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[the Roman headquarters just north
of the Temple enclosure, archae–
o logically identified as the site of
"the Pavement"- John 19: 13] to
Golgotha, and if the latter were
where the Church of the Holy Sep–
ulcher now is, he might indeed have
gone 'outside the gate' (Heb. 13: 12)
at this very place still marked by
ancient stonework in the Russian
.Alexander Hospice [a ·Jodging for
travelers run by a religious order)"
(Archaeology of the New Testament,
p.
137).
But what proof is there that Gol–
gotha was there? "That the· region
outside, i.e., to the west of a north–
south wall in this location, was in
fact at an earlier time a region out–
side of the inhabited city is shown
by the discovery in 1885 of ancient
rock-hewn tombs under the Coptic
Convent to the northwest of the
Russian Hospice"
(ibid.).
Here was, and is, the traditional
site of both Golgotha and the tomb.
On this site through the centuries
has stood a succession of church
buildings in commemoration.
"The remembrance of the place
of Golgotha and the tomb of Jesus
on the part of the early Christians in
Jerusalem is highly probable," says
Finegan. "Even when the Jewish
Christians fted to Pella on the eve of
the Jewish War (Eusebius,
Ch. Hist.
III.
5. 3) they were only fifty miles
away. and when Jews were forbid–
den entry into Jerusalem by Ha–
drian there were Gentile Christians
in Jerusalem under a series of bish–
ops, of whom Marcus was the first
(Eusebius, IV.6) to continue the tra–
dition"
(ibid. ,
p. 164).
Archaeology also, testing the
tradition, provides much evidence
that this is indeed the actual loca–
tion.
Ancient Quarry and Cemetery
"A deep pit was dug here [due-south
of the Ch urch of the Holy Sepul–
cher] which reached bedrock at a
depth of fifteen meters. At the bot–
tom of the pit there was a rock
quarry, with pottery of the seventh
century B.C. Above this was a large
fill containing pottery most of
w~ich
was of the first century of the Chris–
tian era, with a little which was
The
PLAIN TRUTH March 1978
pr9bably ... of the beginning of the
second century .... [Since) such a
quarry would naturally not be in–
side a city, this site must have been
outside the seventh century B.C.
town. Since there are · no buildings
or occupat ion layers between the
pottery and the large fill , the area
mus t have remained vacant until
the construct ion of Aelia Capitolina
[the name given to th e rebuilt J eru–
salem by the Emperor Hadrian,
early second centu ry]"
(ibid. ,
p.
138).
So the area is an ancient rock
quarry from which no doubt carne
much of the stone for the buildings
of the earliest Jerusalem-an a: rea
which remained vacant until Ha–
drian's time, approximately a cen–
tury after the crucifixion of J esus,
and an obvious place for a garden
(John 19:4 1). But was it a lso in the
first century a cemetery?
"T hat the Anastasis [the original
church building built by Con–
stantine the Great, which stood
where the Church of the Holy Sep–
ulcher now stands] stood in an a rea
associa ted with burials is shown by
the existence of a rock-hewn tomb
with three kokim [burial niches] on
each of three sides of the tomb
chamber, found under the founda–
tions of the Ro tunda of the Church
of the Holy Sepulcher on the west
side, as well as by the rock tombs
found under the Coptic Convent
just to the northeast of the Church
of the Holy Sepulcher"
(A rchaeo!ogy
ofthe New Testamenl,
p.
168).
Matthew 27:51-52 perhaps refers
to thls presence of other graves sur–
rounding the place of Jesus' death:
" ... The earth did quake, and the
rocks rent; and the graves [tombs)
were opened."
For a place of burials it is easy to
account for a name like Golgotha,
"place of a skull." What is a ceme–
tery but a place of skull s? It is pos–
sib le tha t there was a natural rock
ou tcropping shaped like the top of a
human skull, much of which has
since been cut away. Jndeed, visitors
today are shown what is claimed to
be the remains of such a rock,
through an opening in later ma–
sonry.
Eusebius, fourth-century church
historian, tells us
(Lije of Con–
stantine,
III. 26) that Hadrian buried
the traditional sepulcher of Christ
and covered the whole area with a
large quantity of earth. then laid a
stone pavement over everyth ing
"which we think was the fo rum of
Aelia Capitolina, and built a sh rine
of Venus there. So it is evident that
Hadrian carried out a systematic
profanation of the shrines of the
Jews and the Christians (perhaps
not even distinguishing the Chris–
tians from the Jews), and he must
have selected the place of Calvary
for such treatment on the basis of a
traditional identification which long
antedated his own time [early sec–
ond century] and thus reached back
into the earliest periods of the
Christian movement"
(Archaeology
ofthe New Testament ,
pp. 137-138).
Site Unseen
From then to now, though Con–
stant ine and o the rs built and rebuilt
churches on the spot, the tomb itself
has remained out of sight. The mod–
ero visitor may enter a small crypt
in a lower leve! of the Church of the
Holy Sepulcher, where candles burn
and an attendant stands with an
ever ready plate for offerings. But
the actual tomb must have been
somewhat lower than this leve!.
Apart from helping to demon–
strate the fact that Jesus of Nazareth
did die and was bu ri ed- and now
lives- knowing the site of Chris t's
burial is perhaps of little real impor–
tance. But a valid, attested tomb is
legitimate evidence that He truly
existed. That He was a real figure in
history. That He was not a myth.
Likewise, the New Testament pic–
ture of early first-century landscape
and locations, a description proveo
most accurate by twentieth-century
archaeology, further shows the re–
liability of the biblical account.
So whi le the exact spot where
Jesus, a dead man, spent a mere
three days and three nights a long
time ago is in itself immaterial, what
really matters is that you know you
can and must take its witness seri–
ously in today's world: J esus rose
again ; He lives today; He stands
chosen to rule the world and live
forever.
o
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