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Place · Landmark

Golgotha

Also known as Place, Skull

Named in 3 verses across 3 books, first in Matthew 27:33.

In these stories

The crucifixion and burial of Jesus

Where

Coordinates

31.7774° N, 35.2349° E

One proposed location, not an established one.

Open in OpenStreetMap ↗

Identification

Uncertain

The exact spot is unknown; the point is placed within a related, larger area.

The dataset’s match to an ancient-world gazetteer has not been checked yet.

Some biblical sites are known for certain; others are identified from old names and descriptions and are still discussed.

Dataset notes

Same as The Skull or Place of the Skull

Left by the dataset’s contributors; not reviewed by us.

Nearby

Jerusalem

Other records for this place

Place, Place, Skull

People

Born, died or recorded here, or in an event set here, first; then people named in the same verses, which does not mean they were here.

In the Bible

All 3 verses, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.

Matthew

Matthew 27:33
And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull,

Mark

Mark 15:22
They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull.

John

John 19:17
Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

Events here

Events the dataset sets at Golgotha. Dates follow its Ussher–Jones reckoning (one of several traditional counts), not established history.

no date
Bearing Cross to GolgothaMatthew 27:32 – John 19:17
no date
Crucifixion and BurialMatthew 27:35 – John 19:42

Dictionary

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. Its geography and “modern” descriptions date from the 1890s. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.

Read Easton’s entry

The common name of the spot where Jesus was crucified. It is interpreted by the evangelists as meaning “the place of a skull” (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). This name represents in Greek letters the Aramaic word Gulgaltha, which is the Hebrew Gulgoleth (Num. 1:2; 1 Chr. 23:3, 24; 2 Kings 9:35), meaning “a skull.” It is identical with the word Calvary (q.v.). It was a little knoll rounded like a bare skull. It is obvious from the evangelists that it was some well-known spot outside the gate (comp. Heb. 13:12), and near the city (Luke 23:26), containing a “garden” (John 19:41), and on a thoroughfare leading into the country. Hence it is an untenable idea that it is embraced within the present “Church of the Holy Sepulchre.” The hillock above Jeremiah’s Grotto, to the north of the city, is in all probability the true site of Calvary. The skull-like appearance of the rock in the southern precipice of the hillock is very remarkable.