The origins of the torture date to as early as ancient Babylon, with the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1772 BCE) detailing the punishment of impalement for women convicted of murdering her husband. . Starting with the dragging of the individual, fastened to a hurdle drawn by horse, from the site of imprisonment to their place of execution, along the route he would be pelted with rotten food and excrement by the public. The captives I have killed by the sword and flung on the dung heap. When the Assyrian king Seenacherib invaded Babylon, he wiped them off the map. They were known for ruthless battle tactics and The victim was forced to carry their crossbeam to the place of public execution, weighing an estimated 100 lbs, where they would be displayed. It has been suggested, without corroboration, that these candles were used as decorations during formal parties held by Nero. This is often referred to as flaying alive. Ashurbanipal was the king of Assyria from 668 to 627 BC, and he was apparently quite gifted intellectually. Instituted as the legal penalty for men convicted of high treason in 1352, although existing unofficially since the reign of Henry III, the condemned man would suffer a litany of successive violations, humiliations, and pains before his eventual death. These kind of artifacts are very common. The Iraq Government, as was anticipated, employed methods to cause dissension among the Assyrians, taking on its side certain individuals with whom Thomson was instructed to carry out Iraq's policy. Adriana John If the individual survives the initial shock and avoids critical loss of blood during the torture, then they will likely die days later due to infection. At least two individuals, Richard Roose and Margaret Davy, in 1531 and 1542 respectively, are known to have suffered this particular fate before abandonment under Edward VI in 1547. Differing from immurement by both method and intent, those subjected to premature burial are interred with the purpose of execution, and, in contrast to the entombing of persons within walls, the victims die far quicker when buried. Pressing as a form of punishment dates back to the 13th century in England. Exported by Europeans during the Age of Exploration, this method of torture is documented as occurring as far away as French-controlled Louisiana and in British-controlled India during the 18th century. The method was done by breaking the criminals bones and bludgeoning them to death. Searing or cutting the flesh from the body was sometimes used as part of the public execution of traitors in medieval Europe. Overhead, the men inside the engine were protected by wooden plates covered in damp animal skins that put out the flaming arrows the defenders fired from above. The Assyrians were known for being very barbaric when it came to torturing slaves and prisoners of war. The fragment above is part of the Stele of Vultures. However, a 2008 Mythbusters investigation verified that bamboo shoots can penetrate several inches of ballistic gelatin (comparable in strength to the human skin) in less than three days. Shakespeare referenced the practice in The Winters Tale, whilst the legendary fictitious hunter Allan Quartermain experiences a vision of the brutal technique. The Assyrians The Appalling Lords of Torture | Lessons from History Write Sign up Sign In 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. Tortured by the Syrian Bashar al-Assad regime in prison for seven years, Muhlis al-Drubi cannot forget the horrors he experienced, including having boiling water poured over him and reverse hanging. The city and its houses, from its foundations to its top, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire, Seenacherib declared. The fragment above is part of the Stele of Vultures. December 23, 2019, 10:09 am, by Unlike immurement, where the victims suffer for days or possibly weeks, those buried alive most commonly die long before dehydration takes effect. During the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) 100 cuts were traditional, after which the condemned was dispatched with a strike to the heart; by the time of the Ming, records indicate as many as 3,000 cuts were made over as long as three days. The principle of crushing bones and limbs was a popular form of torture in medieval times, mainly because the devices used were simple to design and make. In the case of very crime for which there is penalty of the cutting-off of ear or nose, the law said, as it is written it shall be carried out.. Wikimedia Commons. It was one of the ideas that made Assyria so strong. Wardah Hajra Wikimedia Commons. . Commonly resulting in the dislocation of the arms and shoulders, the longer-term effects of the method are less visible, causing lifelong nerve, ligament, and tendon damage leading to potential paralysis. Accused of attending anti-regime protests, al-Drubi, 42, was detained in 2012. The early Assyrians were a warrior society. The most recent confirmed case occurred in New Jersey in 2010, when David Wax threatened a kidnap victim with rat torture. Activists are now calling on Congress to place more sanctions . There, the prisoners suffered being coated in pitch, oil and other flammable substances, before being set alight. The strappado, also known as corda, is a longstanding, simple, but nonetheless effective method of torture involving tying a victims hands behind their back. Among the alleged cruelties bestowed upon these religious minorities was the so-called Roman Candle. Many countries surrendered. The practice of flaying was popularized under the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the 9th century BCE, with carvings dating to the reign of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883-859 BCE) depicting the gruesome details. Known to have existed since the earliest days of the Qin dynasty, it became a popular practice during the reign of Emperor Tianzuo of the Liao dynasty and more so under the Song. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact. In the year 64 of the Common Era, the Great Fire of Rome devastated large parts of the imperial city. 0 A military culture. In September 1611, Dionysios the Philosopher (or. The result was one of the strongest armies in the world. 10, The Strappado, by Jacques Callot (c. 1633). Either way, torture will never NOT be disturbing, so readers should be warned that this list is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. The Assyrian empire dominated Mesopotamia and all of the Near East for the first half of the first millennium B.C.E., led by a series of highly ambitious and aggressive warrior kings. HBO. N')].uJr Its origin dates back to 530 A.D., And throughout the years, people have come up with new ways to perform these torturous acts probably hoping to obtain the truth efficiently or just to satisfy their sick pleasures. Torturers would then use knives to make cuts on their. The method was done by tying the victim in a wooden frame and then cutting the flesh in varied, multiple and non-deadly slices. The Assyrian soldiers were trained in siege warfare, battle tactics, and hand-to-hand . He was executed by pressing. (s.`Y fI2q-y6ZS?8,FYMe 8yj3O ,. Anyone from slaves to prisoners of war could be subject to fear inducing acts of punishment. Jung provides some examples of this triumphant rhetoric. Flaying, also known as skinning, is a method of torture (and often execution) whereby the skin of the victim is gradually removed from the body in a precise fashion. The Zhengde Emperor flayed six rebels,[9] and Zhang Xianzhong also flayed many people. And, it was described as one of the most cruel and graphic torture methods ever used. Using this method of torture would require the victim to be stripped and suspended above the device. 10. Annemasse. After the collapse of the Akkadians, Assyria gradually emerged as an independent political power around the 14th century BCE. Multiple methods exist to accomplish the violent feat, including transversal or longitudinal impalement and bears striking similarities to bamboo torture. I flayed many right through my land and draped their skins over the walls, he boasts in one. A dead animal may be flayed when preparing it to be used as human food, or for its hide or fur. Ernst G. Jung, in his Kleine Kulturgeschichte der Haut ("A short cultural history of the skin"), provides an essay in which he outlines the Neo-Assyrian tradition of flaying human beings. The purpose of the stele is to display the power and ferocity of the Lagashistes. This excruciating method has been used throughout history ever since then, and probably before as well. CONTENTS. 2y.-;!KZ ^i"L0- @8(r;q7Ly&Qq4j|9 Some crimes were dealt with in savage ways. & 636BC, "Hypatia and pagan philosophical culture in the later fourth century", 1575 Painting: The Flaying of Marsyas, by Titian, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flaying&oldid=1142268127, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Vasak Mamikonyan, commander-in-chief of the Armenian army during the reign of, In 1314, the brothers Aunay, who were lovers of the daughters-in-law of king. He would then be planted straight on the ground and left for exposure. xref The namesake for this torture was the Christian martyr, Saint Catherine. Executions have often served as a kind of revenge, a way of inflicting pain and mental torture on the convict. Top 10 risk factors an airplane is in danger, 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time, 10 Biggest Celebrity Scandals and Controversies of Hollywood, Hot Bolivian Women: Meet The 10 Most Beautiful Girl from Bolivia, Top 10 Most Beautiful and Hottest Cambodian Women, The 10 best women volleyball players in the world. 5 The Torture Of The Survivors. The horrors and the guilt of murdering and torturing innocent people wreaked havoc on their psyches. The use of rats in this manner is believed to have originated in Europe, with two variants of the practice emerging concurrently. The ultimately fatal fires were started from the feet, in order to prolong the suffering for those so condemned. [6] The Hongwu Emperor flayed many servants, officials and rebels. wn As a method of both torture and execution, impalement consists of the aggressive penetration of victims by a pole. Since the victim would most likely lose consciousness after one or two severe wounds. trailer Using humans are the base substance akin to the wax foundations of a candle, these victims were tied to stakes in the imperial garden for the amusement of the deranged Emperor. The latter depicted in the popular television series Vikings, is recorded in the Tale of Ragnars Sons, describing the English kings torture at the hands of Ivar the Boneless. Middle Assyrian Period. Originally described in Plutarchs Life of Artaxerxes II, the first recorded, if challenged, use of scaphism was against a Persian soldier named Mithridates in 401 BCE. @#2:0D)5@SH(*@6C Wikimedia Commons. The act of inflicting physical or psychological pain upon an individual, torture has served both a human as well as a judicial function since our earliest emergence into recorded history. 0000001680 00000 n A dead animal may be flayed when preparing it to be used as human food, or for its hide or fur. Immurement, derived from the later im in and murus wall, literally comprises the entombing of an individual inside a wall or enclosed space without means of exit. The judges of ancient Babylon were particularly enthusiastic. Then the inquisitor would heat up the other end of the cage, leaving the panicked rats with no choice but to eat their way out through the victims flesh. Every young man was expected to train as a warrior and be ready to fight. nQt}MA0alSx k&^>0|>_',G! . The miseries of war: No. by 0000002778 00000 n (AFP/GETTY IMAGES). When it comes to psychological warfare in the form of sheer brutality, impalement wasn't the only thing the ancient Assyrians turned tothey had other methods of scaring the life out of their neighbors. Refresh the page, check Medium 's site status, or. The Judas Cradle is a stool-shaped torture device with a pyramid structure on top. The victims bones would be crushed and would sometimes burst through the skin. updated September 15, 2018, 9:16 pm, The 10 Most Gruesome Ancient Torture Methods, Top 10 Forgotten Princesses Adapted in Comics, 10 Disturbing Photographs Telling Tales of Disaster, The 10 Most Influential Photos of All Time, 10 Most Famous Samurai Warriors in History, Top 10 curiosities about cats in the ancient Egypt, Top 10 Crazy Hoaxes and Conspiracy Theories About Corona Virus, The 10 Most Interesting Super Mario Conspiracy Theories, Top 10 Controversial Boxing Decisions in History, Why do planes crash? If the king was merciful, they would be sent to a ruined kingdom on the outskirts of the nation that would be forced to rebuild. Known to have been used as a punishment prior to the Roman civilization, appearing in ancient Persia, Macedon, and Carthage, Alexander the Great famously order the crucifixions of 2,000 survivors of the siege of Tyre in 332 BCE. While some claimed that it was a fast procedure which lasted from 15 to 20 minutes. For example, Neo-Assyrian kings used it to punish rebel leaders. Syrian man, 42 recounts horrors in regime imprisonment, from having boiling water poured over him to reverse hanging. Originally used by the Spanish Inquisition and other Holy Orders of the Middle Ages as part of interrogations, including against legendary Italian author Niccol Machiavelli in 1513, the practice endured well into the Modern Age. Dermatologist Ernst G. Jung notes that the typical causes of death due to flaying are shock, critical loss of blood or other body fluids, hypothermia, or infections, and that the actual death is estimated to occur from a few hours up to a few days after the flaying. His prolonged exposure and his flesh rotting away due to his own filth and the insects devouring him would eventually lead to his horrifying demise. A Judas Cradle, on display at the Museum of Torture in Freiburg, Germany. and there were a lot of them. The former, a bi-pronged fork attached to a belt around the victims neck, unflinchingly secured the angle of the head. under the powerful northern Mesopotamian state of Mitanni, Assyria's fortunes revived in the reign of Ashur-uballit I (1365-1330 B.C.). n3kGz=[==B0FX'+tG,}/Hh8mW2p[AiAN#8$X?AKHI{!7. I let the leaders of the conquered cities be flayed, and clad the city walls with their skins. Assyrian International News Agency Books Online www.aina.org. Regarding the latter, it has been claimed the Vestal Virgins of Rome faced immurement should they break their vows of chastity as a trial by ordeal to prove devotion. For example, Neo-Assyrian kings used it to punish rebel leaders. The condemned sailors limbs would be tied and he would be repeatedly plunged beneath the ships keel on one side and hoisted up on the other. The nobles and elders of the city came out to me to save their lives, he declared. Diederik Sonoy, an ally of the revolts leader, William of Orange, allegedly used pottery bowls filled with rats to enact the torture and elicit information. Accordingly, depending on the whims of the torturer, weights might be added to the legs of the victim to hasten their demise. They brought us to the military base in the village of Dayr al-Shimal in western Hama, where they beat us with plastic tubes," he told Anadolu Agency. [7][8] Hai Rui suggested that his emperor flay corrupt officials. Involving the severing of the ribs from the spin using a sharp implement, the victims lungs are subsequently pulled through the space created and draped over their shoulders to create the illusion of wings. Torture methods are known to be brutal ways of enforcing punishment and squeezing out the truth from perpetrators. %%EOF Keelhauling, which dates back in 800 B.C. (e.g. Individuals locked into the device would find themselves unable to eat, sleep, or even lie down. Kesselring, The English Historical Review (September 2001), Judas Cradle: Torture Device, Medievalist.com, Crime and Punishment in England: An Introductory History, John Briggs, Palgrave Macmillan (1996), The Tudor Law of Treason, John Bellamy, Routledge & Kegan Paul (1979), Execution: A Guide to the Ultimate Penalty, Geoffrey Abbott, Summersdale Publishers (2005), Dispensing Justice: Responses to Crime, Baron David James George Hennessy Windlesham, Clarendon Press, 1987, The Instruments of Torture, Michael Kerrigan, Lyons Press (2001), The Spectacle of Suffering: Executions and the Evolution of Repression from a Preindustrial Metropolis to the European Experience, Pieter C. Spierenburg, Cambridge University Press (1984), Rituals of Retribution: Capital Punishment in Germany 1600-1987, Richard J. Evans, Oxford University Press (May 9, 1996), Torture and Democracy, Darius Rejali, Princeton University Press (2007), The Lives They Lived: The Prisoner, Jonathan Mahler, The New York Times (December 25, 2005), The A to Z of Punishment and Torture: From Amputations to Zero Tolerance, Irene Thompson, Book Guild Publishing (2008), The Walled-up Wife: A Casebook, Mircea Elliade and Alan Dundes, University of Wisconsin Press (1996), The Brief History Of The Brazen Bull, John DeVore, Nov 19, 2016. As with all human endeavors, we gradually perfected the art of torture over the centuries, refining the necessary tools to inflict the greatest possible pain upon our unfortunate victims. endstream endobj 452 0 obj<>/W[1 1 1]/Type/XRef/Index[57 377]>>stream After the hell that women of all eras have suffered after wars, they and their children would be led off into slavery. A Breast Ripper, on display at a torture museum in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany (c. 15th century). The executioner would not make the victim bleed too much in order to prolong the torture before the final and fatal cut to the throat or heart would be made. The device is rarely washed, so the victim either dies from impalement or infection. Flaying, also known as skinning, was a torture method which originated from 883-859 BC and documented in both carvings and official royal edicts. Torturemuseum.net. The convicted would be taken to a public stage and tied on the floor. This method was allegedly used in the 20th century by Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet. Lingchi, also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of execution used in China from around 900 AD until it was banned in 1905. Ormerod, Dorset Press (1987), Von Ursprung des Schindens in Assyrien, Ernst G. Jung, in Kleine Kultrugeschichte der Haut, Spring Verlag (2007), Buried Alive: The Terrifying History of Our Most Primal Fear, Jan Bondeson, W.W. Norton & Company (2002), Vampires, Burial and Death: Folklore and Reality, Paul Barber University Press (1988), Crucifixion in Antiquity: An Inquiry into the Background and Significance of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion, Gunnar Samuelsson, Mohr Siebeck Publishing (2013), Crucifixion in the Roman World: The Use of Nails at the Time of Christ, John C. Robison, Studia Antiqua (June 2002), Death by a Thousand Cuts, Timothy Brook, Jerome Bourgon, and Gregory Blue, Harvard University Press (2008), The Cambridge Ancient History: Assyria and Babylon, c. 1370-1300 B.C., C.J. A criminal was locked inside the device via a door on its side and a fire was then lit underneath, slowly burning. Scaphism was a Persian method of execution. 0000005655 00000 n The blood eagle - a ritualized method of torture and execution allegedly practiced by the Norse Vikings - opened up the ribs of the victim to craft their lungs into wings. Louvre, Tello (ancient Girsu). . Most famously, bamboo torture was alleged to have been used during World War II by the Japanese Empire against Allied prisoners of war. Scaphism, also known as the boats, is a disputed method of Persian torture and execution. Crucifixion, an ancient method of capital punishment, is perhaps the most famous means of torture in history due to its association with the Christian narrative of Jesus. The cutting off of feet, lips and noses, blinding, gutting and the ripping out of the heart were all standard punishments in this corner of the ancient world (Hamblin). $iU-PGiSit::")SD.@&qk=mUi/6d07*w` [1] Hypothermia is possible, as skin provides natural insulation and is essential for maintaining body temperature. Sometimes, the executioner would be instructed to aim for the convicts heart or neck to cause immediate death. Gradually declining, by 1813 the practice started to be outlawed, with the last known execution by the wheel known to have occurred taking place in Prussia in 1841. They'd cut off the tongues of their captives so their screaming wouldn't be as loud when they were skinned alive. Keelhauling, taking its name from the Dutch Kielhalen meaning to drag along the keel, was a torturous punishment inflicted upon sailors whilst at sea. In the ancient Far East, where there were large states peopled by many different ethnicities, leaders demonstrated their might by inventing ingenious new tortures and agonizing methods of execution as a way to keep the population obedient. Neros Torches, depicting the martyrdom of a group of early Christians in Rome, by Henryk Siemiradzki (c. 1876). The Assyrians created tablets that showed them torturing their enemies to let the next city know what was coming. A millennium later, the Neo-Assyrian King Sennacherib (r. 705-681 BCE) is recorded as impaling surviving Judeans after the Siege of . Here are our sources: Japanese Torture Techniques, BBC (August 8, 2005), The Rise of the Dutch Republic, John Lothrop Motley, Bickers & Son (1883), The Pictorial History of England, George Lillie Craik and Charles McFarlane, Nabu Press (2010), Medieval Punishments: An Illustrated History of Torture, William Andrews, Skyhorse Publishing (2013), The Big Book of Pain: Torture & Punishment Through History, Mark P. Donnelly and Daniel Diehl, History Press Limited (2011), Amazing True Stories of Execution Blunders: Ghastly Blunders on the Scaffold, Geoffrey Abbott, Summersdale Publishing (2006), A Draft of the 1531 Acte for Poysoning', K.J.
