Inside BAR

Legend swirls around Akeldama—the “Field of Blood.” Located at the juncture of the Hinnom and Kidron valleys in Jerusalem, the site has been traditionally identified as the potter’s field where “strangers” were to be buried. Matthew relates that the field was purchased with blood money returned by the remorseful Judas, Jesus’ betrayer. Today, the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Onuphrius stands over the remains of a Crusader church built to commemorate the Field of Blood. However, the richly decorated tombs in and directly below the monastery belie their identification as burial places for poor strangers. The sumptuous architectural elements of these tombs, resembling decorative details found on Herod’s Temple Mount, suggest that this choice location, a mere half mile from the Temple Mount, was the burial place of important Jerusalemites—perhaps even the high priest Annas. Leen and Kathleen Ritmeyer weigh the evidence in “Potter’s Field or High Priest’s Tomb?” Leen also contributed the article’s detailed and evocative drawings.