Scholars have long assumed that early Christians did not depict Jesus’ crucifixion however, a christogram symbol depicting Jesus’ crucifixion sets the date back by 150-200 years. The Bible History Daily feature Roman Crucifixion Methods Reveal the History of Crucifixion includes a full “Scholars’ Corner: New Analysis of the Crucified Man,” by Hershel Shanks. In death his bones have helped fill in gaps in the history of crucifixion.īelow, read the original report from BAR written by Vassilios Tzaferis about his excavation of the tomb of Yehohanan in Jerusalem. Yehohanan was probably a political dissident against Roman oppression. Both legs were badly fractured, most likely from a crushing blow meant to end his suffering and bring about a faster death. His arm bones revealed scratches where the nails had passed between. Both of his feet had been nailed together to the cross with a wooden plaque while his legs were bent to one side. A year later, after the flesh had desiccated, the bones were collected into an ossuary and left in the tomb with those of other family members.Įxamination of Yehohanan’s bones showed one of the many Roman crucifixion methods. During the Roman period (first century B.C.–first century A.D.) Jews who could afford this type of burial would lay out the dead bodies of loved ones on stone benches in rock-cut tombs. This ossuary, along with several others, had been placed in a tomb complex consisting of two chambers and 12 burial niches. The bones were found in an ossuary, or bone box, inscribed several times with Yehohanan’s name (“Yehohanan son of Hagakol”). The convicted could sometimes hang in agony for days before expiring.ĭespite the long history of crucifixion in antiquity, the discovery of Yehohanan’s remains offered scientists the first opportunity to study the process of crucifixion and Roman crucifixion methods up close. During times of war or rebellion, crucifixions could number in the hundreds or thousands. As Roman crucifixion methods evolved, however, it became a means to execute foreign captives, rebels and fugitives. Initially the practice served only as a punishment and humiliation, usually for slaves, and did not necessarily result in death. Even so, the most detailed accounts are of Roman crucifixion methods. The history of crucifixion extends as far back as the Assyrians, Phoenicians and Persians of the first millennium B.C., as well as some Greeks throughout the Hellenized world. The Romans were not the only people to practice crucifixion in antiquity. The discovery shed new light on Roman crucifixion methods and began to rewrite the history of crucifixion in antiquity. The practice of crucifixion in antiquity was brought to life as never before when the heel bones of a young man named Yehohanan were found in a Jerusalem tomb, pierced by an iron nail.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |