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historian, Prof. Ory N. Mazar, during an exclusive in- In the early autumn, one can gather under the eastern
terview in his Jerusalem office. skies and listen to the music of world-class virtuosos
in the 2000 year old auditorium where Paul faced King
Among the debris unearthed near the theater, archae- Agrippa II. Yes, the same theater is very much in use
ologists also discovered a stone dedication to the Ro- today.
man emperor, Tiberius Caesar. "The inscription bore
the name of the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pi- Stunning Answers to the Mystery of
late, the man who ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. Calvary
This is the first time that name has ever appeared from
the first century outside the New Testament and Jose-
phus," Mazar explained. Scholars Find Evidence of Jesus' Crucifixion
at Golgotha.
It was also to Caesarea that the Roman centurion,
Cornelius, summoned the Jewish Apostle, Peter. God Benjamin Hartman
chose to teach Peter an important lesson in Caesarea Review Staff Reporter
as the entire household of Cornelius was converted:
"And the believers from among the circumcised who JERUSALEM, Israel -- "There is no question in my
came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the mind... the greatest single event in all of history hap-
Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles." pened on the cross."
(Acts 10: 45, NKJ)
So were the words of Alexander Maclaren describing
The new believers were promptly baptized in water the importance of Calvary (Jesus' crucifixion). He
which was supplied to the city by the aqueduct still continued: "The cross is the center of the world's his-
prominently visible along the beach north of Caesarea.
tory; the incarnation of Christ and the crucifixion of
our Lord are the pivot around which all the events of
"Since there are no other water sources in the area, by the ages revolve."
a process of elimination, we can easily determine that
this was the source of the water used in Cornelius' bap- Indeed, for centuries, scholars and theologians have
tism," says Mazar. The 11-mile long aqueduct (18 kilo- studied the last days of Jesus' life on earth. Throughout
meters) brought fresh water from a Mount Carmel the years, an important question has puzzled many:
spring in the north. It was originally built by Herod and where did Jesus' crucifixion actually take place, and
later enlarged by the emperor Hadrian.
was there a very special significance to this place?
Throughout the centuries, Caesarea was the site of bat- In Jerusalem there are several sites which have been
tles between the Crusaders and Moslem regimes, but it suggested for many years as the location of Jesus' cru-
was not until the birth of the modern State of Israel cifixion ("Golgotha" or "Calvary", both meaning in He-
that Caesarea's former splendor was restored. brew "the place of the skull"). Two of them are best
known.
At present, the city is a veritable sportsman's paradise;
a resort for fun, sun and vacation. Yet without much Northwest of the Old City there is a small hill with
imagination, one can easily reconstruct a more ancient features which some say resembles the eye sockets of
day -- when Herod's dream of first century Caesarea a human skull. Near it an ancient burial cave is known
peeked in marvel and splendor.
today as the Garden Tomb.
One can loll in the sand beneath the arch of a first cen- Another well known location is the present site of the
tury Roman aqueduct; leap into the sparkling water Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the oldest church still
from a pier which rests upon boulders left by the Ro- in existence. It was built by the mother of Emperor
mans; or drive a golf ball through nineteen hundred Constantine, Queen Helena, in the 4th century AD. On
years from a 20th century course into a first century the same site, before that time, a temple to the goddess
hippodrome. Venus was built on top of the remains of a second

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