years after the death of Jesus, while Matthew and Luke date from around AD 85-90. John, the last gospel to be completed, began circulating between 90 and 110, and its narrative of the empty tomb is not merely a different form of the story told in the synoptics, but after differs to such an extent that it cannot be harmonised with the earlier three.

In the original ending of the Gospel of Mark, the oldest, three women visit the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus,