A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a place for the burial of unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. "Potter's field" is of Biblical origin, referring to Akeldama, stated to have been purchased after Judas Iscariot's suicide by the chief priests of Jerusalem with the coins that had been paid to Judas for his identification of Jesus. The priests are stated to have acquired it for the burial of strangers, criminals, and the poor, the coins paid to Judas being considered blood money. Prior to Akeldama's use as a burial ground, it had been a site where potters collected high-quality, deeply red clay for the production of ceramics, thus the name potters' field.
The Trench in Potter's Field on Hart Island, New York, circa 1890 by Jacob Riis
Potter's field in Dunn County, Wisconsin
"I come to claim my dead" drawing by William Thomas Smedley, circa 1884
Judas Iscariot was—according to Christianity's four canonical gospels—a first-century Jewish man who became a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane by kissing him on the cheek and addressing him as "master" to reveal his identity in the darkness to the crowd who had come to arrest him. Like Brutus, his name is often used synonymously with betrayal or treason.
Judas Iscariot (right), retiring from the Last Supper, painting by Carl Bloch, late 19th century
The Kiss of Judas by Giotto di Bondone (between 1304 and 1306) depicts Judas's identifying kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane
Judas Iscariot (between 1886 and 1894) by James Tissot
Calling of the Apostles (1481) by Domenico Ghirlandaio