"Whenever we crucify criminals, very crowded highways are chosen, so that many shall see it and may be moved by fear of it, because all punishment does not pertain so much to revenge as to example."

Roman crucifixions consisted of three basic elements, all perfectly described in the account of the crucifixion of Christ - first, the scourging; then the carrying of the crossbeam by the condemned to the site; and finally the nailing or binding of the condemned to the cross-beam and then attaching this beam onto the upright post.

But another element was also involved. In order to be a deterrent, the CRIME of the victim had to be posted in clear sight of the passers-by. For this purpose, they used a titilus, which was a board covered with gypsum, inscribed with black letters. This was usually carried ahead of the victim on the way to the crucifixion, and then posted above the cross in clear sight. The common conception about Christ's crucifixion was that a single sign written by Pilate was nailed to His cross above His head.

This may very well have been, however, in order for the passers-by to be able to read these signs, written in three different languages, they would have been quite large, much larger than a small hand-written notice on paper.  Just recently we learned a great deal about the visibility of signs at our new museum. We put up signs that looked very large to us (six- and eight-inch letters), but when we placed them on our building and walked across the street, or even to the end of the parking lot, we discovered that they were very difficult to read. A sign written by Pilate on a piece of paper, nailed to a cross, would have been almost impossible to read even by those standing directly in front of the cross. Add to this the fact that in Jerusalem, three different languages were common (Hebrew, Greek and Latin) and it becomes apparent that the signs above Christ's head were much larger than we have commonly believed.

"And they crucified him,... 36 And sitting down they watched him there; 37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." MAT 27:35

"And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin."  JOHN 19:17-20

In the above quote from John it states that the "title" was put "on" the cross. The Greek word here translated to read "on" is "epi."  In Luke, this following verse also tells about the same "title," but here the word "epi" is translated to read "over:"

"And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS."  LUKE 23:38

"Over" certainly could NOT be translated to read "on" in this above verse!  This same word, "epi," is also translated in other places to read "above."  Therefore, the Scriptures do not specifically state that the "title" was nailed onto the physical cross. All it states for sure is that the "title(s)" were placed "over," "above," "about," etc., the cross.  So with this understanding, and the information on Roman crucifixions and the titilus covered in gypsum and written in black ink that the Romans were known to use, Ron felt his conclusions were a possibility.  Little did he suspect how it would later be so incredibly confirmed.

As they began to dig around the huge boulder extending out from the original site, he discovered that there was enough room behind it (between it and the cliff-face) to begin their dig. As they began to dig downward, they very soon came upon another item of interest. Carved out of the cliff-face was a hole which extended through a section of protruding rock allowing a rope or similar object to be threaded through it. The great care obviously devoted to chiseling out this object indicated that it had an important use, but they would learn about that later.

At some point in time it had been modified and plastered, reused as a cistern. Either of these explanations would explain the presence of the "rope hole" chiseled in the cliff-face -- it was for the rope that held the bucket or jug which was lowered down into the shaft to retrieve grain or water. Ron chiseled through the plaster and found a large amount of pottery among the dirt and debris used as fill to form the cistern.

When he turned these pottery pieces in to the Israeli Antiquities and they examined them, they informed Ron that some of them date back to the Jebusite time (before David took the city). The latest dated specimens were from the Roman period, which tells us that the grain bin was plastered during Roman times.

As exciting as these discoveries were, again they weren't what Ron was looking for.

As Ron studied the best preserved sections, he discovered a hewn stone extending out horizontally from the wall against the cliff face- his first impression was that it was an altar. It displayed smooth wear on top.

It was below and in front of this altar stone that Ron noticed a very unusual large rock. When he examined the rock closer, he saw that it was covered in travertine. Travertine is formed when underground acidified water seeps through pre-existing limestone and dissolves calcium carbonate; as this water containing calcium carbonate flows over objects and begins to evaporate or lose its carbon dioxide, this dissolved limestone is re-deposited in the form of stalactites and stalagmites, flowstone, etc. In this case, it was re-deposited in the form of a coating over the rock which can be clearly seen when examining the rock in person.