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GARO NALBANDIAN

TOMBS IN THE FIELD OF BLOOD. Three burial caves, located in Akeldama (“field of blood” in Aramaic), where Judas Iscariot supposedly died (Acts 1:18-19), shed light on Jerusalem’s Diaspora population. The caves, each with multiple burial chambers, contained 40 ossuaries and a sarcophagus, some of which were inscribed. The names in these inscriptions imply a Syrian origin for the families. The Ariston Family Tomb (pictured here) is decorated with a ceiling rosette and incised geometric panels. Three burial niches are visible, the middle of which has an arch carved above it.