The crucifixion site of Christ is located between the Garden
Tomb and Golgotha.
Ron Wyatt was in Jerusalem in 1978, after having been diving at the Red Sea
inspecting a possible site of the
crossing by Moses at the Gulf of Aqaba, and was preparing to return to the
states, when he was approached by a member of the Israeli Antiquities Authority who
invited him to take a walk in the Garden Tomb grounds. While walking
through this area, his arm pointed to a pile of trash next to an escarpment and
these words came out of his mouth, "There is Jeremiah's Grotto and the Ark
of the Covenant is in there." He hadn't even thought of those words, but
they came out through God's direction. The official with Mr. Wyatt said that was wonderful to hear, and he would give Ron a place to stay,
and food to eat while working on the site. This was puzzling to Ron
because he had not even thought about the Ark, and yet God spoke through him
with those words. First, Ron had to return to the states and begin research
on the idea of the Ark even being in that location. Over the next three and a half years
he worked at the site, and on January 6, 1982, Ron entered the chamber that
contained the Ark of the Covenant.
Above: 50 minute video on Ark of the Covenant from our 4
hour DVD, Revealing God's Treasure
The Garden Tomb Grounds
Turn left up this alley to the Garden Tomb grounds. In the distance you can see the old
city walls
of Jerusalem at the Damascus Gate.
Before we begin studying about the the Ark, let's take a look at
the beautiful area which is the backdrop of the discovery. The Garden Tomb area is along an escarpment north of the city wall of
Jerusalem, and is a tourist spot frequented by thousands of people each year. It
is owned and maintained by the Garden Tomb Association in London and was
acquired by them in 1894. It
had been speculated, then confirmed in Ron Wyatt's excavations, that this is the authentic
burial site of Christ. Nearby is the rock formation Golgotha "the
place of the skull." In a location near both of these sites is the actual
crucifixion site of Christ, and the Ark of the Covenant is in a cave below that
spot!
The location of the Garden Tomb is north of the old city of Jerusalem. The
sacrifice was to take place north of the tabernacle as required in Levitical
law. Also, in the New Testament it states, "The place where Jesus
was crucified was near the city." John 19:20. Golgotha or
Calvary is in close proximity to the Damascus gate on the north side of
Jerusalem near the Garden Tomb.
John 19:41,42 "Now in the place where He was crucified
there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been
laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, for
the tomb was nearby." There are several elements in
this area which give credibility to this site matching the verse above. First the tomb itself, second an ancient underground water
cistern, third a large winepress, and fourth the place of the skull.
The Tomb
Matt. 27:59, 60 "And when Joseph had taken the body, he
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in
his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. and he rolled a large stone
against the door of the tomb, and departed." Notice in the photo
above, the arched radius to the left of the entrance. This follows the
contour of the 13 foot tall rolling stone ("...it was very large." Mark
16:4) that sealed the tomb. It was probably cut
out of the face of the tomb.
When the stone was in place to seal the tomb, it covered a small window to the
right of the entrance. When the stone is rolled back, this opened the window allowing
light to enter the tomb. A large block was used to stop the stone
from rolling further to the right, in the downhill direction. Luke 23:53 also says the tomb was hewn
from stone, like this one.
Diagram of the Tomb
Tomb entrance
2. Low threshold to the graves chamber
3. Low walls separating the chambers
4. Burial place of Christ
5. Headrest cut in rock
6. Weeping chamber
7. Rough ledge
8. Unfinished shelf where bones would have been kept, but never
were here.
9. Small window
(Above) Looking from weeping chamber into tomb area, we see the
probable burial place of Christ on our far left.
(Above) This is the burial place of Christ and you will notice
the foot area at right that
was enlarged to accommodate Christ's feet, as he must have been taller than
Joseph of Arimathea who had the tomb constructed for himself and was apparently
5' 8" tall. The cutting of the stone was hastily
completed in order to accomplish the task of burial before the Sabbath hours,
Friday at sunset.
Mark 16:5 says Mary saw a young man or angel sitting on right side of tomb the
first day of the week. He
may have been in the right hand portion of this photo.
Ancient red cross on wall inside tomb with Greek alpha and
omega letters
White cross outside the tomb. Crossbar near top.
Above: large cross carved in rock face to the right of
the tomb. Apparently defaced at some point.
"Make it as secure as you know how. So they went and made
the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard." Matt. 27:65,66
Close-up photo at left is of an iron shaft driven into the rock. Photo at
right above would have the iron rod at far left in the photo. This would
have prevented the stone from being rolled backward. The distance from the
iron shaft to the stopping point at right is 13 ft. 2inches, per our
measurements.
"And they made His grave with the wicked-- but with the
rich at His death" Isaiah 53:9. This text describes the other tombs to
the left of this one where wealthy and wicked men were buried.
The Cistern
Near the tomb itself is an underground, 250,000 gallon, ancient
rain water cistern hewn out of rock. It is the third largest in Jerusalem,
measuring 29' wide x 65' long x 30' tall. A cistern this size would
be designed to supply water for a large garden, matching the biblical record of
a garden area.
The evidence shows this cistern was built prior to the time of
Christ, but it does contain two crusader style crosses that were added at a
later date when repairs were made. There probably was a large olive tree
grove and a vineyard in the garden which benefited from this cistern.
The Winepress
Near the tomb is an ancient wine press (above) which was excavated in 1924, is one of the
largest in Israel. It is thought to be of pre-Christian origin. A
very large vineyard must have been in the area for a press this size to have been
in use.
Golgotha - The Place of the Skull
Two eye sockets and nose are seen in the center of the photo
View from left side of skull shows a definite nose profile and eye sockets
200 yards east of the Garden Tomb is Skull Hill, or Golgotha - Place of the Skull, or the
Latin equivalent - Calvary. "And He, bearing His cross, went out
to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,
where they crucified Him." John 19:17,18.
It was below this area that victims were
stoned to death, including perhaps Stephen, and approximately 100 yards to our left is the area where
the crucifixion took place.
Today there is an Arab bus station in front of Golgotha.
Ron Wyatt Begins His Work
Ron Wyatt completed extensive excavations in the Garden Tomb
area over a period of approximately 10 years, beginning January 1979. Ron began
digging near the location where he mysteriously spoke the words, "There is
Jeremiah's Grotto, and the Ark of the Covenant is in there" while
walking through the area with the head of the Israel Antiquities Authority for
the Jerusalem area. God placed those words in his mouth. The
gentleman with him then said they would furnish his room and board to work on
the project. This area was
along an escarpment in the Garden Tomb grounds. While digging 30 feet down
through the soil along the escarpment, Ron uncovered four crucifixion holes in
solid rock, and one on a higher level and about ten feet out from the escarpment
measuring 12x13x23 inches deep, and three more on a lower level four feet below
and further out. The single, higher cross hole was designed to be used on the
special featured victim.
Below is a Polaroid photo Ron took of the square cross hole used in the
execution of Christ. The handle of a crow-bar is seen in the hole, as the
bar is standing vertically. The crack where Christ's blood flowed to the
ark below is seen in the photo. This bedrock is now covered by many feet
of soil.
photo courtesy anchorstone.com
Crucifixion site at Garden Tomb today....
Standing next to the cut-outs where signs reading "Jesus
of Nazareth, King of the Jews" were placed at the time of Jesus'
crucifixion. Bedrock is 30 feet down where you would find the cross hole
used in Jesus' crucifixion.
Above are other examples of cut-outs in northern Israel at the
Roman Temple of Pan
at Cesaerea Phillippi
"The rocks were rent...."Matt. 27:51
Above the cut-outs near the Garden Tomb is a large crack in escarpment extends up the face, behind the point where Christ was
crucified.
Lower portion of crack has been filled-in to prevent erosion.
