assyrian torture methods

434 0 obj<> endobj Should the victim fall asleep or allow their head to droop, then the sharp prongs would begin to pierce their throat and neck. A similar variant of the implement, the Iron Spider, was a less portable alternative. The practices represented in depictions include the cutting of the throats of enemies and the decapitation of dead bodies. The women had it even worse. Here are our sources: Japanese Torture Techniques, BBC (August 8, 2005), The Rise of the Dutch Republic, John Lothrop Motley, Bickers & Son (1883), The Pictorial History of England, George Lillie Craik and Charles McFarlane, Nabu Press (2010), Medieval Punishments: An Illustrated History of Torture, William Andrews, Skyhorse Publishing (2013), The Big Book of Pain: Torture & Punishment Through History, Mark P. Donnelly and Daniel Diehl, History Press Limited (2011), Amazing True Stories of Execution Blunders: Ghastly Blunders on the Scaffold, Geoffrey Abbott, Summersdale Publishing (2006), A Draft of the 1531 Acte for Poysoning', K.J. I let the leaders of the conquered cities be flayed, and clad the city walls with their skins. More commonly appearing as a form of human sacrifice, however, many civilizations employed immurement as part of funerary rituals. After several centuries of obscurity and even loss of independence from around 1400 B.C. When they came to your town, the men at the gates were vicious and battle-hardened. One Assyrian king recorded sparing some of the people he invaded but only after they shamelessly humbled themselves before him. 0000002778 00000 n The judges of ancient Babylon were particularly enthusiastic about instilling fear in wrong doers, prisoners of war, or anyone that needed to be punished for any type of crime. (e.g. The strappado, also known as corda, is a longstanding, simple, but nonetheless effective method of torture involving tying a victims hands behind their back. The origins of the torture date to as early as ancient Babylon, with the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1772 BCE) detailing the punishment of impalement for women convicted of murdering her husband. Although theres no exact date as to its origins. Reserved for crimes of an especially heinous nature, notably treason, mass murder, or the killing of close family members, lingchi was designed as a cruel method of causing incrementally unbearable agony for its victims. The Worst Ways to Die: Torture Practices of the Ancient World Their kingdom which lasted for some 2000 years in an area (which is now Northern Iraq) had no natural barriers as such to protect their homeland. empires.. Assyria was located in the northern part of Mesopotamia, which corresponds to most parts of modern-day Iraq as well as parts of Iran . Ancient Torture. February 1934. CONTENTS. As a method of both torture and execution, impalement consists of the aggressive penetration of victims by a pole. The king of Urartu, upon hearing the Assyrian army approach, stabbed himself in the chest rather than face them. Originally described in Plutarchs Life of Artaxerxes II, the first recorded, if challenged, use of scaphism was against a Persian soldier named Mithridates in 401 BCE. From vagina impalement to 'death by elephant' - Gruesome - The Sun Flaying of humans is used as a method of torture or execution, depending on how much of the skin is removed. Similarly, and more in line with modern representations, occurred during the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648). If our current societies finally consider women as individuals in their own right, this was rarely the case in the past. Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content, A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces guards IS suspects in north-east Syria. }U|m?2H:3^`t5`Sh;V"DV;m -6A:'O!K2dO'qX,VAUu5GqMQ=2@nDA`N`6u90]p*1+Js. Since March 2011, when the people's revolution started in Syria, 14,235 people were killed by torture by Assad regime forces, according to a report by the Syria Network of Human Rights (SNHR). N')].uJr The executioner would then use a large wooden spiked wheel to mutilate the convicts body, starting from his legs. Ironically, in a reversal of fortunes for the Babylonians, Darius I of Persia would later impale 3,000 of their own in vengeance. Royal edicts dating from the time of Ashurnasirpal II glorify the deed, proclaiming I have clad the pillar in the flayed skins. Torture Methods - The Assyrian Empire Accused of attending anti-regime protests, al-Drubi, 42, was detained in 2012. They brought us to the military base in the village of Dayr al-Shimal in western Hama, where they beat us with plastic tubes," he told Anadolu Agency. In many recorded instances, the breast would be ripped clean off, along with a substantial portion of the upper torso, resulting in near-instant death. Captured soldiers were supposedly tied above infant bamboo shoots, which, over the course of several days, would grow at a rapid pace and pierce the prisoners. In fact, impalement, if done properly, permits the individual to survive for several days, with the longest known victim suffering for more than eight days. The method can be traced all the way back to 911 BC, where it was practiced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. 0000000689 00000 n The victim would be forced to ingest milk and honey, eventually causing diarrhea. updated March 31, 2020, 8:32 pm, by The people of a conquered nation would be spread about the kingdom, living alongside of people from foreign lands instead of their own countrymen to keep them packing together and staging a revolt. 10 Most Painful Execution Methods - Eskify For example, Neo-Assyrian kings used it to punish rebel leaders. The early Assyrians were a warrior society. Also, their land was a geographical passage for various armies marching towards their enemies on the way. [citation needed]. The Assyrian population grew around the region known as Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq. This nasty torture method uses rats to torment the victim by forcing the rodents to gnaw their way into the humans flesh. Starting with the dragging of the individual, fastened to a hurdle drawn by horse, from the site of imprisonment to their place of execution, along the route he would be pelted with rotten food and excrement by the public. 10 Things to Know About the Assyrian Empire Since the conflict, questions have habitually been raised concerning whether bamboo is actually capable of inflicting the injuries claimed by survivors. Ashurbanipal: King of Assyria, Hunter of Lions - TheCollector Searing or cutting the flesh from the body was sometimes used as part of the public execution of traitors in medieval Europe. It was one of the ideas that made Assyria so strong. 2y.-;!KZ ^i"L0- @8(r;q7Ly&Qq4j|9 All of Assyria was subject to their resettlement policy, which uprooted whole families and moved them across the country. 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. [citation needed]. 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. HBO. Native Americans flayed their captives to make them suffer for as long as possible. In the sixth season of the television series, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 13:11. This excruciating method has been used throughout history ever since then, and probably before as well. 'Some of the most appalling images ever created' - I Am Ashurbanipal There are those numbered as being sentenced for arbortion in addition to other grave crimes. The article "Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death" by Erika Bleibtreu gives an insight into the ways of the Assyrian military campaigns and battles. Many crimes in Assyria were punished by dismemberment or death. They pioneered the use of terror as a weaponand they made the lives of their enemies a living horror story. 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. Siege weapons barely existed at this time. Living persons, either willingly or forced as part of entombed chattel, were frequently buried alongside deceased people of status. This was Assyriathe first nation to make its military might its central policy and the first nation to torment its enemies with psychological warfare. Since the victim would most likely lose consciousness after one or two severe wounds. He eventually died after two days of being pressed. This was a whole engine on wheels. It had an iron-capped ram that swung from chains, letting it crush its way through enemy walls like never before. Wikimedia Commons. One Assyrian King, named Ashurnasirpal II, has left a whole series of these tablets behind, and the descriptions are positively terrifying. Many countries surrendered. Top 10 risk factors an airplane is in danger, 10 Most Controversial Athletes of All Time, 10 Biggest Celebrity Scandals and Controversies of Hollywood, Hot Bolivian Women: Meet The 10 Most Beautiful Girl from Bolivia, Top 10 Most Beautiful and Hottest Cambodian Women, The 10 best women volleyball players in the world. A standing army is one made up of professional soldiers whose only job is to fight. While some claimed that it was a fast procedure which lasted from 15 to 20 minutes. Keelhauling, which dates back in 800 B.C. The miseries of war: No. 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. Wikimedia Commons. Although people think that torture is an effective method, because of Applebaum's successful use of logos, diction . Dermatologist Ernst G. Jung notes that the typical causes of death due to flaying are shock, critical loss of blood or other body fluids, hypothermia, or infections, and that the actual death is estimated to occur from a few hours up to a few days after the flaying. 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. Instituted as the legal penalty for men convicted of high treason in 1352, although existing unofficially since the reign of Henry III, the condemned man would suffer a litany of successive violations, humiliations, and pains before his eventual death. The fragment above is part of the Stele of Vultures. However, a 2008 Mythbusters investigation verified that bamboo shoots can penetrate several inches of ballistic gelatin (comparable in strength to the human skin) in less than three days. The captives I have killed by the sword and flung on the dung heap. . The victim would be repeatedly fed and covered with the honey mixture in order to prolong the torture. The method was done by tying the victim in a wooden frame and then cutting the flesh in varied, multiple and non-deadly slices. December 23, 2019, 10:09 am, by Assyrian national history, as it has been preserved for us in inscriptions and pictures, consists almost solely of military campaigns and battles. Medium.com, Vestal Virgins: Chaste keepers of the flame, Melissa Dowling, Biblical Archaeological Society (2001), Rethinking Nero, BYROBERT DRAPER. A ritualized method of torture and execution, the Viking practice of the "blood eagle" stands among the most brutal and controversial of historical tortures. *H{kI)-wr`-4'DL Xoi)0Mo)ls}T[3 t0p`CF/.Dr7!aLpjBO*\NbaosG.^({B$JGfWtf}-GQEN]3;TFyebpn$D. A still from S2E4 of Game of Thrones, depicting the historical rat torture. It was a widespread method which was implemented and documented in various accounts. Assyria made sure of it. Another historic method of execution which served as a form of torture in its own right, the punishment of being hung, drawn, and quartered originated in England during the Middle Ages. is known as the Neo-Assyrian period, during which the empire reached its zenith. Its territory covered approximately . Wikimedia Commons. They poured boiling water over us, burned us with cigarette butts.". Wikimedia Commons. Refresh the page, check Medium 's site status, or. nQt}MA0alSx k&^>0|>_',G! Unknown to him, she was sacrificed, with the priest appearing during the festival dinner wearing her skin as part of the ritual. Wikimedia Commons. The Church used torture to force others to convert to Christianity and because the Church used torture, government authorities used the same means too. I flayed many right through my land and draped their skins over the walls, he boasts in one. Sometimes, the Assyrian army didnt stop at killing their enemies. Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death The BAS Library Sign up to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content, Sign up to get Al Bawaba's exclusive celeb scoops and entertainment news, Syrian Man Reveals Worst Torture Methods Used by the Regime, Serie A: AC Milan vs Tottenham predicted lineups, Rihanna didn't get paid for her Super Bowl show, Awadallah jailed for sedition goes on hunger strike. This was the fate of the rebellious Israelites of the Northern . 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.. I let the leaders of the conquered cities be flayed, and clad the city walls with their skins. He would be left to float on a pond, with his accumulated feces and honey-covered body attracting insects which would eat and breed within his exposed flesh. endstream endobj 435 0 obj<>>>/LastModified(D:20030926134002)/MarkInfo<>>> endobj 437 0 obj[438 0 R 439 0 R 440 0 R] endobj 438 0 obj<>>> endobj 439 0 obj<>>> endobj 440 0 obj<>>> endobj 441 0 obj<>/Font<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC]/ExtGState<>>>/StructParents 0>> endobj 442 0 obj<> endobj 443 0 obj[/ICCBased 449 0 R] endobj 444 0 obj<> endobj 445 0 obj<> endobj 446 0 obj<>stream Torturers would then use knives to make cuts on their. & 636BC, "Hypatia and pagan philosophical culture in the later fourth century", 1575 Painting: The Flaying of Marsyas, by Titian, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flaying&oldid=1142268127, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2016, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Vasak Mamikonyan, commander-in-chief of the Armenian army during the reign of, In 1314, the brothers Aunay, who were lovers of the daughters-in-law of king. This form of execution became famous when Giles Corey, an American farmer charged with witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Photo credit: Wikimedia. Once the victim was contained within, a fire would be lit beneath, heating the metal until either death or release. These horrific and brutal images would surly make any enemy fear the wrath of Lagash. By the time their armies reached your walls, these stories would have spread. 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. A military culture. The Assyrian Empire originally began as a small city-state under the Akkadian Empire, which dominated Mesopotamia from 2334 - 2154 BCE. [5], In Chinese history, Sun Hao, Fu Sheng and Gao Heng were known for removing skin from people's faces. Used most commonly as a punishment for crimes against the state, appearing in civilizations and cultures around the world as among the harshest means of capital punishment, contrary to immediate assumptions impalement did not render a swift death. Make peace with me and come out to me! the envoy called out. With the practice gradually watered down due to public opposition to its brutality, it was eventually abolished entirely in 1870. Torture is unpleasant, as indeed is the intended purpose of the practice. Anyone from slaves to prisoners of war could be subject to fear inducing acts of punishment. The Assyrians were so brutal that their military campaigns even put themselves through hell. Eventually, under pressure from Western nations undergoing their own liberalizations of violent punishments, in 1905, as part of widespread revisions of the Chinese penal code, lingchi was formally abolished as a criminal sentence. scalping). 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%: ^ , In this method, the victim is stripped naked and tied down to the ground. They seized my feet and said: If it pleases you, kill! . 0000005655 00000 n $iU-PGiSit::")SD.@&qk=mUi/6d07*w` The victims bones would be crushed and would sometimes burst through the skin. The city and its houses, from its foundations to its top, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire, Seenacherib declared. Designed during the reign of the tyrant Phalaris (r. 570-554 BCE) by Perillos of Athens, the bull, as recorded by Diodorus Siculus, was supposedly made from bronze but hollowed out and with a door on one side. I burned their adolescent boys and girls. Grisly Ends The judges of ancient Babylon were particularly enthusiastic. 0000003018 00000 n As noted, the length of time before an individual would be impaled varied significantly. There were no accurate details of how this method of execution was carried out. In 1303, the treasury of Westminster Abbey was robbed while holding a large sum of money belonging to King Edward I. Thats exactly the experience of modern-day soldiers whove been involved in close hand-to-hand combat.. Decreeing that Mithridates should be put to death in boats, two were framed exactly to fit his body to prevent escape. 5 The Torture Of The Survivors. The dangerous men who fought against Assyria were sometimes given a chance to redeem themselves. I don't think torturers can be human. As a result, the mechanism was specifically designed to mutilate and destroy the most visible feminine attribute in retribution for the alleged unwomanly crimes: the breasts. The passage of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1791, prohibiting cruel and unusual punishments, was a direct response to this wartime practice and an attempt to prevent any further applications in the fledgling nation. to deny an afterlife); sometimes the skin is used, again for deterrence, esoteric/ritualistic purposes, etc. The Babylonian destruction of their capital city Nineveh in 612 B.C. Assyrians can be undoubtedly termed as the Nazis of the biblical world. Some of the accounts detailing Blood Eagle claim that it was used mainly for revenge and sometimes, pure contempt. Hypothesized to originate from the Kingdom of the Franks, by the time of the Holy Roman Empire it formed a staple of the legal system. Victory Stele of Eannatum, King of Lagash, Called the Vulture Steleearly dynastic period, c. 2450 bc. The men worked in a three-year cycle. 0000008971 00000 n Using humans are the base substance akin to the wax foundations of a candle, these victims were tied to stakes in the imperial garden for the amusement of the deranged Emperor. by Assyria emerged as a territorial state in the 14th century B.C. The fragment above is part of the Stele of Vultures. Instead, asphyxiation is the most common cause of death in live burials, with the individual, unless carefully buried, unable to breathe. Scaphism, also known as the boats, is a disputed method of Persian torture and execution. 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]. Scenes of similar punishments can be seen on excavated Assyrian materials. Maria Ancient Mesopotamia: Assyrian Army and Warriors - Ducksters In their royal edicts, the Neo-Assyrian kings seem to gloat over the terrible fate they imposed upon their captives, and that flaying seems, in particular, to be the fate meted out to rebel leaders. Impalement - Wikipedia The victim would either be rocked or dropped repeatedly onto the device, and the torture would usually be prolonged into several days. This article has been adapted from its original source. %PDF-1.4 % Under the Habsburgs, the number of strikes inflicted was used as a measure of the severity of criminal conduct by the condemned. The executioner would not make the victim bleed too much in order to prolong the torture before the final and fatal cut to the throat or heart would be made. Wikimedia Commons. And the lungs would be ripped out and spread over the ribs, making them look like wings. and there were a lot of them. Flaying - Wikipedia 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. This is more commonly called skinning . 8 of the Most Gruesome Medieval Torture Methods | History Hit Wikimedia Commons. Assyria, 1365-609 B.C. | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art 0000006301 00000 n But if not, the executioner would proceed with the second act, which is braiding the convicts broken body into another wheel. In the year 64 of the Common Era, the Great Fire of Rome devastated large parts of the imperial city. 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- Syrian man, 42 recounts horrors in regime imprisonment, from having boiling water poured over him to reverse hanging. Services Archaeology and Heritage Association - Assyrian torture method Grisly Assyrian Record of Torture and Death. Although disputed for historical veracity, Plutarchs account has nonetheless proved influential. Pressing as a form of punishment dates back to the 13th century in England. It is as gory and bloodcurdling a history as we know. They invented the battering ram, a device that would have seemed completely unstoppable in their time. This is often referred to as flaying alive. Keelhauling, taking its name from the Dutch Kielhalen meaning to drag along the keel, was a torturous punishment inflicted upon sailors whilst at sea. Centuries later, Tacitus noted Germanic tribes practicing a ritual form of capital punishment, whereby those convicted of cowardice and other shameful vices were buried face down in mud. And some sent tributes to Assyria before they ever looked their way, surrendering before theyd even approached to keep them away. startxref The medieval Europe used it as part of the public execution of traitors. (AFP/GETTY IMAGES). 10. Accordingly, depending on the whims of the torturer, weights might be added to the legs of the victim to hasten their demise. These kind of artifacts are very common. Transmitted to the funerary rites of the Mongol Khans during the 13th and 14th centuries, these great conquerors were reportedly buried along with more than a dozen slaves. Whilst flaying after death has been historically recorded, typically as a means of debasing the enemys honor and reserved for instances such as criminality, the predominant occurrences took place during life. Similarly, neck traps prevented the victim from adjusting the angle of their neck to a more comfortable position. The Assyrians, who ruled at the height of their power between Egypt and the Persian Gulf (745-630 BC), are known from historical records to have been cruel and unrelenting . Assyrian Attitude Towards Captive Enemies: A 2700-year-old Paleo A criminal was locked inside the device via a door on its side and a fire was then lit underneath, slowly burning. 436 0 obj<>stream The strappado is so damaging that it cannot last for more than an hour without reprieve or risk of killing the subject. 10 Times Britain Was Successfully Invaded, Top 10 Must-See Recent Genre-Defying Horrors, The Listverse Compendium Of 113 Halloween Horrors, 10 Men Suspected Of Being Jack The Ripper (Who, 10 Ways Being Attractive Can Work Against You, 10 People Who Willingly Returned To Being Prisoners, Bizarre Police Vehicles That Are Actually Being Used, 8 Dark Facts About Being Single, And Why You Really, 10 Controversial Toys You Might Already Have in Your Home, Ten Absolutely Vicious Fights over Inherited Fortunes, 10 Female Film Pioneers Who Shaped the Movies, Ten True Tales from Americas Toughest Prison, 10 Times Members of Secretive Societies and Organizations Spilled the Beans, 10 Common Idioms with Unexpectedly Dark Origins, 10 North American Animals with Misplaced Reputations, eat their own excrement and drink their own urine, necklaces with their kings heads on them, 10 Forgotten Battles That Changed World History, 10 Stages in the History of Drinking Parties, 10 Letters From Everyday People On The Other Side Of History, 10 Eccentric Ways To Obtain A Medal Of Honor.