Israel on Tuesday unveiled pilgrims' lamps and other finds from the Tomb of Salome, a burial site named for a woman who is said to have helped at the birth of Christ.
The tomb was discovered by grave robbers in the 1980's.
Archaeologists have found a Jewish burial chamber that was taken over by a Christian chapel in the Byzantine era and was still drawing worshippers into the early Islamic period.
An inscription found on the walls of the grotto led the excavation team to conclude that it was dedicated to a person associated with the birth of Jesus Christ.
Excavation director Zvi Firer said they found tons of inscriptions in the cave.
The name Salome is one of the most beautiful inscriptions.
The role of the assistant to the midwife at Christ's birth is recounted in the Gospel of St James, a text from the New Testament.
The fifth century Christian pilgrims encountered and sanctified Jewish sites as a result of the cult of Salome.
The shops that sold clay lamps and other items intended for pilgrims were found around the courtyard 200 years after the Muslim conquest.
The team said that it was interesting that some of the inscriptions were written in Arabic.
Agence France- Presse.
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