And just as Eusebius comments in Onomasticon concerning Golgotha as being a hill just outside Jerusalem, north of the ancient Mount Zion, this hill fits his description.
The crucifixion of Jesus took place in that same “region of Moriah ” where over 2000 years before Abraham had stood prepared to offer to God his only son, his innocent son, it God’s command.
There is a tomb within the walls of the Sepulchre – you can actually go inside it! – which proves that at least part of the building was built upon a burial place (some people believe the tomb is that of Joseph of Arimathea, the dude who donated his own tomb to Christ ). The spot marked for the crucifixion is on a hill.
The tomb is located in one of the world’s holiest sites for Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City.
Its exact location is uncertain, but most scholars prefer either the spot now covered by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre or a hillock called Gordon’s Calvary just north of the Damascus Gate.
From these extracts it will appear that Jerusalem, Zion , and Moriah were not interchangeable terms, but were fixed places,-the former being the Holy City, the two latter portions of Jerusalem, whose posi- tions can nearly be determined, as we know one of them ( Moriah ) at the present day.
Through association with the biblical Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount ), Mount Moriah has been interpreted as the name of the specific mountain at which this occurred.
Moriah | |
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Coordinates | 31°46′40.7″N 35°14′8.9″ECoordinates: 31°46′40.7″N 35°14′8.9″E |
Geography | |
Location | Jerusalem (according to Jewish sources) |
The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, sometimes also referred to as Mount Olives is an important landmark, located next to the Old City of Jerusalem . The Mount of Olives refers to the ridge located east of the Old City and gets its name from the olive groves that at one time covered the land.
In biblical usage, however, “ Mount Zion ” often means the city rather than the hill itself. Mount Zion is the place where Yahweh, the God of Israel, dwells (Isaiah 8:18; Psalm 74:2), the place where he is king (Isaiah 24:23) and where he has installed his king, David (Psalm 2:6).
Helena, traveled to Jerusalem. According to tradition, she discovered relics of the cross upon which Jesus had been crucified. The spot had been venerated by early Christians, and she concluded it was Golgotha. Constantine ordered the construction of a basilica, which became known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre .
The winding route from the former Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 feet) — is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions.
Spread over four days, with around 15km of hiking per day, the trail starts in the town of Nazareth and ends at the ruins of Capernaum, stopping for reflection at many important Christian sites and passing through local Arab and Jewish villages.
The cave of Machpelah, in the West Bank city of Hebron, is the burial place of the Matriarchs and Patriarchs : Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah. According to Jewish mystical tradition, it’s also the entrance to the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve are buried.
During a crusade to the Holy Land, French King Louis IX bought what was venerated as Jesus’ Crown of Thorns. It is kept in Paris to this day, in the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
Mary Magdalene as trusted disciple For its part, the Bible gave no hint that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’s wife . None of the four canonical gospels suggests that sort of relationship, even though they list the women who travel with Jesus and in some cases include their husbands’ names.