Calvary

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"Golgotha" redirects here. For the unreleased computer game, see Golgotha (computer game).

Not to be confused with cavalry (horse or armored troops).

Calvary (Golgotha) is the English-language name given to the hill on which Jesus was crucified. The hill is described as outside Jerusalem, but its location is not certain. Calvaria in Latin, Κρανιου Τοπος (Kraniou Topos) in Greek and Gûlgaltâ in Aramaic all mean 'skull', referring to a hill or plateau containing a pile of skulls or to a geographic feature resembling a skull.

Image:Golgotha hill.jpg

Calvary is mentioned in all four of the accounts of Jesus' crucifixion in the Christian canonical Gospels:

Matthew 27:33

And they came to a place called Golgotha, which is called the Place of the Skull.

Mark 15:22

And they took him up to the place Golgotha, which is translated Place of the Skull.

Luke 23:33

Then they came up to the place called Skull.

John 19:17

And carrying his cross by himself, he went out to the so-called Place of the Skull, which is called in 'Hebrew' Golgotha.

Luke's Gospel does not give the local, Aramaic name, Golgotha. John's Gospel somewhat misleadingly labels the name as 'Hebrew', indicating the 'language of the Hebrews', which was Aramaic at that time.

Image:Golgotha hill2.jpg The New Testament describes Calvary as close to Jerusalem (John 19:20), and outside of its walls (Hebrews 13:12). This is in accordance with Jewish tradition, as Jesus was also buried near to the place of his execution.

Roman emperor Constantine the Great built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on what was thought to be the sepulchre of Jesus in 326 - 335, nearby the location of Calvary. According to Christian legend, the Tomb of Jesus and the True Cross were discovered by the Empress Helena, mother of Constantine in 325. The church is now within Jerusalem's Old City Walls, but the Holy Sepulchre was probably beyond them at the time in question. Inside the church is a pile of rock about 5 m high, believed to be what now remains visible of Calvary. The church is accepted as the Tomb of Jesus by most historians and the little rock nowadays inside the present church as the location of Calvary. See also: Eyewitness-reports about the location of Calvary: Pilgrim of Bordeaux (in 333), Eusebius (338), bishop Cyrillus (347), pilgrim Egeria (383), bishop Eucherius of Lyon (440), Breviarius de Hierosolyma (530), in German.

Image:GolgothaSkull.jpgAfter time spent in Palestine in 1882-83, Charles George Gordon suggested a different location for Calvary. The Garden Tomb is to the north of the Holy Sepulchre, located outside of the modern Damascus Gate, in a place of burial certainly in the Byzantine period. The Garden has an earthen cliff that contains two large sunken holes that people say to be the eyes of the skull. This might be linked to an ancient Christian tradition according to which the skull of Adam is buried in the Golgotha.

[edit] Other uses of the name

The name Calvary often refers to sculptures or pictures representing the scene of the crucifixion of Jesus, or a small wayside shrine incorporating such a picture. It also can be used to describe larger, more monument-like constructions, essentially artificial hills often built by devotees.

Churches in various Christian denominations have been named Calvary. The name is also sometimes given to cemeteries, especially those associated with the Roman Catholic Church.

[edit] References in popular culture

Many Extreme Metal bands have used the word "Golgotha" in song/album names, such as: Incantation, UR Group II, Dark Funeral, Summoning, Cradle of Filth, Casket Garden, Acid Bath, Rotting Christ, Embodyment etc.
Christian metal band With Blood Comes Cleansing also used the word Golgotha for an album name.

There is a British prog rock/metal band named Golgotha.
There is a Spanish doom/death metal band named Golgotha.

There was a computer game being developed entitled "Golgotha". However, the company developing it folded before it's release. (For more information, see Golgotha (computer game).

On Joe Satriani's 1987 album "Surfing With The Alien", Track 6 is a short but haunting song entitled "Hill Of The Skull".

In Stephen King's Dark Tower Series: at the end of The Gunslinger after catching the Man in Black Roland is brought to a golgotha where he tells the gunslinger his fortune with tarot cards.

In Neal Stephenson's cypherpunk thriller "Cryptonomicon," a hoard of well-hidden Japanese gold is buried deep within the jungles of the Philippines, in an underground crypt named "Golgotha." A nearby mountain is also named "Calvary."

In Sierra's PC strategy game Lords of Magic, the God of Death is called Golgoth, and his Dark Elf followers Golgothans. There is also a spell in the Death faith's arsenal called "Golgotha's Gift."

In the Broadway musical Les Miserables, the character Valjean sings in the song One Day More the following lyric: "One day more. Another day, another destiny, This neverending road to Calvary."

Wumpscut's 1997 album Embryodead features a song called "Golgotha," clearly referencing the Crucifixicion.

Raymond Watts' 1995 album Sinsation features an instrumental interlude entitled "Golgotha," although its relation to Calvary is unclear.

The movie The Crow features a song by Machines of Loving Grace entitled "Golgotha Tenement Blues". The song seems to refer to aspects of both the Christ mythos and those of the movie: namely, resurrection and justice.

Allen Ginsberg's seminal poem 'Howl' references Golgotha twice: in the first part ('hotrod-Golgotha jail-solitude') and final part ('I'm with you in Rockland where you accuse your doctors of insanity and plot the Hebrew socialist revolution against the fascist national Golgotha')

In the Japanese comic series Golgo 13, the protagonist hitman Duke Togo is called by many by the name, Golgo Thirteen, which was coined by a prison inmate whom saw the Devil in the eyes of Golgo 13.

The film Dogma features "Golgathan shit demons".

In the PC game Fallout 2 there is a large graveyard near the city of New Reno, named Golgotha, where a hidden cache of drugs and money can be found.

In the playstaion game Xenogears the party of the player is crucified at a location named Golgoda, it is assumed that it is named after Golgotha and is probably just a translation error due to the many other religous references in the game.