This is a newer site, found in the late 1800s I believe. This area was being excavated for something else until ruins were found here. The people that found it and subsequent scholars agree that it is maybe not the tomb of Jesus, but they can’t rule out that it could be, because it matches the text of the Bible as the description of Jesus’ tomb, too. There is a rock that resembles a skull there…
They say this is “Skull Hill”. See what you think.
This is the entrance to the tomb, which is a period tomb, with a trough right in front of the door for a large stone that would have been round and could be rolled away. Like this smaller version nearby…
The inside was a period Jewish tomb with an outer chamber for viewing and preparing the body.
And, to the right of that, an inner part that would have held 3-4 bodies.
With this marking on the wall. The guide that took us around the garden said that they don’t know if this is the tomb of Jesus or not either, but they make it available for people to come visit. It is run and kept up by a group from England. So for what it’s worth. It is a pretty garden. They allowed us to have a half hour church service there in one of their outdoor areas. It was raining, and the shelter was a beautiful place to have our service. The guys from the olive wood store/factory in Bethlehem gave us tiny cups of olive wood to use for communion, and the Garden Tomb people gave us bread like Jesus would have used for the Last Supper to use as well. It was a very nice service, we brought our devotional booklets and songbooks and pastor gave a short sermon as well. I looked at a few of the gals sitting behind me after the service and they were talking and crying. I lovingly told them that I didn’t know what they were talking about and I didn’t want to know…nothing personal, but I was in no mood to cry yet again. They chuckled and totally understood! So while the “wow factor” wasn’t there for me necessarily about the location, in comparison to what we’ve all seen, the service was very touching.
After this, we went back to the hotel and said our goodbyes to Mike. This was our last day with him. We also said goodbye to 13 of our crew who began resting and packing for their long journey home. Sixteen of us stayed on for a few more days, the hike extension, and got a new guide the next day, Eitan, and kept the same amazing driver, Hasim. I was grateful for the extra time to catch up on some blogs, and then sleep, as I was not feeling very well by this time. Tomorrow will be Day 8, and we’ll be leaving Jerusalem.