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| Gordon's Calvary
(Garden Tomb) |
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Source:
Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 255. |
Grotto of Jeremiah,
1894
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In 1878 Captain Conder, in his "Tent Work in Palestine," stated his conviction
that the real site of Calvary was to be found on a rocky knoll outside the
northern wall and close to the cave known as "Jeremiah's Grotto." It is just
"without the gate" now called the Damascus Gate, and is a rocky precipice of
about fifty feet high, at a distance of five hundred feet from the city wall.
The top of the knoll is rounded and dome-like, and is one hundred and ten feet
higher than the Sacred Rock of the Temple, of whose enclosure it commands a
view . . . .A Jewish tradition points to this hill as the "Beth-has-sekîlah," or
"house of stoning;" while early Christian tradition fixes it as the scene of the
martyrdom of Stephen. According to Dr. Chaplin, the Jews to this day designate
the knoll as the "place of stoning." The hill, in certain lights, appears to
present a striking resemblance to a human skull. The adoption of this site by
Dr. Chaplin, Dr. Merill, and by the late General Gordon, has helped to give it
considerable popularity. (Source:
Jerusalem, Bethany, and Bethlehem, p. 166-67.) |
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Gordon's Calvary, 1961 |
Source:
Photographs of Charles Lee Feinberg. |
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"A sort of amphitheatre is formed by the
gentle slopes on the west; and the whole
population of the city might easily witness
from the vicinity anything taking place on the
top of the cliff. The knoll is just beside the
main north road. It is occupied by a cemetery
of Muslem tombs, which existed as early as the
fifteenth century at least…The hill is quite
bare, with scanty grass covering the rocky
soil, and a few irises and wild flowers
growing among the graves . . . .The hillock is
rounded on all sides but the south, where the
yellow cliff is pierced by two small caves
high up in the sides…In 1881 it was found that
a Jewish tomb existed on a smaller knoll west
of the north road, about two hundred yards
from the top of the first-mentioned knoll"
("Survey of Western Palestine," Jerusalem
volume, p. 432). (Source: Jerusalem, Bethany, and Bethlehem, p.166.) |
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Source:
Photographs of Charles Lee Feinberg. |
Garden Tomb |
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Of this tomb Captain Conder writes: "The whole
is very rudely cut in the rock, which is of
inferior quality. The doorway is much broken,
and there is a loophole or window, four feet
wide, on either side of the door. The outer
court, cut in the rock, is seven feet square;
and two stones are so placed in this as to
give the idea that they may have held in place
a rolling-stone before the door. On the right
is a side entrance, leading into a chamber
with a single loculus. The chamber within the
tomb entrance is reached by a descent of two
steps, and measures six feet by nine feet.
From either side wall and from the back wall
is an entrance leading into a side chamber. A
passage runs in continuation of each entrance,
and on each side is a bench about two and a
half feet wide by two and a quarter high."
Captain Conder continues, after stating his
view that the adjoining mound was the place of
public execution: "It would be bold to hazard
the suggestion that the single Jewish
sepulchre thus found is indeed the tomb in the
garden, nigh unto the place called Golgotha;
yet its appearance so near the old place of
execution and so far from other tombs in the
old cemeteries of the city is extremely
remarkable." (Source: Jerusalem, Bethany, and Bethlehem, p. 166.) |
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Modern Mount Calvary |
Source:
Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, p. 256. |
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Haskett Smith sums up the reasons in favor
of Jeremiah's Grotto as follows: 1st, he
claims the tomb here has never been finished
and yet has been occupied; 2d, that it was
constructed about the time of Christ, being
Herodian in character; 3d, that it has been
occupied for one burial, and one burial only;
4th, that it was originally intended for a
Jew, and that a rich and influential one; 5th,
though built for a Jew, it was an object of
sacred reverence to the early Christians, for
it has been used as a place for Christian
worship, and is surrounded by Christian tombs;
6th, that it occupies a position with regard
to the hill opposite it which accords with the
Gospel narratives . . . 7th, that the frescoed
cross with the sacred monograms still faintly
to be traced on the east wall, and evident of
an age almost, if not quite, co-equal with the
first century, connects the tomb most
intimately with Christ . . . .In this picture
[looking south from Gordon's Calvary] we see
to the right the Church the Holy Sepulchre. We
really have in this picture a view of both
places as claimed different authorities as the
spot of crucifixion and burial, and it is
doubtless true that one or the other of these
places our Savior was put to death on the
cross. (Source: Earthly Footsteps of the Man of Galilee, pp. 255-56.) |
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See
Church of the Holy
Sepulcher,
Authenticity of the Holy Sepulcher,
History
of the Holy Sepulcher,
Tombs and
Burial Customs, or
Garden of
Gethsemane |
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