Scenes of similar punishments can be seen on excavated Assyrian materials. There are also records of people flayed after death, generally as a means of debasing the corpse of a prominent enemy or criminal, sometimes related to religious beliefs (e.g. Assyrian national history, as it has been preserved for us in inscriptions and pictures, consists almost solely of military campaigns and battles. Utilizing a simple design, the victim would be strapped atop the chair and forced to support themselves solely with their legs for an indefinite period of time. 434 19 And, Aztecs of Mexico flayed victims as part of their human sacrifice rituals, and many more. The carvings show that the actual flaying process might begin at various places on the body, such as at the crus (lower leg), the thighs, or the buttocks. 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. This practice, in addition to causing immense suffering, was supposed to represent the spiritual defilement of the individual, with their eternal soul unable to reside in one piece in future lives. 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. Designed during the reign of the tyrant Phalaris (r. 570-554 BCE) by Perillos of Athens, the bull, as recorded by Diodorus Siculus, was supposedly made from bronze but hollowed out and with a door on one side. A similar variant of the implement, the Iron Spider, was a less portable alternative. A millennium later, the Neo-Assyrian King Sennacherib (r. 705-681 BCE) is recorded as impaling surviving Judeans after the Siege of . And the lungs would be ripped out and spread over the ribs, making them look like wings. Middle Ages Torture, devices, techniques and facts. Although theres no exact date as to its origins. A criminal was locked inside the device via a door on its side and a fire was then lit underneath, slowly burning. The Assyrians, though, had some of the first siege weapons in the world. The Assyrians, who ruled at the height of their power between Egypt and the Persian Gulf (745-630 BC), are known from historical records to have been cruel and unrelenting . A military culture. Their kingdom which lasted for some 2000 years in an area (which is now Northern Iraq) had no natural barriers as such to protect their homeland. The "strappado", also known as "corda", is a longstanding, simple, but nonetheless effective method of torture involving tying a victim's hands behind their back. Assyrians can be undoubtedly termed as the Nazis of the biblical world. They pioneered the use of terror as a weaponand they made the lives of their enemies a living horror story. Torturers would then use knives to make cuts on their. Both were commonly inscribed with the Latin phrase abiruo I recant: an objective often achieved due to the eventual breaking of the subjects will. Nourished by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the cities of Mesopotamia Greek for "the land between two rivers"flourished from the 20th century to the end of the seventh century B.C.E. In the year 64 of the Common Era, the Great Fire of Rome devastated large parts of the imperial city. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES). A ritualized method of torture and execution, the Viking practice of the blood eagle stands among the most brutal and controversial of historical tortures. December 23, 2019, 10:09 am, by 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. The judges of ancient Babylon were particularly enthusiastic. 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. Torture is unpleasant, as indeed is the intended purpose of the practice. "They hung us up from our wrists to the ceilings. Allegedly originating in Ceylon, with the first recorded account of bamboo torture stemming from a Madras civilian traveling during the 1820s in India, similar depictions have survived from throughout the region. 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. Mark Oliver is a regular contributor to Listverse. 0000001205 00000 n 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). Whilst some intended to kill, albeit resulting in slow, torturous deaths, others were intended to merely maim and hurt without fatal outcomes. Unlike immurement, where the victims suffer for days or possibly weeks, those buried alive most commonly die long before dehydration takes effect. Individuals locked into the device would find themselves unable to eat, sleep, or even lie down. 11 tortures from the Middle Ages that were reserved for women Insulted, humiliated, beaten, chased away, tortured Such is the fate of the "weaker sex" throughout history. In fact, impalement, if done properly, permits the individual to survive for several days, with the longest known victim suffering for more than eight days. Once the victim was contained within, a fire would be lit beneath, heating the metal until either death or release. Wikimedia Commons. Siege weapons barely existed at this time. In 1323, the Mexica tribe asked for Yaocihuatl, daughter of Achicometl, ruler of Culhuacan in marriage. Forced to eat under pain of physical torture, Mithridates was drenched with a mixture of milk and honey. Syrian man, 42 recounts horrors in regime imprisonment, from having boiling water poured over him to reverse hanging. wn The Assyrian Tragedy. I don't know where he is from, nor who he is. Native Americans flayed their captives to make them suffer for as long as possible. 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. Accused of attending anti-regime protests, al-Drubi, 42, was detained in 2012. From here, he was transferred to the Hama military airport, where he was beaten upon arrival, stripped naked, interrogated and tortured. He used rat torture, along with other methods, to punish his political enemies and sexually assault his prisoners. Reserved, unlike many of the items appearing on this list, exclusively for women, the device was predominantly employed against those persons accused of adultery or abortion. As the Assyrian Empire grew, they built a standing army. Gadd, Cambridge University Press (1965), Viking atrocity and Skaldic verse: The Rite of the Blood Eagle, Roberta Frank, English Historical Review (1984), Torture and Brutality in Medieval Literature: Negotiations of National Identity, Larissa Tracy, D.S. Ashurbanipal was the king of Assyria from 668 to 627 BC, and he was apparently quite gifted intellectually. Sign up to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content, Sign up to get Al Bawaba's exclusive celeb scoops and entertainment news, Syrian Man Reveals Worst Torture Methods Used by the Regime, Serie A: AC Milan vs Tottenham predicted lineups, Rihanna didn't get paid for her Super Bowl show, Awadallah jailed for sedition goes on hunger strike. When I said I was from Hama, he cursed my mother. [10] Lu Xun said the Ming dynasty was begun and ended by flaying.[11]. Wikimedia Commons. 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. The boot. Some crimes were dealt with in savage ways. Keelhauling was an official punishment in the Dutch Navy, although only rarely enforced due to its harsh nature. Make peace with me and come out to me! the envoy called out. Spreading far beyond the borders of Europe, the strappado was employed during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The Zhengde Emperor flayed six rebels,[9] and Zhang Xianzhong also flayed many people. A 1593 engraved illustration of vertical impalement; author unknown. . The Premature Burial, by Antoine Wiertz (c. 1854). Of those, at least 173 were children, 46 were women. Anyone from slaves to prisoners of war could be subject to fear inducing acts of punishment. An envoy would ride up to the city walls, knowing the fear the people there already felt, and would promise them that if they bowed down and paid tribute to Assyria, they would be allowed to live. They described hearing and seeing ghosts talking to them, who would be the ghosts of people theyd killed in battle, says Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes. Trapping a condemned prisoner, the individual would be force-fed milk and honey as well as coated in the foodstuffs. The convicted would be taken to a public stage and tied on the floor. After several centuries of obscurity and even loss of independence from around 1400 B.C. Since the conflict, questions have habitually been raised concerning whether bamboo is actually capable of inflicting the injuries claimed by survivors. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. Medium.com, Vestal Virgins: Chaste keepers of the flame, Melissa Dowling, Biblical Archaeological Society (2001), Rethinking Nero, BYROBERT DRAPER. There were accounts that described it as a slow and brutal process. 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. The most recent confirmed case occurred in New Jersey in 2010, when David Wax threatened a kidnap victim with rat torture. Ancient Torture. As a method of both torture and execution, impalement consists of the aggressive penetration of victims by a pole. The method was reborn during the modern age across Latin America, with its use recorded under the military dictatorships of Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. The use of torture and mutilation as a fear tactic did not become a more common practice until the Assyrian Empire was built. Every person watching their chariots approach would know that, compared to the fate the Assyrian army brought, death would be a relief. 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. The period from the ninth century to the end of the seventh century B.C. 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. 0000008971 00000 n The men of Assyrian army reported experiences that modern psychologists say show wide-spread symptoms of post-traumatic stress. She refused to renounce her faith and was sentenced to death by being bludgeoned on a spiked wheel. As a result, the mechanism was specifically designed to mutilate and destroy the most visible feminine attribute in retribution for the alleged unwomanly crimes: the breasts. Then, he told me to kneel. Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death. @#2:0D)5@SH(*@6C 436 0 obj<>stream A torturous, if infrequent method of historical execution, death by boiling kills an individual by immersing them in a container of blistering liquid. These showed them skinning their victims alive, blinding them, and impaling them on stakes. A Judas Cradle, on display at the Museum of Torture in Freiburg, Germany. Under the Habsburgs, the number of strikes inflicted was used as a measure of the severity of criminal conduct by the condemned. I burned their adolescent boys and girls. Eventually, under pressure from Western nations undergoing their own liberalizations of violent punishments, in 1905, as part of widespread revisions of the Chinese penal code, lingchi was formally abolished as a criminal sentence. 0000003095 00000 n Every young man was expected to train as a warrior and be ready to fight. This torture method apparently had a long tradition in Scandinavia and a couple of direct accounts were mentioned in old skaldic poems. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) states in its latest report issued today that it has documented 72 torture methods which the Syrian regime continues to practice in its detention centers and military hospitals, calling on the US Congress to pass the Caesar Act to provide accountability after identifying 801 individuals who appeared in Appearing repeatedly throughout modern popular film, television, and literature, rat torture is an especially cruel method of punishment. Their reputation was so fierce that Jonah fled in fear when God commanded him to speak in Ninevah, Assyria's capital (Jonah 1:1?3).Assyrian soldiers were equipped with the latest weaponry, including barbed arrows, catapults, and siege machines. Lingchi, known colloquially in the West as death by a thousand cuts, was a ritualistic form of torture prevalent in Imperial China. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. In 1303, the treasury of Westminster Abbey was robbed while holding a large sum of money belonging to King Edward I. The ribs are then detached from the backbone. 0000001020 00000 n The purpose of the stele is to display the power and ferocity of the Lagashistes. 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. The device is rarely washed, so the victim either dies from impalement or infection. Torturemuseum.net. 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. 0000001622 00000 n The Assyrian population grew around the region known as Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq. Brewer (2012), Crucifixion in Antiquity: An Inquiry into the Background and Significance of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion. [00aR/NU(=PpF This is often referred to as flaying alive. Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he had designed and built for Phalaris, by Pierre Woeiriot (c. 1532-1562). The judges of ancient Babylon were particularly enthusiastic about instilling fear in wrong doers, prisoners of war, or anyone that needed to be punished for any type of crime.