Thread by @jens2go

It's #GoodFriday, commemorating the #crucifixion of #Jesus which, according Christian tradition, took place in 1st ct. AD Judea (then a #Roman province).

While there are historic sources about this punishment method, archaeological evidence is scarce.

Some #EasterArchaeology:

(Content warning: Images of human remains and some possibly rather explicit details of death and torture.)

#Crucifixion as punishment is predating Roman times and goes back as far as to the Phoenicians, Assyrians, and Persians.

In ancient Rome it was mostly imposed on slaves or exercised as political punishment e.g. for insurrectionist - but usually not against Roman citizens.

The written historic #record (i.a. Seneca, Plutarch, Josephus, Appian and others) gives some details regarding the practice and it seems to suggest this was a not rarely imposed punishment.

In contrast, the archaeological record of #crucifxion is - surprisingly rare.

Or maybe not so surprisingly. Our image of #crucifixion surely is much influenced by all those dramatic depictions from art history to Hollywood. - The lack of related finds of nail-pierced bones may well indicate other forms of actual fixture of delinquents to the cross.

Or, considering this punishment was reserved to insurgents (seen as criminals by the Roman Empire) and slaves, their bodies were not regularly buried (prominent exceptions aside) but may rather have met special treatment not prominently visible in the archaeological record.

#Nails may have been removed when delinquents were deposited. But w/o nails, observation of evidence for #crucifixion becomes less likely.

Here's an interesting study on "The Use of #Nails" in this context (J. C. Robison, Studia Antiqua 2(1), 2002):

scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewconten…

Among the rare archaeological evidence of an actual #crucifixion is the heel bone (with a #nail) of a man named #Yehohanan (today at @israelmuseum) who died in the 1st century AD - and whose burial was found at Giv'at ha-Mivtar, East #Jerusalem in 1968:

timesofisrael.com/in-a-stone-box…

Here’s another, bit more detailed summary of the #GivatHaMivtar find and the discovery of these possible #crucifixion remains from #Jerusalem (V. Tzaferis, @BibArch 11(1), 1985):

baslibrary.org/biblical-archa…

From #Gavello in northern #Italy, remains of an isolated #Roman burial excavated in 2007 have been reported showing a particular lesion on the foot - which has been discussed as possibly indicating a #crucifixion too:

forbes.com/sites/kristina…

The original study by E. Gualdi-Russo et al. regarding the analysis of the #Gavello bones has been published in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11, 2019. 🔐💵

link.springer.com/article/10.100…

Finally, there the discovery of yet another heel bone with an iron #nail, dating to 2nd - 4th century AD, was reported last year this time from #Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire (then also Roman-occupied):

cam.ac.uk/stories/romanc…

A critical review of some of these finds and features discussed above was published by Joe Zias via @ASOResearch in 2019:

asor.org/anetoday/2019/…

Closing remarks: In 337 AD, Constantine the Great abolished crucifixion in the Roman Empire.