From the Mount of Olives it was but a short way to Bethany, to spend the night. A wild mountain-hamlet, perched on its broken plateau of rocks, Bethany is screened by a ridge from the view of the top of Olivet. The modern name of the village--El-Azarieh--connects it with Lazarus, whose traditional house and grave are still exhibited, as well as the traditional house of Simon the leper. The welcome which awaited Christ in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus must have been very grateful after the day’s teaching and turmoil in the noisy city.
It is hopeless to try and identify in Jerusalem the house or the street in which the disciples made ready the Passover for their Master. The Garden of Gethsemane, which was visited afterwards, may probably have been at or near the place which is now pointed out on the slope of Olivet.
When Christ was brought before Pilate it would be at the Tower of Antonia, north-west of the Temple, on the site now occupied by the Turkish barracks.
Outside the barracks, on the north side, is the street now called the _Via Dolorosa_, because tradition says that Christ passed along it in going from the Judgment Hall to the place of crucifixion, marked now by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
[Illustration: OUTLINE PLAN OF JERUSALEM.
1 North wall of Upper City, probable course. 2 Second wall, so drawn as to exclude the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 3 Second wall, including the Church. 4 Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 5 Pool of Hezekiah. 6 Citadel. 7 Dome of the Rock (Site of the Temple). 8 Haram-area or Noble Sanctuary. 9 Tower of Antonia, now Turkish Barracks. 10 Birket-Israel (Traditional Bethesda.). 11 Jaffa Gate. 12 Via Dolorosa.]
_The True Site of Calvary._--The question has been much debated whether the Church of the Holy Sepulchre occupies the true site of Calvary or not. We know that Jesus suffered and was buried at some spot outside the city, for it was “as they came out” that they found Simon of Cyrene, and compelled him to go with them to bear the cross. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is almost in the heart of the present city; but we have to remember that at the date of the crucifixion the third wall was not yet built. The first question to be settled is the course of the second wall, and the point whether it included the site of the church or not. In this connection the discovery of a portion of the second wall, running north-west, along by the Greek Bazaar, was very important: only it was not followed far enough to remove all doubt. If we adopt Herr Schick’s line for the second wall, the Church of the Sepulchre would be outside: but this is not enough. If the site were within the second wall it could not be Calvary; if it was outside the wall it may be Calvary or may not. The Church is closer to the wall than we should expect the place of execution to be; and unless Calvary were further away there would hardly seem to be reason enough for pressing Simon of Cyrene into service to carry the cross.