Calvary (Latin:Calvariae orCalvariae locus) orGolgotha (Biblical Greek:Γολγοθᾶ,romanized: Golgothâ),[a] was a site immediately outsideRoman Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels,Jesus wascrucified.[3]
Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination forpilgrimage. The exact location of Calvary has been traditionally associated with a place now enclosed within one of the southern chapels of themultidenominationalChurch of the Holy Sepulchre, a sitesaid to have been recognized by theRoman empressHelena, mother ofConstantine the Great, during her visit to theHoly Land in 325. Other locations have been suggested: in the 19th century,Protestant scholars proposed a different location near theGarden Tomb on Green Hill (now "Skull Hill") about 500 m (1,600 ft) north of the traditional site.
And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull, They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots.[16]
And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.[17]
And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.[18]
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.[19]
In the standardKoine Greek texts of theNew Testament, the relevant terms appear asGolgothâ (Γολγοθᾶ),[20][21]Golgathân (Γολγοθᾶν),[22]kraníou tópos (κρανίου τόπος),[20]Kraníou tópos (Κρανίου τόπος),[22]Kraníon (Κρανίον),[23] andKraníou tópon (Κρανίου τόπον).[21] Golgotha'sHebrew equivalent would beGulgōleṯ (גֻּלְגֹּלֶת, "skull"),[24][25] ultimately from the verbgalal (גלל) meaning "to roll".[26] The form preserved in the Greek text, however, is actually closer toAramaicGolgolta,[27] which also appears in reference to a head count in theSamaritan version ofNumbers 1:18,[28][29] although the term is traditionally considered to derive fromSyriacGāgūlṯā (ܓܓܘܠܬܐ) instead.[30][31][32][33][34] Although Latincalvaria can mean either "a skull" or "the skull" depending on context and numerousEnglish translations render the relevant passages"place of the skull" or "Place of the Skull",[35] the Greek forms of the name grammatically refer to the place ofa skull and a place named Skull.[26] (The Greek wordκρᾱνῐ́ον does more specifically mean thecranium, the upper part of the skull, but it has been usedmetonymously since antiquity to refer to skulls and heads more generally.)[36]
In the 19th century, Wilhelm Ludwig Krafft proposed an alternative derivation of these names, suggesting that the place had actually been known as "Gol Goatha"—which he interpreted to mean "heap of death" or "hill of execution"—and had become associated with the similar soundingSemitic words for "skull" infolk etymologies.[38]James Fergusson identified this "Goatha" with theGoʿah (גֹּעָה)[39] mentioned inJeremiah 31:39 as a place near Jerusalem,[40] although Krafft himself identified that location with the separateGennáth (Γεννάθ) ofJosephus, the "Garden Gate" west of theTemple Mount.[38]
There is no consensus as to the location of the site.John19:20 describes the crucifixion site as being "near the city". According toHebrews13:12, it was "outside the city gate".Matthew 27:39 andMark 15:29 both note that the location would have been accessible to "passers-by". Thus, locating the crucifixion site involves identifying a site that, in the city of Jerusalem some four decades beforeits destruction in AD70, would have been outside a major gate near enough to the city that the passers-by could not only see him, but also read the inscription 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews'.[41]
Christian tradition since the fourth century has favoured a location now within theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre. This places it well within today'swalls of Jerusalem, which surround theOld City and were rebuilt in the 16th century by theOttoman Empire. Proponents of the traditional Holy Sepulchre location point to the fact that first-century Jerusalem had a different shape and size from the 16th-century city, leaving the church's site outside the pre-AD 70 city walls.[42]
Defenders of the traditional site have argued that the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was only brought within the city limits byHerod Agrippa (41–44), who built the so-called Third Wall around a newly settled northern district, while at the time of Jesus' crucifixion around AD 30 it would still have been just outside the city.[42]
Henry Chadwick (2003) argued that when Hadrian's builders replanned the old city, they "incidentally confirm[ed] the bringing of Golgotha inside a new town wall."[43]
In 2007Dan Bahat, the former City Archaeologist of Jerusalem and Professor of Land of Israel Studies atBar-Ilan University, stated that "Six graves from the first century were found on the area of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. That means, this place [was] outside of the city, without any doubt…".[44]
The traditional location of Golgotha derives from its identification byQueen Mother Helena, mother ofConstantine the Great, in 325. Less than 45 meters (150 ft) away, Helena also identified the location of the tomb of Jesus and claimed to have discovered theTrue Cross; her son, Constantine, then built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre around the whole site. In 333, the author of theItinerarium Burdigalense, entering from the east, described the result:
On the left hand is the little hill of Golgotha where the Lord was crucified. About a stone's throw from thence is a vault [crypta] wherein his body was laid, and rose again on the third day. There, at present, by the command of the Emperor Constantine, has been built abasilica; that is to say, a church of wondrous beauty.[45]
Various archeologists have proposed alternative sites within the Church as locations of the crucifixion. Nazénie Garibian de Vartavan argued that the now-buried Constantinian basilica's altar was built over the site.[46]
Jerusalem after being rebuilt byHadrian: Two main east–west roads were built, as well as two main north–south roads.
Prior to Helena's identification, the site had been atemple toAphrodite. Constantine's construction took over most of the site of the earlier temple enclosure, and theRotunda andcloister (which was replaced after the 12th century by the presentCatholicon andCalvary chapel) roughly overlap with the temple building itself; thebasilica church Constantine built over the remainder of the enclosure was destroyed at the turn of the 11th century, and has not been replaced.Christian tradition claims that the location had originally been a Christian place of veneration, but that Hadrian had deliberately buried these Christian sites and built his own temple on top, on account of his alleged hatred for Christianity.[47]
There is certainly evidence thatc. 160, at least as early as 30 years afterHadrian's temple had been built, Christians associated it with the site ofGolgotha;Melito of Sardis, an influential mid-2nd century bishop in the region, described the location as "in the middle of the street, in the middle of the city",[48] which matches the position of Hadrian's temple within the mid-2nd century city.
The Romans typically built a city according to aHippodamiangrid plan – a north–southarterial road, theCardo (which is now the Suq Khan-ez-Zeit), and an east–west arterial road, theDecumanus Maximus (which is now theVia Dolorosa).[49] Theforum would traditionally be located on the intersection of the two roads, with the main temples adjacent.[49] However, due to the obstruction posed by the Temple Mount, as well as theTenth Legion encampment on the Western Hill, Hadrian's city had twoCardo, twoDecumanus Maximus, two forums,[49] and several temples. The Western Forum (now theMuristan) is located on the crossroads of the West Cardo and what is now El-Bazar/David Street, with the Temple of Aphrodite adjacent, on the intersection of the Western Cardo and theVia Dolorosa. The Northern Forum is located north of the Temple Mount, on the junction of the Via Dolorosa and the Eastern Cardo (theTyropoeon), adjacent to the Temple ofJupiter Capitolinus, intentionally built atop the Temple Mount.[50] Another popular holy site that Hadrian converted to a pagan temple was thePool of Bethesda, possibly referenced to in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John,[51][52] on which was built the Temple ofAsclepius andSerapis. While the positioning of the Temple of Aphrodite may be, in light of the commonColonia layout, entirely unintentional, Hadrian is known to have concurrently built pagan temples on top of other holy sites in Jerusalem as part of an overall "Romanization" policy.[53][54][55][56][57]
Archaeological excavations under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have revealed Christian pilgrims' graffiti, dating from the period that the Temple of Aphrodite was still present, of a ship, a common early Christian symbol[58][59][60] and the etching "DOMINVS IVIMVS", meaning "Lord, we went",[61][62] lending possible support to the statement by Melito of Sardis' asserting that early Christians identified Golgotha as being in the middle of Hadrian's city, rather than outside.
Natural stone of Golgotha in the Chapel of Adam below site
During 1973–1978 restoration works and excavations inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and under the nearbyMuristan, it was found that the area was originally a quarry, from which white Melekelimestone was struck;[63] surviving parts of the quarry to the north-east of the chapel of St. Helena are now accessible from within the chapel (by permission). Inside the church is a rock, about 7 m long by 3 m wide by 4.8 m high,[63] that is traditionally believed to be all that now remains visible ofGolgotha; the design of the church means that theCalvary Chapel contains the upper foot or so of the rock, while the remainder is in the chapel beneath it (known as thetomb of Adam).Virgilio Corbo, aFranciscan priest and archaeologist, present at the excavations, suggested that from the city the little hill (which still exists) could have looked like a skull.[64]
During a 1986 repair to the floor of theCalvary Chapel by the art historian George Lavas and architect Theo Mitropoulos, a round slot of 11.5 cm (4.5 in) diameter was discovered in the rock, partly open on one side (Lavas attributes the open side to accidental damage during his repairs);[65] although the dating of the slot is uncertain, and could date to Hadrian's temple of Aphrodite, Lavas suggested that it could have been the site of the crucifixion, as it would be strong enough to hold in place a wooden trunk of up to 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) in height (among other things).[66][67] The same restoration work also revealed a crack running across the surface of the rock, which continues down to theChapel of Adam;[65] the crack is thought by archaeologists to have been a result of the quarry workmen encountering a flaw in the rock.[citation needed]
Based on the late 20th century excavations of the site, there have been a number of attempted reconstructions of the profile of the cliff face. These often attempt to show the site as it would have appeared to Constantine. However, as the ground level in Roman times was about 4–5 feet (1.2–1.5 m) lower and the site housed Hadrian's temple to Aphrodite, much of the surrounding rocky slope must have been removed long before Constantine built the church on the site. The height of theGolgotha rock itself would have caused it to jut through the platform level of the Aphrodite temple, where it would be clearly visible. The reason for Hadrian not cutting the rock down is uncertain, but Virgilio Corbo suggested that a statue, probably of Aphrodite, was placed on it,[68] a suggestion also made byJerome. Some archaeologists have suggested that prior to Hadrian's use, the rock outcrop had been anefesh – a Jewish funeral monument, equivalent to thestele.[69]
TheItinerarium Burdigalense speaks of Golgotha in 333: "... On the left hand is the little hill of Golgotha where the Lord was crucified. About a stone's throw from thence is a vault (crypta) wherein His body was laid, and rose again on the third day. There, at present, by the command of the Emperor Constantine, has been built a basilica, that is to say, a church of wondrous beauty",[70]Cyril of Jerusalem, a distinguished theologian of the early Church, and eyewitness to the early days of Constantine's edifice, speaks of Golgotha in eight separate passages, sometimes as near to the church where he and his listeners assembled:[71] "Golgotha, the holy hill standing above us here, bears witness to our sight: the Holy Sepulchre bears witness, and the stone which lies there to this day."[72] And just in such a way thepilgrim Egeria often reported in 383: "… the church, built by Constantine, which is situated in Golgotha…"[73] and also bishopEucherius of Lyon wrote to the island presbyter Faustus in 440: "Golgotha is in the middle between the Anastasis and the Martyrium, the place of the Lord's passion, in which still appears that rock which once endured the very cross on which the Lord was."[74]Breviarius de Hierosolyma reports in 530: "From there (the middle of the basilica), you enter into Golgotha, where there is a large court. Here the Lord was crucified. All around that hill, there are silver screens."[75] (See also:Eusebius in 338.[76])
Rocky escarpment resembling a skull, located northwest of theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre, near theGarden Tomb with c. 1900s picture posted on pole for comparison
In 1842,Otto Thenius, a theologian and biblical scholar fromDresden,Germany, was the first to publish a proposal that the rocky knoll north of Damascus Gate was the biblicalGolgotha.[77][78] He relied heavily on the research ofEdward Robinson.[78] In 1882–83, Major-GeneralCharles George Gordon endorsed this view; subsequently the site has sometimes been known asGordon's Calvary. The location, usually referred to today asSkull Hill, is beneath a cliff that contains two large sunken holes, which Gordon regarded as resembling the eyes of a skull. He and a few others before him believed that the skull-like appearance would have caused the location to be known as Golgotha.[79]
Nearby is an ancient rock-cut tomb known today asthe Garden Tomb, which Gordon proposed as the tomb of Jesus. The Garden Tomb contains several ancient burial places, although the archaeologistGabriel Barkay has proposed that the tomb dates to the 7th century BC and that the site may have been abandoned by the 1st century.[80]
Eusebius comments that Golgotha was in his day (the 4th century) pointed outnorth of Mount Zion.[81] WhileMount Zion was used previously in reference to the Temple Mount itself,Josephus, the first-century AD historian who knew the city as it was before theRoman destruction of Jerusalem, identified Mount Zion as being the Western Hill (the current Mount Zion),[82][83] which is south of both the Garden Tomb and the Holy Sepulchre. Eusebius' comment therefore offers no additional argument for either location.
^Cf. Bavarian State Library MS. Rar. 880 (1494),Lucas 23:33. (German)
^AfterMartin Luther's 1522translation, it has been more common to translate the meaning of the Greek name directly into German asSchädelstätte, equivalent to "Skullplace".
^Garibian de Vartavan, N. (2008).La Jérusalem Nouvelle et les premiers sanctuaires chrétiens de l'Arménie. Méthode pour l'étude de l'église comme temple de Dieu. London: Isis Pharia.ISBN978-0-9527827-7-3.
^Lehmann, Clayton Miles (22 February 2007)."Palestine: History".The On-line Encyclopedia of the Roman Provinces. The University of South Dakota. Archived fromthe original on 10 March 2008. Retrieved18 April 2007.
^Cohen, Shaye J. D. (1996). "Judaism to Mishnah: 135–220 C.E". In Hershel Shanks (ed.).Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: A Parallel History of their Origins and Early Development. Washington DC: Biblical Archaeology Society. p. 196.
^Hesemann 1999, p. 170: "Von der Stadt aus muß er tatsächlich wie eine Schädelkuppe ausgesehen haben," and p. 190: a sketch; and p. 172: a sketch of the geological findings by C. Katsimbinis, 1976: "der Felsblock ist zu 1/8 unterhalb des Kirchenbodens, verbreitert sich dort auf etwa 6,40 Meter und verläuft weiter in die Tiefe"; and p. 192, a sketch by Corbo, 1980: Golgotha is distant 10 meters outside from the southwest corner of the Martyrion-basilica
^abGeorge Lavas,The Rock of Calvary, published (1996) inThe Real and Ideal Jerusalem in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Art (proceedings of the 5th International Seminar in Jewish Art), pp. 147–150
^Hesemann 1999, pp. 171–172: "....Georg Lavas and ... Theo Mitropoulos, ... cleaned off a thick layer of rubble and building material from one to 45 cm thick that covered the actual limestone. The experts still argue whether this was the work of the architects of Hadrian, who aimed thereby to adapt the rock better to the temple plan, or whether it comes from 7th century cleaning....When the restorers progressed to the lime layer and the actual rock....they found they had removed a circular slot of 11.5 cm diameter".
^Letter To The Presbyter FaustusArchived 2008-06-13 at theWayback Machine, by Eucherius. "What is reported, about the site of the city Jerusalem and also of Judaea";Epistola Ad Faustum Presbyterum. "Eucherii, Quae fertur, de situ Hierusolimitanae urbis atque ipsius Iudaeae."Corpus Scriptorum Eccles. Latinorum XXXIX Itinera Hierosolymitana, Saeculi IIII–VIII, P. Geyer, 1898
^Whalen, Brett Edward, Pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, p. 40, University of Toronto Press, 2011;ISBN978-1-4426-0199-4; Iteneraria et alia geographica, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, vol. 175 (Turnhout,Brepols 1965), pp. 109–112
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