Garden Tomb Association, a member of the Evangelical Alliance of Israel and the World Evangelical Alliance. Archaeological investigation and critical analysis Golgotha In the church In the 20th century, archaeological findings enhanced the discussion concerning the authenticity of the traditional site at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Prior to Constantine's time (r. 306–337), the site was a temple to Venus, built by Hadrian some time after 130. Archaeology suggests that the traditional tomb would have been within Hadrian's temple, or likely to have been destroyed under the temple's heavy retaining wall. The temple's location complies with the typical layout of Roman cities (i.e. adjacent to the forum, at the intersection of the main north-south road with the main east-west road), rather than necessarily being a deliberate act of contempt for Christianity, as claimed in the past. A spur would be required for the rockface to have included both the alleged site of the tomb and the tombs beyond the western end of the church. The tombs west of the traditional site are dated to the first century, indicating that the site was outside the city at that time. Knoll next to Garden Tomb Besides the skull-like appearance (a modern-day argument), there are a few other details put forward in favour of the identification of Skull Hill as Golgotha. The location of the site would have made executions carried out there a highly visible sight to people using the main road leading north from the city; the presence of the skull-featured knoll in the background would have added to the deterrent effect. Ancient views Eusebius (260s – c. 340) comments that Golgotha was in his day pointed out "north of Mount Zion". Both the Garden Tomb's Golgotha and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are north of the hill currently referred to as Mount Zion. Although in the Hebrew Bible the term Mount Zion referred to the Temple Mount or the spur south of it, which both lay east of Jerusalem's Central Valley, the name Mount Zion has been used for Jerusalem's western hill, both by Josephus in the first century AD, and in the Byzantine period by Christian sources. Christians traditions An extra-biblical Christian legend maintains that Golgotha (lit. "the skull") is Adam's burial site, while Talmudic-period Judaism held that Adam is buried in the cave of Machpelah in Hebron, and the name Golgotha is absent from Talmudic literature.Golgotha