Crucifixion

:Crucify redirects here. For the song, see Crucify (song).

Location of the nails

For the sake of expediency, the victim was probably affixed to the cross by ropes, nails, or some combination of the two. In popular depictions of crucifixion (possibly derived from a literal reading of the translated description in the Gospel of John, of Jesus' wounds being "in the hands"), the victim is shown supported only by nails driven straight through the feet and the palms of the hands. However, the flesh of the hands cannot support a person's body weight, so some other means must have been used to support most of the weight, such as tying the wrists to the cross beam.

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Another 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 and the ulna). The nails could also be driven through the wrist, in a space between four carpal bones (which is the location shown in the Shroud of Turin). As some historians have suggested, the Gospel word χειρ (cheir) that is translated as "hand" may have in fact included everything below the mid-forearm. Indeed, Acts 12:7 uses this word to report chains falling off from Peter's "hands", although the chains would be around what we would call "wrists". This shows that the semantic range of χειρ is wider than the English "hand", and can incorporate nails through the wrist.

Related Topics:
Radius - Ulna - Carpal - Shroud of Turin

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Another possibility, suggested by Frederick Zugibe, is that the nails may have been driven in on 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.

Related Topics:
Frederick Zugibe - Carpal tunnel

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A sedile, or a seat, was often attached to the cross, for the purpose of taking the man's weight off the wrists. This was most likely a simple peg or slab of wood, upon which the man would rest. A nail was often placed through the penis, into the sedile, as a means of securing the male to the seat.

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Cause of death

Death could come in hours or days, depending on exact methods, the health of those crucified, and environmental circumstances.

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A theory attributed to Pierre Barbet holds that the typical cause of death was asphyxiation. He conjectured that when the whole body weight was supported by the stretched arms, the victim would have severe difficulty exhaling, due to hyper-expansion of the lungs. The victim would therefore have to draw himself up by his arms, or have his feet supported by tying or by a wood block. Indeed, Roman executioners were said to break the victim's legs, after he had hung for some time, in order to hasten his death. Once deprived of support and unable to lift himself, the victim would die within a few minutes.

Related Topics:
Pierre Barbet - Asphyxiation

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If death did not come from asphyxiation, it could result from a number of other causes, including physical shock caused by the scourging that preceded the crucifixion, and the nailing itself, dehydration, and exhaustion.

Related Topics:
Shock - Scourging - Dehydration

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Experiments by Frederick Zugibe have 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. Zugibe claims that the breaking of the crucified victim's legs to hasten death, mentioned in the Gospel accounts, was done in order to cause severe traumatic shock or death by fat embolism, and only as a coup de grace. 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.

Related Topics:
Frederick Zugibe - Embolism - Coup de grace

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