Calvary

Calvary

Calvary, or Golgotha (Koinē Greek: Γολγοθᾶ[ς] Golgothâ[s], traditionally interpreted as reflecting Syriac: ܓܓܘܠܬܐ‎ gāgūlṯā, as it were Hebrew gulgōleṯ "skull" (גולגולת); Arabic: جلجثة‎), was, according to the canonical Gospels, a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was crucified.The Gospels use the Koine term Kraníon (Κρανίον) or Kraniou topos (Κρανίου τόπος) when testifying to the place outside Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. E.g., Mark 15:22 (NRSV), "Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means: 'the place of a skull')." Kraníon is often translated as "skull" in English, but more accurately means cranium, the part of the skull enclosing the brain. In Latin, it is rendered Calvariae Locus, from which the English term Calvary derives. Its traditional site, identified by Queen Mother Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, in 325, is at the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. A 19th-century suggestion places it at the site now known as 'The Garden Tomb' on Skull Hill, some 500 m (1,600 ft) to the north, and 200 m (660 ft) north of the Damascus Gate. Historian Joan E. Taylor bases a location c. 175 m (574 ft) south-southeast of the traditional site on her reading of textual evidence.

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