When Easter comes, people are always curious to know where did Jesus die on the cross? Historically it is located on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Mount Golgotha. According to Christian tradition, Jesus died on Easter Friday.
That is why Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion and suffering of Jesus Christ.
Mount Golgotha
According to Biblia, Jesus of Nazareth was hanged on a cross on Mount Golgotha outside the old city of Jerusalem after a long procession through the streets of Jerusalem. Years later, especially in the 326 AD, Constantine the Great built on that spot the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. Because of this, the view of the mountain of the three crosses in our minds is not what it is today. Furthermore, the mountain is integrated into Jerusalem today. It is no longer on the outskirts of the city as it was in Roman times.
But why is Calvary or Golgotha related to the skull?
There are several assumptions, although the two most accepted by historians are the following. The first one points to the topography own mountain, shaped like a human skull. Another possibility is that, being a site intended for public executions, many will be left there bones and skulls.
Hypothesis 1: Under the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulcher
In the year 326 AD Helen of Constantinople (then eighty years old) arrived in Jerusalem as the mother of a Roman emperor, determined to find the Holy Sepulcher of Jesus. Once on earth, she made the wisest of the village confess what they knew about the place where Christ was crucified and buried. She was taken to a hill where Emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of a temple dedicated to Roman goddesses Afrodita y Venus two centuries ago.
The emperor's mother ordered the temple to be demolished and excavated on the site. Finding three crosses (which he believed to be those of Jesus and the two thieves) and a tomb dug out of a limestone cave, which he believed to be the tomb of Jesus.
Helena and her son Constantine I built a sumptuous temple in what became known as the Cathedral of the Holy Sepulcher, with Mount Golgotha and the Holy Sepulcher will remain.
Hypothesis 2: On the hill next to the bus station
But the traditional location of Mount Golgotha is not always fully accepted by everyone. In 1842, a theologian and biblical scholar named Otto Thenius of Dresden published a hypothesis based on research by Edward Robinson. In this hypothesis he postulated that the biblical Golgotha was located in a church outside the Damascus Gate, on a rocky mountain. The enclave is located just 600 meters north of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, less than a 15-minute walk. And it is a much quieter place as it is not overcrowded
En 1882, Major General Charles George Gordon endorsed this theory and the site was renamed "Gordon's Calvary". The site, now known to the scientific community as skull hill, has a cliff at its base with two large holes that resemble the eye sockets of a skull. He and others before him think that is why it is called Mount Golgotha.
Near Gordon's Calvary is an ancient rock tomb known today as the Garden Tomb. Gordon proposes that this is the tomb of Jesus. If this theory by Otto Thenius, Edward Robinson and George Gordon is correct, then Golgotha today can be said to be next to the Damascus Gate bus station parking lot, next to the Garden Tomb. This enclave has certain archaeological evidence that corresponds to the biblical narrative, such as being located on the outskirts of Jerusalem and being a border crossing (formerly a road, today a highway).
There are some alternative theories about the location of Golgotha, but these two are the most accepted by the scientific community.
So, which of the two possible mounts Golgotha is the real one? Both options have their supporters and detractors. Archaeologists and historians still debate it, but perhaps it is not the important thing, but the message of the crucified teacher in the unjust judgment.
Where is Mount Golgotha located?
Mount Golgotha is located in the city of Jerusalem, although it can have two possible locations. The traditional Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher was built by Constantine I in AD 326 on what his mother Constantinople Helena thought was Mount Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre. On the other hand, next to the bus station, there is a rocky slope in the shape of a skull, which the researcher Charles Gordon did not hesitate to recognize as the real Mount Golgotha in 1882.
The thunder that bursts the nasal septum of the skull
It should be noted that the skull in the rock lost its part corresponding to the nasal septum during a strong discharge storm in February 2015, but many photos have survived (many of which were shown by local guides) showing the slope as the rocks were before the weather event.
Curiosities of Mount Golgotha
The New Testament describes Golgotha, the site of the crucifixion, as "close to the city" (John 19:20) and "outside the walls" (Hebrews 13:12). The traditional location would place this mythical mountain in Jerusalem, in the heart of the Roman city and the Temple of Aphrodite. These temples were ordered to be built by Emperor Hadrian, on Christian remains more than a century after the death of Jesus Christ.
En 2004, British professor Sir Henry Chadwick argued that when Hadrian's builders replanned the ancient city of Jerusalem, "they identified Golgotha by accident within the new walls". In other words, the mountain would have been incorporated into the new urban planning plan. The city of Jerusalem, because it is no longer on the outskirts of the city as it was in the time of Pontius Pilate.
A few years after the reconstruction of Jerusalem, 326 AD, Constantine the Great had the Church of the Holy sepulchre. A beautiful cathedral that could have been built on two Christian sanctuaries: Mount Golgotha and the tomb, where the body of Jesus was deposited after descending from the cross.
I hope this information about Mount Golgotha has been useful to you.
