Scholars Find Evidence of the Messiah's Crucifixion at Golgotha  

by Benjamin Hartman

….JERUSALEM, Israel -- "There is no question in my mind...the greatest single event in all of history happened on the cross." So were the words of Alexander Maclaren describing the importance of Calvary (Jesus' crucifixion). He continued: "The cross is the center of the world's history; the incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of our Lord are the pivot around which all the events of the ages revolve."

Indeed, for centuries, scholars and theologians have studied the last days of Jesus' life on earth. Throughout the years, an important question has puzzled many: where did Jesus' crucifixion actually take place, and was there a very special significance to this place? In Jerusalem there are several sites which have been suggested for many years as the location of Jesus' crucifixion ("Golgotha" or "Calvary", both meaning in Hebrew "the place of the skull"). Two of them are best known.

Northwest of the Old City there is a small hill with features which some say resembles the eye sockets of a human skull. Near it an ancient burial cave is known today as the Garden Tomb.

Another well known location is the present site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the oldest church still in existence. It was built by the mother of Emperor Constantine, Queen Helena, in the 4th century A.D. On the same site, before that time, a temple to the goddess Venus was built on top of the remains of a second century B.C. monument to the King/Priest John Hyrcanus of the Hashmonean dynasty.

Early Church historians indicated that in the first century, Christians revered the Mount of Olives….It was the site of the first church and was considered to be the most significant place in Christian history. The red arrow [see original article] marks the place believed to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion near the ancient Altar of the Red Heifer -- the Altar of the Sin Sacrifices. While much tradition is found at these and other places, "the one thing all these sites have in common is that they are all the wrong place," says the Christian-Biblical historian, Prof. Ernest L. Martin, in an exclusive interview with the Jerusalem Christian Review.

The site of the Red Heifer sacrifice on the Mount of Olives

Indeed, several years ago, Dr. Martin, president of the Academy of Scriptural Knowledge in Portland, Oregon, took a fresh look at the question with some startling results.

"The simplest of my findings revolves around some basic New and Old Testament Scriptures, whose significance has been overlooked for centuries," said Dr. Martin as he described his latest book, Secrets of Golgotha.

While working with the renowned Jerusalem archaeologist, Prof. Benjamin Mazar, at the Temple Mount excavations in the 1960s, Martin studied the geographical history of Jerusalem with some of Israel's leading scholars.

"My initial interest in researching this subject was spawned from...one primary fact," said Martin. "It appears as though the centurion who was at the foot of the cross was able to observe the tearing of the Temple veil [the outside curtain, called in Hebrew 'Masach'], something that would have been possible only from a point east of the Temple Mount, and not from any point west of it."

"While this is not evidence in itself," said the historian, "it did inspire my curiosity."

Historical sources are conclusive that the massive 80-foot curtain was located in a spot that was visible only from atop the Mount of Olives. "It would have been a physical impossibility for anyone in Jerusalem to have seen this curtain from the south, the west, or the north -- the locations of today's traditional crucifixion sites," says Martin.

Throughout Martin's investigations, he searched through hundreds of contemporary and first-century writings, ancient church literature, and the original Hebrew and Greek Scriptural sources.

He found that the Bible itself indicates that the crucifixion occurred in a "holy place" -- a place John describes as belonging to the the Temple worship ritual -- which the Book of Hebrews refers to as an altar called "Outside-the-Camp" (John 19:20; Hebrews 13:10-14).

"'Outside-the-Camp' was not a description but the name of a specific place, known from biblical and contemporary sources," said well-known Jerusalem historian, Prof. Ory Mazar, the author of numerous books on the history of Jerusalem.

Mazar, who worked with Martin on part of his research, explained that this place, "was the location of the 'Altar of the Red Heifer'." Although the altar was located "outside the city" on the Mount of Olives and not on the Temple Mount in the City of David, it was still an extremely important part of the Temple worship ritual -- it was the Altar of the major Sin Sacrifices.

"According to the Law of Moses," said Mazar in a interview with the Jerusalem Christian Review, "one could not worship on the holy grounds of the Temple without first sacrificing a sin offering 'Outside-the-Camp.'"

Adding to dozens of additional pieces of evidence, Martin found that the Bible itself identifies the place called "Golgotha" ("the Place of the Head") in 2 Samuel 15. The "Place of the Head" (mistranslated in English translations as the summit of the mountain) was the place on the Mount of Olives where King David stopped to worship as he was fleeing from Jerusalem to Jericho. The original Hebrew is clear, describing a specific site called "the Place of the Head."

It is plainly indicated that the Messiah was led to a place known as "Golgotha" for his crucifixion: "They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull)." (Matthew 27:33). "Carrying his own cross, he went out to The Place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha)." (John 19:17).

The word "Golgotha" is also used in the Old Testament and signifies a "skull" in two places (Judges 9:53; II Kings 9:35), the human "head" once (I Chronicles 10:10) and nine times it denotes "poll" or "head-count." The New Testament, however, indicates the connotation of "skull" -- "The Place of the Skull."

Is there any indication in the records of history of a small hill or outcropping on the slopes of the Mount of Olives facing the east gate of the Temple? Indeed there is. A Christian pilgrim known as the Bordeaux Pilgrim visited the area in 333 A.D. In his written itinerary of the trip he mentions that on top of the Mount of Olives there was a MONTICULUS or "little hill."

Then, to the puzzlement of scholars over the ages, he claims the TRANSFIGURATION of the Messiah took place at this spot. This is a BLATANT GEOGRAPHICAL MISTAKE because the New Testament makes it quite clear that the "transfiguration" took place in Galilee -- many miles to the north of the Holy City! So why, then, did he make this claim?

Probably because of a MISUNDERSTANDING of the Latin! There are several different words in Latin used to denote the act of crucifixion. One of these is TRANSFIGERE -- meaning to "transfix a person with nails or some other sharp instrument." This word, which means TRANSFIXIATION, is very close phonetically to the word which means "TRANSFIGURATION" -- TRANSFIGURARE!

Dr. Martin claims that "In spoken Latin (and with various Latin accents found among the pilgrims and residents of Jerusalem when the Pilgrim was there) the words TRANSFIGERE and TRANSFIGURARE could well have sounded similar to the Bordeaux Pilgrim...But even the Latin people in Jerusalem at the time of the Pilgrim were also making the mistake of thinking the transfiguration occurred on Olivet" (Secrets of Golgotha, p. 61).

It is highly probable, though, that this MONTICULUS on top of the Mount of Olives was indeed the site of the Messiah's death, or TRANSFIXIATION.

A verse in II Samuel speaks of this very hill: "And David went up by the ASCENT OF MOUNT OLIVET, and wept as he went up..." (15:30). The Septuagint version of the Old Testament calls this "ascent of Mount Olivet" The Place of the Ros (Head). Now just what does this refer to? Notice that the verses in question call the site The Place of THE Skull or Head (Ros) -- NOT The Place of A Skull or The Place of Skulls (plural)! It is very definitely referring to A PARTICULAR SKULL OR HEAD! Many people have conjectured, over the centuries, that this phrase indicates a geographical feature that looks like a skull or the top of a skull. But is this correct?

Is it just possible this small hillock on the Mount of Olives was called The Place of THE Skull because it was the burial place of A PARTICULAR SKULL?

Let's see what history and tradition reveal: "It was an EARLY TRADITION that Christ was crucified IN THE SAME PLACE WHERE ADAM WAS BURIED. S. Chrysostom alludes to it. 'Some say that Adam died there, and there lieth, and that Jesus, in that place where death had reigned, there also set up the trophy.'" (The Cross in Tradition, History, and Art, by William Wood Seymour, p. 99).

 

A painting by Fra Angelico (1435) entitled "Crucifixion."

Tentzelius' "Numial Treatise," quoted in Southey's Omniana, vol. i., p. 281, records this amazing episode in ancient history: "The tree [of life], WITH THE BONES OF ADAM, was preserved in the ark by Noah, who divided the relics among his sons. THE SKULL FELL TO THE SHARE OF SHEM [Noah's son], WHO BURIED IT IN A MOUNT OF JUDEA CALLED FROM THIS CIRCUMSTANCE CALVARY AND GOLGOTHA [THE PLACE OF THE SKULL]."

In early art Adam is frequently shown as rising up (from the grave) at the very foot of the cross, holding a chalice or cup to catch the blood of the Messiah as it fell from the tortured body. Many paintings or drawings of the crucifixion scene show THE SKULL OF ADAM beneath the stauros or cross of the Messiah.

With this newly discovered knowledge it's easy to see WHY the site of the Messiah's death was called Golgotha -- THE PLACE OF THE (ADAM'S) SKULL!!

This belief that Adam's skull was buried at Golgotha was common in the early church. Origen speaks of it as well known in his time; and St. Augustine wrote: "The ancients hold that because Adam was the first man, and was buried there [at Golgotha], it was called Calvary, because it holds the HEAD of the human [Adamic -- Ed.] race." (De Civitate Dei, cap. 32).

St. Basil said, "Probably Noah was not ignorant of the sepulchre of our forefather [Adam] and that of the first born of all mortals [of the Adamic race -- Ed.], and in that place, CALVARY, the Lord suffered, the origin of death there being destroyed." (Isa. cap. 5).

The fact that this spot outside Jerusalem is called The Place of THE Skull in the gospels, would tend to support the tradition of Shem having buried Adam's skull there.

Concludes Dr. Martin:

"In the Hebrew language this highest summit of Olivet was known as the 'Bamah.' It was the 'high place' on the Mount of Olives and this is where King David went to worship God overlooking the city of Jerusalem to the WEST. It also answers to the SAME MONTICULUS that the Bordeaux Pilgrim talked about. Indeed, this highest point on the southern summit of Olivet became known as the IMBOMON (which comes from the Greek 'en bommo' which means 'high place' or 'altar'). It is this name which has been attached to THIS MONTICULUS on Olivet for the past 1600 years. At the present there is a small Moslem shrine built over the site" (Secrets of Golgotha, p. 61-62).

"What strikes me as incredibly significant is that this would mean Jesus was crucified near the Altar of the Sin Sacrifices -- a place that had been the traditional site of the Sin Sacrifice of the Red Heifer for over ten centuries," said Martin.

"The true place of Golgotha is very critical, because it proves that Jesus Christ was indeed sacrificed, as the ultimate Sin Sacrifice for the world [of Israel -- Ed.], at precisely the same place which was designated by Biblical Law, by tradition and by the ritual custom of the Temple for the major sin sacrifices to be killed," said Martin, adding, "It happened on the Mount of Olives in the Holy City of Jerusalem. "This evidence was proof positive for all his disciples to see...that his prophesy came true -- he was indeed the Lamb of God!"

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Preaching YEHOVAH's Truth Without Fear or Favor!

Hope of Israel Ministries P.O. Box 853 Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A. www.hope-of-israel.org

Scan with your Smartphone for more information