Tortured by the Syrian Bashar al-Assad regime in prison for seven years, Muhlis al-Drubi cannot forget the horrors he experienced, including having boiling water poured over him and reverse. 20 Of The Slowest Historical Torture Methods We Can't Believe Living Assyrian art shows a parade of their slaves chained to large stones, being forced to drag massive rocks like mules. His prolonged exposure and his flesh rotting away due to his own filth and the insects devouring him would eventually lead to his horrifying demise. It was a widespread method which was implemented and documented in various accounts. References to a similar punishment for piracy existed in the Rhodian Maritime Code dating from 700 CE, but it was not until the Early Modern Period that keelhauling entered into prominence. There are also records of people flayed after death, generally as a means of debasing the corpse of a prominent enemy or criminal, sometimes related to religious beliefs (e.g. Life under the threat of Assyrian was horrifyingfor the Assyrians as well as their victims. He was executed by pressing. 10. Wikimedia Commons. The miseries of war: No. Medium.com, Vestal Virgins: Chaste keepers of the flame, Melissa Dowling, Biblical Archaeological Society (2001), Rethinking Nero, BYROBERT DRAPER. All of Assyria was subject to their resettlement policy, which uprooted whole families and moved them across the country. 0000000016 00000 n The horrors and the guilt of murdering and torturing innocent people wreaked havoc on their psyches. Public Domain. The earliest recorded instances of intentional live burials date from 212 BCE in China, where, during the persecution of subversives by the first Emperor Qin Shi Huang, approximately 460 Confucian scholars were buried alive. The Ancient Greeks used to punish people by cooking them inside a huge bronze bull. Royal edicts dating from the time of Ashurnasirpal II glorify the deed, proclaiming I have clad the pillar in the flayed skins. In the case of very crime for which there is penalty of the cutting-off of ear or nose, the law said, as it is written it shall be carried out.. It was believed that Lingchi was a punishment that the accused would have to carry even in the afterlife, where he would not be whole even after death. Today, the term Roman Candle refers to a type of Chinese firework that became popular in Western Europe during the Italian Renaissance. Recorded in England, beginning in 1531 during the reign of Henry VIII, being boiled alive became the legally prescribed method of capital punishment for those convicted of high treason or murder by poison. Wikimedia Commons. After Perillos created his device, Phalaris allegedly ordered the engineer demonstrate its effectiveness with his own flesh. And, it was described as one of the most cruel and graphic torture methods ever used. The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel, was a method of torture that featured as part of public executions in Europe between the start of the Middle Ages until the Early Modern Period. endstream endobj 447 0 obj<> endobj 448 0 obj<> endobj 449 0 obj<>stream He eventually died after two days of being pressed. If our current societies finally consider women as individuals in their own right, this was rarely the case in the past. In at least one case, an Assyrian king made the women lift their skirts over their heads and march blindly after their captors. Even if he gets lowered down slowly in order for his body to avoid the barnacles, he would still suffer from possible drowning or a head trauma. Wikimedia Commons. The cutting off of feet, lips and noses, blinding, gutting and the ripping out of the heart were all standard punishments in this corner of the ancient world (Hamblin). I flayed many right through my land and draped their skins over the walls, he boasts in one. Immurement of a nun, as part of a fictitious painting by Vinzenz Katzler (c. 1868). updated March 25, 2018, 6:05 pm, by Thereafter, his head, hands, and feet, were left outside the boats, whilst the remainder of his person was contained within the floating prison. BCE) detailing the punishment of impalement for women convicted of murdering her husband. In the first year, they would build roads, bridges, and great projects to build up their strength and the strength of the empire. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Exported by Europeans during the Age of Exploration, this method of torture is documented as occurring as far away as French-controlled Louisiana and in British-controlled India during the 18th century. Scaphism, also known as the boats, is a disputed method of Persian torture and execution. When I said I was from Hama, he cursed my mother. Originally used by the Spanish Inquisition and other Holy Orders of the Middle Ages as part of interrogations, including against legendary Italian author Niccol Machiavelli in 1513, the practice endured well into the Modern Age. Native Americans flayed their captives to make them suffer for as long as possible. Mark Oliver is a regular contributor to Listverse. Heating the bowls with charcoal, the rats would gnaw into the very bowels of the victim. 0000001020 00000 n The practices represented in depictions include the cutting of the throats of enemies and the decapitation of dead bodies. Once the victim was contained within, a fire would be lit beneath, heating the metal until either death or release. under a series of powerful rulers, becoming one of the world's earliest . If it pleases you, spare! I burned their adolescent boys and girls. The Rassam cylinder in the British Museum describes this: Their corpses they hung on stakes, they took off their skins and covered the city wall with them.[3]. Decreeing that Mithridates should be put to death in boats, two were framed exactly to fit his body to prevent escape. xbbc`b``3 A-` 4-r Mutilation/Fear | Ancient Mesopotamian Warfare Neros Torches, depicting the martyrdom of a group of early Christians in Rome, by Henryk Siemiradzki (c. 1876). Documentation of 72 Torture Methods the Syrian Regime Continues to Execution of Thomas Armstrong in 1684 (c. 1698). Diederik Sonoy, an ally of the revolts leader, William of Orange, allegedly used pottery bowls filled with rats to enact the torture and elicit information. Death often came slowly to those subjected to the practice, typically succumbing after several days to exhaustion or heart failure, whereafter their body would be left to rot as an example. This is often referred to as flaying alive. I made its destruction more complete than that by a flood. nQt}MA0alSx k&^>0|>_',G! Several English writers during the 17th century recorded keelhauling on naval ships; however, there remains no formal note of these actions in the ships logs. 4. [5], In Chinese history, Sun Hao, Fu Sheng and Gao Heng were known for removing skin from people's faces. If the king was merciful, they would be sent to a ruined kingdom on the outskirts of the nation that would be forced to rebuild. 0000005655 00000 n A dead animal may be flayed when preparing it to be used as human food, or for its hide or fur. This is more commonly called skinning . Differing from immurement by both method and intent, those subjected to premature burial are interred with the purpose of execution, and, in contrast to the entombing of persons within walls, the victims die far quicker when buried. Every person watching their chariots approach would know that, compared to the fate the Assyrian army brought, death would be a relief. One king, Esarhaddon, made noblemen wear necklaces with their kings heads on them. Attached to a spiked wall, the unfortunate woman would be attached to the mechanism and pulled along by her breasts until they were torn from her. The carvings show that the actual flaying process might begin at various places on the body, such as at the crus (lower leg), the thighs, or the buttocks. The judges of ancient Babylon were particularly enthusiastic. Nearly 3,000 years ago, a nation few remember today swept through the Middle-East. February 1934. I let the leaders of the conquered cities be flayed, and clad the city walls with their skins. It is unclear whether keelhauling was a common practice during the ancient world. The latter depicted in the popular television series Vikings, is recorded in the Tale of Ragnars Sons, describing the English kings torture at the hands of Ivar the Boneless. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. It was one of the ideas that made Assyria so strong. Aside from inflicting agonizing pain, one of the main purposes of this method was to inflict severe humiliation upon the victim. A Breast Ripper, on display at a torture museum in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Wrttemberg, Germany (c. 15th century). Assyrian torture method. Of those, at least 173 were children, 46 were women. Whilst small-scale flaying, although painful, is endurable, large-scale skinning inevitably leads to death. Anyone from slaves to prisoners of war could be subject to fear inducing acts of punishment. Centuries before the United States of America would adopt the use of sleep deprivation and enforced standing to entice confessions and acquire intelligence, the Inquisition developed two ruthless mechanisms to achieve the same end: the Heretics Fork and Neck Traps. [10] Lu Xun said the Ming dynasty was begun and ended by flaying.[11]. Facing blame for both causing the blaze and providing inadequate response to the inferno, which caused widespread damage to 10 of Romes 14 districts, Emperor Nero blamed the fiery outbreak on religious minorities including early Christians. Photo credit: Wikimedia. The victims bones would be crushed and would sometimes burst through the skin. Flaying: Inside The Grotesque History Of Skinning People Alive Should the victim fall asleep or allow their head to droop, then the sharp prongs would begin to pierce their throat and neck. Make peace with me and come out to me! the envoy called out. %PDF-1.4 % 5X9&,6a4'r3n[?Ve:&gFiM lv_EVUW[!cq\'C+Czgzqq/6HwCA wVg/Bpm#*2)}my~MTeY NP;w4SvTNY6qo(W|EA-x*^sKK.y0Es}nCas -KosEI`uz}hZNOtDjd-K/-t {)M]4R,!X^f~4EE?TuMR)lGGw#~P 67SKEvs *!2Fg2$d,NX7E5_O[*b,@2B@r5[*X>l4[-eKfv)=Jf,vv]},.q@cUSU}Wz_b=LUB"wixJ uul|6pj~J&HlF%: ^ , Then the rest would be scattered about the country. You are here: Home Ancient Punishment Ancient Torture Illustration of Assyrians Torturing Their Captives. Wikimedia Commons. Conversely, the U.S. has also been victims of the practice, with the late Senator John McCain famously subjected to the technique during the Vietnam War. Flaying of humans is used as a method of torture or execution, depending on how much of the skin is removed. Exclusive: Syrian regime is being accused of implementing more than 72 torture methods, including crucifixion, rape, and eye-gouging. The method can be traced all the way back to 911 BC, where it was practiced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. An illustration from the French newspaper Le Monde Illustr, depicting the torture and execution of a French missionary in China by lingchi (c. 1858). After the collapse of the Akkadians, Assyria gradually emerged as an independent political power around the 14th century BCE. Continuing in usage throughout Medieval Europe, most commonly as part of the execution of traitors, flaying became so popular in Imperial China that the Hongwu Emperor ordered the mass flaying of 5,000 women in 1396. depict warriors methodically removing the skin from prisoners' bodies, marking them as one of the first cultures to partake in the brutal torture. Although people think that torture is an effective method, because of Applebaum's successful use of logos, diction . Their artistic propaganda relishes every detail of torture, massacre, battlefield executions and human displacement that made Assyria the dominant power of the Middle East from about 900 to. Torture Methods - The Assyrian Empire He would then be planted straight on the ground and left for exposure. Commonly resulting in the dislocation of the arms and shoulders, the longer-term effects of the method are less visible, causing lifelong nerve, ligament, and tendon damage leading to potential paralysis. Designed to deter witnesses from repeated the offense of the condemned, crucifixions were deliberately orchestrated events. Accused of attending anti-regime protests, al-Drubi, 42, was detained in 2012. Here are 20 of the slowest and most painful historical torture methods you would not want to endure: A disputed historical method of inflicting immense pain upon a victim, bamboo torture is a form of punishment wherein bamboo shoots are employed to grow into, and subsequently through, the body of the subjected person. This nasty torture method uses rats to torment the victim by forcing the rodents to gnaw their way into the humans flesh. Unknown to him, she was sacrificed, with the priest appearing during the festival dinner wearing her skin as part of the ritual. Torturemuseum.net. A military culture. Individuals locked into the device would find themselves unable to eat, sleep, or even lie down. Syrian man, 42 recounts horrors in regime imprisonment, from having boiling water poured over him to reverse hanging. Others went further. Assyrian art, an introduction (article) | Khan Academy Living persons, either willingly or forced as part of entombed chattel, were frequently buried alongside deceased people of status. The method was reborn during the modern age across Latin America, with its use recorded under the military dictatorships of Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. 0000001205 00000 n And some sent tributes to Assyria before they ever looked their way, surrendering before theyd even approached to keep them away. 0000000689 00000 n Using this method of torture would require the victim to be stripped and suspended above the device. In 1303, the treasury of Westminster Abbey was robbed while holding a large sum of money belonging to King Edward I. It should be noted, nevertheless, that the Dutch did not intend the practice to be fatal and allowed for respites in the torture to recover. Flaying, also known as skinning, is a method of torture (and often execution) whereby the skin of the victim is gradually removed from the body in a precise fashion. The Church used torture to force others to convert to Christianity and because the Church used torture, government authorities used the same means too. My skin peeled off. After the arrest and interrogation of 48 monks, three of them, including the subprior and sacrist, were found guilty of the robbery and flayed. The Catherine Wheel, or the Breaking Wheel, was a method used for public execution through the Middle Ages, with the last known execution believed to have taken place in Prussia in 1841. Sometimes, the executioner would be instructed to aim for the convicts heart or neck to cause immediate death. $iU-PGiSit::")SD.@&qk=mUi/6d07*w` Maria The city and its houses, from its foundations to its top, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire, Seenacherib declared. All he left behind was a message, boasting of how far hed gone to decimate them. The ultimately fatal fires were started from the feet, in order to prolong the suffering for those so condemned. Multiple methods exist to accomplish the violent feat, including transversal or longitudinal impalement and bears striking similarities to bamboo torture. The Assyrian Empire started off as a major regional power in Mesopotamia in the second millennium B.C.E., but later grew in size and stature in the first millennium B.C.E. The 10 Most Gruesome Ancient Torture Methods - Wonderslist Assyrian Empire - National Geographic Society When it comes to psychological warfare in the form of sheer brutality, impalement wasn't the only thing the ancient Assyrians turned tothey had other methods of scaring the life out of their neighbors. In so doing, the individual, should they survive punishment, would be marked for life, unable to breastfeed any future children and thus prevented from fulfilling the chief role of women in Medieval society. The convicted would be taken to a public stage and tied on the floor. 0000003095 00000 n The Zhengde Emperor flayed six rebels,[9] and Zhang Xianzhong also flayed many people. Flaying, also known as skinning, was a torture method which originated from 883-859 BC and documented in both carvings and official royal edicts. The ribs are then detached from the backbone. After enduring an agonizing rupturing of their anal canal, the victim would die unless released. As both accounts were written many years after the events detailed, their veracity cannot be fully ascertained. A millennium later, the Neo-Assyrian King Sennacherib (r. 705-681 BCE) is recorded as impaling surviving Judeans after the Siege of . Assyria made sure of it. Wikimedia Commons. The Worst Ways to Die: Torture Practices of the Ancient World The victim would be laid down on his belly with his hands tied behind his back and his rectum would be slit up by a razor, after which a paste would be applied to stop the bleeding before a stake would be thrusted into his body. Assyrian national history, as it has been preserved for us in inscriptions and pictures, consists almost solely of military campaigns and battles. During the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) 100 cuts were traditional, after which the condemned was dispatched with a strike to the heart; by the time of the Ming, records indicate as many as 3,000 cuts were made over as long as three days. One Assyrian king recorded sparing some of the people he invaded but only after they shamelessly humbled themselves before him. [4] At St Michael & All Angels' Church in Copford in Essex, England, it is claimed that human skin was found attached to an old door, though evidence seems elusive. National Geographic Society (June 18, 2014), The Great Fire of Rome, Stephen Dando-Collins, Da Capo Press (September 2010), Piracy in the Ancient World, H.A. Ancient Torture - Bible History From his capital at Ashur, Ashur-uballit extended Assyrian control over the rich farming . The period from the ninth century to the end of the seventh century B.C. A similar variant of the implement, the Iron Spider, was a less portable alternative. Any outsider who would gaze upon the monument would know not to mess with Lagash. . A ritualized method of torture and execution, the Viking practice of the blood eagle stands among the most brutal and controversial of historical tortures. A Judas Cradle, on display at the Museum of Torture in Freiburg, Germany. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern. Those who did not, he warned, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine.. . . His writing also appears on a number of other sites, including The Onion's StarWipe and Cracked.com. . With the practice gradually watered down due to public opposition to its brutality, it was eventually abolished entirely in 1870. The Assyrian Empire originally began as a small city-state under the Akkadian Empire, which dominated Mesopotamia from 2334 - 2154 BCE. Adriana John The strappado is so damaging that it cannot last for more than an hour without reprieve or risk of killing the subject. This would result to the body looking like a spread eagle, thus the name of the torture method. 0000003018 00000 n By the reign of Queen Margaret I of Denmark (r. 1387-1412 CE), female adultery was punished with premature burial (whilst men merely got off with a quick beheading), and until 1689 Russia employed the torturous experience as punishment for the murder of a husband. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES). They seized my feet and said: If it pleases you, kill! Usually, a cage filled with rats would be placed on top of the restrained victims stomach. A wooden board would be placed on the victims chest and abdomen and heavy stones or iron weights would be gradually placed on top of the board, slowly suffocating the victim. The society also used torture to persecute others for their religious affiliations. . Middle Ages Torture: Devices & Techniques - The Finer Times A torturous, if infrequent method of historical execution, death by boiling kills an individual by immersing them in a container of blistering liquid. These horrific and brutal images would surly make any enemy fear the wrath of Lagash. They laid cities to waste, tortured the survivors, and spread terror everywhere they went. Adriana John The practice of flaying was popularized under the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the 9th century BCE, with carvings dating to the reign of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883-859 BCE) depicting the gruesome details. "The name of the person who tortured me was Somar al Wahid. Whilst historians have questioned whether or not the brazen bull truly existed or was merely an early form of propaganda against an unpopular ruler, it enjoys a prolonged legacy nonetheless. Wikimedia Commons. Jung provides some examples of this triumphant rhetoric. By the time their armies reached your walls, these stories would have spread. Revived, castrated, disemboweled, before being finally beheaded, his body would subsequently be chopped into four pieces and displayed at prominent locales. In the sixth season of the television series, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 13:11. Ashurbanipal: King of Assyria, Hunter of Lions - TheCollector "They hung us up from our wrists to the ceilings. Since the victim would most likely lose consciousness after one or two severe wounds. Some crimes were dealt with in savage ways. The namesake for this torture was the Christian martyr, Saint Catherine. The practice is known to have occurred in extreme instances in Japan, where, during the 16th century, the bandit Ishikawa Goemon, along with his entire family, were boiled alive in a giant bathtub as punishment for the failed assassination of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The king of Urartu, upon hearing the Assyrian army approach, stabbed himself in the chest rather than face them. After llas capture at York in 867, they caused the bloody eagle to be carved on the back of lla, and they cut away all of the ribs from the spine, and then they ripped out his lungs. He wrote, I hung the heads of the kings upon the shoulders of their nobles, and with singing and music I paraded.. The fragment above is part of the Stele of Vultures. Method of slow and painful execution in which skin is removed from the body, sfn error: no target: CITEREFRassam_Cylinder._The_British_Museum.636BC (, Htel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, Rassam Cylinder. 0000002778 00000 n Middle Assyrian Period. During Mesopotamian times, wars were what divided ruling periods. Due to the physical harm suffered as a result of keelhauling, with the hull of a ship covered in barnacles, the victim would suffer immense lacerations resulting in major infections and cuts likely leading to their eventual death. 10 Horrors Of Being Invaded By The Assyrian Army - Listverse They were known for ruthless battle tactics and Often, but not always used as a method of execution, the prisoner is left for an indefinite period of time to suffer from starvation and dehydration whilst trapped in isolation and darkness. A standing army is one made up of professional soldiers whose only job is to fight. But some argue that there was a degree of dismemberment, and there were times when the subsequent cuts were carried out after the victims death as a form of public humiliation. Involving the severing of the ribs from the spin using a sharp implement, the victims lungs are subsequently pulled through the space created and draped over their shoulders to create the illusion of wings. Wikimedia Commons. Through the midst of that city I dug canals, I flooded its site with water, and the very foundations thereof I destroyed. The dangerous men who fought against Assyria were sometimes given a chance to redeem themselves. Then, in the third year, they would be allowed to live with their familiesbefore starting the cycle again. Using a heated vessel to contain the vermin close to the human, the rodent, growing increasingly desperate to escape its own suffering, is compelled to burrow into the flesh of the victim. The Assyrians were known for being very barbaric when it came to torturing slaves and prisoners of war. x- [ 0}y)7ta>jT7@t`q2&6ZL?_yxg)zLU*uSkSeO4?c. R -25 S>Vd`rn~Y&+`;A4 A9 =-tl`;~p Gp| [`L` "AYA+Cb(R, *T2B- to deny an afterlife); sometimes the skin is used, again for deterrence, esoteric/ritualistic purposes, etc. The victim would either be rocked or dropped repeatedly onto the device, and the torture would usually be prolonged into several days. Ejaz Khan 0000006055 00000 n 2y.-;!KZ ^i"L0- @8(r;q7Ly&Qq4j|9 The victim would be repeatedly fed and covered with the honey mixture in order to prolong the torture. Premature or live burial, as the name suggests, refers to the practice of burying an individual whilst they are still alive. Accordingly, depending on the whims of the torturer, weights might be added to the legs of the victim to hasten their demise. The Assyrian Tragedy. This was a whole engine on wheels. Wardah Hajra This was Assyriathe first nation to make its military might its central policy and the first nation to torment its enemies with psychological warfare. Another innovation attributed to the Spanish Inquisition, the Judas Cradle, also known as the Judas Chair or Guided Cradle, was a torture device dating from the 16th century. For example, Neo-Assyrian kings used it to punish rebel leaders. The Assyrian empire dominated Mesopotamia and all of the Near East for the first half of the first millennium B.C.E., led by a series of highly ambitious and aggressive warrior kings. Those convicted, commonly murderers and robbers, would be broken by the wheel for their sins, whereupon they were staked out and endured having their limbs broken. Lingchi, also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of execution used in China from around 900 AD until it was banned in 1905. She was subsequently executed by decapitation. Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death. A 1593 engraved illustration of vertical impalement; author unknown. The device is rarely washed, so the victim either dies from impalement or infection. The blood eagle - a ritualized method of torture and execution allegedly practiced by the Norse Vikings - opened up the ribs of the victim to craft their lungs into wings. In this method, the victim is stripped naked and tied down to the ground. The Assyrians were so brutal that their military campaigns even put themselves through hell. And the lungs would be ripped out and spread over the ribs, making them look like wings. It shows the decapitated heads of the enemy Ummite soldiers being carried away by vultures. An illustration of execution by breaking wheel in Augsburg, Bavaria (c. 1586). Impalement was the act of penetrating a sharp stake through the body. The Premature Burial, by Antoine Wiertz (c. 1854). Similarly, and more in line with modern representations, occurred during the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648). The early Assyrians were a warrior society. The cutting off of feet, lips and noses, blinding, gutting and the tearing out of the heart were all standard punishments in this. updated March 31, 2020, 8:32 pm, by This usually results in lacerations, infection, and scarring, since the ships hull is covered in barnacles. From Ashurnasirpal II:.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}, I have made a pillar facing the city gate, and have flayed all the rebel leaders; I have clad the pillar in the flayed skins. Frequently using oil, tar, or tallow, various cultures and civilizations spanning Europe and Asia are known to have employed boiling as a means of inflicting great pain upon condemned persons. Eventually, depending on the strength of the individual, the victim would be unable to maintain the required position any longer and the pyramidal tip of the chair would begin to impale their anus. He would then be lowered very slowly, the pyramid opening his anal orifice and slowly impaling him. As a form of punishment, crucifixion exists still today, notably in Saudi Arabia and Iran, where the most recent known occurrences of crucifixion occurred as recently as the early 2000s. The Assyrians created tablets that showed them torturing their enemies to let the next city know what was coming. Behind them, slave masters were always watching, ready to beat anyone who slacked. Using an intricate system of tubes and piping, the screams of the roasting prisoner were transmuted into sounds reminiscent of a raging bull.
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