I've since learned that there is technically more then one Mount of Olives or East of Jerusalem model. The person who runs the website Golgotha.eu supports a hill way up north, just outside what we now know as the Lion Gate. This person is obsessed with arguing that Baptism is necessary for Salvation, which I strongly disagree with, and it's annoying he can't leave that out of even an article that's just supposed to be about figuring out where the Crucifixion happened. But my Soterology will be subtly alluded to in this post so I guess I can't judge, but it has much more of a direct relevance.
Bob Cornuke however seems to be proposing a location much further south, east of the Old City, what we today incorrectly call the City of David, where he believes The Temple was. The implications of what I shall propose here favor a more southern location, though maybe not exactly where Cornuke has proposed, I haven't looked into his specifics enough yet.
First off, in my view what we today call the City of David was the Jebus that David captured (but the Biblical City of David is Bethlehem) and was all of Jerusalem until the Babylonian captivity. So I do think that's where Solomon's Temple was, but probably not Zerubabel or Herod's Temple. I lean towards the second Temple being where Justinian built the Nea Ekklesia of the Theotokos.
The Valley of Hinnom in the Hebrew Bible, which is commonly rendered Gehenna in Greek Texts and misleadingly translated Hell in some English and Latin Bibles. Is traditionally identified with the valley located south and west of the Old City. But Jeremiah 19:2-6 says the Valley of Hinnom is by the entry of the East Gate. Which would then place it at the foot of the Mount of Olives, perhaps synonymous with the Kidron valley.
Joshua 15:8 and 18:16 seem to be the source of thinking it would be west and south of Jebus/Jerusalem, but there are a number of ways the intended geography of those verses could be misunderstood.
Hinnom's unique reputation began with Ahaz building the Tophet there as a part of a cult of worship to Moloch/Milcom that included child sacrifice in II Chronicles 28, II Chronicles 33 tells us Manasseh also used this same Tophet. Isaiah mentions the Tophet in chapter 30 verse 33, Jeremiah mentions it in chapters 7, 19 and 32.
Ahaz was not the first King of the House of David to build an Idol of Moloch/Milcom, Solomon built Idols for that deity and Chemosh on the Mount of Olives that is east of Jerusalem in 1 Kings 11. Some scholars think Chemosh and Moloch were different names for the same deity, Moloch is just a variant form of the Hebrew word for King. So perhaps when Ahaz set up his Tophet he was merely expanding on the site Solomon set up. Solomon's Idol was on the Mount overlooking the Valley where the Tophet was the site of the Sacrifices.
II Kings 23:10-14 tells us that Josiah tore down the Tophet and the Idols Solomon set up. These events could be the origin of Hinnom being associated with a site of Yahuah's Judgment. But it was not Solomon and Ahaz immortal Souls that were destroyed in the Valley of Hinnom, it was their Sins. Paul tells us in II Corinthians 5 that Jesus was Made Sin for us.
The Mount of Olives Crucifixion model involves a lot of talking about how what was done "Without the Camp" in the Torah equates to the Mount of Olives when The Camp is Jerusalem. It's where the Red Heifer was Sacrificed in Numbers 19, and where the bodies of Sacrificed Animals were to be burned. It was where Executions happened according to Leviticus 24:14, Numbers 15:35-36 and 31:13-19. But in Joshua 6:23 it is where Rahab the Harlot and her family were brought to safety.
But without the camp is also where lepers and other unclean people are to stay until they are made clean in places like Numbers 5. And Jesus will make all things clean. The purpose of the Ashes of the Red Heifer are are purification. And Perhaps that's also relevant to understanding being outside New Jerusalem in Revelation 21-22.
Also in Rabbinic Traditon Dudael, the location the Azazel Goat was taken to, was said to be East of Jerusalem and was also associated with Gehenna.
This place where in Sin Israelites sacrificed their Children to false idols, could be the same place where God gave His Only Begotten Son for the Whole World.
And my researching into proposed locations for The Temple has revealed that at leas tin Byzantine times everyone identified the Kidron Valley with Gehenna.
Here is a short film I don't 100% Agree with (I don't identify the Outer Darkness with Hades for example) but is interesting thematically. It's creators do assume the traditional site of Gehenna, and don't share my Futurist/PreMillennial view of Revelation, so it's relevance here is kind of a coincidence.
