Aceldama (Field of Blood)

The Aramaic name, meaning "field of blood," given to the plot purchased with the money Judas Iscariot received for betraying Jesus (Acts 1:19; compare Matthew 27:7-8, where the priests buy it as a burial ground for foreigners with the money Judas threw back). Tradition places it on the southern slope of the Hinnom Valley outside Jerusalem, an area that still contains ancient rock-cut burial caves and has been shown to pilgrims under the name Hakeldama for centuries.