Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 15:22

"And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull." — Mark 15:22 (ASV)

Both Roman and Jewish executions were customarily performed outside the city (cf. Jn 19:20). “Golgotha” is a slightly modified transliteration of the Aramaic word for skull, whereas the name “Calvary” is derived from calva, the Latin word for skull. How this site was named Golgotha is not known. The common conjecture is that the place looked like a skull. The traditional site is located inside the famous Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is within the present walls of the city. Recent archaeological excavations tend to support the historicity of the traditional site by showing that it was once outside the city walls.