An Overview of Byzantine Literary Sources on the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

This essay offers a critical overview of the principal Byzantine literary sources on the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, assessing their contribution to the reconstruction of the monument’s history and medieval development. While emphasising the methodological limitations inherent in literary evidence – often shaped by rhetorical conventions, theological agendas, symbolic interpretation, and the dynamics of textual transmission – the study argues that Byzantine texts nevertheless preserve valuable information capable of complementing archaeological research. The survey examines a wide range of literary genres, including historiography, hagiography, homiletics, hymnography, travel accounts, pilgrimage guidebooks (proskynetaria), ekphraseis, and liturgical texts from the sixth to the fifteenth century. Particular attention is devoted to sources preserving architectural, topographical, and liturgical information on the Holy Sepulchre complex, from Sophronios of Jerusalem and Photios to the Typikon of the Anastasis and the later Byzantine proskynetaria. By highlighting both the potential and the interpretative challenges of Byzantine literary evidence, the essay argues for its systematic integration into archaeological and architectural research on one of Christianity's most important sacred sites.