Golgotha
/ˈɡɒlɡəθə/noun
The place outside Jerusalem identified in the New Testament as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion.
Did you know?Golgotha’s Hebrew and Aramaic root is related to the word for “skull,” while the Latin Vulgate translated it as Calvariae locus, giving English the name Calvary.
Etymological Timeline
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
gulgōlet (גֻּלְגֹּלֶת)
“Skull; literally a rounded or skull-like head form”
1st Century
Aramaic
gulgultā
“Skull; the Aramaic name behind the New Testament place-name”
1st Century
Koine Greek
Golgothā (Γολγοθᾶ)
“Golgotha, a transliteration of the Aramaic place-name”
4th Century
Latin
Calvariæ locus
“Place of the skull; the Latin translation used in the Vulgate”
Middle English
English
Calvarie / Golgotha
“Names for the crucifixion site, transmitted through biblical and ecclesiastical writing”
Modern English
English
Golgotha
“The traditional site of Jesus’s crucifixion, and figuratively a scene of extreme suffering”