Christianity in Pompeii?

This is about Pompeii and possible evidence for a toehold of Christianity in that city in 79 CE.

YouTube - Christians in Pompeii

First, let me warn you: this video was presented by an anonymous amateur Christian apologist who does NOT know that James Tabor and Simcha Jacobovici are, well, the flim-flam artists of the archaeological world. (yes, those two, of the Fishy Amphora Jar fame.)

Still, that should not necessarily detract from the findings.

There is a discussion of the Christianos graffito, which has faded into oblivion. Usually translated as: "Bovis listens to the Christians, cruel haters," the video cites Professor W. R. Newbold's interpretation that that which surrounds the word "Christianos" is transliterated Aramaic (Five Transliterated Aramaic Inscriptions). Jacobovici (ugh!) states the message is: "A strange mind has overtaken 'A', who is being held prisoner among the Christians."

Then the video discusses The House of the Baker. Among the items allegedly found therein are three graffiti and another evidence that the baker was Christian: a "Poinium Cherem," an apparent plastering over of a Priapean relief, a strange cross, and a Sator Square, matching another one in another part of town.

Well, James Tabor discusses the "Poinium Cherem," basically saying it was a curse graffito with the two stars being apotropaic: curse starswarding off some kind of evil. The words are supposed to be combined Greek and Aramaic meaning "Punish, blotting out:" in other words, smite completely. There is an independent discussion of this graffito at the Bryn Mawr Classical Review: unlike Tabor, the discussion indicates two words could just mean "flock" and "vineyard," respectively.

Next is the strange "cross." A very strange cross, indeed. The video editors do not give a reference of where it came from or even any independent citation that it actually WAS above oven, but they do show a book of inscription illustrations opened to the page where the cross was found. (6:00 in the vid) It is a very strange cross indeed. It is asymmetrical. The upright is shaped like a Club of Hercules [1] with the stout end at the bottom and the transverse appears to be some kind of skillfully crafted plank, crafted with more care than Romans would have carred to lavish on a condemned criminal IMO.

And of course, the old standby: the Sator Square. Whether it was originally Christian is anyone's guess. The square translates as: Arepo the sower holds the wheels with effort. Pretty innocuous, eh? But eventually the Christians figured out that the word "tenet" formed a cross [2] and that the whole thing was an amagram for a paternoster equilateral cross, with two A's and two O's left over. Alpha and Omega! Another such square, found on a column of a wrestling school in the town of Herculaneum, shows a fish symbol above the square.

Well it certainly looks like it's evidence for a toehold of Christianity in that small town. But what kind of Christianity??? It appears to have been not yet distinct from Judaism (except to regular Jews); it also appears to be also engaging in some kind of magic; and outsiders may have considered it to be a mind-control cult, perhaps a violent one.

And what conclusion may one draw from this for the development of the NT Canon? Were ANY of the NT books written at that date? And if so, did anyone in Pompeii know about it?

Footnotes.

[1] An alternative New testament word for The Cross, Greek ξυλον, which in Latin is lignum, includes in the recognised meanings of the Greek word, "anything made of wood, as, cudgel, club, club of Hercules, an instrument of punishment, wooden collar, stocks, a combination of both [wooden collar and stocks] with holes for the neck, arms, and legs, gallows, stake on which criminals were impaled, a tree." (LSJ Greek-English Lexicon) The Latin meaning includes, "That which is made of wood, a writing-tablet, a plank, a spearshaft, a tree, a staff, a club." (Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary & Elementary Lewis Latin Dictionary)

[2] A tradition grew up in the ethiopian Coptic branch of Christianity that the five words in the Sator Square were the names of the five nails of The Cross! A more in-depth discussion by Duncan Fishwick, M.A., explains here:

[I]t is not until the sixteenth century that its efficacy as a cure for insanity and for fever is described in two early books, De Varia Quercus Historia, by Jean du Choul (Lyons 1555), and De Rerum Varietate, by Jérôme Cardan, a medical astrologer, (Milan 1557).

Perhaps the most extraordinary case related here is that of a citizen of Lyons who recovered from insanity after eating three crusts of bread, each inscribed with the magic square. This repast was punctuated by the recitation of five paternosters in remembrance of the five wounds of Christ and of the five nails of the Cross: Pro quinque vulneribus Christi, quae moriendo accepit, nee non pro clavibus. This local association of the square with the Lord’s Prayer and the nails may go back to the second century bishop of Lyons, St. Irenaeus, who himself had a devotion to the five ‘summits’ of the Cross: et ipse habitus crucis fines et summitates habet quinque, duas in longitudine et duas in latitudine et unam in medio in quo requiescit qui clavis affigitur. 9

In his Arithmologia (Rome 1665) R. P. Kircher relates that on a voyage to Abyssinia he had discovered that the Ethiopians invoke their Saviour by enumerating the five nails of the Cross, namely: SADOR, ALADOR, DANET, ADERA, RODAS – clearly the five words of the square in a corrupt form. A similar usage appears in a version from a tomb near Faras in Nubia where the five words follow a Coptic phrase which has been interpreted to mean “the names of the nails of Christ’s Cross.”10 In the eleventh century, on the other hand, the five words were used in Abyssinia to denote the five wounds of Christ. 11

9 Irenaeus adv. Haer. 2.24.4.
10 W. E. Crum, “Coptic Studies,” EEF (1897-1898) 63. cf J. Simon, AnalBoll 49 (1931) 165
11 H. Ludolf, Ad Historiam Arthiopicam Commentarius (Frankfurt a./M. 1695) 351.

Depictions of Christ on the cross first show only four or even two nails. later on in the Medieval period on they regularly show three nails. The fifth nail could have been, of course, the tree-nail of the typical cross which is also its fifth point at its center, GJohn's (19:34) mention of the use of a spear-shaft to inflict a wound notwithstanding.

Impalements in Antiquity (3A)

WARNING!: This post
may be upsetting to some.

Part 13 of the series: "The Romans NEVER CRUCIFIED the Way We Think They Did!"

Previous in this series:

Part 11 - Impalements in Antiquity (2).
Part 11 - Impalements in Antiquity (1).
Part 10 - Humiliations.
Part 9 - Utility Poles and Masts.
Part 8 - Crown of Thorns.
Part 7 - Crucifixion and Priapus.
Part 6 - From Wax Image to Exposed Body.
Part 5 - The First Crucifix.
Part 4 - The Tropaeum and the Furca.
Part 3 - Crux - Modern English Use and Ancient Quotidian Meanings.
Part 2 - Crux.
Part 1.

Previous Series - Crucifixion – The Bodily Support:

Part 4 - Physics of Crucifixion.
Part 3 - Manuscript Evidence.
Part 2 - Archaeological Evidence.
Part 1.

Part 13A - Impalements in Antiquity (3A): Judea

A. Introduction: Crucifixion or Impalement?

As mentioned in the previous post Impalements in Antiquity (1), Historical, classical and biblical scholars, or should I say some, particularly those of an Evangelical bent, widely assume that crucifixion (only nailing or binding to a "cross" [tropaeum] of any shape) was frequent and common throughout the ancient world and among those who crucified were the Indians, Assyrians, Scythians, Taurians, Celts, Germani, Brittani, Persians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Numidians, Thracians, Judeans, Hellenic peoples of Asia Minor, and of course, the Greeks and the Romans.

Not so! What most of them, plus the Hittites, the Mittani and the Egyptians, practiced was some kind of impalement, as would be made obvious by the extant ancient writings. Only of some of them could it be said they "crucified," and even then it was usually a method of impalement, with the arms above and the wrists apart, bound to a lifting beam.

In the previous post Impalements in Antiquity (2), the early Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Hittites, the Mittani, the Assyrians and the Chaldeans (neo-Babylonians) all impaled people.

Now it is on to Judea.

Jewish Practice, Historical Reports and Legends.

I will take a several samples and show that the ancient Jewish people impaled people - post mortem - and only rarely pre-mortem. David W. Chapman analyzes this in much more detail, even though he he makes a terrible error in his analysis. [1]

B. Joseph and the Baker.

B.1. The Tanakh / Old Testament.

In the ancient Jewish legend, Joseph was jumped by his brethren, sold to slave traders who sold him to a certain Pophitar, whose wife tried to seduce him and failed, and he ends up in prison anyway! And while he was in prison, the Pharoah's cup-bearer and chief baker are thrown into prison for trial on charges of attempted poisoning of Pharoah.

16 When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. 17 In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

18 “This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets are three days. 19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree.* And the birds will eat away your flesh.”

* Or impale you on a pole [2].

Genesis 40: 16-19, NIV

The critical phrase in "will hang you on a tree" -- ותלה אותך על־עץ (vw-ta-lah 'o-wt-ka 'al-'etz) This can be reduced to תלה על־עץ (talah 'al-'etz).
From Jastrow's Dictionary, we have:

תלה (talah): "to swing, raise, suspend, hang; as the butchers suspend animals." [3]

על־ (al-): (prepos.) "upon, above; about, &c." [4]

עץ ('etz): "tree, pole, wood, gallows" [5]

Gesenius's Lexicon explains the action תלה (talah) further as "to suspend, to hang up. (Chald. and Syr. id. Compare Gr. ταλώ to suspend in a balance, whence τάλαντον.) 2 Sam. 18:10, Job 26:7. תלה פ׳ על העצ to hang anyone on a stake, to crucify, a kind of punishment used among the Israelites, Deutr. 21:22; the Egyptians, Gen. 40:19; the Persians, Est. 7:10; 5:14." [6] Since we have shown that the sort of crucifixion the Egyptians did was impalement on a pole, The conclusion is obvious. Joseph predicts the baker's impalement.

And how is the dream fulfilled?

20 Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: 21 He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand, 22 but he hanged* the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.

* or impaled [7]

Genesis 40:20-22, NIV

Just as predicted. The chief baker was impaled.

The Septuagint has the reading κρεμάσει σε ἐπὶ ξύλου, "he will hang you upon a tree, a pole, a piece of wood" in Genesis 40:19 and ἐκρέμασεν, "he hanged" in Genesis 40:22. [8] As we have seen before, the Greek verb could mean impale. [9]

On the other hand, the Latin Vulgate has suspendet te in cruce, "he will suspend you on/by a crux" in Genesis 40:19 [10], which could be interpreted as impaling on a stake. But in Genesis 40:22 the Vulgate has the reading suspendit in patibulo, "he suspended him on/by a patibulum" [11], which, because of the far too late dating (390 CE), could only mean crucifxion by just nailing to a cross!

B.2. Josephus' Interpretation.

And this is what Josephus says about the legend:

[T]hat on the third day he should be crucified, and devoured by the fowls, while he was not able to help himself. Now both these dreams had the same several events that Joseph foretold they should have, and this to both the parties; for on the third day before mentioned, when the king solemnized his birthday, he crucified the chief baker, but the butler he set free from his bonds, and restored him to his former station.

Josephus, Antiquities 2.5.3.73 [12]

And after this Pharoah is troubled by a bad dream and the cup-bearer finally remembers Joseph!

"[S]o he came and mentioned Joseph to him, as also the vision he had seen in prison, and how the event proved as he had said, also that the chief baker was crucified on the very same day, and that this also happened to him according to the interpretation of Joseph."

Josephus, Antiquities 2.5.4.77 [13]

The verbs Josephus used for "crucified" are conjugates of ανασταυρόω, "flip up and plant a pale, impalisade, fortify, impale" [14]; and σταυρόω, "to impalisade, fence with pales, suspend vines, pile drive, impale." [15] Only in Roman times do they mean "crucify" and only then, sometimes.

B.3. Philo's Interpretations.

This is what Philo says:

96 The three baskets are a symbol of three days; upon reaching these, he will command you to be impaled and your head cut off, and the attacking birds will feast upon your flesh, until you are entirely consumed!

98 [The king, remembering the eunuchs in prison, commanded them to be brought forth, and beholding them he confirmed the judgment of the dreams, enjoining the one to be impaled, the head to be cut off*, but the other he appointed the office he held before.

* alternatively: being cut off

Philo, De Josepho 96, 98 [16]

There is nothing untoward here from the reading in the Old Testament / Tanakh, except the the typical interpretation of the removal of the chief baker's head seems to indicate that this was to be done after he was impaled. It would be kind off difficult to cut off the head if the subject were impaled headlong through the midsection first, worse if impaled upright, nearly impossible if the pale was quite tall. Despite the fact that he used conjugates of the Greek verb ἀνασκολοπίζω ("impale, thorn up") [17] here, it is almost as if Philo were actualizing the legend for himself and his readers by projecting Roman crucifixion into it. Two other passages of his will provide us some insight.

For an end of life follows the lack of bread-food, on account of which the one who errs greatly concerning these things also properly dies by being hanged, a similar evil to which he treated the sufferer, for indeed he had hung up and stretched the famished man with hunger.

Philo, De Josepho 156. [18]

The mind, in fact, stripped of what it fabricated, like one who was severed at the neck, nailed like those crucified to the tree* of poor and needy lack of training.

* or impaled by the stake

Philo, De Somniis 2.213 [19]

In the above two texts, he uses Greek following words: κρεμάννυμι, "hang (by any means including impalement and crucifixion) [9];" ἀνακρεμάννυμι, "hang up (on something);" [20] παρατείνω, "stretch out along, beside (like on a patibulum);" [21] and προσηλόω "nail, rivet, fix to (something)." [22] Now without the stretching verb, Philo could have been referring to simple direct impalement. But the stretching-along verb can only be referring to the sense of nailing outstretched arms along a patibulum! Clearly Philo is projecting Roman crucifixion, and with a penetrator cornu at that, back into the mists of ancient Egypt.

B.4. Conclusion.

As we have clearly seen in the Egyptian hieroglyphics (See Impalements in Antiquity (2)), the Pharoahs hanged or suspended people by impaling them. In the Massoretic text, the same verbiage of the Devoyimic / Deuteronomic suspension proscription is present: תלה על־עץ (talah 'al-'etz) which, as modern scholars now confess, inform the said proscription. Here the impalement is a post-mortem suspension, although Philo seems to indicate a possible ante-mortem suspension similar to a Roman crucifixion. With Joseph, it is less unclear. He is using simple verbs that could be interpreted as "crucify" at this time, but also as "impale," as we have seen in Part 6: From Wax Image to Exposed Body.


C. Deuteronomic Ordinance on Hanging.

C.1. Tanakh / Old Testament.

22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, 23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 NIV

וְכִֽי־יִהְיֶ֣ה בְאִ֗ישׁ חֵ֛טְא מִשְׁפַּט־מָ֖וֶת וְהוּמָ֑ת וְתָלִ֥יתָ אֹתֹ֖ו עַל־עֵֽץ׃
לֹא־תָלִ֨ין נִבְלָתֹ֜ו עַל־הָעֵ֗ץ כִּֽי־קָבֹ֤ור תִּקְבְּרֶ֙נּוּ֙ בַּיֹּ֣ום הַה֔וּא כִּֽי־קִלְלַ֥ת אֱלֹהִ֖ים תָּל֑וּי וְלֹ֤א תְטַמֵּא֙ אֶת־אַדְמָ֣תְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָֽה׃ ס

Deuteronomy 21:22-23 (Masoretic Text) [23] [24]

The hanging phrases in the Hebrew of verse 22 reads: וְתָלִ֥יתָ אֹתֹ֖ו עַל־עֵֽץ׃ (ve-ta-li-ta o-tow 'al- -etz): "hang him on top of (also over, above) a 'tree' (also wood, pole)." [23] And in verse 23 these phrases Hebrew reads: לֹא־תָלִ֨ין נִבְלָתֹ֜ו עַל־הָעֵ֗ץ (lo- ta-lin nib-la-tow 'al- ha-etz): "you shall not [let] him [just] hang on top of the 'tree'," and כִּֽי־קִלְלַ֥ת אֱלֹהִ֖ים תָּל֑וּי (ki- qil-lat 'e-lo-him ta-lur) "for is accursed by God [the one] hanging." [24] The 1985 JPS Tanakh has all three phrases translated as: "impale him on a stake"and "you must not let his corpse remain on the stake overnight...." and "For an impaled body is an affront to God," respectively. [25]

The Septuagint reads κρεμάσητε αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ξύλου, meaning "you hang him upon a 'tree'," in verse 22; and, in verse 23a we read οὐκ ἐπικοιμηθήσεται τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου: "the body of him shall not 'sleep over' upon the 'tree'," and verse 23b has ὅτι κεκατηραμένος ὑπὸ θεοῦ πᾶς κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου: "for having been cursed by God [is] everyone hanging upon a 'tree'." [26]

The offending phrases in the Latin Vulgate read as crucifixion language [27] [28]: adpensus fuerit in patibulo, "he may be hanged on/by a patibulum" in verse 22; non permanebit cadaver eius in ligno, "by no means shall remain the cadaver of him on the wood, tree, staff, club" in verse 23a; and quia maledictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno, "because cursed by God is he who hangs on/by a piece of wood" in verse 23b. Now Jerome, who created the work, assumed mere non-penetrative crucifixion (see Peter and Paul's speeches in Acts and Galatians 3:13) which under the authorities of Rome could very well have been fiction, but the various meanings of lignum permits a reading of an impaling stake or the cornu used in Roman crucifixion.With a patibulum, it would be the latter.

Jerome has included in his Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas a comment on Galatians 3:14, which is a repeat of the Septuagint, but slightly different: ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου "cursed-upon is everyone who having been hanged upon a 'tree'," i.e., "cursed is everyone who is hanged upon a 'tree'." He cites three different transcribers of the Tanakh into Greek: Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion. [29]. For the phrase in the Septuagint verse 22 κρεμάσητε αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ξύλου, Aquila and Symmachus have suspenderis eum super lignum: "you hang him on top of a 'tree'." For verse 23a οὐκ ἐπικοιμηθήσεται τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου, Aquila has non commorabitur morticinuium eius super lignum: "by no means shall his dead body remain on top of the 'tree'," and Symmachus has non pernoctabit cadaver ipsius super lignum: "by no means shall the cadaver of the person pass the night on top of the 'tree'." For the two respective lines (22 & 23a)Theodotion has suspendes eum in ligno: "you suspend him on / by a 'tree'," and non dormiet morticinium eius super lignum: "by no means shall his dead body 'sleep' on top of the 'tree'." For verse 23b, all three have simply suspensus est / est suspensus "is suspended."

And yes, ligno (ablative) and lignum (accusative) could be interpreted as "a stake" [30]

So it appears that the earlier interpreters / transcribers understood the Deuteronomic text in terms of some kind of impalement or penetrative crucifixion (Ref. Seneca, Epistles 101,10-14). But knowing how Jerome interpreted Genesis 40:16 -22, he may have been reading a post-mortem non-penetrative crucifixion into this.

C.2. Josephus on Deuteronomy.

Josephus does not mention language evocative of crucifixion or even impalement, except for the Greek κρεμάννυμι in the first example, and ἀνασταυρόω in the last. Note that in the first example, he doesn't include the phrase for "upon a 'tree'." And the way he states the last example, he intends the reader to think the Jewish people in Palestine always buried their dead who were hanged by the government (the Roman authorities). Chapman thinks that Josephus is loath to admit the Jews ever crucified or impaled. [31]

But the one hanged who blasphemed God, having been stoned, let him be hanged for a day, and let him be buried dishonourably and obscurely.

Josephus, Antiquities 4.8.6.202 [32]

The second example is concerning the execution of a youth who was so rebellious and disobedient to his parents, he did not at all listen to counsel or received lessons in sobriety but made the mizvot of none effect. People should reflect on the barbarity of this!

...and, after remaining for the whole day exposed to the view of all the people, let him be buried at night.

Josephus, Antiquities 4.8.24.264 (fin). [33]

The verbiage above is: μείνας δι᾽ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας εἰς θέαν τὴν ἁπάντων, transliterated as: "remaining in the view of all together"

The third example is from a summation of the hanging commandment in his Jewish War:

What they most of all honour, after God himself, is the name of their legislator [Moses]; whom, if anyone blaspheme, he is capitally punished*."

*lit.: "this one is punished to death."

Josephus, Jewish War, 2.8.9.145 (fin) [34]

The last example was cited when the Idumean Jewish insurgents who stormed the town of Jerusalem occupied by the Galilaean Jewish rebels during the Jewish War slew the Chief Priests Ananus and Jesus ben Ananius and threw out their bodies without burial.

Nay, they proceeded to that degree of impiety as to throw out their dead bodies without burial, although the Jews used to take so much care of the burial of the men, that they took down those that were crucified [or impaled] from a death sentence and buried them before the going down of the sun.

Josephus, Jewish War 4.5.2.317 [35]

Except the Romans usually did not permit the removal of crucified persons from their cruces, due to the political nature of the crimes: crucifixion was the summum supplicium "the height of punishment" for crimen maiestas "high treason and other crimes against the state." For such crimes, release of the body for burial was NOT permitted. (Digest, 48.24.1) So the Romans in the Jewish-majority areas of the Levant may have buried the crucified people themselves. But we have ZERO evidence for this, other than circumstantial.

But Josephus does admit that the Jews hanged people.

C.3. Philo on Deuteronomy.

Philo's interpretation of the actual ordinance on hanging people is, for we moderns, especially the Jewish ones, shocking and bizaare! He applies the ordinance to murderers, not blasphemers, and simply says they should be impaled. Not necessarily post-mortem, either.

151 ...but, since this is not possible, He ordained besides another punishment, commanding those who took human life to be impaled. 152...and he says, "Do not let the sun set upon those who have been impaled, but let them be concealed in the earth, having been taken down before sunset."

Philo, De Specialibus Legibus 3.151, 152 [36]

It seems quite plain that he meant either impalement or penetrative crucifixion in this verse. It appears he is indicating that hanging him in order to kill him is the meaning of the text.

C.4. Qumram Temple Scroll 11Q Temple 64.6-13

An interesting find in the Qumran (Dead Sea) Scrolls was an interpretation of Deuteronomy 21;22-23 that called for the live hanging, impalement or crucifixion of a person who betrayed the people of Israel to an enemy (basically any of the nations of the goyi'im) or, having been sentenced to death, flees to the goyi'im and blasphemes Yahweh and slanders or curses his fellow Israelites.

6(fin) If 7 a man will be a slander against my people, and surrenders my people to a foreign nation, 8 then you all shall hang him upon the tree and he shall die. -- by the mouths of two witnesses and by the mouth of three witnesses 9 he shall be put to death, and they shall hang him [upon] the tree. If there is in a man a sin bearing a judgement of death and he has fled to 10 the midst of the nations and has cursed my people the sons of Israel, then you all shall also hang him upon the tree 11 and he shall die. And their corpse shall not spend the night upon the tree, but you shall surely bury him that very day, for 12 those who are hanging upon the tree have been cursed of God and men, and you shall not defile the land, which I 13 give thee as an inheritance.

כי
יהיה איש רכיל בעמי ומשלים את עמי לגוי נכר ועושה רעה בעמי
ותליתמה אותו על העץ וימת על פי שנים ערים ועל פי שלושה ערים
יומת והמה יתלו אותו העץ כי יהיה באיש חטא משפט מות וירח אל
תוך הגואים ויקלל את עמי ואת בני ישראל ותליתמה גם אותו על העץ
וימות ולוא תלין נבלתמה על העץ כי קבור תקוברמה ביום ההוא כי
מקוללי אלוהים ואשים תלוי על העץ ולוא תטמא את הארמה אשר אנוכי
ונתן לכה נחלה

11QTemple 64:6-13 [37]

Now there is nothing that says that they have to do anything more invasive than the Rabbinical method of hanging by the wrists, bound together, over a plank or a beam jutting out from a post [3], but neither does it prohibit the authorities from impaling him or crucifying him alive, so that he dies. Of course, the Rabbinical method will guarantee that he would die within an hour. [38]

C.5. The Targumin.

Chapman noted there were four Targumin that dealt with this mizvot: Targum Onquelos, Targum Neofiti, Targum Pseudo-Johnathan and the Fragment Targum. [39] All the Targums, Aramaic translations of the Tanakh, date from the Second Temple period to the early Medieval Period, with the earliest and most important one from Palestine being the Targum Neofiti.[40]. The verbiage in each one where the Massoretic Text says תלה על עץ (talah al-etz): commonly translated as "hang upon a tree" (1985 JPS "impale upon a stake") in different phrases with different verbiages.

"22 And if there is in a man a sin bearing a judgement of death, and he is executed, and you suspend him on a stake, 23 his corpse shall not spend the night upon the stake, but you must bury him that day, because on account of his having sinned before the LORD he was suspended, and you shall not defile your land, which the LORD they God will give you as an inheritance.

Targum Onquelos, Deuteronomy 21:22 [41]

"22 And if there is arraigned in a man a sin bearing a judgment of death, and he is executed, and you shall suspend him on a rough edge, 23 his corpse shall not spend the night upon the rough edge, but you must surely bury him that very day, because cursed before the LORD are all who are suspended, and you shall not defile your land, which the LORD your God will give you as an inheritance.

Targum Neofiti, Deuteronomy 21:22-23 [42]

22 And if indeed there is a man bearing judgement of death, and he is convicted, a casting of stones, and after this they suspend him on a rough edge; 23 the corpse of his body shall not spend the night on a rough edge but you all must surely bury him in that day, because it is a disgrace before the LORD to suspend a man, unless his sins caused it. And because in the image of the LORD he was made, you all must bury him with the setting of the sun, so that the creatures will not treat him improperly; and you all shall not defile with the corpses of the guilty your land, which the LORD they God will give to you all.

Targum Pseudo-Johnathan, Deuteronomy 21:22-23 [43]

upon a tree: and you shall suspend him upon the rough edge.

Fragment Targum, Deuteronomy 21:22 [44]

For the act of suspension in the above mizvot, all the texts use conjugations of צלב (tzaluv): "hang, impale, crucify." [45] For the stake itself, only Targum Onqelos uses צלוב (tsaluba): "impaling stake, cross." [46] The other three, including the most important, use קיסא (qisa): "rough edge; twig, chip, wood, tree; gallows." [47] The relevant nouns from this second term would be: rough edge, wood, tree, gallows. Appearing in the Targum Neofiti, the earliest and most important, it would undoubtedly be used to denote the stakes and gallows upon which the Romans nailed and impaled people, with especial emphasis on the harsh tip of the impaling stake and the pointed thornlike acuta-crux of the gallows when it was applied.

C.6. Conclusion:

The original Devoyimic / Deuteronomic proscription on hanging was probably a form of impalement, possibly through the midsection as is shown in Egyptian hieroglyphics (See Impalements in Antiquity (2)). The translators of the Septuagint (in Alexandria, Egypt (beach)), Josephus, Philo and the writers of the Targumin no doubt actualized for themselves by projecting what was being done by the Ptolmies and the Romans after them were doing to criminals in their time, back into even more ancient history. But since Roman execution crosses were usually impaling devices by means of a male appendage, it was still considered impalement anyway. Particularly with Philo using various conjugates of ανασκολοπίζω, which even then, meant, "fix on a pole (or anything else pointed), impale."



Continues in Part 13B.


Footnotes.

[1] David W. Chapman, Ancient Jewish and Christian Perspectives on Crucifixion, pp. 31, 32. He says on page 31, that "In examining Greek, Hebrew and Jewish Aramaic, we have seen that there was no single term that only designated "crucifixion" (in the limited sense of the English word) on a cross-shaped object." He is exactly right here and he should have realized that the exact same applies to the Latin! Yet on page 32, he states that for the purpose of the study, that "following with traditional English usage, we will continue to use the term "crucifixion" to mean the executionary suspension of a person on a cross-shaped object (allowing for a certain flexibility in shapes). In other words, just nail or bind to a cross (a Latin Cross [tropaeum], T-cross, X-cross or even an I-cross [simple pole!]). This is a serious error, because when the ancients talked of crucifixion, they meant executing someone by impaling on a stake or suspending on a pole, perhaps a frame, or the Priapean combination thereof like the Romans did. And they used many different verbs and terms to describe it. And not ONE of them perfectly matches the common sense of crucifixion in the English language.

[2] The Tanakh, Genesis 40:19 1985 JPS translation; voir Adele Berlin & Marc Zvi Brettler, The Jewish Study Bible, 2004 Oxford, Oxford University Press, p. 80. The offending phrase reads, "will impale you on a pole."

[3] Marcus Jastrow, Dictionary of Targumim and Midrashic Literature, 1926 New York, G. P. Putman's Sons, pp. 1670-1 entry "תלה". See also p. 1670, entry "תלא", meaning "hook, a hook to suspend meat, a hook for a fish." DISCLAIMER: It is entirely possible that "hooking" was not the method of post-mortem hanging authorized by the Jewish High Court during the Roman period of the Second Temple era, due to the Romans' propensity to hang people alive and their method of doing it. According to the Mishnah, Sanhedrin 6:4, the Rabbinical Council agreed that "the manner that butchers do" was to tie the dead person by binding his wrists, and hook the tied wrists over a beam that projected from a post that was set in the ground, or leaned against a wall. (The Mishnah: A New Integrated Translation and Commentary, Sanhedrin 6:10, eMishnah.com.)

[4] Jastrow, p. 1080, entry "על־"

[5] Jastrow, p. 1101, entry "עץ"

[6] Gesenius's Lexicon, entry H8518 "תלה", Blue Letter Bible.org, Strong's H8518.

[7] Berlin & Brettler, Jewish Study Bible, p. 81

[8] Biblos.com, Genesis 40, Septuagint.

[9] Perseus Word Study Tool, κρεμάννυμι. This verb was used by Diodorus Siculus to denote the impalement of Onomarchus in his Library of History 16.35.6 Cf. 16.94.4 (see n. 11 below).

[10] Perseus Digital Library, Latin Vulgate Genesis 40:19.

[11] Perseus Digital library, Latin Vulgate Genesis 40:22.

[12] Perseus Digital Library, Josephus, Antiquities 2.5.3.73. The Greek text reads:

τῇ τρίτῃ δ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀνασταυρωθέντα βορὰνἔσεσθαι πετεινοῖς οὐδὲν ἀμύνειν αὑτῷ δυνάμενον. καὶ δὴ ταῦτα τέλος ὅμοιον οἷς ὁ Ἰώσηπος εἶπεν ἀμφοτέροις ἔλαβε: τῇ γὰρ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ προειρημένῃ γενέθλιον τεθυκὼς ὁ βασιλεὺς τὸν μὲν ἐπὶ τῶνσιτοποιῶν ἀνεσταύρωσε, τὸν δὲ οἰνοχόον τῶν δεσμῶν ἀπολύσας ἐπὶ τῆς αὐτῆς ὑπηρεσίας κατέστησεν.

[13] Perseus Digital Library, Josephus, Antiquities 2.5.3.77. The Greek text is as follows:

καὶ προσελθὼν ἐμήνυσεν αὐτῷ τὸν Ἰώσηπον τήν τε ὄψιν, ἣν αὐτὸς εἶδεν ἐν τῇ εἱρκτῇ, καὶ τὸ ἀποβὰν ἐκείνου φράσαντος, ὅτι τε σταυρωθείη κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἡμέραν ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν σιτοποιῶνκἀκείνῳ τοῦτο συμβαίη κατὰ ἐξήγησιν ὀνείρατος Ἰωσήπου προειπόντος.

[14] Perseus Word Study Tool, ανασταυρόω. The meanings not evident in the entry of LSJ / Middle Liddell tabs come out in Chris Cargounis' anonymous review of Gunnar Samuelsson's Crucifixion in Antiquity. In 225 CE or so, Dio Cassius used a the 3rd person singular perfect conjugate for the affixion, that is, impalement of severed heads onto tall wooden pikes; the sources are referenced in the previous installment of this series.

[15] Perseus Word Study Tool, σταυρόω. The meaning, "pile drive" is evident in Diodorus Siculus' Library of History 24.1 when Romans fenced off Lilybaeum Harbor with timber piles and "impale" is obvious in his Library of History 16.61.2 as one cannot crucify a dismembered corpse.

[16]Philo, De Josepho 96, 98 (ap. Chapman, p. 105). The Greek text reads:

96 τά τρίά κανά σύμβολον τριων ημερων έστιν επισχών ταύτας ό βασιλευ ανασκολοπισθηναι σε καί την κεφαλήν άποτμηθηναι κελευσει καί καταπτάμενα όρνεα των σων ευωχηθήσεται σαρκων, αχρις άν όλος εξαναλωθης.

98 των κατά δεσμωτήριον εύνουχων ύπομνησθείς άχθηναι κελεύει καί θεσάμενος κάκ της των όνειρων διακρίσεως επιφραγίζεται, προστάξας τόν μεν άνασκολοπισθηναι τήν κεφαλήν άποτμηθηναι.* τω δέ τήν άρχην ήν διεϊπε προτέρον άπονεϊμαι.

* άποτμηθηναι, "to be cut off," is extant in MSS 'A', 'B', 'E' AND 'M.' Only MS 'F' has άποτμηθέντα = "being cut off."

[17] Perseus Word Study Tool, ἀνασκολοπίζω.

[18] Philo, De Josepho 156. (ap. Chapman, p. 105). The Greek text reads:

τελευτή γάρ έπεται σιτίων σπάνει ου χάριν καί ό περί ταυτ' έξαυαρτών είκότως θνήσκει κρεμασθεις, όμοιν κακόν ω διέθηκε παθών καί γάρ αυτός άνεκρέμασε καί παρέτεινε τόν πεινωντα λιμω.

[19] Philo, De Somniis 2.213 (ap. Chapman, p. 106). The Greek text is as follows:

περισυληθεις ουν ο νους ων εδημιούργησεν, ώσπερ τόν αυχένα αποτμηθείς αχέφαλος καί νεκρός ανευρεθήσεται, προσηλωμένος ώσπερ οι ανασκολοπισθέντες τω ξύλω* της απόρου καί πενιχρας απαιδευσίας.

* MS 'A' has τω ξύλω αύτω, "on his tree" or "by his stake," etc. The article and noun, τω ξύλω, are dative: either indirect object, locative or instrumental. So the phrase προσηλωμένος ώσπερ οι ανασκολοπισθέντες τω ξύλω της could mean one of four readings: "nailed just as those crucified on the tree," or "fixed just as those impaled by the stake," "nailed to his own tree just as those crucified," or "fixed by his own stake just as those impaled." By itself, the two permutations of Philo's text does NOT automatically mean crucifixion in the English sense of the word![20] Perseus Word Study Tool, ἀνακρεμάννυμι. Herodotus in Histories 3.125.3,4 uses this verb to describe the aftereffect of the impalement of Polycrates by Oroites, a Persian prefect.

[21] Perseus Word Study Tool, παρατείνω.

[22] Perseus Word Study Tool, προσηλόω.

[23] Biblos.com, Septuagint, Deuteronomy 21:22.

[24] Biblos.com, Septuagint, Deuteronomy 21:23.

[25] Berlin & Brettler, Jewish Study Bible, p. 415

[26] Biblos.com, Septuagint, Deuteronomy 21. See also Chapman, pp. 120-121, including n. 89; and Perseus Word Study Tool, ἐπικοιμηθήσεται: "fall asleep after or over [something], fall asleep, overlay."

[27] Perseus Digital library, Latin Vulgate, Deuteronomy 21:22.

[28] Perseus Digital Library, Latin Vulgate, Deuteronomy 21:23.

[29] Chapman, p. 122.

[30] Perseus Latin Word Study Tool, "ligno, lignum."

[31] Chapman, pp. 135-138

[32] Perseus Digital Library, Josephus, Antiquities 4.8.6.202. The Greek text reads:

Ὁ δὲ βλασφημήσας θεὸν καταλευσθεὶς κρεμάσθω δι᾽ ἡμέρας καὶ ἀτίμως καὶ ἀφανῶς θαπτέσθω.

[33] Perseus Digital library, Josephus, Antiquities 4.8.24.264 (fin). The Greek text is as follows:

καὶ μείνας δι᾽ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας εἰς θέαν τὴν ἁπάντων θαπτέσθω νυκτός.

[34] Perseus Digital Library, Josephus, Jewish War, 2.8.6.145.

The Greek text reads: σέβας δὲ μέγα παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς μετὰ τὸν θεὸν τοὔνομα τοῦ νομοθέτου, κἂν βλασφημήσῃ τις εἰς τοῦτον κολάζεται θανάτῳ.

[35]Perseus Digital Library, Josephus, Jewish War 4.5.2.317. The Greek text:

προῆλθον δὲ εἰς τοσοῦτον ἀσεβείας ὥστε καὶ ἀτάφους ῥῖψαι, καίτοι τοσαύτην Ἰουδαίων περὶ τὰς ταφὰς πρόνοιαν ποιουμένων, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ἐκ καταδίκης ἀνεσταυρωμένους πρὸ δύντος ἡλίου καθελεῖν τε καὶ θάπτειν.

[36] Philo, De Specialibus Legibus 3.151-152 (ap. Chapman, p. 133). The Greek text is as follows:

151 ... επεί δέ τουτ' ουκ ενεδέχτο, τιμωριαν άλλην προσδιατάττεται κελεύων τούς ανελόντας ανασκολοπίζεσθαι. 152 ...καί φησι. μν επιδυέτω ό ήλιος ανεσκολοπισμενις αλλ' επικρυπτέσθωσαν γη πρό δύσεως καθαιρεθέντες.

[37] Chapman, pp. 125-132: a more complete discussion is within those pages. English translation is Chapman's with a few of my own tweaks.

[38] The Bible Review, April 1989, ap. "Proof Jesus Died on a Cross," Jehovahs-Witness.net forum.

[39] Chapman, pp. 137-141

[40] Wikipedia, Targum

[41] Targum Onqelos Deuteronomy 21:22-23, ap. Chapman, p. 138. Chapman's translation with some of my tweaks. The Aramaic text reads:

וארי יהי בגבת חובת רין רקטול ויתקטיל ות צלוב יתיה על צליבא
לא תבית נבילתית על צליבא ארי מקבר תקבריניה ביומא ההוא ארי על רחב קרם יוי אצטליב ולא תסאיב ית ארעך ריוי אלהך יהיב לך אחסנא

[42] Targum Neofiti Deuteronomy 21:22-23, ap. Chapman, p. 138. Chapman's translation with some of my tweaks. The Aramaic text reads:

וארום יהווי בגברא סרר חובת רין רקטולין ויתקטל ותצלבין יתיה על קיסה
לא תבית נבלתיה על קיסה אתם מקבר תקבתון יתיה בימה ההוא ארום ליט קרם ייי כל רצליב ולא תסאבון ית ארעכון רייי אלהכון יהיב לכון אתסנה

[43] Targum Pseudo-Johnathan Deuteronomy 21:22-23, ap. Chapman, p. 138-9. Chapman's translation with some of my tweaks. The Aramaic text reads:

וארום אין יהוי בגבר חובת רין קטול ויתחייב אטלות אבנין ובתר כרין יצלבון יתיה על קיסא
לא תבית ניבלת גושמיה על קיסה ארום מקבר תקברוניה ביומה ההוא ארום קילותא קרם אילקא למצלוב גבר אלהן חובוי גרמו ליה רמן בגלל דבדיוקנא רייי אתעבר תקברוניה עם מטמוע שימשא רלא וקולון בנבילתהון דחייביא ית ארעכון רייי אלקכרן יהיב לכון

[44] Fragment Targum Deuteronomy 21:22-23, ap. Chapman, p. 138-9. Chapman's translation with some of my tweaks. The Aramaic text reads:

על עת: ותצלבון יתיה על קייסא

[45] Jastrow, Dictionary, p. 1282, entry "צלב". See also the following entries "צלוב ,צלב" and "צלוב". Their meanings are all listed as "hang, impale."

Cf. Chapman, pp. 14-26, which not only discusses Jastrow's definition, but also cites Haim Cohn (The Trial and Death of Jesus, New York, Ktav, 1977), Joseph M. Baumgarten (Does TLH in the Temple Scroll Refer to Crucifxion?" JBL 91 (December 1972): 472-81; "Hanging and Treason in Qumran and Roman Law" Erlsr 16 (1982): 7*-16*.) and David J. Halperin's ("Crucifixion, the Nahum Pesher, and the Rabbinic Penalty of Strangulation" JJS 32 (1981): 32-46) discussion of these verbs and the nouns that derive from it. Basically he accepts Cohn's argument that the verb צלב in Hebrew and Halperin's argument that this verb in both Hebrew and Aramaic is indicative of crucifixion (definitely true for the Roman period especially when describing Roman executions) and rejects Cohn's argument that the same verb in Aramaic and Baumgarten's argument that the verb in both languages have nothing to do with crucifixion. Chapman cites the Semitic root tzlb* in Palestinian Christian Aramaic, the Mandaic and the Syriac to mean "crucify."

* 'tz' is substituted throughout for the proper 's' with a dot beneath it, which cannot be reproduced here.

Nevertheless, there is an extinct language and a language very much thriving at present that should give pause to limiting the meaning of the verb. Tzlb in the Punic language is very much uncertain but might mean "impale" (Zelig Harris, A Grammar of the Phoenician Language, AOS 8. New Haven, American Oriental Society, 1936) or "impale on a razor." (J. Hoftijzer and K. Jungeling, Dictionary of the Northwest Semitic Inscriptions, 2 vols. HdO I.21. Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1995.) And in Arabic the verb tzalb means to crucify, but M S M Saifullah, Elias Karim & ʿAbdullah David ("Crucifixion of 'Crucifiction' in Ancient Egypt?", Islamic Awareness.com, January 2009) argue that the Arabic root tzlb derives from bone, more specifically the backbone, that it also denotes hardness in both a true sense and a metaphoric sense, that a derivative refers to cooking bones to extract fats, that tzalb: "crucify" comes from the root tzlb; cite Edward Lane's argument that crucifixion was a well-known sort of death where the oily matter, and the ichor mixed with blood, flows from the person being put to death (Ref. Edward Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, 1968, Part - 4, Librairie Du Liban: Beirut, pp. 1711-1713), and conclude that tzlb, when applied to the execution of a person, should connote any method where the body becomes hardened or stiffened and where the blood or ichor of the sufferer flows. And Chapman (p. 32) himself cautions that one should not differentiate too rigidly between impalement, crucifixion and some other kind of suspension due to the broad variety of terms -- and possibly an immense variety of methods -- for human bodily suspension-execution.

[46] Jastrow, Dictionary, p. 1282, next two entries "צלוב" meaning: I. stake, gallows, including צלוב על הצלוב = nailed to the stake; and II. impaled, hanging, and from I., nailed. Cf. Chapman, pp. 14-26.

[47] Jastrow, Dictionary, p. 1364, entry "קיסא". Chapman does not discuss the meaning of this word, but merely translates it as "more generic word for tree" (p. 139) when it should have been discussed, since the prime meaning is "rough edge" and the apparent root or derived adjective is "קיס" (qise) meaning "rough-edged."

The Finding of the True Cross

There is a discussion about whether the Cross in the early Catholic Church after Constantine was a Latin Cross, or a Chresimon (Chi-Rho symbol), here and here.

And here's my response:

And it had to have been a Latin Cross. That is, a tropaeum. It was as early as 350 CE that the Laureate Cross was displayed on sarcophagi and god knows where else. It was a Latin Cross (t) surmounted by a rising Chi-Rho symbol surrounded by a laurel wreath.

Domatilla Sarcophagus, 350 CE

The "True Cross" HAD to have been a tropaeum. Likely, a disused one, probably used to deify deceased Emperors with, stashed away with two others in a second-century underground stone reservoir built by Hadrian, which itself later became "The Chapel of the Invention of the Cross." Can't get more honest than that!

Indeed, Constantine and Helena HAD to have known about the resemblence of the "True Cross" and your typical everyday, run-of-the-mill tropaeum:

Google Books - Helena Augusta: the Mother of Constantine the Great and the Legend of her Finding of the True Cross, page 182.

Helena's dispatch of part of the Cross to Constantine has the same symbolic force. The Cross protects the Christian emperor like a phylakterion, but it also serves as a tropaeum, a representation of the heavenly alliance between the emperor and the Christian God. The tropaeum may help to defeat enemies, religious enemies like Jews and pagans, as well as the enemy on the battlefield. The Cross provides a triumphus for the emperor as well as for Christianity.[5] The part of the Cross Helena leaves behind in Jerusalem, together with the churches she builds there, transforms the city from a pagan and Jewish centre into a Christian one: a New Jerusalem.

[5] Rufinus, Expositio Symboli 12 = CC ser. lat. 20, 149: Unde sciendum est quod crux ista triumphis erat: triumphi enim insigne est tropaeum; tropaeum autem devicti hostis indicium est.* For the Cross as trophy, see R. Storch, 1970.

* Ed-M: Hence we may know that the cross was that triumph: namely a sign of triumph is the trophy, and the trophy is an indication of a defeated enemy.

A Google image search will reveal an immense number of pictures and photographs of tropaea; and except for a certain monument in Romania, they are all cruciform! And even the statue on top of the monument, which one could call the tropaeum proper, displays the form of a cross.

It's on marbles, it's on statues, it's on coins. The post-Constantinian Latin Cross, like the tropaeum that preceded it, was in the shape of a modified T.

Impalements in Antiquity (2)

WARNING!: This post

may be upsetting to some.

Part 12 of the series: "The Romans NEVER CRUCIFIED the Way We Think They Did!"

Previous in this series:

Part 11 - Impalements in Antiquity (1).
Part 10 - Humiliations.
Part 9 - Utility Poles and Masts.
Part 8 - Crown of Thorns.
Part 7 - Crucifixion and Priapus.
Part 6 - From Wax Image to Exposed Body.
Part 5 - The First Crucifix.
Part 4 - The Tropaeum and the Furca.
Part 3 - Crux - Modern English Use and Ancient Quotidian Meanings.
Part 2 - Crux.
Part 1.

Previous Series - Crucifixion – The Bodily Support:

Part 4 - Physics of Crucifixion.

Part 3 - Manuscript Evidence.

Part 2 - Archaeological Evidence.

Part 1.

Part 12 - Impalements in Antiquity (2)

A. Introduction: Crucifixion or Impalement?

As mentioned in the previous post Impalements in Antiquity (1), Historical, classical and biblical scholars, particularly those of an Evangelical bent, widely assume that mere crucifixion (only nailing or binding to a "cross" of any shape) was frequent and common throughout the ancient world and among those who crucified were the Indians, Assyrians, Scythians, Taurians, Celts, Germani, Brittani, Persians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Numidians, Thracians, Judeans, Hellenic peoples of Asia Minor, and of course, the Greeks and the Romans.

Not so! What most of them, plus the Hittites, the Mittani and the Egyptians, practiced was some kind of impalement, as would be made obvious by the extant ancient writings. Only of some of them could it be said they "crucified," and even then it was usually a method of impalement, with the arms above and the wrists apart, bound to a lifting beam.

B. Babylonians - First Babylon Empire.

The Hammurabi Code, ca. 1786 BCE, prescribed two kinds of impalements: one capital punishment followed by post-mortem impalement for any individual who breaks through the wall of a house. The other was pre-mortem, that is, executionary impalement for any woman who commits adultery and has her husband killed for the sake of her lover. [1]

If a man make a breach in a house, they shall put him to death in front of that breach and they shall thrust him therein.

Code of Hammurabi, 21 [2] [3]

If a woman bring about the death of her husband for the sake of another man, they shall impale her.

Code of Hammurabi, 153 [4]

"If a man deceive a brander and he brand a slave with the sign that he cannot be sold, they shall put that man to death, and they shall cast him into his house. The brander shall swear: "I did not brand him knowingly," and he shall go free."

Code of Hammurabi, 227 [3] [5]

Both Babylonian and Assyrian Law specified impalement for a woman who procured an abortion., although the latter is a bit ambiguous: the Assyrian law says "they shall set her up on pieces of wood." [6][7]

C. Egyptians.

C.1. Interpreting Ancient Hieroglyphics.

It can be determined by reviewing ancient Egyptian payri and hieroglyphics that the Egyptians put people to death by means of wooden instruments, and set them up to die on the same. But how? What this thing is, so that people don't just assume that Egyptians nailed people to crosses, can be determined by viewing or researching the hieroglyphics inscribed on the Stela of Akhenaten and other Stelae, describing the cruel and only too usual punishment. Fortunately, German academics are way ahead on this and Muslim apologetics has cast a beam of light upon the research.

Source: Die Sprache Der Pharaonen Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch, (ap. M S M Saifullah, Elias Karim & ʿAbdullah David, "Crucifixion or Crucifiction in Ancient Egypt?" Islamic Awareness, 2009) [8]

Above is the hieroglyph writing for "Pfahl: pale or stake. rdj hr = To put on the stake (for punishment)"; det. = determinative, hieroglyph for classifying Egyptian words. Here it shows an impaled man bent upon a stake. [9]

Source: Die Sprache Der Pharaonen Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch, (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifixion or Crucifiction") [10]

Above you may view additional information on the hieroglyph writings that denote impalement on a stake. This hieroglyph listing for Pfahl, "Pale, Stake" and Pfählen, "Pales, Stakes." The listings denoted by the encircled numerals 2, 3, 5 and 6 are indicative of execution by impalement.

And Christian apologetics that claim impalement is not crucifixion, and thus claim the Egyptians never crucified, certainly confirm that indeed, the Egyptians did indeed impale on stakes.

Illustration of Egyptian Crucifixion by Impalement from the Hieroglyphics. Source: Joyce A Tyldesley, Judgement of the Pharaoh, Crime and Punishment in Ancient Egypt, p. 65, (ap. Response to Islamic Awareness.com).

C.2. Pharoah Sobekhotep II.

The earliest evidence that people were killed in this manner is found in an archaeological document dating back to the Egyptian city of Thebes in the 17th C. BCE. The document found was the Payrus Boulaq 18, believed to have been written in the reigh of Pharoah Sobekhotep II and contains the following [11]:

Source: Islamic Awareness [11].

"a blood bath (?) has occured with (by?) wood (?)... the comrade was put on the stake, land near the island... waking alive at the places of life, safety and health ..." [11] [12]

It is fairly obvious that the "comrade" was done in by a bloody death on or with something made out of wood.

C.3. Pharoah Akhenaten.

This Stela of Akhenaten describes the brutal treatment of Nubians who were captured in combat in the 14th C. BCE: [13][14]

Source: Islamic Awareness [14]

"List (of the enemy belonging to) Ikayta: living Neheshi 80+ ?,... ...their (chiefs?) 12, total number of live captives 145; those who were impaled... ...total 225; beasts 361." [13][15]

Akhenaten was Pharoah during the 13th C. BCE. The "Ikayta" the Stela refers to were probably Egypt's arch-nemesis referred to therein as the "vile Kheta": the Hittites. The Hittite Empire was immense. It stretched all the way from what is now western Anatolia in Turkey into northern Syria and was always a threat to Egypt, whose realm included Palestine. The Stela was here describing an invasion of egypt by Hittites, who instigated a revolt by "Nehesi" (Nubians), who lived in what is now southern Egypt and the northern Sudan and were the Pharoah's subjects at the time. This revolt was in the 12th year of Akhenaten's reign: sometime between 1341 and 1339 BCE.

The Egyptian official who was responsible for this was a certain Tuthmose, the Pharoah's Viceroy for Nubia, who was sent down to put down the rebellion. All in all, he crucified by direct impalement 145 living men and transfixed 80 enemy combatants slain on the battlefield, totalling 225 bodies living and dead.

C.4. Pharoah Seti I.

Crucifixion by direct impalement had undoubtedly become a common capital punishment in Egypt by the 13th C. BCE. There is the Nauri Decree which is inscribed on a cliff at nauri in the Sudan wherein Seti I prescribes execution by impalement for anyone whosoever is convicted of selling an animal belonging to the Great temple of Abydos or sacrificing an animal to any god other than the Temple's patron, Osiris: [16]

Source: Islamic Awareness [17]

"...Now as for any superintendant of cattle, any superintendant of donkeys, any herdsman belonging to the Temple of Menmare Happy in Abydos, who shall sell of any beast belonging to the Temple of Menmare Happy in Abydos to someone else; likewise whoever may cause it to be offered to some other document, and it not be offered to Osiris his Master in the Temple of Menmare Happy in Abydos; the law shall be executed against him, by condemning him, impaled on the stake, along with forfeiting (?) his wife, his children and all his property to the Temple of Menmare Happy in Abydos, ..." [17]

Clearly, the offender, if caught and convicted, shall be put to death by being pierced on a stake and his wife, daughters and sons will become property of the temple in question -- possibly becoming shrine prostitutes.

C.5. Pharoah Merenptah.

The next incident involves a combat with the Libyans at the end of the 13th C. BCE. [18] The Libyans meet their fate of suspension at a site south of Memphis, which was the ancient capital of Egypt, not where Elvis Presley made his bid for fame.

The hieroglyphics which describe this come from the Stela of Merenptah.

Source: Islamic Awareness [19]

"...Never shall they leave any people for the Libu (i.e., Libyans), any who shall bring them up in their land! They are cast to the ground, (?) by hundred-thousands and ten-thousands, the remainder being impaled ('put to the stake') on the south of Memphis. All their property was plundered, being brought back to Egypt..." [18][19]

These hieroglyphic reported that thousands of Libu were killed ("cast to the ground") and the survivors were taken captive, marched to the south of Memphis, and impaled. The date of this battle, which not only involved the Libu, but also their allies the Meshwesh (another tribe from Libya) and the Sea Peoples (Philistines?) occured in 1209 BCE.

C.6. Pharoah Ramesses IX.

Another archaeological document known as the papyrus Abbot describes an account of tomb robberies during the reign of Ramesses IX in the late 12th C. BCE. [20]

Source: Islamic Awareness [21]

"...The notables caused this coppersmith to be examined in the most severe
examination in the Great Valley, but it could not be found that he knew of any
place there save the two places he had pointed out. He took an oath on pain of
being beaten, of having his nose and ears cut off, and of being impaled, saying
I know of no place here among these tombs except this tomb which is open and
this house which I pointed to you..." [20][21]

Clearly, impalement was herein threatened as a capital punishment if the man in question was convicted of perjury. Tomb robbery would undoubtedly meet the same terrible death.

D. Akkadin Empire.

There is in the ancient Ugaritic and Akkadin Texts a legal prosecription for suspending people on pieces of wood post-mortem. It has been argued that this refers to impalement, despite the fact that the pieces of wood is in the plural and the criminal to be suspended is in the singular. [21a]

E. Mitanni.

The Mitanni are a relatively unknown kingdom that came to light thanks to archaeology, no thanks to the Israelite and Judean prophets, priests, kings, historians and other writers who wrote the biblical chronicles! This kingdom was at its peak around 1400 BCE when it was attacked by the hatti (Hittites) to the west. In 1322 BCE this kingdom lost part of Syria to the Hatti and fell into political intrigue where the King Tushratta was assasinated and his nephew Shuttarna acceded the throne. The Mitanni Kingdom had to start recompensating its vassal states and it ended up in bankruptcy. Rather than wait for the hatti to attack again, or the vassals to rise up, Shuttarna came up with this solution: "he arrested thousands of the kingdom's Hurrian warrior aristocrats known as the maryannu [no joke!] and sent them east to the city of Taite where they were impaled. [He] then divided much of the remaining mitanni territory among favored vassals from Assyria and Alshe." [22]

E. Hittites.

In a discussion about the Old Hittite verb da-, "to take, to fetch," F. A. Tjerkstra notes a passage, wherein the writer / protagonist states, 'man paizzi ispannit iskarhi URUDU tapulliannit = a kuerzi.' Which is: "When he goes (away) I will impale (him) on a spit and he will cut him with a tapulli." [23]

Despite this terse and rather hastily thought out statement, impalement was rather rare among the Hittites and it shows in their legal code. Indeed, humiliating punishments like mutilation, which were routinely practiced under Assyrian law, were almost entirely absent from the Hittite code. The killing and burning of the enemy, the building of pyramids with skulls only, the impaling and flaying of the enemy whilst still alive, such atrocities all common amongst the Assyrians, were unthinkable among the Hittites. [24] Well, almost unthinkable.

F. Assyrians.

F.1. Epigraphy.

Source: Wikipedia.

The above is a detail of another image located here of an alabaster relief on display at the British Museum. It clearly shows Assyrian troops actively planting the stakes of three naked, impaled persons during the siege of the town of Laschish in 701 BCE. The three victims appear to have been impaled through the upper abdomen or the chest, and their heads have been turned toward the Earth (Seneca's first of three described cruces in De Consolatione 20.3). [25]

Source: Islamic Awareness. [26]

The above relief portrays Shalmaneser III's campaign in northern Syria and the aftermath of the taking of the town of Dabigu. The victims are suspended on top of tall poles and impaled through their privates, most likely the anus, with their legs painfully splayed as can be clearly seen in the detail below. [25] This method is the second of three cruces described by Seneca in the above work.

Source: Islamic Awareness.

Another relief showing an attack on the walls of a town by means of a siege-engine (that looks like a mammoth covered with a blanket!) backed up by archers who are protected with shields. In the distance are the bodies of three of the town's residents, naked and impaled through the abdomen, with their heads pitched forwards toward the earth like in the previous relief. [27] The relief was taken from the Palace of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 BCE) at Nimrud. [28] Two other views of the above relief can be viewed here.

And the epigraphy is not limited to the reliefs. There are inscriptions that show that Assyrian kings routinely boasted that when they took a walled town in battle, they impaled and lifted up its chief men. [29] There is also mention in the inscriptions of Assyrian forces subduing Egyptian vassals that were rebellious and impaling the leaders of the rebellion. [30]

F.2. Legal Writings.

As mentioned above, the Assyrian code (Middle Assyrian Laws) stated that a woman who procured an abortion was to be suspended, to us ambiguously: "they shall set her up on pieces of wood." [6] [7] But then again, the multiple pieces of wood could refer to multiple stakes in the ground like in Plutarch Artaxerxes 17.5.2, or a single stake with a cross-brake, as in this 18th Century woodcut from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

Under Sennacherib (705-681 BCE), it was proscribed that if a man were to build a house and it encroached upon the king's highway, he was to be suspended in front of his house. [31]

F.3. Historic Writings.

It is a common belief among Christians (and even scholars!) that the Assyrians crucified. This belief has been popularized by Marin Hengel's Crucifixion, wherein he cites Diodorus Siculus and Lucian as historic written evidence. [32] But what sort of crucifixion are the two talking about? Clearly, if they are talking about anything except impalement, then obviously the reports have zero historical worth. Clearly, these reports deserve a closer looking into.

F.3.1. Diodorus Siculus.

First, a look at Diodorus Siculus' report:

9 But Ninus treated him with great magnanimity, and agreed that he should not only continue to rule over Armenia but should also, as his friend, furnish a contingent and supplies for the Assyrian army. And as his power continually increased, he made a campaign against Media. 10 And the king of this country, Pharnus, meeting him in battle with a formidable force, was defeated, and he both lost the larger part of his soldiers, and himself, being taken captive along with his seven sons and wife, was crucified.

9 ὁ δὲ Νίνος μεγαλοψύχως αὐτῷ χρησάμενοςτῆς τε Ἀρμενίας συνεχώρησεν ἄρχειν καὶ φίλον ὄντα πέμπειν στρατιὰν καὶ τὴν χορηγίαν τῷ σφετέρῳ στρατοπέδῳ. ἀεὶ δὲ μᾶλλον αὐξόμενος ἐστράτευσεν εἰς τὴν Μηδίαν. 10 ὁ δὲ ταυτ́ης βασιλεὺς Φαρνος παραταξάμενος ἀξιολόγω δυνάμει καὶ λειφθείς, τω̂ν τε στρατιωτω̂ν τοὺς πλείους ἀπέβαλε καὶ αὐτὸς μετὰ τέκνων ἑπτὰ καὶ γυναικὸς αἰχμάλωτος ληφθεὶς ἀνεσταυρώθη.

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 2.1.9,10 [33]

Note here that the verb translated as "crucified" is ἀνεσταυρώθη. The Perseus Word Study Tool lists this as the 3rd person singular aortive indicative passive of ἀνασταυρόω: "affix to a cross, crucify." But does it? We have seen that sometimes the verb refers fixing heads on pikes. So lets's go under the PWST surface, then, using their menu for LSJ and Middle Liddell.

The Liddell, Scott and Jones lexicon has the following listing for ἀνασταυρόω: "ἀνασταυρ-όω, = foreg., Hdt.3.125, 6.30, al.; identical with ἀνασκολοπίζω, 9.78:--Pass., Th. 1.110, Pl. Grg.473c.; II. in Rom. times, affix to a cross, crucify, Plb. 1.11.5, al., Plu.Fab.6, al.; 2. crucify afresh, Ep. Hebr.6.6."

The Middle Liddell has the following: "ἀνασταυρόω. I. to impale. Hdt.: -- Pass., Thuc.; II. in the Rom. times, to affix to a cross, crucify, Plut.; 2. to crucify afresh, NTest."

So clearly for pre-Roman times, ἀνασταυρόω meant "impale" which conforms with what is so clearly shown in the epigraphy. It would be the Romans, clearly, who would invent the torture that both they and moderns today would recognize as crucifixion. And modern writers of the literature covering the classics do, or should, interpret the meaning of the word as "impale". [34]

Now it may be objected that Diodorus Siculus actualized this execution for his readers by assuming crucifixion other than direct impalement. However, we cannot be sure of that for it has already been established that Romans were familiar with direct impalement (Seneca, Dial. 6 = De Cons. 20.3, Ep. Mor. 14.5; Pliny Elder NH 18.8.47) and heads on pikes (Cassius Dio Rom. Hist. 75.8, 76.7.3 [35]) Ergo, Greeks, including Sicilian Greeks, would have been familiar with it, too.

F.3.2. Lucian of Samosata.

Next, we should look at Lucian's report:

Cyniscius: Well I suppose I must not ask you all [Divine Providence, Lady Destiny and you guys] why... ... the effeminate Sardanapalus was a king, and one high minded Persian after another went to the cross for refusing to countenance his doings?

Κυνίσκος: οὐκοῦν μηδὲ ἐκεῖνο ὑμᾶς ἔρωμαι, σέ τε καὶ τὴν Πρόνοιαν καὶ τὴν Εἱμαρμένην, τί δήποτε... ...καὶ Σαρδανάπαλλος μὲν ἐβασίλευε θῆλυς ὤν, Γώχης δὲ ἀνὴρ ἐνάρετος ἀνεσκολοπίσθη πρὸς αὐτοῦ, διότι μὴ ἠρέσκετο τοῖς γιγνομένοις.

Lucian, Iuppiter Confutatus 16 [36]

The Greek verb for "went to the cross" is ἀνεσκολοπίσθη, which the Perseus Word Study Tool lists as the 3rd person singular aortive indicative passive of ἀνασκολοπίζω, "to fix on a pole." Again, using the menu for the lexica, we have:

The Liddell, Scott and Jones entry for ἀνασκολοπίζω: "ἀνασκολοπ-ίζω :—Pass., with fut. Med. -σκολοπιοῦμαι (in pass. sense) Hdt.3.132, 4.43, but Pass.: A. “-σκολοπισθήσομαι” Luc.Prom.7: aor. -εσκολοπίσθην ib.2,10: pf. “-εσκολόπισμαι” Id.Peregr.13:—fix on a pole or stake, impale, Hdt.1.128, 3.159, al.; in 9.78 it is used convertibly with ἀνασταυρόω, as in Ph.1.237,687, Luc.Peregr.11."

The Middle Liddell entry yields "ἀνασκολοπίζω: The middle future form ἀνασκολοπιοῦμαι has a passive meaning: to fix on a pole or stake, impale, Hdt."

This verb comes from ἀνα, "up, upwards," and σκολοπίζω, "protect by palisades, impale" and the latter verb is derived from σκόλοψ, "anything pointed, i.e., thorn, stake for impaling, palisade, etc." So ἀνασκολοπίζω means "thorn up, impale (upwards)" when describing penal human bodily suspension. Even the Christian apologist webmaster for the Tekton website admits that this verb means "impale" for it is the verb Lucian used in Peregr. 11 & 13 when describing the Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. [37]

G. Neo-Babylonians - Chaldean Empire.

The only known reference to impalements or suspensions by the Chaldean Empire is a reference in the Tanakh / Old Testament, Lamentations 5:12-13 where the princes of Judah are hanged and the young men or young boys are crucified (impaled).

Masoretic text:

12 שָׂרִים֙ בְּיָדָ֣ם נִתְל֔וּ פְּנֵ֥י זְקֵנִ֖ים לֹ֥א נֶהְדָּֽרוּ׃

13 בַּחוּרִים֙ טְחֹ֣ון נָשָׂ֔אוּ וּנְעָרִ֖ים בָּעֵ֥ץ כָּשָֽׁלוּ׃

In the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the treatment of princes, old men, young men and adolescent boys or even younger is presented thusly:

12Princes were hung by their hands;
Elders were not respected.

13Young men worked at the grinding mill,
And youths stumbled under loads of wood.

The letter ב (beth) when used as a prepositional prefix, means "in, within, on, etc.; from and in [it], i.e., out of [the very thing]. [38] So in verse 12 "hanged by their hands" [39] is correct, whereas "youths stumbled under loads of wood" is more problematic. Biblos.org directly transliterates it as "and youths [because of] wood stumbled." [40]. And even then, "stumbled" may not be right. Because the Hebrew "stumbled" is כָּשָֽׁלוּ׃, which is variously defined:

NAS Exhaustive Concordance short definition: "to stumble, stagger, totter." [41]

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance short definition: "bereave, cast down, be decayed, cause to fail, make to fall down feeble, be the ruined" [41] Strong's further states that the staggering, stumbling is due to weakness in the legs, particularly the ankles.

Now in verse 12, "by their [the Princes'] hands" could mean by their own hands, or at the hands of the enemy. [42] It could be both!

In verse 13, "young boys stumbled / staggered [because of] the wood seems to indicate that they were staggering on top of the wood! That is the logical translation if one keeps consistent with other occurences of בָּעֵ֥ץ, as in Exodus 10:15. [43] Indeed, this is the same conclusion chapman makes, that the prefix ב, when used with the noun עץ ("tree, pole, wood") and the verb כשלו׃ ("stumble, stagger, totter, from weakness in the ankles") should mean on top, over, above, upon. [44]

Yet v. 13b could be better interpreted as the result of an impale, given that the Pesiqta Rabbati 33.13 considers the youths in this verse as ולקו בעץ "smitten by the tree." [45]

Septuagint (translated sometime in the 2nd or even 1st C. BCE):

12 ἄρχοντες ἐν χερσὶν αὐτῶν ἐκρεμάσθησαν πρεσβύτεροι οὐκ ἐδοξάσθησαν

13 ἐκλεκτοὶ κλαυθμὸν ἀνέλαβον καὶ νεανίσκοι ἐν ξύλῳ ἠσθένησαν

Here, ἄρχοντες ἐν χερσὶν αὐτῶν ἐκρεμάσθησαν denotes "Princes were hanged by their wrists" and νεανίσκοι ἐν ξύλῳ ἠσθένησαν is best translated as: "young men were weakened by wood." This last phrase could mean either they were worn out from ferrying loads of wood, or they were weakened upon a single piece of wood, i.e., an impaling stake, for the word ξύλῳ is in the singular neuter dative, indicating a single piece of wood, and when used with ἐν denotes either a locative dative ("upon a piece of wood") or an instrumental dative ("by a piece of wood") -- sometimes both. [46] This can only denote either a stake upon which the young men are impaled and stsuggling or, in a common understanding and projection of the time, a stake or beam under which they are staggering toward their impalement or crucifixion.

Field's translation into Greek of Symmachus' Syriac commentary Syro-Hexapla on this last phrase is reads: καί τούς παίδας ὑπὸ ξύλον ἐποίησαν, and the best translation is "and the boys were brought under (or were rendered subject to) a piece of wood." [47]

Latin Vulgate (Jerome, 390 CE)

12 principes manu suspensi sunt facies senum non erubuerunt

13 adulescentibus inpudice abusi sunt et pueri in ligno corruerunt

Here, Jerome speaks of the hanging of the princes as "Princes were hanged by the hand" and of the stumbling of the boys as "boys (up to age 17) sank / fell / fell with violence / were destroyed upon the tree/wood/stake." The phrase, in ligno, is indicative of both locative and instrumental ablative (as in in hoc signo vinces, "by this sign you will conquer") so it is because of the wood the youths fell. [48]

Targum Lamentations 5:12, 13

In the Targum on these two verses, we have:

12 רברכין בידיהון אצטליבו אפי סביא לא סברו

13 רובין ריחיא נטלא וטליא בצליבת קיסא תקלו

This roughly translates as "Princes were hanged by their hands; the faces of the elders they did not honour. / Young men carried the millstones, and young boys stumbled against the crucifying of the tree. Nota bene, צלב ("to hang, impale, crucify") is used in verse 12 and its cognate "hanging, impaling, crucifying," "on a gallows, stake, cross," or "by a hanging, impalement, crucifixion") is used in verse 13. [49] Furthermore, קיסא is denoted as "rough edge; twig, wood, tree; gallows" and itself is derived from קיס, "rough-edged," whereas תקלו has the meaning, "stumble, fail, weigh, strike against." [50] So this could just as easily be translated as "young boys stumbled or weighed against the impalement of a rough edge (stake)."

In verse 12 the earlier Hebrew text (preserved in the Masoretic text), the captive Princes of Judah were hanged by their hands. This plain sense has been maintained through the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate. But in the targum it is said that the Princes were crucified or impaled by their hands. So in this sense, Chapman is right: the writers were projecting the roman penalty back to an earlier time. But then again, of course, they could be remembering a different kind of "crucifixion" practiced by the Persians and the Carthaginians, in which the culprit was bound by his wrists to a lifting beam, suspended in the air and... impaled.

And taking all the various permutations of verse 13, the common motif seems to be that the youths were stumbling, staggering, weakening, falling violently, going to ruin, failing upon and because of a "tree," weighing against the crucifying of its rough edge. It happened in wartime, in 586 BCE, at the hands of the Chaldeans. In other words, these youths were impaled.

H. Conclusions.

We have seen from ancient texts, hieroglyphics and reliefs that ancient peoples before the Persians crucified people by direct impalement. The Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Assyrian reliefs make this obvious. Hebrew remembrances of war atrocities committed by the Chaldean Empire against the Judah indicated impalements were committed by the Babylonians. Even the selected Greek references from the 1st C. BCE and 2nd C. CE could be and probably was referring to crucifixion by direct impalement, not necessarily crucifixion by only nailing or tieing to a cross. In other words, these ancients' probable usual method of crucifixion was the same as or similar to Vlad the Impaler's.

X. Footnotes

[1] J. M. Ford, "The Crucifixion Of Women In Antiquity", Journal of Higher Criticism, 1996, op. cit., pp. 293-294 (ap. M S M Saifullah, Elias Karim & ʿAbdullah David. "Crucifixion or Crucifiction in Ancient Egypt?" Islamic Awareness, Updated 23 January 2009, accessed 10 March 2012). Ford's article here.

[2] Robert Francis Harper, The Code of Hammurabi, 1904, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, Callaghan & Company, p. 17, PDF page 35, Wikipedia.org. Section 21 is transcribed below without the texts' diacritical markings. For the diacritical markings, see the PDF, enlarged at full-size here.

Section 21.--IX, 14-21.

14. sum-ma a-wi-lum 15 bi-tam 16 ip-lu-us 17 i-na pa-ni 18 bi-il-si-im 19 su-a-ti 20 i-du-uk-ku-su-ma 21 i-ha-al-la-lu-su.

"If a man make a breach in a house, they shall put him to death in front of that breach and thrust him therein."

An alternate reading for Section 21 is as follows: "The punishment for breaking through a wall in a house was death followed by impalement. Impalement after death reflects the crime; he pierced the wall, so his body is pierced." Driver and Miles, Babylonian Laws, pp. 108-9. (ap. J.M. Ford, "Crucifixion of Women"). The alternate reading for section 21 would also apply to Section 227, due to the common original verb, apparently "i-ha-al-lu-su".

[3] Chapman has argued that both Sections 21 and 227 refer to a post-mortem suspension of the offender. (David W. Chapman, Ancient Jewish and Christian Perceptions of Crucifixion, 2008 Grand Rapids, Mich., Baker Academic / Baker Publishing Group, pp. 99-100, n.8.)

[4] Harper, p. 55, PDF page 73, Wikipedia.org. Section 153 is transcribed below without the diacritical markings.

Section 153.--XXV, 61-66.

61 sum-ma as-sa-at a-wi-lim 62 as-sum zi-ka-ri-im 63 sa-ni-im 64 mu-za us-di-ik zinnistam su-a-ti i-na ga-si-si-im 66 i-sa-ak-ka-nu-si

"If a woman bring about the death of her husband for the sake of another man, they shall impale her."

An alternate reading reads thusly: "If the wife of one man on account of another man has their mates (her husband and the other man's wife) murdered, both of them shall be impaled." L. W. King, trans. Hammurabi's Code of Laws, 1915 trans., gopher://gopher.vt.edu:10010/11/ (ap. Code of Hammurabi webpage, fordham.edu)

[5] Harper, p. 55, PDF page 99, Wikipedia.org. Section 227 is transcribed below without the diacritical markings.

Section 227.--XXXV, 43-55.

43 sum-ma a-wi-lum 44 gallabam i-da-as-ma 45 ab-bu-ti 46 wardi la se-e-im 47 ug-da-al-li-ib 48 a-wi-lam su-a-ti 49 i-du-uk-ku-su-ma 50 i-na babi-su 51 i-ha-al-lu-su 52 gallabum i-na i-du-u 53 la u-gal-li-bu 54 i-tam-ma-ma 55 u-ta-as-sar

"If a man deceive a brander and he brand a slave with the sign that he cannot be sold, they shall put that man to death, and they shall cast him into his house. The brander shall swear: "I did not brand him knowingly," and he shall go free."

[6] Driver and Miles , p. 456. (ap. J.M. Ford, "Crucifixion of Women"). The exact verbiage in ford's article follows as this: "Driver and Miles note that the: Babylonian phrase is 'they shall put her on a stake,' while the Assyrian law has 'they shall set her up on pieces of wood.' Driver and Miles continue: '... the substitution of a plural noun suggests crucifixion on crossed pieces of wood, which further agrees with the use of the derived Syriac verb meaning "set up, erected" for "crucified" (Syr. zqap)'." The verb in question is probably the Assyrian zaqapu or zaqipu, both of which are related to the Aramaic זְקַף (zek-apf') and its cognates, meaning "raised, hanged, impaled, and lastly, crucified (by the Romans)." (Chapman, p. 26-7, n.106; p. 100, n. 10)

[7] Chapman, p. 99: Chapman states that the Assyrian punishment is a form of impalement and further, that her corpse is to be left unburied. (Tablet A, Sect. 53) Cf. G.R. Driver & John C. Miles, The Assyrian Laws, Ancient Codes and Laws of the Near East, 1935, Oxford, Clarendon press, pp. 115-118 & 420-421. (ap. Chapman, p.99, n. 7)

[8] R. Hannig, Die Sprache Der Pharaonen Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch - Deutsch (2800-950 v. Chr.), 1995, Kulturgeschichte Der Antiken Welt - 64, Verlag Philipp Von Zabern: Mainz, p. 929. (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifixion or Crucifiction")

[9] It seems the hieroglyphic determinative is rare. Joyce Tyldesley, in a discussion on crime and punishment in Egypt, has this to say:

"The preferred method of execution was by impaling on a stake. The rare hieroglyphic determinative for this type of execution shows a man suspended by the centre of his torso on the point of a pole. The man lies face down so that his arms and legs dangle towards the ground. Death would have been quick if the spike pierced the heart or a major blood vessel. If not, the condemned faced a long, excruciating demise."

See J. Tyldesley, "Crime And Punishment In Ancient Egypt", Ancient Egypt: The History, People & Culture Of The Nile Valley, 2004 (June/July), Volume 4, Issue 6, p. 31; For a similar treatment albeit in slightly more detail, please see J. Tyldesley, Judgement Of The Pharaoh: Crime And Punishment In Ancient Egypt, 2000, Phoenix: London, pp. 64-66.

(ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifixion or Crucifiction")

[10] R. Hannig, Die Sprache Der Pharaonen Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch - Deutsch (2800-950 v. Chr.), 2000, Kulturgeschichte Der Antiken Welt - 86, Verlag Philipp Von Zabern: Mainz, p. 964. (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifixion or Crucifiction")

[11] Marco Caceres, "Those Uppity Nubians," The Crucifixions weblog, wordpress.com.

[12] The image is taken from W. Heck's Historisch-Biographische Texte Der 2. Zwischenzeit Und Neue Texte Der 18. Dynastie, 1975, Otto Harrassowitz: Wiesbaden, p. 10.

For a detailed study and translation of Papyrus Boulaq 18 see A. Scharff, "Ein Rechnungsbuch des Königlichen Hofes Aus Der 13. Dynastie (Papyrus Boulaq Nr. 18)", Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 1922, Volume 57, pp. 51-68. Relevant material is on p. 62. The translation in German reads: "gemacht wurde dort ein Blutbad(?) mit (durch?) Holz(?)... der Genosse tp-ht, landen bei der Insel ...; lebend erwachen an den Stätten des Lebens, Heils und der Gesundheit ..."

Scharff left the "tp-ht" untranslated. He compares it with Papyrus Abbott and says "wo es etwa 'Marterpfahl' bedeutet", i.e., where it signifies possibly "stake", see p. 62.

(ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifixion or Crucifiction")

[13] Ibid, "Those Uppity Nubians."

[14] Akhenaten's reign was from 1353 to 1336 BCE or 1351 to 1334 BCE. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhenaten

[15] H. S. Smith, The Fortress Of Buhen: The Inscriptions, 1976, Forty Eighth Excavation Memoir, Egyptian Exploration Society: London (UK), pp. 125-127 and Plate 29. (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifixion or Crucifiction")

[16] Carceres, "Offending Osiris."

[17] K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions: Historical And Biographical, 1975, Volume I, B. H. Blackwell Ltd.: Oxford (UK), No. 56, 1. The image was taken from here; K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated & Annotated (Translations), 1993, Volume I (Ramesses I, Sethos I and Contemporaries), Blackwell Publishing Ltd.: Oxford (UK), p. 48 (No. 56, 1). (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifxion or Crucifiction")

[18] Carceres, "South of Memphis."

[19] K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions: Historical And Biographical, 1982, Volume IV, B. H. Blackwell Ltd.: Oxford (UK), No. 1, 13. The image was taken from here; K. A. Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions: Translated & Annotated (Translations), 2003, Volume IV (Merenptah & The Late Nineteenth Dynasty), Blackwell Publishing Ltd.: Oxford (UK), p. 1. (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifxion or Crucifiction")

[20] Carceres, "Offending Osiris."

[21] T. E. Peet, The Great Tomb Robberies Of The Twentieth Egyptian Dynasty: Being A Critical Study, With Translations And Commentaries, of The Papyri In Which These Are Recorded, 1930, II Plates, The Provost & Fellows Of Worcester College At The Clarendon Press: Oxford, Plate III, Papyrus Abbott No. 5, 7; T. E. Peet, The Great Tomb Robberies Of The Twentieth Egyptian Dynasty: Being A Critical Study, With Translations And Commentaries, of The Papyri In Which These Are Recorded, 1930, I Text, The Provost & Fellows Of Worcester College At The Clarendon Press: Oxford, p. 40. (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifxion or Crucifiction")

[21a] Chapman, p. 99. In note 6 therein Chapman cites David M. Clemens' (Sources for Ugaritic Ritual and Sacrifice: Volume 1: Ugaritic and Ugarit Akkadian Texts, AOAT 248/1, 2001, Münster, Ugarit-Verlag, pp. 1038-1040) discussion of the Ugaritic teexts. Clemens argure that it is impalement the text refers to although the text's editor, Arnaud, occasionally translated the text for "impale" as "crucify" and Clemens admits there is plural mention of wood and only singular reference to the criminal.

[22] Robert McRoberts, "The Fall of the Mitanni Kingdom," mcroberts-robert.suite101.com

[23] Françoise Adriana Tjerkstra, Principles of the Relation between Local Adverb, Verb and Sentence Particle in Hittite, 1999 Groningen, STYX Publications, p. 107, n. 44. (Google Books preview) Tjerkstra in his discussion of da- notes that there is a verb taks-, "to fasten, to put together" and immiya-, "mix, blend" that are considered dative-locative and with an instrumental case. The impalement reference, KUB XXXI 1+ KBo III 16 II 7'-8' (CTH 311.2A, OH+), was the closest parallel for the construction suggested prior to Tjerska's tome. Although it is obvious to interpret both ispannit and URUDU tapulliannit as Adjuncts and Means, it is also possible that ispannit is governed by isgar-, like in the english "to impale on a spit." Nota bene: the Old Hittite transliteration was used without the customary diacritical marks, see the Google books preview or the publication itself for the transliteration with the markings.

[24] "The Hittite Period," Special: Ataman, Turkey, atamanhotel.com.

[25] The British Museum, Explore / Highlights, "Stone Panel from the South-West Palace of Sennacherib (Room 36, no. 7), Accessed 10 March 2012. Cf. J. B. Pritchard, The Ancient Near East In Pictures Relating To The Old Testament, 1954, Princeton University Press: Princeton (NJ), No. 373. (ap. Chapman, p. 100, n. 9)

[26] J. B. Pritchard, No. 362, p. 126 for picture and p. 292 for text. (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifxion or Crucifiction")

[27] Ibid., No. 368, p. 128 for picture and p. 293 for text. (ap. Saifullah, Karim & David, "Crucifxion or Crucifiction")

[28] Ancient Replicas website, "Impaled Prisoners" webpage, accessed 10 March 2010.

[29] Daniel David Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 2 Vols., 1926-1927, Chicago, University of Chicago, Vol. 2, pp. 294-295, 324; also Vol. 1, p. 279 (Annals of tiglath Pileser III); Vol. 1, p. 281 (Nimrud Slab Inscription ca. 734 BCE); and Vol. 1, p. 284 (Nimrud Slab Inscription, 728 BCE). (ap. Chapman, p. 100, n. 10)

[30] Luckenbill, Ancient Records, Vol. 2, pp. 294-295 (Rassam Cylinder); Vol. 2, p. 324 (Cylinder B) (ap. Chapman, p. 100, n. 11)

[31] Luckenbill, Ancient Records, Vol. 2, p. 195. (ap. Chapman, p. 99 n. 8)

[32] Martin Hengel (John Bowden, trans.), Crucifixion, 1977, Philadelphia, Fortress Press, pp. 22-23, n. 4. Herein he states that "The Assyrian king Ninus has the Median King Pharnus crucified: Diodorus 2.1.10. Lucian, Iuppiter confutatis 16: Sardanapalus becomes king and has the valiant (ἀνήρ ἐνάρετος) Goches crucified. Of course these reports have no historical value." Then he goes on to admit the Assyrians impaled people.

[33] English translation: Diodorus Siculus (C. H. Oldfather, trans.), The Library of History, Vol. I, 1933, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, Loeb Classical Library edition. transcribed online by Bill Thayer, Lacus Curtius, penelope.uchicago.edu. Greek text: Diodorus Siculus, (Immanuel Bekker, Ludwig Dindorf, Friedrich Vogel, Immanuel Bekker, eds.) Bibliotheca Historia, Books I-V, transcribed online by Perseus Digital Library, perseus.tufts.edu.

[34] Refer to P. H. Gosse, Assyria; Her Manners And Customs, Arts And Arms: Her Manners And Customs, Arts and Arms Restored From Her Monuments, 1852, Society For Promotion Of Christian Knowledge: London, p. 349 (Google Books preview). A similar statement is also seen in W. Palmer's Egyptian Chronicles. With A Harmony Of Sacred And Egyptian Chronology, And An Appendix On Babylonian And Assyrian Antiquities, 2006, Volume II, Elibron Classics, p. 908 (Google Books preview).

Gosse's text reads as follows: "The terrible death of impalement was inflicted by the Assyrian conquerors upon their victims in all ages of their empire; though from the rarity of the representations we may suppose that it was not very common, and marked cases of peculiar exasperation. Perhaps it was mostly reserved for the leaders of rebellion. According to Diodorus (ii. sect. 1) Ninus impaled Pharnus, the king of Media."

Palmer's text reads: "Ninus then attacked Pharnus, king of Media, and after a great victory took him prisoner and caused him to be impaled."

[35] Cassius Dio actually uses conjugates of ἀνασταυρόω herein to describe the fastening of heads on pikes.

Rom. Hist. 75.8.3 (Greek - Perseus.tufts.edu) (English - Penelope.uchicago.edu)

Rom. Hist. 76.7.3,4 (Greek - Perseus.tufts.edu) (English - Penelope.uchicago.edu)

Remacle.org has different reference numbers for the bilingual Greek - French. There, Rom. Hist. 75.8 is 74.8 and 76.7 is 75.7.

[36] Lucian "Zeus Cross-examined," (H.W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler, trans.) The Works of Lucian of Samosata, 1905, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, Vol. III, pp 71-80, p. 78, English Text transcribed at Sacred-texts.com; Lucian, Juppiter confuatus 16, (A. M. Harmon, Ed.), Greek text transcribed at Perseus.tufts.edu. accessed 11 March 2012.

[37] If you go to Tekton's webpage titled, "Secular References to Jesus: Lucian" and scroll down to the paragraph in boldface text starting with "This passage was very late and probably was informed by Christian sources," you will find that the writer cites that "Evans (ChilEv.Stud, 461-2) does regard Lucian's use of an unusual word to describe crucifixion ('to impale') as evidence of derivation from a non-Christian source."

[38] Marcus Jastrow, Dictionary of Targumim, Dictionary of Talmud and Midrashic Literature. 1926, New york, G. P. Putnam's Sons, p. 134, entry "ב".

[39] Biblos.org, Lamentations 5:12, http://biblos.com/lamentations/5-12.htm

[40] Biblos.org, Lamentations 5:13, http://biblos.com/lamentations/5-13.htm

[41] Biblos.org, Lexicon listing H-3782 כָּשַׁל (kashal), http://concordances.org/hebrew/3782.htm

[42] Chapman, p. 158.

[43] Biblos.org, Englishman's Concordance listing bā·‘êṣ, http://concordances.org/hebrew/baetz_6086.htm.

[44] Chapman, p. 159.

[45] Chapman, p. 161, n. 234. mr. Chapman considers ולקו בעץ as problematic. I do not, considering that Chapman translates ולקו, "smitten, punished" and עץ ccan also be translated as pole. Smitten by a pole, then. In another word, impaled. (Jastrow, p. 1101, entry "עץ") Cf. Ezra 6:11 at Byblos.org here, here, and here.

[46] The meaning of all these words could be checked by consulting the Perseus Greek Word Study Tool, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph. The listing for ἐν is found here and the one for ξύλῳ, here.

[47] Chapman, p. 159, incl. n. 216, 217 and 220. Symmachus comments on Lament. 5:13b in his Syro-Hexpla, (Field, tr. into Greek, Origenis Hexaplorum 2:761). Chapman reads this as staggering under the weight of the wood, but one can check ύπο ξυλον εποίσαν at the Perseus Greek Word Study Tool here, here, and here. Nota bene that the Lucianic rescension and the manuscripts and the marginalia of the Syro-Hexpla understand this as: ἐπί ξύλοις ἐσταυρώθησαν ("young men were crucified on pieces of wood [or impaled upon stakes]"). Again, the phrase ἐπί ξύλοις ἐσταυρώθησαν can be checked here, here, here and here (the last for the verb conjugation -- 3rd person plural aorist indicative passive, meaning past action done to the subject and the subject's present condition because of it).

[48] Chapman, p. 159, incl. n. 220. See also Perseus Word Study Tool, corruerunt. There, Lewis & Short define the verb as: "to fall with violence, rush down; to fall down, tumble down, go to ruin; descend; end, hasten to a close; hasten, hurry, run, rush; fall, fail, sink; rush, dash, hurry, hasten, run; act hastily; to cast down with violence, to dash down, tumble down, hurl to the ground, prostrate." Jerome could very well have envisioned crucifixion here but it could also mean impalement; and impalement is the better cruel punishment inflicted by the Chaldeans due to the apparent instrumental ablative of in ligno and the time these war crimes were committed (586 BCE).

[49] Chapman, pp. 159, 160

[50] Jastrow, p. 1364, entries "קיס" and "קיסא"; p. 1691, both entries "תקל".