Golgotha

Roman crucifixion was a public form of execution intended both to punish the condemned and to deter observers. The Gospel accounts place Jesus' execution outside the inhabited city while also describing Golgotha as near enough to Jerusalem for people to pass by and read the inscription over the cross.

The area now occupied by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre had previously been used as a stone quarry. Rock-cut tombs subsequently existed there, showing that the area had at one stage lain outside the inhabited city and was used for burial.

In the fourth century, during the reign of Constantine, the location was identified by Christians as the site of Jesus' crucifixion and tomb, and a monumental church complex was constructed there.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the principal historical candidate for Golgotha. Although it lies within the walls of Jerusalem today, the present walls do not reproduce the boundaries of the city in the time of Jesus. Archaeological evidence is compatible with the area having lain outside the city at the relevant period.

The Garden Tomb north of the Old City became a popular alternative identification during the nineteenth century. Its setting provides a useful visual impression of a rock-cut tomb and garden, but archaeological dating of the tomb itself does not provide strong support for identifying it as Jesus' new first-century tomb.

AVWJ should therefore describe the Holy Sepulchre location as the strongest traditional and archaeological candidate while acknowledging that the exact site cannot be demonstrated with absolute certainty.