Gordon's Calvary

In the late 1800s, a British military officer named Charles Gordon drew attention to a rocky hill just north of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City. Part of the hill looked like a skull, and Gordon imagined it a perfect backdrop for the crucifixion. "Golgotha" means "place of the skull" in Aramaic (John 19:17). Though most scholars (if not all of them) will point to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the location of the crucifixion, Gordon was right about the visual impact the hill has upon Bible readers. It is much easier to imagine the crucifixion in the open area at the base of the hill, or even on top of it. In ancient times, executions by stoning took place at such hills. Stephen was stoned somewhere in Jerusalem, and the woman caught in adultery was in danger of being stoned in the same place of execution. The Romans would have loved both the location and the gruesome history of such a site. Having a skull oversee executions only added to the impact. The bus station is an addition in recent decades. Though it distracts from the hill, it serves as a reminder that the Romans had a practice of executing criminals near heavily traveled intersections.