The myth of The Holy Diamond begins in Jerusalem – heart of the Holy Land of the great, three monotheistic religions of Abraham (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). The story of the crucifixion of Christ is well known: his judgment by Pontius Pilate, Jesus Christ’s walk along what would later be called the Via Dolorosa (or Way of Grief in Latin), and finally his crucifixion atop the hill of Golgotha (or the Calvary) which now lies within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
Entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. (Photo: LH Dooley)
Mixing the text of the Bible with my own literary additions the history of the Holy Diamond (the relic, rather than the novel) begins during Christ’s crucifixion. Here, Jesus Christ went through his torturous, final ordeal before his mortal death. The pain of death and torture brought his last tear of pain which fell to the sin-ridden earth. As his soul ascended to heaven the earth quaked and the ground burst asunder. Where the tear fell, a diamond formed.
This is where the earth split asunder, beneath the Holy Cross, within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. (Photo: LH Dooley)
The Bible itself states:
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God. (Matthew 27:50-51, 54)
The diamond that was created during the earthquake would, in the myth of my novel, become known as the Holy Diamond.
Another view of the spot where the earth split asunder (it is to the bottom right, view obstructed). This chapel is placed where the Christ’s crucifixion is said to have occurred. (Photo: LH Dooley)
In later blogs I will write about who discovered the diamond, when, and how it moved from Jerusalem to medieval Europe.
Here are some Wikipedia links for your deepened knowledge:
The Calvary of Golgotha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golgotha
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre
Via Dolorosa
Liam's Tales of Writing, Warfare, and Wandering 