Crucifixion in Antiquity
What do we know about the history of crucifixion? In the following article, “New Analysis of the Crucified Man,” Hershel Shanks looks at evidence of Roman crucifixion methods as analyzed from the remains found in Jerusalem of a young man crucified in the first century A.D. The remains included a heel bone pierced by a large nail, giving archaeologists, osteologists and anthropologists evidence of crucifixion in antiquity.
What do these bones tell us about the history of crucifixion? The excavator of the crucified man, Vassilios Tzaferis, followed the analysis of Nico Haas of Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem suggesting Roman crucifixion methods: a contorted position: arms nailed to the crossbeam; legs bent, twisted to one side, and held in place by a single nail that passed through a wooden plaque, through both left and right heel bones, and then into the upright of the cross.
However, when Joseph Zias and Eliezer Sekeles reexamined the remains, looking for evidence of Roman crucifixion methods, they found no evidence that nails had penetrated the victim’s arms; moreover, the nail in the foot was not long enough to have penetrated the plaque, both feet, and the cross. And, indeed, what were previously thought to be fragments of two heel bones through which the nail passed were shown to be fragments of only one heel bone and a long bone. On the basis of this evidence, Zias and Sekeles suggest that the man’s legs straddled the cross and that his arms were tied to the crossbeam with ropes, signifying the method of crucifixion in antiquity.
Literary sources giving insight into the history of crucifixion indicate that Roman crucifixion methods had the condemned person carry to the execution site only the crossbar. Wood was scarce and the vertical pole was kept stationary and used repeatedly. Below, in “New Analysis of the Crucified Man,” Hershel Shanks concludes that crucifixion in antiquity involved death by asphyxiation, not death by nail piercing.
In our January/February 1985 issue, we published an article about the only remains of a crucified man to be recovered from antiquity (“Crucifixion—The Archaeological Evidence,” BAR, January/February 1985). Vassilios Tzaferis, the author of the article and the excavator of the crucified man, based much of his analysis of the victim’s position on the cross and other aspects of the method of crucifixion on the work of a medical team from Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School headed by Nico Haas, who had analyzed the crucified man’s bones. In a recent article in the Israel Exploration Journal, however, Joseph Zias, an anthropologist with the Israel Department of Antiquities, and Eliezer Sekeles of Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem question many of Haas’s conclusions concerning the bones of the crucified man.a The questions Zias and Sekeles raise affect many of the conclusions about the man’s position during crucifixion.
According to Haas, the nail in the crucified man penetrated both his right and left heel bones, piercing the right heel bone (calcaneum) first, then the left. Haas found a fragment of bone attached to the right heel that he thought was part of the left heel bone (sustentaculum tali). If Haas’s analysis is correct, the two heel bones must have been penetrated by the same nail, and the victim’s legs must have been in a closed position on the cross.
But according to the new analysis of the bones just published in the Israel Exploration Journal, the bone fragment Haas identified as part of the left heel bone was incorrectly identified. “The shape and structure of this bony fragment is of a long bone; it cannot therefore be the left [heel bone],” say the most recent investigators. Their conclusions are confirmed by x-rays, which reveal the varying density, structure and direction of the bones.
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Haas also incorrectly assumed that the nail is seven inches (17–18 cm) long. In fact, the total length of the nail from head to tip is only 4.5 inches (11.5 cm). A wooden plaque less than an inch thick (2 cm) had been punctured by the nail before it passed through the right heel bone. After exiting from the bone, the nail penetrated the cross itself and then bent, probably because it hit a knot. As the new investigators observe, given the length of the nail, “There simply was not enough room for both heel bones and a two centimeter wooden plaque to have been pierced by the nail and affixed to the vertical shaft of the cross. … The nail was sufficient for affixing only one heel bone to the cross.”
In short, only the right heel bone was penetrated—laterally, or sidewise—by the nail. Accordingly, the victim’s position on the cross must have been different from that portrayed by Haas.
The new investigators also dispute Haas’s conclusion that a scratch on the bone of the right forearm (radius) of the victim, just above the wrist, represents the penetration of a nail between the two bones of the forearm. According to Zias and Sekeles, such scratches and indentations are commonly found on ancient skeletal material, including on the right leg bone (fibula) of this man. Such scratches and indentations have nothing to do with crucifixion.
How then was the crucified man attached to the cross?
As the new investigators observe:
“The literary sources for the Roman period contain numerous descriptions of crucifixion but few exact details as to how the condemned were affixed to the cross. Unfortunately, the direct physical evidence here is also limited to one right calcaneum (heel bone) pierced by an 11.5 cm iron nail with traces of wood at both ends.”
According to the literary sources, those condemned to crucifixion never carried the complete cross, despite the common belief to the contrary and despite the many modern reenactments of Jesus’ walk to Golgotha. Instead, only the crossbar was carried, while the upright was set in a permanent place where it was used for subsequent executions. As the first-century Jewish historian Josephus noted, wood was so scarce in Jerusalem during the first century A.D. that the Romans were forced to travel ten miles from Jerusalem to secure timber for their siege machinery.
According to Zias and Sekeles:
“One can reasonably assume that the scarcity of wood may have been expressed in the economics of crucifixion in that the crossbar as well as the upright would be used repeatedly. Thus, the lack of traumatic injury to the forearm and metacarpals of the hand seems to suggest that the arms of the condemned were tied rather than nailed to the cross. There is ample literary and artistic evidence for the use of ropes rather than nails to secure the condemned to the cross.”
According to Zias and Sekeles, the victim’s legs straddled the vertical shaft of the cross, one leg on either side, with the nails penetrating the heel bones. The plaque or plate under the head of the nail, they say, was intended to secure the nail and prevent the condemned man from pulling his feet free.
As Haas correctly suggested, the nail probably hit a knot which bent the nail. However, as Zias and Sekeles reconstruct the removal of the dead man from the cross:
“Once the body was removed from the cross, albeit with some difficulty in removing the right leg, the condemned man’s family would now find it impossible to remove the bent nail without completely destroying the heel bone. This reluctance to inflict further damage to the heel led [to his burial with the nail still in his bone, and this in turn led] to the eventual discovery of the crucifixion.”
Whether the victim’s arms were tied, rather than nailed to the cross is irrelevant to the manner of his dying. As Zias and Sekeles point out:
“Death by crucifixion was the result of the manner in which the condemned man hung from the cross and not the traumatic injury caused by nailing. Hanging from the cross resulted in a painful process of asphyxiation, in which the two sets of muscles used for breathing, the intercostal [chest] muscles and the diaphragm, became progressively weakened. In time, the condemned man expired, due to the inability to continue breathing properly.”
a. “The Crucified Man from Giv‘at ha-Mivtar: A Reappraisal,” Israel Exploration Journal Vol. 35, No. 1 (1985), pp. 22–27.
Zias and Sekeles also note a number of other errors in Haas’s report:
Rare Evidence for Roman Crucifixion Found in Second-Century Britain
Crucifixion—The Archaeological Evidence by Vassilios Tzaferis
Explaining Jesus’ Crucifixion by Helmut Koester
Images of Crucifixion: Fresh Evidence by Ben Witherington III
Two Questions About Crucifixion By Frederick T. Zugibe
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“New Analysis of the Crucified Man” by Hershel Shanks first appeared in Biblical Archaeology Review, November/December 1985. It was first reprinted in BHD, September 2012.
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All of the arguments and counter-arguments regarding the method of an alleged man named Jeshua Ben Joseph and his manner of execution are confused and missing the point. It’s an argument about what shape the horrible idol desecrating the holy place should take; cross or stake, etc. Also, references to English translations of the Latin Vulgate, from Greek texts translated from Aramaic; prove nothing. Commentators attempt to sound intelligent by referring to ‘Greek texts’, but only prove to anyone with real knowledge how little they know. What is the ‘bible’? What language did Jeshua speak?
Especially ludicrous are the commentators reference to a ‘christian church’, as though there is a thing called the ‘Christian Church’ or one universal church. Do they mean Christendom? It is especially silly, when one considers that what the writer is actually referring to is the church that they believe is the correct one, his or her preferred organization, the ‘chosen ones’. When in actuality, the only and first ‘christian church’ is the one founded by Rome and ruled over by the one Pontifex Maximus, ironically the current Caesar, from the spiritual lineage of the killers of Jeshua. Even a cursory glance at history confirms that the Romans produced the Latin Vulgate, the first ‘bible’. It was the Roman Catholic Church that was the first institutionalized ‘christian church’. Every extant ‘christian’ organization that exist today is simply an off-shoot of that original body. The symbol of the cross (an idol), which ‘christians’ so fervently worship and defend unto death as the icon of their faith, was promulgated by the Roman Catholics, as was all the other occult imagery and idolatry. The cross is apparently the very instrument of their lord and saviour’s torture. How bizarre a thing it is that devotees of a man, purported to be a god, the God, in the flesh on earth, would choose as the symbol of their faith, their saviour’s very instrument of torture. Especially bizarre when one considers that the symbol of the cross predates the ‘christian’ era by many centuries and was used by so-called pagan people in their spiritual or occult rites, Babylon and Egypt to name a couple.
The Romans tortured and executed dissidents and displayed their mutilated bodies for all to see, thus psychologically repressing any would be free-thinkers from breaking rank. The Roman Catholic Church (from the lineage of Babylon) or Babylon the Great, Mother of the Harlots, mentioned in the book of Revelation, are doing exactly the same thing to their modern followers (slaves). They use the image of the mutilated human corpse impaled on the cross, to further their occult domination on the psychology of repressed mankind. They are showing you in plain sight what ‘christianity’ really is, the extension of the Roman Empire, a powerful system of world domination. With the cross image, they remind you how they co-opted the teachings and legacy of the real Jeshua Ben Joseph, the authentic Jesus Christ in order to create their own evil power structures. With the symbol of the bloody corpse on the cross, they’re saying in effect: “Look you suckers, we tortured and murdered your saviour and then co-opted everything he taught and distorted it into a religion. Now you follow us as we psychologically control you, so that we can get you to do what ever we say, including murder each other and fight wars over meaningless religious dogma.’
They threw it right in our faces and people buy the image of their murdered saviour it as though it’s some kind of magic symbol to be revered, like the image itself has power to save. Images that are given reverence are called IDOLS. Can anyone seriously picture Jesus or his actual followers in the first century bending themselves before a pagan symbol of any kind, let alone one with the image of Jesus mutilated body on it? It would be psychotic to think so.
Sad but true, if you revere the ‘cross’, this dead, miserable travesty, then It’s your horrible, grisly ‘golden calf’. Every time you look to it, you ‘impale Christ over and over again.’ Then you argue about the shape of the instrument of torture and death of your saviour like it matters, like it’s actually virtuous. How misguided. This is my verbal ‘whip of ropes’ for all armchair academics exchanging metaphorical currency in the Father’s house.
Jesus was struck by 400-600 Romans on the left cheek prior to being cast out the prophesied Shiloam Water Gate (yes, it is accurate & provable, contrary to Masonic Conspiracy against Christianity prevalent in “scholarship”) & Jesus’ face was swollen many times until the left eye was shut & concealed. With 1 right eye from the Cross, fulfilling prophecy, He wastaken across a then existent Water Gate bridge & crucified at the Kidron & Hinom Valley just as the Bible tells us (Revelation 11:8)), for which reason Masons worship Lucifer with an open Left Eye and run interference on the true location of the cross just across the Kidron Valley north of En Rogel on Mt. Olivet, just south of the fissure that runs east-west through Olivet, where in the blood moon reddish darkness Jesus just north of the Kidron & Hinom Valley Juncture saw Judas hang himself. It was far deeper in the valleys then as compared to after 70 A.D. ff.
Jesus was crucified in the shape of an Alef. If we were to raise the Alef א by 90 degrees, so that the Vav ו would stand as a vertical, we will see Christ crucified. His right wrist being nailed “palm up”, His left wrist being nailed “palm down”. Jesus’ left side, being the exposed side to be pierced by the spear. This position was itself causing “His bones (to be) out of joint” (Psalm 22:14). The left wrist, normally being bound by the Tefillin, is normally wrapped to form the word “Shaddai” (Almighty), which word represents the nation: Israel. The right hand, elbow down, represents the King Messiah as the same King who is YHVeH, the Right Hand of Power (Matthew 26:64), who — as its governor –carries the nations of the Earth (Psalm 22:27-28; Isaiah 40:15). The fulfilling of prophecy is unmistakable then and now.
how did they crucify Jesus?
I would guess that all crucifixions were not identically carried out. For example, an Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) passage prophesied that Jesus would be nailed through his feet AND his hands. It was a horrific experience, that he suffered for us.
Hello,
My debate with a family member who is a Jehovah’s Witness ultimately like me to this article while trying to examine the evidence both for and against Jesus’s crucifixion being on an actual cross.
Although I am quite the Layman when it comes to archaeological study, I found this article to be a wealth of information but I still have a couple of questions I’m hoping you could help me with.
Knowing that the Romans were masters of execution and torture, what would have been a more efficient tool for them to use to prolong the suffering of somebody crucified? Since death ultimately came from asphyxiation after a prolonged struggle to keep breathing, would that have been best achieved with the condemned person nailed to a single upright post with their arms above their head or, with their arms outstretched to the sides either tied or nailed to the cross bar? I’ve read where the Romans would use whatever means possible at the times to crucify criminals, I’ve even read where when nothing else was available they would nail the victim to the side of a wall but again, knowing that the Romans seem to Pride themselves on the ra bility to inflict maximum damage during executions my thinking is that since they had a set place we’re executions happened on a regular basis and all of the means and implements were right there, having Jesus Carry the Cross Beam tothe execution site and then attaching that to the top of the steak would you seem to be The Logical conclusion. I would very much appreciate any feedback on this.
Thank you
There’s also a clue given to us in John 21:18-19 where Jesus reveals how Peter will die.
Anyway, they were crucified naked, without any piece of cloth….
The Messiah died on a tree, not a cross or post or stake. What he carried which he was to beaten up to carry it was what they called a YOKE. All 3 of them were impaled to one tree. They were executed under Jewish not Roman laws, the Roman soldiers just made sure it was carried out. They did not touch the Messiah that was all done by the Hierarchy of the Jews.
Interesting view, as even Peter mentions Jesus “bore our sins on his own body on a tree” 1 Peter 2:24. There is also others who teach this. But as far as Jewish law we see in Deuteronomy 21:23 it states; “… (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)” again Galatians 3:13 and was probably why they shouted; “Crucify him”, to inflict a curse, which such curse was what “redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us”. Talk about prophetic Genesis 3:14,15, Christ bruised satan’s head with this!
You say “the Romans did not touch the Messiah, that was all done by the Hierarchy of the Jews.”?
No, according to scripture; “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part;…” John 19:23. Again, “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” John 19:34.
If one reads the account in John one can see at once that it has not been invented: it has all been reported to the writer of the Gospel, probably while he was writing and questioning, by an illiterate witness who was so young at the time that he was safe from recrimination for being at the crucifixion. He was so devoted to Jesus that he was called the beloved disciple, while the detail in his memory is amazing, particularly when one can see that he remembered none of the teaching, not even any of the parables. All that had to be fashioned by the writer who had been a very keen student of Greek Philosophy as well as having learnt in his youth the Jewish scriptures. He had not been a ‘Christian’ when Paul was in Ephesus. He was converted to believing in the divinity of Jesus when he met the witness. The witness knew and was known in the High Priest’s household because his job had been to deliver preserved fish for the family fishing business there, hence the wealth of Zebedee and his having a house in Jerusalem where the witness stayed and where the ‘Last Supper’ probably took place.
This is not correct, Jesus died on a cross, in Matthew 27:32 it is clear what it was, And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene. Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. Cant be more clear. We cannot add or take away that which is in the Bible. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. The Bible said Cross
actually they were taken under the official crucifixion of the time, which was handed out by pilate who was a roman so in all technicality the romans were the ones whom executed him, not to mention that crucifixion was a roman made form of torture. and the tree theory is correct, but they all carried their own trees and were hanged separately.
Cross is stauros in Greek a pale,stake or pole. It never indicated two pieces of wood in a ‘cross’ as we know it. English word Cross crux in Latin can mean a pole. Jesus referred to ‘Moses lifting up a serpent in the wilderness.’ Moses used a “pole” on which to place the brass (type of judgment) serpent (type of Jesus being made sin for us) was placed.
When the four Gospels are aligned very carefully we see there were a total of 5 crucified that day not three as seen in paintings.
John does give us order as to the other three Divine Accounts, but sums up the event :”…And with Him they crucified two [duo]others on this and on that side[same Greek exact expression used by John in Rev.22:2 ‘from here and from there’] moreover Jesus was in the middle.” Greek Jn.19:18 “One” is not in the original. They translated according to tradition. Duo where we get dual or two is used ‘two on each side of Jesus.’
‘Criminals’ Luke revolutionaries evil doers; rabble rousers; Matthew and Mark greek robbers : brigands ;thieves; pirates. Two different Greek words. Although not proof in itself of four law breakers it is suggestive when you see the proper order. Start at Luke then go to Matthew and Mark.When they first got to Golgotha they crucified the two criminals or revolutionaries with Christ. “Then” or at that time Gk.adverb of time. Mark AFTER several events in Mark and Mathew they crucified the other two.
There were four guards (they divided the garment in to ‘four parts’) one for each guard. Then a head guard that is mentioned to watch Christ and over see all. Five guards or soldiers. See Joshua 10 and the five kings.FYI
By Xeroxing the 4 accounts you can lay them out and see all better.
So we use wisdom and are open if any archeological or verified historic sources come to light as to the type of instrument on which Jesus was crucified. We do know that it can’t be determined by the word stauros!
In Christian thought the primary fact is that He was crucified for our sins and that by fully believing on His substitutionary sacrifice we are saved.
For those who think that the Romans nailed criminals to “stakes” rather than what we think of as “crosses”, we do find evidence from both the Bible and history that it was the latter. John 20:25 says there were “nails” in his hands. Would there really be room for “nails” in one’s hands for multiple “nails” if the person crucified were on a “stake” or only a single nail as shown in Jehovah’s Witness literature? Also, we are told, “They also posted above his head the charge against him, in writing: “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” (Matthew 27:37 – NWT). Again, if it were a “stake”, the statement would most certainly have been “above his hands” (depicted in JW literature), instead of above his head.
From history, we find that Seneca the Younger [37AD] 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.” The outstretched arms cannot refer to a “stake”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion)
In addition, 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 2nd-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”.(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion, reference note 25)
This remains a questionable article. Prisoners were crucified in front of the Jerusalem’s walls in different and contorted positions to weaken the will of those encircled to resist the Romans. It implies that many positions and ways of being crucified were applied to the victims. The sadistic “creativity” of Roman executioners is well represented by the imaginative ways of dying that they created for those sentenced to the arena. The crucified man remains studied by V. Tzaferis were thought by some, at the time of the finding, to be the body of Jesus Christ Himself. Now, I see some coveted interests in denying the “official” crucifixion of the Christ as described in the Christian texts and earler visions.. Beware of biases, dear readers.
there is no evidence that the individual wasn’t killed before he was hung on the cross or killed after being nailed with weapons that inserted into the soft flesh/organs leaving no skeletal marks. it is possible that the person was hung by the neck from the center of the cross. it is possible that the body was mounted on the cross and feet later nailed (near ground level) so the body could not be easily removed by friends and family. One should note that the romans were aware of ergonomic principles and would expend energy in the most efficient way. tying and nailing a squirming victim to a horizontal cross, then raising him and a heavy cross to an upright position with ropes and pulleys seems to be a lot of work….sort of un-roman. much easier to hang him by a rope around the neck until dead and then tack the feet to the cross. it would be easy to implement and to remove the body. no pulleys, tackle, heavy timbers, heavy work. also easy to reuse which the romans did on a massive scale.
What we consider un-roman now could have been Roman then. We should look at this kind of event with the eye of what was in-vogue ‘then’. Modernism has changed ancient ways of doing things. Ergonomic principles helps to now know how easy to work without must stress but then they had peculiar ways of doing things. System of governance has changed and that includes the Romans. Their prisons outlook, military formation, etc. must have changed from the era of ‘crucifixion’. For instance, they used horses/carts/donkeys to travel at that time but today we use cars, trains; even aircraft. My point, they would only have applied their best known methods at the time even if it involves rigorous tasks. The condemned could have gone nailed to the cross alive and allowed to die slowly; since it was their form of capital punishment.
The argument for the shape of the cross from the Greek word stauros is simply misguided. The use of the noun and the related verb to name the form of execution predates the Roman period, reflecting the Persian period method of nailing someone to a post to die. If the Romans innovated on this by using a T-shaped frame to make the victim even more of a human billboard warning against criminal activity, we should not expect the Greeks to suddenly change their established vocabulary. [There may be some merit to the imagination of the crucifixion scene in Zefferelli’s Jesus of Nazareth, where we find a substantial framework in place on site to which the victims’ crossbeams and ankles were fixed.] Stauros and Stauroo would still be adequate to name the reality, even if the precise shape of the instrument changed.
We should also give full weight to Josephus’s testimony about the Roman soldiers’ penchant for variety in performing crucifixions. Tying here, nailing there, varying the positions. It’s all they had to break up the monotony and exercise a little initiative of their own in the frequent execution details. (I know Josephus describes an ongoing scene of mass crucifixion as the setting for his note about Roman creativity, but the extreme innovations no doubt practiced there to elicit the comment is, I take it, a token of the more modest innovations practiced routinely by the military.)
“After exiting from the bone, the nail penetrated the cross itself and then bent, probably because it hit a knot”
This conclusion from the archaeological evidence of the crucified man, I believe, is incorrect. If it bent hitting a knot, it could not be extracted from the cross without great resistance, which would have resulted in the nail being much straighter than as found. It likely bent when someone attempted to initiate the removal of the nail, after the man was removed from the cross, by hitting it first on the pointed end – but inadvertently bent it.
If you drive a 6 inch nail into a 2 by 4 piece of wood, the easiest way of extracting it would be to first hit it on the pointed end to overcome resistance in taking it out. However, if your hammer blows are not accurate, the the nail will bend much like the nail shown in the archeological photos of the crucified man.
The most important thing is He lives. He rose on the third day, and makes intercession for his followers to the Father. And one day soon He will come again, but not as the Lamb this time but the Lion of Judah, and He will vanquish those who would make war with Him.
was Jesus the only one pierced when on the cross on
Also Death by crucifixion on just a plain Crux Simplex would have been quicker. Jehovah’s witnesses would have to change their Bibles to get the death right. This form of crucifixion on a single pole was practiced by the Nazi’s at the concentration camp at Dachau in WW2. If the Victims feet were not impeded in anyway, the victim could lift himself up howbeit briefly. But the most that they could last would be an hour. if the feet were weighed down or tied the victim, would not be able to lift himself up, and the victim would die of asphyxiation in ten minutes it was that quick. In other words Jesus would NOT have lasted six hours nailed to a single pole. He would’ve been dead in the first 10 minutes. If Jesus was crucified the way Jehovah’s Witnesses teach, their bibles should read, “And it was about the sixth minute, and there was a darkness over all the land until the ninth minute.”
[…] @Alan Cowan ci dà invece alcune informazioni in più sulla crocifissione. […]
Has anyone seen the painting of the man on a stake in the ceiling of the catacomb underneath
Rome? I think it was DOMITILLA but it was 25 years ago I last saw it and then when I returned to see it again in 2007 and get a photo of it the catacomb was closed that day. :o( Anyway I asked a gardener through the fence if the painting is still there and he said yes. I wish I had a photo of it as it shows a 3rd century painting dying on a post not on a cross. There is also a statue in the Louvre with a man in the same position with his arms upright not spread out as is common in other statues. I thought it was interesting.
Though the actual appearance of the device upon which Christ died probably does not matter as much as some may think, several things suggest to me that the device was a tau cross. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words, and first century pictures may speak volumes to this question. Ben Witherington’s article from Mar/Apr 2013 issue cited two first century items of graffiti portraying Roman crucifixion, both of them indicating a tau shaped cross.
Another issue is practicality. A stipe permanently in place upon which the cross-piece along with the individual being crucified is lifted, is a much more practical and efficient means and method. The Romans, being, if nothing else, efficient, would have certainly developed the most practical, efficient means of dispatching their convicted criminals (or slaves that began annoying them).
And, though some discount tradition as balderdash, there is something to be said for the early Christian tradition indicating that Jesus was executed on a cross shaped device of execution. Since the prophetic “tree” would have indicated no specific shape or size, there would have no reason for the idea of a cross to have been fabricated. It seems reasonable that the oral tradition of the earliest believers would have maintained at least the shape of the instrument of the death of their Lord.
But I have experienced the saving power of Jesus in my own life, and know that He died for me, whatever the shape of the execution device.
surely Romans crucified people on both poles and crosses. But there are 3 excellent reasons to accept that Christ’s cross was indeed a… cross:
1. Latin terminology: palus = post, patibulum = crosspiece, sedile = seat, titulus = charge written on a tablet
2. the early graffiti found in a schoolroom in which one student ridicules another. The image has a human on a cross (not a pole) with a donkey head. The inscription reads “Alexamenos worships his god.” The original in in the museum on the Pallantine hill in Rome but you can find photos of this easily.
3. John 20:25 reads., “Unless I see in his hands (plural) the print of the nails (plural)…” So the typical Jehovah’s Witness drawing of one nail through two hands on a stake is biblically false.
Most of these who dislike the cross are from groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses who attack the cross in an effort to make the Christian church look inept, not to find historical accuracy.
We may as well explain to David and everybody that Psalms 22:16 REALLY says: “For dogs have encompassed me; a company of evil-doers have inclosed me; like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet.” עֲדַת מְרֵעִים, הִקִּיפוּנִי; כָּאֲרִי, יָדַי וְרַגְלָי.
As recipient of BA in psychology in the capitol many years ago, I still marvel at these societies in history using such graphic displays of what they perceive as punishment for transgressions. Even today in mid-east cutting off one’s head is very graphic, almost childish. Makes me feel that the perpetrators are totally insecure with conflict of values and use such means as they feel necessary. Insecure Romans? I guess so. Where are they today?
It is interesting indeed to think about how this particular man was executed, but we also remember the testimony of Josephus that, during the siege of Jerusalem, the Romans exercised their ingenuity in crucifying people in a wide variety of positions just to break the boredom for the numbers they were attaching to crosses. There was probably at least SOME variety in method throughout the period.
While “stauros” does lexically denote an upright post in most contexts, it is probably relevant to the discussion that the people actually doing the crucifying called their scaffolds “crux/cruces.” This is surely as important to thinking about the shape of the scaffold as the Greek word. So for now I shall refrain from singing “Beneath the Stake of Jesus” or “When I Survey the Wondrous Post” this Good Friday. 🙂
The testimony of the wounds in the Fourth Gospel postdates the events by at most seventy years. If nothing else, it should be taken as firm evidence that Romans were known to nail all the victim’s extremities at least a good part of the time during the first century. And those who handed on the tradition inscripted in the Fourth Gospel certainly had plenty of opportunities to see actual crucifixions (e.g., leading up and and during the Jewish War).
Daniel says
“Archaeology is a fine science, however, interpretation is often very subjective. For certain Christ was nailed to the tree, whatever the form. John (Lazarus) writes in the gospel of John: John 20:25
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
In the Old Testament, the book of Psalms says Psalm 22:16
Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
As much as this archaeological note says about crucifixion, it also ignores the biblical account of Christ’s wounds, implying in a deliberate way that the historical and prophetic accounts were in error or hyperbole. This is very bad hermeneutics and poorer historical regards for the text of the Bible.”
Learn some Hebrew. The phrase is “Like a Lion they are at my hands and feet” not unlike American saying of ” The dogs were nippin at my heel” Like a Lion is properly spelled
Kaf Aleph Resh Yud. If it was pierced it would spell the word Ku Resh Ayin VaV. Some Chrisitian apologists say that the Yud in lion should have been a VaV but was shortened by scribal error. Hence the word would be pierced but omit the fact that their is no Aleph if your looking to define it as pierced nor an the requisite Ayin which is part of the word pierced.
omnis traductor traditor every translator is a traitor
Sorry, no Messianic prophecy here.
The Ransom—God’s Greatest Gift
How did Jehovah provide the ransom? He sent one of his perfect spirit sons to the earth. But Jehovah did not send just any spirit creature. He sent the one most precious to him, his only-begotten Son. (Read 1 John 4:9, 10.) Willingly, this Son left his heavenly home.
Jehovah performed a miracle when he transferred the life of this Son to the womb of Mary. By means of God’s holy spirit, Jesus was born as a perfect human and was not under the penalty of sin.—Luke 1:35.
How could one man serve as a ransom for many, in fact, millions of humans? Well, how did humans numbering into the millions come to be sinners in the first place? Recall that by sinning, Adam lost the precious possession of perfect human life. Hence, he could not pass it on to his offspring. Instead, he could pass on only sin and death. Jesus, whom the Bible calls “the last Adam,” had a perfect human life, and he never sinned. (1 Corinthians 15:45) In a sense, Jesus stepped into Adam’s place in order to save us. By sacrificing, or giving up, his perfect life in flawless obedience to God, Jesus paid the price for Adam’s sin. Jesus thus brought hope to Adam’s offspring.—Romans 5:19; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22.
http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/memorial/
Crucifixion was almost certainly a function of locality & resources. There may have been many different methods of this execution depending upon how readily available wood was, how many men were carrying out the sentence, who the condemned was. Crassus crucified some 6,000 slaves after the Third Servile War, known as the Spartacus Revolt, along the Appian Way in 71 BC. I’m sure there were many different variations used; it is unlikely that they would have utilized the tremendous amount of wood required to carry out the sentence on slaves. It also wasn’t very long ago that most people – archaeologists even – believed that the nails were used on or through the hands. We now know this would never have held up and more than likely the nails were applied through the radii or arm bones.
Can you pick up your own body weight with your hands? Of course you can, then why wouldn’t the hands hold when nailed to a cross? The skin on ancient hands would be much thicker, due to the life they lived, a rough life, an external life in sun and rain, cold and heat. The idea that the hand structure was too weak to hold you on a cross is ludicrous. Try reading about industrial accidents involving the hands, how a ring on a finger could easily suspend an idividual in the air for hours and that’s one hand!
So, based on this single exemplar, the decision is made that this is “the way” Romans crucified people. It doesn’t seem like enough evidence to say that.
Throughout history different types of crosses have been used for crucifixions. The type used to hang Jesus on is irrelevant. That He was crucified for the sins of the world says it all.
Everything written with relation to the crucifixion is unreliable. No one was taking notes, and no one foresaw that a world religion would spring from the followers of the victim, therefore everything is anecdotal.
Also we have no real idea when Christianity ‘took off.’ when was the first century, was it after Constantine’s so called conversion. Did he say this is going to be the first, second, or third century, after Christ?
How would he determine from where to start and when exactly Jesus had died, unless the Romans were keeping records of every terrorist they executed, which I doubt, I would imagine that they would have been treated as non existent, in a way that the Japanese treated the soldiers who were not officer class.
I think is was many centuries later that someone had an idea to start the ball rolling.
The whole business of religion is born from the desires and beliefs and ambitions of human beings, there is nothing supernatural about it.
How anyone in their right minds in this day and age, believes in a being who is going to reward or punish them in some after life beggar’s belief.
Absolutely. Say the word ‘Christian’ to the Nazarenes, and they woudn’t have had a clue what you were talking about. The whole Christian concept is Pauline. The resurection the virgin birth, is all down to Saul/Paul. The word messiah meant king, and Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, was not determining a future supernatural individual, but a Jewish saviour as prophesised in the Tanakh. The Nicean Creed determined what was added to the pentateuch – the four Canonical Gospels, which contain even more errors than Donald Trump’s schlep lies. The whole deal is fake news….but that does not mean there is no God (whatever exactly that means).
Skepticism is also a faith in human reasoning, therefore not believing is also a religion which can’t be proved or disproved. So I choose
faith in Jesus is, though I can’t prove the resurrection I choose to believe it.
There are a number of images from the first and second centuries of Jesus or others on a cross not a stake. The JWs have this utterly unsupported idea of a stake based entirely on the earlier meaning of the word Stauros. It’s a bit like saying that a cupboard can only ever mean a board for cups! Words grow and expand their meaning. Or have a range of meaning. In this instance there is NO evidence that a stake was used , there is evidence that a cross was used. Thee is no reason to claim that the bible says stake it doesn’t, and that Jesus dieted on a stake …he didn’t. LOOK AT THe EVIDENCE!
The so-called presence of a cross in the cities destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius, are highly questionable. One such cross is now believed to be traces left by a set of bookshelves, Another looks strangely like the Egyptian ankh worshiped for centuries before Christ or possibly a so-called Staurogram which is a symbol found on a Herodian coin prior to Jesus’s execution. Archaeologists believe the cross didn’t appear till several hundred years later among (apostate) Christians. Jehovah’s Witnesses stopped using the cross in their magazines in the 1920s as outside evidence and improved Bible scholarship suggested strongly that the cross was actually a pole or stake. And most certainly in either case was not to be revered.or worshiped.
I see that there are still folks who want to change history and historical evidence to fit their belief system; by that I mean that there is obviously commentary by Jehovah’s Witnesses here who want to make stauros = stake to fit the teaching of the Watchtower Society. The closer to the springhead, the purer the water. A 20th century revision by a religious sect, versus historical evidence all the way back to the 1st century (e.g. cross image on the wall after the Vesuvius eruption, etc) is just wishful thinking or anti-Christian bias.
This article is woefully out of date and reflects my thoughts and research on the topic in the mid 1980’s. In the world of science ‘absolute truth lasts but ca 20 yrs…and I’ve changed over the years.
It’s interesting that the “cross” as a symbol was first used by early Coptic Christians, who initially used the Egyptian Ankh (“life”), and it didn’t originally have anything to do with the crucifixion per se. This subsequently morphed into the Latin cross as we have it today, and the various other cruciform decorations that evolved from that (fairly quickly). Fascinating article – thanks!
The Roman method of a public hanging was on a post, not a cross.
Since we don’t know the girth, length or type of wood, we most go by the Bible’s statement that it was a stake or pole that Jesus dragged to the place of execution. They eventually had to enlist help for him.
From a purely logical perspective that accepts that the Biblical account’s details are accurate and genuine, it HAD to be a crossbeam that was carried to the place of crucifixion. The length and weight of a single beam would have been virtually impossible for any human to carry. Do the math.
A 2×4 of hardwood such as oak was easily big enough and strong enough, but an entire cross made of oak would have been horribly heavy.
John-I am strongly inclined to believe that Jesus died on a stake based on evidence presented by other writers above. Roman historian, Seneca the Younger’s words were actually “stretch out your arms on the gibbet”. At times the gibbet was a vertical stake, called in Latin “crux simplex”. This was the simplest available construction for torturing and killing. The Greek words used for Jesus execution in the NT were “stauros” (a stake or pole)or “xy’lon”(tree or stake). So whatever other methods of execution were used in the 1st century, the Bible says Jesus died on a stake. Peter himself said at I Peter 2:24 that Jesus died on a tree (xy’lon, tree or stake). Bibles translations that translate either of these words as “cross” are probably influenced by the adoption of the pagan cross by later apostate Christianity. As already mentioned it has become a thing of idolatrous worship. I shudder to think what people would wear around their neck if Jesus had been hanged.
Steven your assertion that it was a simple up right post is not born out from early first century records. Seneca [37AD] stated criminals were crucified with arms outstretched, the Way Jesus said that Peter would be Crucified.
According to Josephus at the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD the crosses were as thick as a forest, therefore there was no scarcity of wood as this article suggested.
Considering the scarcity of large local timber, why use nails at all. It seems as though nails being continuously driven in and removed would have weakened the vertical timber to such an extent that after a few crucifixions it would no longer sustain the weight of a man. Rope ties would be a better choice. However, in the case of Jesus, nails were used as a means to ridicule his message of his resurrection; a form of mockery.
Scholarship’s radical swing to looking at everything, but the Bible for its data has become quite ridiculous. Whether one believes the Bible to be a supernatural document is quite different than using it as an historical source when it comes to these things. Obviously, since the writers are familiar with crucifixion in the first century and give some vivid details of Christ’s crucifixion, one might have a look at that as a piece of evidence for what may have occurred in some or all cases. Perhaps, nailing one’s hands/wrists were a way of making sure the criminal did not squirm out of the ropes? Bring the data together. Ignoring major pieces of it because of a bias against usi9ng ANY biblical data is absurd.
Personally, I have no theological interest in the method of crucifixion used in the case of Jesus or any other cases, but it is an interesting question of historical trivia and anatomy. It is fortunate indeed that the Romans abandoned crucifixion when they began to worship someone who had been crucified (not that cruel punishments in general were abandoned; witness the abuses of the Inquisition, or being hanged, drawn, AND quartered). But it is unfortunate for historians that so little contemporary literary or archeological evidence has been found: one heel bone out of all the millions of victims in Roman history!
One reason may be that most of the victims were Greco-Roman pagans, who generally practiced cremation, not burial, in the case of the few victims returned to a family for funerary rituals. However, many, perhaps the majority, were deliberately left on the cross (or stake) to decompose, adding to the indignity AND the warning to passers-by. Governments have often considered executed criminals to be unworthy of their culture’s usual funeral rituals (see Electra in Greek drama; and even today, while executed criminals in most states are returned to their families for burial, Texas confiscates the bodies and buries them in a prison graveyard with only numbered markers, indexed in the prison archives; and hanged criminals in the Old West and the Caribbean were often allowed to rot on the gallows). Any heel bones or wrist bones with nails would have been scattered over the landscape by scavenging animals in this case.
The Biblical accounts are not contemporary, since they are based upon recollections, possibly second- or third-hand recollections, and may have been edited for theological reasons (as other parts of the text have been shown to be edited). One possible theological reason may have to do with Constantine’s vision of the cross in the sky before the battle which won him the Imperium. A common optical artifact when looking at an extremely bright point or small disk is a pair of apparent “rays” at 90 degree intervals, so Constantine probably saw a cross when a small meteor passed over some distance away. If the “cross” shape was ONE of the common forms of the execution stake, and the Christians around him pointed out that Jesus was crucified, then as Emperor, Constantine could have influenced the bishops to promote the common impression of a pair of boards at right angles, which MAY or may NOT have been the historical fact of the matter, in order to reinforce his confidence in his vision.
As for nails in both hands and feet, it is not inconceivable that the single-stake method could have involved nailing (after tying with ropes) the hands above the head on opposite sides of the stake, OR EQUALLY, nailing (after tying) the hands to a crossbar. Both methods would add increased pain (which the Romans obviously wanted), and both would produce four nail wounds. Lacking a theological reason to prefer one over the other (for this PARTICULAR victim), we can leave it up to individual imagination, and artistic license in making paintings or sculptures. It belongs in the same category as what race Jesus was; as the song says, little children (and adults) imagine a Jesus the same race as themselves, to increase their feeling of love and connection to their Savior. Likewise, whatever fits your feeling about how much He suffered for you is appropriate; but watch out if you find yourself imagining more and more gruesome pain, because you may actually be imagining yourself torturing someone ELSE!
Not the Crucifixion but the Resurrection was the demonstration of His, and although hidden by our doubts, our oneness with the Father.
Archaeology is a fine science, however, interpretation is often very subjective. For certain Christ was nailed to the tree, whatever the form. John (Lazarus) writes in the gospel of John: John 20:25
So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
In the Old Testament, the book of Psalms says Psalm 22:16
Yea, dogs are round about me; a company of evildoers encircle me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
As much as this archaeological note says about crucifixion, it also ignores the biblical account of Christ’s wounds, implying in a deliberate way that the historical and prophetic accounts were in error or hyperbole. This is very bad hermeneutics and poorer historical regards for the text of the Bible.
Dan Moran.
I’m curious as to why it is assumed that the arms were roped to the beam. With both heels nailed in place, the crucified man would hold on to the beam with no need for other support.
Saying that the crucifixion of Jesus was God the Father’s idea to endure the painful sequence that the sentence of crucifixion inflicts on a person just to die for other men’s sins goes beyond logic. Makes no sense what so ever, thus “senseless” Not suggesting this did not take place, rather this particular execution did… in fact, just as countless others by the hand of Roman rules & law. This account has been embellished on so many times that facts are buried under the writings of those who wish to promote their ideologies .
This article unfortunately continues the tradition of the “cross” when Romans routinely simple nailed people to a POST, hands above the head, with no cross beam. The word used does NOT mean cross and was just a mistranslation by people who had fortunately never seen a crucifixion. Indeed, try to imagine Roman soldiers wasting all the time needed to create the kind of jointed cross that is usually seen in artworks while they banged up 500 to 1000 people along a road. Incidentally, the fact that the word means a large piece of wood and could be better translated post or staff depending on context makes the comment of Jesus sending out his disciples the last time, when he predicted troubles a lot more sensible. Take a big stick or staff along. NOT a “Cross” for ******** sake. Forgive me thinking of the word which fit’s best there. Let’s just say for “Pete’s” sake.
So was it a upright pole stake or a cross?
What type of Wood was used in the Roman’s crucifixions? during the time of Jesus?
If Roman executioners used crucifixion on a regular basis, it would require reusable tools for the task. Wooden beams with pre drilled holes, iron fortified wooden dowels, ordinary rope, and fixed post holes make up for an efficient method to get the job done. Securing the victim to the beam or cross would be a method to insure the body would be supported until the public execution was completed. The body would be removed and most of the cross would be used again for the next execution. Nothing suggests the description in the Bible is inaccurate as to the piercing of the hands and feet. The fastening to the beam or “prospegnumi” (Greek), indicative of fastening with a “peg”, carries the idea of both rope and dowels used in fastening to a wooden beam. The nine times the word phrase “nailed to a cross” is used in Christian Scripture can be compared with similar usage in the LXX and contemporary sources. No conclusive evidence exists to state as Bill O’Reilly does in his book “Killing Jesus”, that Christ was not nailed to a cross. That opinion assumes much more about the Roman method of execution than actual facts support. Jesus was likely attached to a wooden beam by use of both ropes and pegs.
The Bible’s answer
Many view the cross as the most common symbol of Christianity. However, the Bible does not describe the instrument of Jesus’ death, so no one can know its shape with absolute certainty. Still, the Bible provides evidence that Jesus died, not on a cross, but on an upright stake.
The Bible generally uses the Greek word stau·ros′ when referring to the instrument of Jesus’ execution. (Matthew 27:40; John 19:17) Although translations often render this word “cross,” many scholars agree that its basic meaning is actually “upright stake.” * According to A Critical Lexicon and Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament, stau·ros′ “never means two pieces of wood joining each other at any angle.”
The Bible also uses the Greek word xy′lon as a synonym for stau·ros′. (Acts 5:30; 1 Peter 2:24) This word means “wood,” “timber,” “stake,” or “tree.” * The Companion Bible thus concludes: “There is nothing in the Greek of the N[ew] T[estament] even to imply two pieces of timber.”
Is using the cross in worship acceptable to God?
A crux simplex—the Latin term for a single stake used for impalement of a criminal
Regardless of the shape of the instrument on which Jesus died, the following facts and Bible verses indicate that we should not use the cross in worship.
God rejects worship that uses images or symbols, including the cross. God commanded the Israelites not to use “the form of any symbol” in their worship, and Christians are likewise told to “flee from idolatry.”—Deuteronomy 4:15-19; 1 Corinthians 10:14.
First-century Christians did not use the cross in worship. * The teachings and example of the apostles set a pattern that all Christians should adhere to.—2 Thessalonians 2:15.
Use of the cross in worship has a pagan origin. * Hundreds of years after the death of Jesus, when the churches had deviated from his teachings, new church members “were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols,” including the cross. (The Expanded Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words) However, the Bible does not condone adopting pagan symbols to help make new converts.—2 Corinthians 6:17.
There is a practice in the devoutly Catholic nation of the Philippines by which some pious Christians practice penance by having themselves partially crucified in the manner by which Jesus was traditionally crucified. They have found it necessary to support the arms with ropes, using the more modern, smoother, straighter and thinner nails only to provide the additional pain. Of course, they are cut down before irreparable damage is done. There have been medical tests done on (donated) cadavers which show that attempting to hold the weight of the body up solely by nails in the palms merely tears the palms open; while doing so with nails just above the wrists, between the arm bones, just barely holds up the body.
From a humanitarian viewpoint alone, we should be thankful that we know so little about the process. While no country with Christianity as its primary heritage would revive the practice, non-Christian as well as Christian countries are either more humane than ancient Rome (admittedly a very low bar) or would not give up the efficiency of shooting, hanging or beheading for such a slow process, except possibly as a means of interrogation. I am not sure whether the Nazis experimented with crucifixion; I doubt it, because even though there was an “inside the SS” movement to revive Norse paganism, the majority of Germans, even of the Nazis, believed themselves to be, theologically at least, Christians.
I think there are two types of Roman crucifixion: Nailing to a cross and being tied to a cross.
Nailing to a cross is “less severe” and “less humiliating” as the condemned dies within a day from loss of blood.
Tying to a cross is the most severe form of punishment usually reserved for robbers. Insects invited by the stench from the body fluid crawl in and out of the condemned’s crevices. Birds will perch and take a bite on the face and body. Lower abdomen will bulge because of the falling internal organs. The condemned goes mentally-ill shouting, laughing, pleading to be killed but death comes after several days to a week.
As to the vertical pole, whatever was available, an existing one from previous execution or a tree. The body examined was probably of a condemned thief.
How high above the ground would it be to the top of the head of the cricified?