Crucifixion misconceptions in medicine studies

Excerpt

Over the last few decades, the field of medicine has paid significant attention to the causes of death by crucifixion. This medical interest parallels renewed interest in crucifixion in New Testament studies (albeit from a predominantly historical perspective). Unfortunately, there is little interaction between the medical and historical branches of academic research. In both fields (New Testament studies and, more generally, historical studies and medicine) however, erroneous assumptions about the practice of crucifixion remain. Looking to some recent medical articles on crucifixion, the historian must conclude that there are some misconceptions and some outright errors in the (mostly brief) descriptions of crucifixion. To start with the question of the nature of crucifixion, quite recently, Byard defined crucifixion as “suspending a victim by his or her arms from a cross beam until death occurs” [1]. However, according to major crucifixion scholars, such as Chapman [2, 3], Samuelsson [4] and Cook [5], the phrase “from a cross beam” is too specific, and based on historical sources, it is questionable whether crucifixion always implies suspension from a crossbeam. This concept is particularly clear in the first century writings of Seneca (Dial. 6.20.3) and Josephus (Bell. 5.449–51); soldiers were inventive when it came to the method of crucifying their victims. …