Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-16
could not have been tho scene Of His cruci-
fxion and burial.

could not have been tho scene Of His cruci-
dxion and burial
There are other features In which the
New Calvary fits In with the gospel ac-
counts Of the crucifxion. Christ was cruel
fed, according to st. Luke. xiii :33, revised
version. at 'the place which is called the
Skull 1.-THE place ITSELF" says the Rev.
Hugh Price Hughes, was called the Skull
undoubtedly because 1t bore some resem-
blance to q human skull. 1t Is an extra
ordinary fact, to which my own eyes can
testify, that to this day the rocky knoll by
'Jeremiah's Grotto, as seen from the high
road. which passes the Damascus gate,
looks like human skull There are in the
face Of 1t two large natural caves, which
look like the empty sockets of human eyes,
and between and below these the rocky
surface looks like nose and a mouth"
Gen. Gordon traced strong resemblance
between the contour Of the hill and hu-
man skull. and was of the opinion that this
accounted for the name bestowed upon 1t.
To quote the Rev: Hugh Price Hughes
the junction Of two main roads from south
to north and from west to east. There
would be many passersby, and they that
heads (St Matthew. xxvii:39; St Mark,
xv:20. We are expressly told that the
place Of crucifxion was visible from affair."
(St. Mark, xv:4O. and all His acquaint-
dHCeS duQ inc wOncn lndt lOllOWeQ WITH
Him from Galilee stood afar of, seeing
these things (St. Luke xxii:49). This was
equally true Of His enemies. The spot could
be seen from the walls of the city. from
many houses and from Olivet. as well as
from the high roads which meet at this
point.
X
"Take one other striking coincidence. In
st. Matthew, xxvii:32, we read that as
they came out by what we now call the
Damascus gate, they found a man of
Cyrene, Simon by name, coming out of the
country as st. Mark and st. Luke add,
and this was the entrance by which he
would come out Of the country. Him they
compelled to assist Christ in bearing the
cross. And why was such assistance spe-
cially needed at this point? Stand outside
the Damascus gate and notice how Just
there the road suddenly rises and becomes
steep. Our Lord reeled under the weight Of
the cross where the road became steep, and
SO Simon had the immortal glory Of help
ing Him."
II the New Calvary be accepted as the
trme Calvary the case for the garden tomb
is greatly strengthened. It Is recorded In
ST. John (xix:41-42 that Tin the place where
He was crucified there was a garden; and
in the garden new tomb wherein was
never man yet laid. There. then. because
VI lH0 SCW6 PiSPdidtiOu llOf the tOnlD
was nigh at hand they laid Jesus" The
new tomb meets these requirements. 1t is
nigh at hand" being within go feet of
the summit Of Skull Hill and in the gar
den"
This tomb was first discovered in 1857
For many centuries It had been completely
concealed from view by the secretions of
earth and soil which had overlain It, It
attracted little attention until Gen. Cor
don explored 1t and declared his conviction
that II was the verftable tomb In which
Christ was laid after the cruci1xion. Since
then Il has been known by many as the
Gordon tomb. It Is hewn out Of the rock
and has never been finished. When II was
first uncovered 1t was found to be full of
human skulls and bones, mixed up with
mold to about within two feet Of the cell
Ing. But underneath all these was a
stratum OF earth about two feet or more In
thickness which was free from all bones.
The human remains were evidently those
that belonged to several graves. No skele-
tons were found entire occupying the
'loculf' OF the tomb II was evident that
the tomb had been used ages after the first
interment had taken place.
tained that an arched building once exist
ed In front Of the tomb. This building. Il
II believed. was erected about the time OF
the Crnsades. that IL about the twelfth CEN
tury. Il would seem that In cutting the
foundations tor this building not only was
the rock-out tomb uncovered, but several
graves were disturbed. and their contents
coliected together. were deposited IN the
empty tomb.
u. schick, the most dsstinguishsd OF
Jerusalem archaeological has pronounced