Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the killing of a person by judicial process for retribution, general deterrence, and incapacitation. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" . Hence, a in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run diagonally, the design is technically termed a saltire (of various shapes) and left to hang until dead. The term comes from the Latin Latin is an Italic language historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, including crucifixio, fixed to a cross, from prefix cruci-, cross, + verb ficere, fix or do.^[1]

Crucifixion was in use particularly among the Persians The Persian Empire was a series of successive Iranian or Iraniate empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The first Persian Empire formed under the Median Empire after defeating and ending the Assyrian Empire with the help of Babylonians, Seleucids The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan. It was a major centre of Hellenistic, Carthaginians Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian. The city of Carthage is located on the eastern side of Lake Tunis across from the center of Tunis. According to Roman legend it was founded, and Romans Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD, when in the year 337 Emperor Constantine I Caesar Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus , commonly known in English as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or (among Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Christians) Saint Constantine (pronounced /ˈkɒnstɛntaɪn/), was Roman emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from 324 abolished it in his empire, out of veneration for Jesus Christ Jesus of Nazareth , also known as Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity, and within most Christian denominations he is venerated as the Son of God and as God incarnate. Christians also view him as the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament; however, Judaism rejects this claim. Islam considers Jesus a prophet, while several other, the most famous victim of crucifixion.^[2][3] It has sometimes been used even in modern times.

A crucifix A crucifix (from Latin cruci fixus meaning " fixed to a cross") is a cross with a representation of Jesus' body, or corpus. It is a principal symbol of the Christian religion. It is primarily used in the Catholic Church, but is also used in some Lutheran churches, Anglican churches, and Eastern Orthodox churches, and it emphasizes Jesus' (an image of Christ crucified on a cross) is the main religious symbol for Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,[note 1] is the world's largest Christian church, and claims over a billion members, representing approximately half of all Christians[note 2] and one-sixth of the world's population. The Catholic Church is a communion of the Western Rite and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches (, Eastern Orthodox The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world, estimated to number between 225-300 million total members. It is considered by its adherents to be the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago. The Church is composed of numerous self- and Oriental Orthodox Oriental Orthodoxy is the communion of Eastern Christian Churches that recognize only three ecumenical councils — the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople and the Council of Ephesus. They rejected the dogmatic definitions of the Council of Chalcedon . Hence, these Oriental Orthodox Churches are also called Old Oriental, but most Protestant Christians prefer to use a cross The Christian cross is the best-known religious symbol of Christianity. It is a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It is related to the crucifix and to the more general family of cross symbols. The cross is a crucifix without Jesus' body on it without the figure (the "corpus" - Latin Latin is an Italic language historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, including for "body") of Christ. The term crucifix derives from the Latin Latin is an Italic language historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Romance languages such as Italian, French, Catalan, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese are descended from Latin, while many others, especially European languages, including crucifixus or cruci fixus, itself the past participle passive of crucifigere or cruci figere, "crucify", "fix to a cross."^[4]

Details of crucifixion

Crucifixion was almost never performed for ritual or symbolic reasons outside of Christianity, but usually to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful (hence the term excruciating, literally "out of crucifying"), gruesome (hence dissuading against the crimes punishable by it) and public, using whatever means were most expedient for that goal. Crucifixion methods varied considerably with location and time period.

The Greek and Latin words corresponding to "crucifixion" applied to many different forms of painful execution, from impaling on a stake Impalement is a term that refers to situations in which objects are driven through the body, causing deep stabbing wounds. It can refer either to accidental events or to deliberate wounding used as a method of torture or execution. A further use of the term is found in stage magic, where illusions such as Impaled simulate accidental or deliberate to affixing to a tree, to an upright pole (what some call a crux simplex) or to a combination of an upright (in Latin, stipes) and a crossbeam (in Latin, patibulum).^[5]

If a crossbeam was used, the condemned man was forced to carry it on his shoulders, which could have been torn open by flagellation Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat-o-nine-tails and the sjambok. Typically, flogging is imposed on an unwilling subject as a punishment; however, it can also be submitted to willingly, or performed on oneself, in religious or, to the place of execution. A whole cross would weigh well over 300 pounds (135 kilograms), but the crossbeam would weigh only 75–125 pounds (35–60 kilograms).^[6] The Roman historian Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus (ca. 56 – ca. 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman records that the city of Rome had a specific place for carrying out executions, situated outside the Esquiline Gate,^[7] and had a specific area reserved for the execution of slaves by crucifixion.^[8] Upright posts would presumably be fixed permanently in that place, and the crossbeam, with the condemned person perhaps already nailed to it, would then be attached to the post.

The person executed may sometimes have been attached to the cross by ropes, but nails are mentioned in a passage by the Judean historian Josephus Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph, son of Matthias) and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. His works give an important insight into first-century Judaism, where he states that, at the Siege of Jerusalem (70) The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War. It was followed by the fall of Masada in 73 AD. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in 66 AD, "the soldiers out of rage and hatred, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest".^[9] Objects, such as nails, used in the execution of criminals were sought as amulets An amulet , a close cousin of the talisman (from Arabic طلاسم tilasm, ultimately from Greek telesma or from the Greek word "telein" which means "to initiate into the mysteries") consists of any object intended to bring good luck and/or protection to its owner. Potential amulets include: gems or simple stones, statues,.^[10]

Frequently, the legs of the person executed were broken or shattered with an iron club, an act called crurifragium which was also frequently applied without crucifixion to slaves.^[11] This act hastened the death of the person but was also meant to deter Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal, usually in response to disobedience, defiance, or behavior deemed morally wrong by individual, governmental, or religious principles those who observed the crucifixion from committing offenses.^[11]

Cross shape

See also Cross or stake as gibbet on which Jesus died The Greek terms used in the New Testament of the gibbet on which Jesus died are stauros and xylon (ξύλον). These words do not indicate the precise shape of the gibbet

The gibbet A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. To gibbet a criminal is to display the criminal on a gibbet. This practice is also called "hanging in chains" on which crucifixion was carried out could be of many shapes. Josephus Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph, son of Matthias) and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. His works give an important insight into first-century Judaism describes multiple tortures and positions of crucifixion during the Siege of Jerusalem The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in the First Jewish-Roman War. It was followed by the fall of Masada in 73 AD. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in 66 AD as Titus Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81. Titus was the second emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Titus's father Vespasian (69–79), Titus himself (79–81) and his younger brother Domitian (81� crucified the rebels;^[12] and Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca (c. 4 BC – AD 65) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero. He was later executed by that emperor for complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate this last of the Julio-Claudian emperors; recounts: "I see crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet."^[13]

At times the gibbet was only one vertical stake, called in Latin crux simplex or palus. This was the simplest available construction for torturing and killing the criminals. Frequently, however, there was a cross-piece attached either at the top to give the shape of a T (crux commissa) or just below the top, as in the form most familiar in Christian symbolism (crux immissa).^[14] Other forms were in the shape of the letters X and Y.

The earliest writings that speak specifically of the shape of the cross on which Jesus died describe it as shaped like the letter T (the Greek letter tau),^[15] or composed of an upright and a transverse beam, together with a small ledge in the upright.^[16]

Nail placement in crucifixion

In popular depictions of the crucifixion of Jesus (possibly because in translations of John 20:25 the wounds are described as being "in his hands"), Jesus is shown with nails in his hands. But in Greek the word "χείρ", usually translated as "hand", referred to arm and hand together, and to denote the hand as distinct from the arm some other word was added, as "ἄκρην οὔτασε χεῖρα" (he wounded the end of the χείρ, i.e. he wounded her hand).^[17]

A possibility that does not require tying is that the nails were inserted just above the wrist, between the two bones of the forearm (the radius The radius is the bone of the forearm that extends from the lateral side of the elbow to the thumb side of the wrist. The radius is situated on the lateral side of the ulna, which exceeds it in length and size. It is a long bone, prism-shaped and slightly curved longitudinally. The radius articulates with the capitulum of the humerus and the ulna The ulna is a long bone, prismatic in form, placed at the medial side of the forearm, parallel with the radius).^[18]

An experiment that was the subject of a documentary on the National Geographic Channel National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries involving nature, science, culture, and history's Quest For Truth: The Crucifixion,^[19] showed that a person can be suspended by the palm of their hand. Nailing the feet to the side of the cross relieves strain on the wrists by placing most of the weight on the lower body.

Another possibility, suggested by Frederick Zugibe, is that the nails may have been driven in at an angle, entering in the palm in the crease that delineates the bulky region at the base of the thumb, and exiting in the wrist, passing through the carpal tunnel The human wrist contains a sheath of tough connective tissue which envelops and protects several structures. The carpal tunnel is the space between this sheath (above) and the bones (below) making up the wrist and hand (carpal bones).

A foot-rest (suppedaneum) attached to the cross, perhaps for the purpose of taking the person's weight off the wrists, is sometimes included in representations of the crucifixion of Jesus, but is not discussed in ancient sources. Some scholars interpret the Alexamenos graffito The Alexamenos graffito is an inscription carved in plaster on a wall near the Palatine Hill in Rome. It is generally thought to be the earliest known pictorial representation of the crucifixion of Jesus, the earliest surviving depiction of the Crucifixion, as including such a foot-rest.^[20] Ancient sources do mention the sedile, a small seat attached to the front of the cross, about halfway down,^[21][22][23] which could have served a similar purpose.

In 1968, archaeologists discovered at Giv'at ha-Mivtar in northeast Jerusalem Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‎ (help·info), Yerushaláyim; Arabic: القُدس (audio) (help·info), al-Quds)[ii] is the capital[iii] of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of 125.1 square kilometres (48.3 sq mi) if disputed East Jerusalem is included.[iv] the remains of one Jehohanan, who had been crucified in the first century. The remains included a heel bone with a nail driven through it from the side. The tip of the nail was bent, perhaps because of striking a knot in the upright beam, which prevented it being extracted from the foot. A first inaccurate account of the length of the nail led some to believe that it had been driven through both heels, suggesting that the man had been placed in a sort of sidesaddle position, but the true length of the nail, 11.5 centimetres, suggests instead that in this case of crucifixion the heels were nailed to opposite sides of the upright.^[24][25][26]

Cause of death

The length of time required to reach death could range from a matter of hours to a number of days, depending on exact methods, the prior health of the condemned, and environmental circumstances. Death could result from any combination of causes, including blood loss, hypovolemic shock In physiology and medicine, hypovolemia is a state of decreased blood volume; more specifically, decrease in volume of blood plasma. Volumetric thirst can be caused by a number of things including bleeding and diarrhea, or sepsis Sepsis is a serious medical condition characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues. An incorrect layman's term for sepsis is blood poisoning, more aptly applied to Septicemia, below following infection, caused by the scourging Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat-o-nine-tails and the sjambok. Typically, flogging is imposed on an unwilling subject as a punishment; however, it can also be submitted to willingly, or performed on oneself, in religious or that preceded the crucifixion, or by the process of being nailed itself, or eventual dehydration Dehydration is defined as excessive loss of body water. It is literally the removal of water (Ancient Greek: ὕδωρ, hýdōr) from an object. In physiological terms, it entails a relative deficiency of water molecules in relation to other dissolved solutes. Some definitions even require a rise in blood sodium concentration, but in reality a.^[27][28]

A theory attributed to Pierre Barbet holds that, when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the typical cause of death was asphyxiation Asphyxia (from Greek a-, "without" and σφυγμός , "pulse, heartbeat") is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs. He conjectured that the condemned would have severe difficulty inhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the chest muscles and lungs. The condemned would therefore have to draw himself up by his arms, leading to exhaustion Fatigue is a weariness. It can describe a range of afflictions, varying from a general state of lethargy to a specific work-induced burning sensation within one's muscles. It can be both physical and mental. Physical fatigue is the inability to continue functioning at the level of one's normal abilities. It is ubiquitous in everyday life, but, or have his feet supported by tying or by a wood block. Indeed, Roman executioners could be asked to break the condemned's legs, after he had hung for some time, in order to hasten his death.^[29] Once deprived of support and unable to lift himself, the condemned would die within a few minutes. Experiments by Frederick Zugibe have, however, revealed that, when suspended with arms at 60° to 70° from the vertical, test subjects had no difficulty breathing, only rapidly-increasing discomfort and pain. This would correspond to the Roman use of crucifixion as a prolonged, agonizing, humiliating death Public humiliation was often used by local communities to punish minor and petty criminals before the age of large, modern prisons. Legs were often broken to hasten death through severe traumatic shock and fat embolism Fat emboli can occur whenever there is a chance for fat to enter the circulatory system, such as during surgery or trauma. A common scenario is fatty marrow entering the circulation after a fracture to a large long bone such as the femur or pelvis, or after surgery on such a bone. Crucifixion on a single pole with no transom, with hands affixed over one's head, would precipitate rapid asphyxiation if no block was provided to stand on, or once the legs were broken.^[30]

Surviving crucifixion

There is a record of one person who survived being crucified. Josephus Josephus , also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph, son of Matthias) and, after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus, was a first-century Jewish historian and apologist of priestly and royal ancestry who survived and recorded the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. His works give an important insight into first-century Judaism recounts: "I saw many captives crucified, and remembered three of them as my former acquaintance. I was very sorry at this in my mind, and went with tears in my eyes to Titus Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81. Titus was the second emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Titus's father Vespasian (69–79), Titus himself (79–81) and his younger brother Domitian (81�, and told him of them; so he immediately commanded them to be taken down, and to have the greatest care taken of them, in order to their recovery; yet two of them died under the physician's hands, while the third recovered."^[31] Josephus gives no details of the method or duration of the crucifixion of his three friends before their reprieve.

Archaeological evidence for ancient crucifixion

Despite the fact that the ancient Jewish historian Josephus, as well as other sources, refer to the crucifixion of thousands of people by the Romans, there is only a single archaeological discovery of a crucified body dating back to the Roman Empire around the time of Jesus which was discovered in Jerusalem in 1968. It is not necessarily surprising that there is only one such discovery, because a crucified body was usually left to decay on the cross and therefore would not be preserved. The only reason these archaeological remains were preserved was because family members gave this particular individual a customary burial.

The remains were found accidentally in an ossuary An ossuary is a chest, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years the skeletal remains are removed and placed in an ossuary. The greatly reduced space taken up by an ossuary with the crucified man’s name on it, 'Yehohanan, the son of Hagakol'.^[32][33] Prof. Nicu Haas, an anthropologist at the Hebrew University Medical School in Jerusalem, examined the ossuary and discovered that it contained a heel bone with a nail driven through its side, indicating that the man had been crucified. The position of the nail relative to the bone indicates that the feet have been nailed to the cross from their side, not from their front; various opinions have been proposed as to whether they were both nailed together to the front of the cross or one on the left side, one on the right side. The point of the nail had olive wood fragments on it indicating that he was crucified on a cross made of olive wood or on an olive tree. Since olive trees are not very tall, this would suggest that the condemned was crucified at eye level. Additionally, a piece of acacia wood was located between the bones and the head of the nail, presumably to keep the condemned from freeing his foot by sliding it over the nail. His legs were found broken, perhaps as a means of hastening his death as described in John 19:31-35.^[30] It is thought that, since in Roman times iron was expensive, the nails were removed from the dead body to cut the costs, which would help to explain why only one has been found, as the tip of the nail in question was bent in such a way that it couldn't be removed.

Prof. Haas had also identified a scratch on the inner surface of the right radius bone of the forearm, close to the wrist. He deduced from the form of the scratch, as well as from the intact wrist bones, that a nail had been driven into the forearm at that position.

History of crucifixion

Pre-Roman States

Crucifixion (or impalement), in one form or another, was used by Persians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Macedonians, and Romans. Death was often hastened. "The attending Roman guards could only leave the site after the victim had died, and were known to precipitate death by means of deliberate fracturing of the tibia and/or fibula, spear stab wounds into the heart, sharp blows to the front of the chest, or a smoking fire built at the foot of the cross to asphyxiate the victim."^[28]

The Greek writer Herodotus described at the conclusion of HISTORIES, BOOK IX (120-121), the execution in about 479BCE of a traitor; "they nailed him to a plank and hung him up...this Artacytus who suffered death by crucifixion." (Translation, Aubrey de Selincourt.)

Some Christian theologians, beginning with Paul of Tarsus writing in Galatians 3:13, have interpreted an allusion to crucifixion in Deuteronomy 21:22-23. This reference is to being hanged from a tree, and may be associated with lynching or traditional hanging. However, ancient Jewish law allowed only 4 methods of execution: stoning, burning, strangulation, and decapitation. Crucifixion was thus forbidden by ancient Jewish law.^[34] The Aramaic Testament of Levi (DSS 4Q541) interprets in column 6: "God [will set] right errors. [He will judge] revealed sins. Investigate and seek and know how Jonah wept. Thus, you shall not destroy the weak by wasting away or by [crucif]ixion. Let not the nail touch him."^{[citation needed]}

Alexander the Great is reputed to have executed 2000 survivors from his siege of the Phoenician city of Tyre, as well as the doctor who unsuccessfully treated Alexander's friend Hephaestion. Some historians have also conjectured that Alexander crucified Callisthenes, his official historian and biographer, for objecting to Alexander's adoption of the Persian ceremony of royal adoration.

In Carthage, crucifixion was an established mode of execution, which could even be imposed on a general for suffering a major defeat.

Roman Empire

The hypothesis that the Ancient Roman custom of crucifixion may have developed out of a primitive custom of arbori suspendere - hanging on an arbor infelix (unfortunate tree) dedicated to the gods of the nether world - is rejected by William A. Oldfather, who shows that this form of execution (the supplicium more maiorum, punishment in accordance with the custom of our ancestors) consisted of suspending someone from a tree, not dedicated to any particular gods, and flogging him to death.^[35] Tertullian mentions a first-century A.D. case in which trees were used for crucifixion,^[36] but Seneca the Younger earlier used the phrase infelix lignum (unfortunate wood) for the transom ("patibulum") or the whole cross.^[37] According to others, the Romans appear to have learned of crucifixion from the Carthaginians.^[38]

Crucifixion was used for slaves, rebels, pirates and especially-despised enemies and criminals. Therefore crucifixion was considered a most shameful and disgraceful way to die. Condemned Roman citizens were usually exempt from crucifixion (like feudal nobles from hanging, dying more honorably by decapitation) except for major crimes against the state, such as high treason.

Notorious mass crucifixions followed the Third Servile War in 73-71 BC (the slave rebellion under Spartacus), other Roman civil wars in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, and the Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. In order to frighten other slaves from revolting, Crassus crucified 6,000 of Spartacus' men along the Appian Way from Capua to Rome.^[39] Josephus tells a story of the Romans crucifying people along the walls of Jerusalem. He also says that the Roman soldiers would amuse themselves by crucifying criminals in different positions. In Roman-style crucifixion, the condemned took days to die slowly from suffocation — caused by the condemned's blood-supply slowly draining away to a quantity insufficient to supply the required oxygen to vital organs. The dead body was left up for vultures and other birds to consume.

The goal of Roman crucifixion was not just to kill the criminal, but also to mutilate and dishonour the body of the condemned. In ancient tradition, an honourable death required burial; leaving a body on the cross, so as to mutilate it and prevent its burial, was a grave dishonour.

Under ancient Roman penal practice, crucifixion was also a means of exhibiting the criminal’s low social status. It was the most dishonourable death imaginable, originally reserved for slaves, hence still called "supplicium servile" by Seneca, later extended to provincial freedmen of obscure station ('humiles'). The citizen class of Roman society were almost never subject to capital punishments; instead, they were fined or exiled. Josephus mentions Jews of high rank who were crucified, but this was to point out that their status had been taken away from them. Control of one’s own body was vital in the ancient world. Capital punishment took away control over one’s own body, thereby implying a loss of status and honour. The Romans often broke the prisoner's legs to hasten death and usually forbade burial.

A cruel prelude was scourging, which would cause the condemned to lose a large amount of blood, and approach a state of shock. The convict then usually had to carry the horizontal beam (patibulum in Latin) to the place of execution, but not necessarily the whole cross. Crucifixion was typically carried out by specialized teams, consisting of a commanding centurion and four soldiers. When it was done in an established place of execution, the vertical beam (stipes) could even be permanently embedded in the ground. The condemned was usually stripped naked - all the New Testament gospels, dated to around the same time as Josephus,^{[dubious – discuss]} describe soldiers gambling for the robes of Jesus. (Matthew 27:35, Mark 15:24, Luke 23:34, John 19:23-25)

The 'nails' were tapered iron spikes approximately 5 to 7 inches (13 to 18 cm) long, with a square shaft ³⁄₈ inches (0.95 cm) across. In some cases, the nails were gathered afterwards and used as healing amulets.

Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, abolished it in the Roman Empire in 337, out of veneration for Jesus Christ, the most famous victim of crucifixion.^[40][41][42]

Crucifixion in the Qur'an

The Qur'an mentions crucifixion several times. In Surah 7:124, Firaun (Arabic for Pharaoh) says that he will crucify his chief wizards. Also, Surah 12:41 mentions Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) saying that the king (the current ruler of the land he was stranded in) would crucify one of his prisoners.

'And the wizards fell down prostrate, crying: "We believe in the Lord of the Worlds, The Lord of Musa and Harun". Firaun said: "Ye believe in Him before I give you leave! Lo! this is the plot that ye have plotted in the city that ye may drive its people hence. But ye shall come to know! Surely I shall have your hands and feet cut off upon alternate sides. Then I shall crucify you every one."' Surah 7:120-124

'O my two fellow-prisoners! As for one of you, he will pour out wine for his lord to drink; and as for the other, he will be crucified so that the birds will eat from his head. Thus is the case judged concerning which ye did inquire.' Surah 12:41

In Surah 5:33, The Qur'an mentions crucifixion as a form of punishment for those who fight Allah and his messenger.

'The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.' Surah 5:33

Because of this verse in the Qur'an crucifixion is still one of the Hadd punishments in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran's Islamic Criminal Law, Article 195).^[43]

Japan

Crucifixion was introduced in Japan during the Age of Civil Wars (1138-1560), after a 350-year period with no capital punishment.^[44] It is believed to have been suggested to the Japanese by the introduction of Christianity to the region.^[44] Known in Japanese as haritsuke (磔^?), crucifixion was used in Japan before and during the Tokugawa Shogunate. The condemned, usually a sentenced criminal, was hoisted upon a T-shaped cross. The executioner finished him off with spear thrusts, then the body was left to hang for a time before burial.

In 1597, twenty-six Christians were nailed to crosses at Nagasaki, Japan. Among those executed were Paul Miki and Pedro Bautista, a Spanish Franciscan who had worked about ten years in the Philippines. The executions marked the beginning of a long history of persecution of Christianity in Japan, which continued until the Meiji Restoration introduced religious freedom in Japan in 1871.

The historical novel "Silence" by Shusaku Endo gives an account of the 17th century Christian persecutions based upon the oral histories of contemporary Kakure Kirishitan communities.

In the early Meiji period (circa 1865-8), the 25 year-old servant Sokichi was executed by crucifixion for the murder of his employer, a store-owner, during the course of a robbery.^[45] He was affixed to a stake with two cross-pieces by tying, rather than nailing (photograph).

Crucifixion as punishment in modern times

Iran

According to current Criminal Law, crucifixion is used as a punishment for moharebeh, a major crime committed against Islam and the state in the Islamic Republic of Iran.^[46]

Sudan

In the Fiftieth Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (1994), local bishops reported several cases of crucifixion of Christian priests. Sudan's Penal Code, based upon the government's interpretation of Shari'a, provides for execution by crucifixion. The sentence has been passed as recently as 2002, when 88 people were condemned.^[47]

Yemen

As of 2000, Yemen provides for non-lethal crucifixion of criminals, though this punishment is apparently reserved for those also condemned to death.^[48]

Japan

In Japan, crucifixion was used as a punishment for prisoners of war during World War II. Ringer Edwards, an Australian prisoner of war, was crucified for killing cattle, along with two others. He survived 63 hours before being let down.

Germany

During World War I, there were persistent rumors that German soldiers had crucified a Canadian soldier on a tree or barn door with bayonets or combat knives. The event was initially reported in 1915 by Private George Barrie of the 1st Canadian Division. Two investigations, one a post-war official investigation, and the other an independent investigation by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, concluded that there was no evidence to support the story.^[49] However, British documentary maker Iain Overton in 2001 published an article claiming that the story was true, identifying the soldier as Harry Band.^[49][50] Overton's article was the basis for a 2002 episode of the Channel 4 documentary show Secret History.^[51]

Other

In 2002, a 23 year old man was found crucified to a fence in Northern Ireland. Despite the severity of his wounds he survived the attack.^[52]

Crucifixion as a devotional practice

Since at least the mid-1800s, a group of Catholic flagellants in New Mexico called Hermanos de Luz ('Brothers of Light') have annually conducted reenactments of Jesus Christ's crucifixion during Holy Week, in which a penitent is tied—but not nailed—to a cross.

Some very devout Catholics are voluntarily, non-lethally crucified for a limited time on Good Friday, to imitate the suffering of Jesus Christ. A notable example is the ceremonial re-enactment that has been performed yearly in the town of Iztapalapa, on the outskirts of Mexico City, since 1833.^[53]

Devotional crucifixions are also common in the Philippines, even driving nails through the hands. One man named Rolando del Campo vowed to be crucified every Good Friday for 15 years if God would carry his wife through a difficult childbirth. (There is a video of the crucifixion here.) In San Pedro Cutud, devotee Ruben Enaje has been crucified 21 times, as of 2007, during Passion Week celebrations.^[54][55]

In many cases the person portraying Jesus is first subjected to flagellation and wears a crown of thorns. Sometimes there is a whole passion play, sometimes only the mortification of the flesh.

The Crucifixion of Christ is one of the most important parts of any Passion Play, or Mystery Play, production. The story critically leads the audience through death to resurrection, the dividing of the resurrected into 'sheep' (the good, destined for heaven) and 'goats' (sinners, destined for hell), and to God and Christ in Glory. A typical account is in the York Waggon Plays performed by the Guilds of York, currently every four years. (next production summer 2010). This mediaeval set of plays includes two that depict Christ's Death (1) The Crucifixion (Christ is put on the cross) and (2) the Death of Christ. The second of these was traditionally played by the Butchers' Gild as the butchers took on a supplementary role in civic life as the city's executioners.

Crucifixion in popular culture

Crucifixion has appeared as a theme in modern art. The painting Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) by Salvador Dalí is considered an important work of the surrealist movement.^{[citation needed]} The 1989 composition Piss Christ by the contemporary American photographer Andres Serrano is both celebrated and controversial. Robert Cenedella painted a crucified Santa Claus as a protest against Christmas commercialization, displayed in the window of New York's Art Students League in December 1997. (According to urban legends,^[56] a Japanese department store confused Western imagery and displayed a crucified Santa Claus as part of its Christmas decorations.) In 2000, British artist Sebastian Horsley had himself nailed to a cross in the Philippines in order to gain inspiration for an art project.

In movies and television

Numerous movies have been produced which depict the crucifixion of Jesus. Some of these movies depict the crucifixion in its traditional sectarian form, while others intend to show a more historically accurate account.^{[citation needed]} For example, Ben-Hur (1959), was probably the first movie to depict the nails being driven through Jesus' wrists, rather than his palms. Mel Gibson's controversial The Passion of the Christ (2004) depicted an extreme level of violence, but showed the nails being driven into Jesus' palms, as is traditional, with ropes supporting the wrists.

Film, television, and popular entertainment also contain numerous depictions of crucifixion, some reverent and others intentionally comical or provocative.^{[citation needed]} The movie Spartacus depicts mass crucifixions along the Appian Way. The television show Rome regularly mentioned crucifixion as a form of punishment for various crimes. Actual crucifixion was depicted in one episode as a way to torture prisoners of war in order to extract information. Crucifixion was irreverently featured in the comedy film Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979). In one of the more memorable scenes at the end of the film, the viewer is reminded to "always look on the bright side of life" by singers hanging from crosses.

Superman is often associated with Christ-like imagery, including scenes resembling crucifixion. This includes scenes in the film Superman Returns, and the first episode of the television series Smallville, as well as in comic books.

In popular music

Crucifixion imagery figures in popular music, where it is often intended to create controversy or depict the artist as a victim.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, singer Madonna caused controversy by opening a concert held near Vatican City with a mock crucifixion, complete with a Crown of Thorns.^[57] The cover art of Tupac Shakur's album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory features an image of Tupac being crucified on a cross. He stated that the image was not a mockery of Christ; rather, it showed how he was being "crucified" by the media.^{[citation needed]} Multiple Marilyn Manson videos such as "I Don't Like The Drugs But The Drugs Like Me" and "Coma White" feature crucifixion imagery, often oddly staged in surreal modern or near modern day settings. The Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth had several people on stage affixed to crosses to give the appearance of crucifixion at a now infamous concert in Krakow, and repeated this act in the music video for "Carving a Giant."

In anime

Crucifixion has been a recurrent and prominent theme in anime, where it often serves to emphasize the suffering of sympathetic characters, depicting the torture of a character who does not deserve punishment.^[58]

In episode 74 of the Sailor Moon R series, some of the characters who are Serena's friends are crucified on rock crystal crosses.^[58] The scene was cut from editions prepared for Western audiences.^[58] Crucifixion also appeared when two more characters, Sailor Neptune and Hotaru Tomoe were crucified in season 3 of the series. The series director denied any connection with religious symbolism, saying that the character "looked good crucified, so we crucified her. Christ is an object of religious fantasy in Japan, so that is how it was used. He is just another character in fantasy to us. Even if references to crucifixion were made in Sailor Moon, it was not as part of an attempt to communicate a religious message."^[59]

In Naruto, Kakashi is depicted on a capital T cross and is stabbed with a sword, instead of a spear as in the Biblical account. Also in Naruto, a young boy's father is murdered on a wooden cross. In one episode of Samurai Champloo, two of the main characters narrowly escape crucifixion for unknowingly using fake passports at a checkpoint. Crucifixion-type imagery is employed in some video games, including the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts II series.

Famous crucifixions

• In the best-known case, the Crucifixion of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth was condemned to crucifixion^[60] (most likely in AD 30 or 33) by Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Iudaea province (see Responsibility for the death of Jesus for details). The civil charge was a claim to be King of the Jews.
• The rebel slaves of the Third Servile War: Between 73 BC and 71 BC a band of slaves, eventually numbering about 120,000, under the (at least partial) leadership of Spartacus were in open revolt against the Roman republic. The rebellion was eventually crushed, and while Spartacus himself most likely died in the final battle of the revolt, approximately 6,000 of his followers were crucified along the 200 km road between Capua and Rome, as a warning to any other would-be rebels.
• Saint Peter, Christian apostle: according to tradition, Peter was crucified upside down at his own request (hence the Cross of St. Peter), as he did not feel worthy to die the same way as Jesus.
• Saint Andrew, Christian apostle and Saint Peter's brother: according to tradition, crucified on an X-shaped cross, hence the name St. Andrew's Cross
• Simeon of Jerusalem, 2nd Bishop of Jerusalem, crucified either 106 or 107
• Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln was an English boy whose disappearance in 1255 prompted a blood libel against the local Jews. A Jewish man was tortured until he confessed to killing the child. The story of Little Saint Hugh became well known through medieval ballad poetry.
• Archbishop Joachim of Nizhny Novgorod: reportedly crucified upside down, on the Royal Doors of the Cathedral in Sevastopol, Russia in 1920
• Wilgefortis was venerated as a saint and represented as a crucified woman, however her legend comes from a misinterpretation of the full-clothed crucifix of Lucca.

References

1. ^ AllWords.com
2. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: crucifixion
3. ^ Crucifixion
4. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
5. ^ Seneca the Younger wrote: "I see crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different ways: some have their victims with head down to the ground; some impale their private parts; others stretch out their arms on the gibbet" (Dialogue "To Marcia on Consolation", 6.20.3).
6. ^ Crucifixion in the Ancient World
7. ^ Annales 2:32.2
8. ^ Annales 15:60.1
9. ^ Jewish War V.II
10. ^ Mishna, Shabbath 6.10, quoted in Crucifixion in Antiquity
11. ^ ^{a b} Koskenniemi, Erkki; Kirsi Nisula and Jorma Toppari (2005). "Wine Mixed with Myrrh (Mark 15.23) and Crurifragium (John 19.31-32): Two Details of the Passion Narratives". Journal for the Study of the New Testament (SAGE Publications) 27 (4): 379–391. doi:10.1177/0142064X05055745. http://jnt.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/27/4/379. Retrieved on 2008-06-13.
12. ^ Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 5.11.1
13. ^ Seneca, Dialogue "To Marcia on Consolation", in Moral Essays, 6.20.3, trans. John W. Basore, The Loeb Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1946) 2:69
14. ^ "The ... oldest depiction of a crucifixion ... was uncovered by archaeologists more than a century ago on the Palatine Hill in Rome. It is a second-century graffiti scratched into a wall that was part of the imperial palace complex. It includes a caption - not by a Christian, but by someone taunting and deriding Christians and the crucifixions they underwent. It shows crude stick-figures of a boy reverencing his "God," who has the head of a jackass and is upon a cross with arms spread wide and with hands nailed to the crossbeam. Here we have a Roman sketch of a Roman crucifixion, and it is in the traditional cross shape" (Clayton F. Bower, Jr: Cross or Torture Stake?). Some second-century writers took it for granted that a crucified person would have his or her arms stretched out, not connected to a single stake: Lucian speaks of Prometheus as crucified "above the ravine with his hands outstretched" and explains that the letter T (the Greek letter tau) was looked upon as an unlucky letter or sign (similar to the way the number thirteen is looked upon today as an unlucky number), saying that the letter got its "evil significance" because of the "evil instrument" which had that shape, an instrument which tyrants hung men on (ibidem).
15. ^ Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter 9. The document no doubt belongs to the end of the first or beginning of the second century.[1]
16. ^ "The very form of the cross, too, has five extremities, two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, on which [last] the person rests who is fixed by the nails" (Irenaeus (c. 130–202), Adversus Haereses II, xxiv, 4[2]).
17. ^ Liddell and Scott on χείρ. Cf. The Science of the Crucifixion.
18. ^ Wynne-Jones, Jonathan (16 March 2008). "Why the BBC thinks Christ did not die this way". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/16/nrowan216.xml. Retrieved on 2008-03-16.
19. ^ a brief news article
20. ^ Viladesau, Richard (2006). The beauty of the cross: the passion of Christ in theology and the arts, from the catacombs to the eve of the Renaissance. Oxford University Press. p. 21. ISBN 9780195188110. OCLC 58791208. http://books.google.com/books?id=cTFh4tm9cMwC. Retrieved on 2009-05-04.
21. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Crucifixion
22. ^ Crucifixion in Antiquity
23. ^ The Cross
24. ^ Some Notes on Crucifixion
25. ^ David W. Chapman, Ancient Jewish and Christian perceptions of crucifixion (Mohr Siebeck, 2008), p. 86-89
26. ^ Joe Zias, Crucifixion in Antiquity - The Anthropological Evidence
27. ^ [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/255/11/1455 Edwards et al., On the physical death of Jesus Christ in The Journal of the American Medical Association, March 21 1986
28. ^ ^{a b} The history and pathology of crucifixion
29. ^ John 19:31-32
30. ^ ^{a b} http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2019:31-19:35;&version=31; John 19:31-19:35, NIV
31. ^ The Life Of Flavius Josephus, 75
32. ^ Haas, Nicu. “Anthropological observations on the skeletal remains from Giv’at ha-Mivtar”, Israel Exploration Journal 20 (1-2), 1970: 38-59; Tzaferis, Vassilios. "Crucifixion – The Archaeological Evidence", Biblical Archaeology Review 11, February, 1985: 44–53; Zias, Joseph. "The Crucified Man from Giv’at Ha-Mivtar: A Reappraisal", Israel Exploration Journal 35 (1), 1985: 22–27; Hengel, Martin. Crucifixion in the ancient world and the folly of the message of the cross (Augsburg Fortress, 1977). ISBN 0-8006-1268-X. See also Spectacles of Death in Ancient Rome, by Donald G. Kyle p. 181, note 93
33. ^ In the Fullness of Time, by Paul L. Maier
34. ^ See Mishnah, Sanhedrin 7:1, translated in Jacob Neusner, The Mishnah: A New Translation 591 (1988), supra note 8, at 595-96 (indicating that court ordered execution by stoning, burning, decapitation, or strangulation only)
35. ^ Livy I.26 and the Supplicium de More Maiorum
36. ^ Apologia, IX, 1
37. ^ After quoting a poem by Maecenas that speaks of preferring life to death even when life is burdened with all the disadvantages of old age or even with acute torture ("vel acuta si sedeam cruce"), Seneca disagrees with the sentiment, saying death would be better for a crucified person hanging from the patibulum: "I should deem him most despicable had he wished to live to the point of crucifixion ... Is it worth so much to weigh down upon one's own wound, and hang stretched out from a patibulum? ... Is anyone found who, after being fastened to that accursed wood, already weakened, already deformed, swelling with ugly weals on shoulders and chest, with many reasons for dying even before getting to the cross, would wish to prolong a life-breath that is about to experience so many torments?" ("Contemptissimum putarem, si vivere vellet usque ad crucem ... Est tanti vulnus suum premere et patibulo pendere districtum ... Invenitur, qui velit adactus ad illud infelix lignum, iam debilis, iam pravus et in foedum scapularum ac pectoris tuber elisus, cui multae moriendi causae etiam citra crucem fuerant, trahere animam tot tormenta tracturam?" - [http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/sen/seneca.ep17-18.shtml Letter 101, 12-14)
38. ^ The Physical Death Of Jesus Christ, Study by The Mayo Clinic
39. ^ The Real Spartacus. Channel4.com.
40. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica Online: crucifixion
41. ^ Dictionary of Images and Symbols in Counselling By William Stewart 1998 ISBN 1853023515, p. 120
42. ^ Archaeology of the Bible
43. ^ Crucifixion in the Islamic Republic of Iran
44. ^ ^{a b} Moore, Charles Alexander; Aldyth V. Morris (1968). The Japanese mind: essentials of Japanese philosophy and culture. University of Hawaii (Honolulu): University of Hawaii Press. p. 145. ISBN 9780824800772. OCLC 10329518. http://books.google.com/books?id=x7PT8_QS6OgC. Retrieved on 2009-05-04.
45. ^ Executed Sokichi
46. ^ Crucifixion in the Islamic Republic of Iran
47. ^ Sudan: Imminent Execution/Torture/Unfair trial | Amnesty International
48. ^ Yemen: Fear of execution | Amnesty International
49. ^ ^{a b} Bourke, Roger (2006). Prisoners of the Japanese: literary imagination and the prisoner-of-war experience. University of Queensland Press. p. 184 n.8. ISBN 9780702235641. OCLC 70257905. http://books.google.com/books?id=JpKAYepQJN4C. Retrieved on 2009-05-04.
50. ^ Overton, Iain (2001-04-17). "Revealed, the soldier who was crucified by Germans". International Express. p. 16.
51. ^ "The Crucified Soldier". Secret History (Channel 4). 2002-07-04. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The+Crucified+Soldier. No. 5, season 9.
52. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland/Story/0,,825136,00.html the Guardian
53. ^ RELIGION-MEXICO: The Passion According to Iztapalapa
54. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-philippines-crucifixions.html
55. ^ Home | Propeller
56. ^ Legend: A Japanese department store once created a Christmas display featuring a smiling Santa Claus nailed to a cross, Snopes.
57. ^ Daily Mail
58. ^ ^{a b c} Drazen, Patrick (2003). Anime Explosion. Stone Bridge Press, LLC. pp. 142–43. ISBN 978-1880656723. OCLC 50898281. http://books.google.com/books?id=wkrgvKvsvYAC.
59. ^ Navok Rudranath, Jay; Jay Navok, Sushil K., Jonathan Mays (2005). Warriors of Legend (2nd ed.). North Charleston, S.C.: Booksurge LLC. pp. 126–27. ISBN 9781419608148. OCLC 61255404. http://books.google.com/books?id=cQ4PGtPYOugC. Retrieved on 2009-04-29.
60. ^ That this was the manner of his death is not only recounted in the four first-century canonical Gospels, but it is referred to repeatedly, as something well known, in the earlier letters of Saint Paul, for instance five times in his First Letter to the Corinthians, written in AD 57 (1:13, 1:18, 1:23, 2:2, 2:8). Pilate was the Roman governor at the time, and he is explicitly linked with the condemnation of Jesus not only by the Gospels but also by Tacitus, Annals', 15.44.

See also

External links

• New Scientist article on cause of death in crucifixion.
• "Forensic and Clinical Knowledge of the Practice of Crucifixion" by Dr. Frederick Zugibe
• Jesus's death on the cross, from a medical perspective
• "Crucifixion in antiquity - The Anthropological evidence" By Joe Zias
• Jewish Encyclopedia: Crucifixion
• Crucifixion of Joachim of Nizhny-Novgorod

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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