responsibility for the Edicule (and other places) are 
described in relation to the three major religious 
Communities (Greek, Latin and Armenian) and the three 
minor (Coptic, Ethiopian and Syriac) present in the Holy 
Sepulchre. Since these arrangements have never been 
formally described, but only ratified by successive 
international treaties and state governments, they are 
continually under contention. Each community seeks to 
maintain its own rights whilst at the same time watching 
others for signs of negligence in maintaining their’s 
which might provide an opportunity to take upon itself a 
responsibility not hitherto assigned to it under the Status 
Quo. 
Against this background of complex duties and 
responsibilities, daily enacted with fervour, the prime 
mover of the survey, Dr G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, 
invited Professor Martin Biddle of Hertford College 
Oxford and Magister Birthe Kj¢lbye-Biddle to undertake 
an archaeological investigation and survey. For many 
years Freeman-Grenville has pointed out the need for 
surveys of the Tomb to be made before and during any 
restoration (Freeman-Grenville, 1987). Enquiries made 
in Jerusalem resulted in permission being granted on the 
understanding that the method would be discreet, 
non-intrusive and of short duration and would be seen to 
involve no risk of damage to or alteration of, the structure. 
The archaeological investigators had worked with the 
authors of this paper on the recording of the Shrine of St 
Alban by photogrammetry prior to its dismantlement and 
reconstruction. They recognised that photogrammetry 
was the only survey method capable of meeting the above 
requirements whilst providing extensive and potentially 
very accurate three-dimensional data of the outside and 
inside surfaces of the Edicule. Conventional methods of 
archaeological recording would take place at the same 
time as the photography. The two activities would seem 
to an observer to be little different from the note-making 
and photography undertaken daily by pilgrims and 
tourists. Even an electronic tacheometer on a survey tripod 
could be taken for a cine or video camera recording a visit 
by a group of pilgrims or tourists. It was therefore decided 
that an attempt should be made in April 1989 to see how 
much, if any, archaeological investigation and 
photogrammetric survey could be achieved in practice. No 
reconnaissance was possible prior to that visit. It was 
scheduled to last 10 days, including journeys between 
London and Jerusalem. 
3. SITE CONDITIONS, CONTROL SURVEY AND 
PHOTOGRAPHY. 
3.1. April 16-25, 1989 
It was soon apparent that the control survey measurements 
and photographs could not be obtained either quickly or 
systematically. The decision was taken that analytical 
methods based on a multistation bundle adjustment with