ILLUSTRATES Tom Womb
EDITION Felipe van Deursen
– (Tom Belly/Strange World)
THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS
If he was killed as was customary at the time, forget the classic image. His arms were bound and his feet nailed to the side.
almost famous
Discovered in 1968, Yehohanan was crucified in the 1st century, the same time as Jesus. Therefore, his remains, such as a heel bone pierced by a nail with fragments of wood, helped scientists to decipher how Jesus would have been executed.
sustainable cross
The sources of the time suggest that the Roman method forced the condemned to carry only the horizontal rod of the cross to the place of condemnation. As wood was very scarce at the time, the vertical pole was already planted and was used for several crucifixions.
painful death
The arms were loosening from the joints, stretching to the limit, which made it difficult to exhale. When the chest is fully expanded, you can only breathe in small «sips». Jesus probably died in a slow and painful suffocation process.
there is suffering
With the arms loose from the joints at the shoulders, the option of many was to try to support themselves by pressing their feet on the cross. But the legs were bent and the feet nailed. So soon the prisoner lost strength. Soldiers often broke his legs, prolonging his suffering.
exposed body
A Bible it says that Jesus was buried, but the most common thing was to leave the body to rot on the cross. Not giving the dead a tomb avoided creating a pilgrimage point. But it is known that the Romans sometimes made exceptions, so it is possible that Jesus was buried
tied arms
There was no “official method”. Out of sadism, the executioners could tie the condemned in different positions, even upside down (like Pedro, according to tradition). The hands were not nailed, because that was not efficient (it would not bear the weight and would tear). The most common was to support the arms on the cross and tie them. It is possible that Jesus had his wrists nailed, but there is no evidence
No Via Crucis
Jesus, a Jew, went to Jerusalem at the time of the Jewish Passover, a feast that celebrates the end of the slavery of these people. So it’s unlikely that the Romans would have arrested a Jewish leader, held a public trial and tortured him in front of everyone. Therefore, historians consider only the crucifixion a historical fact.
READ THE REPORT “THE STORIES THAT THE BIBLE DIDN’T TELL”
– Ark of Noah
– Exodus
– Samson
– David
– Fall of Jerusalem
– Crucifixion
TOURISM IN JERUSALEM
The via crucis mixes medieval texts with a bit of Bible – and almost no history
It’s already a tradition
The via crucis is inside the walls of the old city of Jerusalem and has become an open-air museum. The 14 stations represent the passages of Jesus’ martyrdom. Not all are mentioned in Bible. Some of the passages are only in texts from the time of the Crusades (11th to 13th centuries), when venerating the last steps of Jesus became a Christian tradition.
unfeatured obituary
Researchers believe that Jesus’ death on the cross did not cause the uproar we usually imagine and probably went unnoticed by anyone living in the Roman Empire, with the exception of his family and followers. I mean: if there was TV at the time, it wouldn’t even be reported
- Death on the cross was a method of punishment or execution practiced by Assyrians, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, among others.
- In 2015, archaeologists said they had found the exact location of Jesus’ trial.
SOURCES Bible Archeology, Biblical Archeology, British Museum, Jewish Virtual Library, Journal of Archaeological Science, Slinging; books A Bible: A Biographyby Karen Armstrong BibleGod, A Biographyby Jack Miles, Excavating Jesusby John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed, The Mystic Pastby Thomas L. Thompson, and Jesus, Collection To Know Moreby Rodrigo Cavalcante and André Chevitarese