The First Discovery- the Crucifixion Site?

          They dug straight down along the cliff face, forming a steep wall with the earth they removed. Almost immediately, Ron noticed a "shelf-like" niche cut into the face of the cliff. Digging down further, he discovered there were 3 of these "niches" cut into the face of the cliff with a smaller one on the right side.
          He was convinced that these were cut into the cliff-face to hold "signs" or notices. And because of the location- in the vicinity of the "skull-face", and because there were 3 of these, he believed they were where the notices stating the crime of the crucifixion victim in 3 languages were placed. 

          Roman Crucifixions

          He had studied the available information on Roman crucifixions and had discovered that they used this form of punishment as a deterrent. The well-known quote of Quintillian explains:

          "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 3 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 and setting it up.

          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 3 different languages, they would have had to have been quite large- much larger than a hand-written notice on a 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 (6 & 8 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, 3 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.

          "Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews"

          When Ron read and reread the accounts of these signs at Christ's crucifixion, he discovered that although they had been translated to read "ON the cross", the Greek could just as accurately have been translated "above the cross" or "over the cross".

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

          JOH 19:17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. 19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 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.

          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":

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

          "Epi", here translated to read "over", certainly could NOT be translated to read "on" here! 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, he felt his conclusion was at least not to be ruled out. Little did he suspect how it would later be so incredibly confirmed.

          When he first found the niches, Ron placed boards in them for demonstration purposes. Digging deeper, and showing that there were no more niches below these, he had signs painted in the 3 languages which they set up and photographed. He believed the much smaller niche was for the ever-present Roman eagle. But again, this wasn't the purpose of this excavation so they continued to dig.

          Click to continue...
          or