View source for Gabbatha

{{Short description|Place in Jerusalem}}
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - The Judgment on the Gabbatha (Le jugement sur le Gabatha) - James Tissot.jpg|thumb|300px|''The Judgment on the Gabbatha'' by [[James Tissot]], c.&nbsp;1890]]

'''''Gabbatha''''' ({{langx|jpa|גבתא}}) is the name of a place in [[Jerusalem]] that is also referred to by the Greek name of '''{{transliteration|grc|Lithostrōtos}}''' ([[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|λιθόστρωτος}}). It is recorded in the gospels to be the place of the trial of [[Jesus]] before his [[Crucifixion of Jesus|crucifixion]] {{circa}}&nbsp;30/33 [[AD]]. The site of the [[Convent of the Sisters of Zion|Church of Ecce Homo]] is traditionally thought to be its location, but archaeological investigation has proven this unlikely. [[Herod's Palace (Jerusalem)|Herod's Palace]] is a more likely location.

==Etymology==
{{transliteration|grc|Lithostrōtos}} ({{literally|stone pavement}}, from {{transliteration|grc|lithos}} ‘stone’ and {{transliteration|grc|strōtos}} {{wikt-lang|grc|στρωτός}} ‘covered’)<ref>{{cite book |last=Marrow |first=James H. |title=Passion Iconography in Northern European Art of the Late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance |date=1979 |publisher=Van Ghemmert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GIYMAQAAIAAJ&q=Lithostrotos |quote=Lithostrotos […], the stone pavement, or the pavement made with a variety of stones; from ''lithos'', a stone, and ''strotos'', a strewn place or pavement}}</ref> occurs in the [[Bible]] only once, in John 19:13.<ref>''Historical Dictionary of Jesus'' by Daniel J. Harrington 2010 {{ISBN|0810876671}} page 62</ref><ref>''Jesus and archaeology'' edited by James H. Charlesworth 2006 {{ISBN|080284880X}} pages 34 and 573</ref> 
It states that [[Pontius Pilate]] "brought [[Jesus]] forth, and sat down in the judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew Gabbatha."

[[File:Ecce Homo Pavement.jpg|thumb|upright|Roman pavement thought by some to be the site of [[Jesus]]' trial with [[Pontius Pilate]]. Convent of the Sisters of Zion.]]

The name "Gabbatha" is an Aramaic word (not Hebrew, despite John), Aramaic being the language commonly spoken at the time in [[Judea]]. It is not a mere translation of ''Lithostrotos'', which properly means the tessellated or mosaic pavement where the judgment seat stood, but which was extended to the place itself in front of Pilate's ''[[praetorium]]'', where that pavement was laid. This was proved by the practice of St. John, who elsewhere gives Aramaic names as distinctly belonging to places, not as mere translations of the Greek. This is proved also because ''Gabbatha'' is derived from a root meaning 'back' or 'elevation' – which refers not to the kind of pavement but to the elevation of the place in question. It thus appears that the two names "Lithostrotos" and "Gabbatha" were due to different characteristics of the spot where Pilate condemned Jesus to death. The Aramaic name was derived from the configuration of that spot, with the Greek name derived from the nature of its pavement.{{cn|date=March 2019}}

==Identification==
===Temple (outer court or nearby)===
Commentators have made efforts to identify Gabbatha either with the outer court of the Temple, which is known to have been paved, or with the meeting-place of the Great [[Sanhedrin]], which was half within, half without that Temple's outer court, or again with the ridge at the back of the House of the Lord; but these efforts cannot be considered as successful.{{cn|date=March 2019}}

===Antonia===
[[File:The Ecce Homo Arch and Gabbatha (The Pavement).jpg|thumb|300px|Depiction of the [[Ecce Homo arch|gateway of the eastern forum]] of [[Aelia Capitolina]] and original Roman pavement. The vertical lines show where the wall of the [[Convent of the Sisters of Zion]] currently extends. The horizontal line shows the modern street level. The stairs led to the [[Antonia Fortress]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warren |first1=E.K. |last2=Hartshorn |first2=W.N. |last3=McCrillis |first3=A.B. |title=Glimpses of Bible Lands: The Cruise of the Eight Hundred to Jerusalem |year=1905 |publisher=The Central Committee |location=Boston, MA |page=168}}</ref>]]

Archaeological studies have confirmed that the Roman pavement at these two traditional stations{{clarify| Presumably Ist & IInd station of Via Dolorosa, but maybe IInd & Lithostrotos monastery? Confusion persists, editor wrongly thought it's Royal Palace & Antonia, but Royal Palace has never been a "station". |date=March 2024}} was built by [[Hadrian]] in the 2nd century AD as the flooring of the eastern [[Roman Forum|forum]] of [[Aelia Capitolina]].<ref name= Benoit>[[Pierre Benoit (archaeologist) |Benoit, Pierre]], "The Archaeological Reconstruction of the Antonia Fortress", in ''Jerusalem Revealed'' (edited by [[Yigael Yadin]]), (1976).</ref> Before Hadrian's changes, the area had been a large open-air pool of water, the [[Struthion Pool]] mentioned by [[Josephus]].<ref name= Benoit/>  The pool still survives under [[vault (architecture) |vaulting]] added by Hadrian so that the forum could be built over it, and can be accessed from the portion of Roman paving under the [[Convent of the Sisters of Zion]], and from the [[Western Wall Tunnel]].

A [[Aelia Capitolina#Ecce homo arch| triple-arched gate]] built by Hadrian as an entrance to the eastern forum of Aelia Capitolina was traditionally, but as [[archaeology|archaeological]] investigation shows, mistakenly,<ref>Benoit, Pierre, ''The Antonia of Herod the Great, and the East Forum of Aelia Capitolina'' (1971)</ref> said to have been part of the gate of Herod's [[Antonia Fortress]]. This was alleged to be the location of Jesus' trial and Pilate's ''[[ecce homo]]'' speech.

===Herod's royal palace===
According to [[Pierre Benoit (archaeologist)|Pierre Benoit]], Pilate carried out his judgements at [[Herod's Palace (Jerusalem)|Herod's Palace]] at the west side of the city, rather than at Antonia in the city's eastern area and the Temple's northwest corner.<ref name=Benoit/> [[Shimon Gibson]] supports this view.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

''This article incorporates text from the [[public domain]] ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]''.''

{{New Testament places associated with Jesus}}

[[Category:New Testament places]]