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0000001979 00000 n Once the victim was contained within, a fire would be lit beneath, heating the metal until either death or release. For example, Neo-Assyrian kings used it to punish rebel leaders. Regarding the latter, it has been claimed the Vestal Virgins of Rome faced immurement should they break their vows of chastity as a trial by ordeal to prove devotion. This excruciating method has been used throughout history ever since then, and probably before as well. Ironically, in a reversal of fortunes for the Babylonians, Darius I of Persia would later impale 3,000 of their own in vengeance. Jamie founded Listverse due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts. Wikimedia Commons. Appearing repeatedly throughout modern popular film, television, and literature, rat torture is an especially cruel method of punishment. Using an intricate system of tubes and piping, the screams of the roasting prisoner were transmuted into sounds reminiscent of a raging bull. "The name of the person who tortured me was Somar al Wahid. Wikimedia Commons. I let the leaders of the conquered cities be flayed, and clad the city walls with their skins. The ribs are then detached from the backbone. Their torturers would continuously hurl verbal abuse at the prisoners, al-Drubi recounted. Many crimes in Assyria were punished by dismemberment or death. The fragment above is part of the Stele of Vultures. 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 Babylonian destruction of their capital city Nineveh in 612 B.C. The society also used torture to persecute others for their religious affiliations. Survival time would vary from a few minutes to several days, depending on how the stake was inserted. Wikimedia Commons. Torturers would then use knives to make cuts on their. 434 19 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. $iU-PGiSit::")SD.@&qk=mUi/6d07*w` "They hung us up from our wrists to the ceilings. 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. under the powerful northern Mesopotamian state of Mitanni, Assyria's fortunes revived in the reign of Ashur-uballit I (1365-1330 B.C.). He would then be planted straight on the ground and left for exposure. They'd cut off the tongues of their captives so their screaming wouldn't be as loud when they were skinned alive. 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. 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 city and its houses, from its foundations to its top, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire, Seenacherib declared. Mark Oliver is a regular contributor to Listverse. 5 The Torture Of The Survivors. She was subsequently executed by decapitation. Subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content, A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces guards IS suspects in north-east Syria. These people were usually lucky enough to bring their families. 0000001205 00000 n In the 2010s, several Mexican cartel gore videos were leaked to the Internet, depicting flaying used as an extremely graphic torture technique. A dead animal may be flayed when preparing it to be used as human food, or for its hide or fur. [2] Already from the times of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883859 BC), the practice is displayed and commemorated in both carvings and official royal edicts. Shakespeare referenced the practice in The Winters Tale, whilst the legendary fictitious hunter Allan Quartermain experiences a vision of the brutal technique. 0000008971 00000 n If it pleases you, spare! 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. Equally, in 1675 the Sikh martyr Bhai Dayala was subjected to boiling after refusing to convert to Islam; according to legend, as he burned Dayala calmly recited Sikh scripture. Lingchi, known colloquially in the West as death by a thousand cuts, was a ritualistic form of torture prevalent in Imperial China. 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 . This method of torture was executed in several ways, like; Tying the victim to a pole and peeling his facial skin first, or submerging the victim in boiling water before the flaying. by "Torture and the . Wikimedia Commons. In the past, rulers also included these extra elements of punishment to turn executions into spectacles. Accordingly, depending on the whims of the torturer, weights might be added to the legs of the victim to hasten their demise. He eventually died after two days of being pressed. 10. 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. [citation needed]. 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. The former, stemming from Elizabethan England, is based on claims the Tower of London contained a Rats Dungeon wherein a cell blow high-water mark would draw in rats from the River Thames and victims would have fleshtorn from the arms and legs. The Church used torture to force others to convert to Christianity and because the Church used torture, government authorities used the same means too. A still from S2E4 of Game of Thrones, depicting the historical rat torture. Assyrian torture method. Ancient Torture. One Assyrian King, named Ashurnasirpal II, has left a whole series of these tablets behind, and the descriptions are positively terrifying. The victim would either be rocked or dropped repeatedly onto the device, and the torture would usually be prolonged into several days. In 1303, the treasury of Westminster Abbey was robbed while holding a large sum of money belonging to King Edward I. Some of the accounts detailing Blood Eagle claim that it was used mainly for revenge and sometimes, pure contempt. The method was done by breaking the criminals bones and bludgeoning them to death. 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. The miseries of war: No. Wikimedia Commons. Appearing just twice in Norse literature, although popularized subsequently in European mythology, it remains a matter of historic debate whether the blood eagle was a literal procedure or rather a product of allegorical exaggeration not uncommon to the Sagas. That meant being skinned alive, having noses and ears chopped off, and whatever torments they could imagine. The victims bones would be crushed and would sometimes burst through the skin. The Zhengde Emperor flayed six rebels,[9] and Zhang Xianzhong also flayed many people. The Assyrian empire was located in Mesopotamia near the Euphrates River. A similar mode of execution was used as late as the early 18th century in France; one such episode is graphically recounted in the opening chapter of Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish (1979). Its origin dates back to 530 A.D., And throughout the years, people have come up with new ways to perform these torturous acts probably hoping to obtain the truth efficiently or just to satisfy their sick pleasures. The Assyrian population grew around the region known as Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq. Similarly, and more in line with modern representations, occurred during the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648). Instead, asphyxiation is the most common cause of death in live burials, with the individual, unless carefully buried, unable to breathe. From here, he was transferred to the Hama military airport, where he was beaten upon arrival, stripped naked, interrogated and tortured. Both were commonly inscribed with the Latin phrase abiruo I recant: an objective often achieved due to the eventual breaking of the subjects will. Usually, a cage filled with rats would be placed on top of the restrained victims stomach. Today, the term Roman Candle refers to a type of Chinese firework that became popular in Western Europe during the Italian Renaissance. 4. Activists are now calling on Congress to place more sanctions . . 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. The Bishop of Pergamon, killed during the reign of Domitian, the first martyr of Asia Minor, was burned to death in 287. nQt}MA0alSx k&^>0|>_',G! 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. Execution of Thomas Armstrong in 1684 (c. 1698). Many countries surrendered. Searing or cutting the flesh from the body was sometimes used as part of the public execution of traitors in medieval Europe. But it was supposedly shattered due to her divinity. The boot. 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. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. Of those, at least 173 were children, 46 were women. The method was reborn during the modern age across Latin America, with its use recorded under the military dictatorships of Brazil, Chile, and Argentina. Crucifixion, an ancient method of capital punishment, is perhaps the most famous means of torture in history due to its association with the Christian narrative of Jesus. endstream endobj 447 0 obj<> endobj 448 0 obj<> endobj 449 0 obj<>stream He was known for his harsh punishments upon his enemies, especially those who had betrayed his family and took advantage of the misfortunes of Wallachia. Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso.It was particularly used in response to "crimes against the state" and regarded across a number of cultures as a very harsh form of capital punishment and recorded in myth and art. Wikimedia Commons. Designed to deter witnesses from repeated the offense of the condemned, crucifixions were deliberately orchestrated events. His writing also appears on a number of other sites, including The Onion's StarWipe and Cracked.com. Experts from conquered countries would be sent into the heart of the nation, where they would be put to work building palaces, temples, and wonders. It was a widespread method which was implemented and documented in various accounts. And some sent tributes to Assyria before they ever looked their way, surrendering before theyd even approached to keep them away. This is often referred to as flaying alive. 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. Assyrian International News Agency Books Online www.aina.org. updated September 15, 2018, 9:16 pm, The 10 Most Gruesome Ancient Torture Methods, Top 10 Forgotten Princesses Adapted in Comics, 10 Disturbing Photographs Telling Tales of Disaster, The 10 Most Influential Photos of All Time, 10 Most Famous Samurai Warriors in History, Top 10 curiosities about cats in the ancient Egypt, Top 10 Crazy Hoaxes and Conspiracy Theories About Corona Virus, The 10 Most Interesting Super Mario Conspiracy Theories, Top 10 Controversial Boxing Decisions in History, Why do planes crash? A criminal was locked inside the device via a door on its side and a fire was then lit underneath, slowly burning. [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. The sailor would be tied to a rope that encircled the underside of the ship, whereupon, being thrown overboard, they would be dragged underneath the ship and along the keel to emerge on the other side. 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. . After enduring an agonizing rupturing of their anal canal, the victim would die unless released. As noted, the length of time before an individual would be impaled varied significantly. }U|m?2H:3^`t5`Sh;V"DV;m -6A:'O!K2dO'qX,VAUu5GqMQ=2@nDA`N`6u90]p*1+Js. Sometimes, they would stripped naked to humiliate them and leave them feeling weak and vulnerable. 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. Immurement, derived from the later im in and murus wall, literally comprises the entombing of an individual inside a wall or enclosed space without means of exit. Syrian man, 42 recounts horrors in regime imprisonment, from having boiling water poured over him to reverse hanging. wn The victim would be repeatedly fed and covered with the honey mixture in order to prolong the torture. In some instances, mercy might be granted allowing for a swifter death, with the wheelset on fire or the condemned beheaded. 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. The use of rats in this manner is believed to have originated in Europe, with two variants of the practice emerging concurrently. Wikimedia Commons. The method consisted of trapping the victim in the space between two small boats or two hollowed-out tree trunks and force-feeding them milk and honey over the course of a few days until the person died. In the ancient Far East, where there were large states peopled by many different ethnicities, leaders demonstrated their might by inventing ingenious new tortures and agonizing methods of execution as a way to keep the population obedient. As both accounts were written many years after the events detailed, their veracity cannot be fully ascertained. Victory Stele of Eannatum, King of Lagash, Called the Vulture Steleearly dynastic period, c. 2450 bc. Skinning was a torture method used in various civilizations throughout history and it involves removing a portion of skin from a human being while still alive (although in some cases it is carried out post-mortem) and trying to keep intact the portion removed. They laid cities to waste, tortured the survivors, and spread terror everywhere they went. These showed them skinning their victims alive, blinding them, and impaling them on stakes. The horrors and the guilt of murdering and torturing innocent people wreaked havoc on their psyches. Heating the bowls with charcoal, the rats would gnaw into the very bowels of the victim. The victim was forced to carry their crossbeam to the place of public execution, weighing an estimated 100 lbs, where they would be displayed. Aside from inflicting agonizing pain, one of the main purposes of this method was to inflict severe humiliation upon the victim. 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. Wikimedia Commons. It is unclear whether keelhauling was a common practice during the ancient world. 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. (s.`Y fI2q-y6ZS?8,FYMe 8yj3O ,. Premature or live burial, as the name suggests, refers to the practice of burying an individual whilst they are still alive. The cutting off of feet, lips and noses, blinding, gutting and the tearing out of the heart were all standard punishments in this. Flaying was both torture and execution, the method was slow and painful like most execution methods. Gadd, Cambridge University Press (1965), Viking atrocity and Skaldic verse: The Rite of the Blood Eagle, Roberta Frank, English Historical Review (1984), Torture and Brutality in Medieval Literature: Negotiations of National Identity, Larissa Tracy, D.S. The victim would be forced to ingest milk and honey, eventually causing diarrhea. I flayed many right through my land and draped their skins over the walls, he boasts in one. Sometimes, they got creative. The method can be traced all the way back to 911 BC, where it was practiced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Individuals locked into the device would find themselves unable to eat, sleep, or even lie down. At least 500,000 people including women are currently languishing in Assad regime prisons and detention centers, according to opposition sources. 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. Spreading far beyond the borders of Europe, the strappado was employed during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The stake would be hammered in with a mallet, and it would come out at either his breast, head, or shoulders. 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. 0000000689 00000 n HyTSwoc [5laQIBHADED2mtFOE.c}088GNg9w '0 Jb 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. In September 1611, Dionysios the Philosopher (or. The method was done by tying the victim in a wooden frame and then cutting the flesh in varied, multiple and non-deadly slices. 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. Attracting bugs and vermin, whilst also inducing diarrhea to lure additional parasites, the victim would be gradually consumed by the animals as they fed upon them. BCE) detailing the punishment of impalement for women convicted of murdering her husband. This is often referred to as flaying alive. Most famously, bamboo torture was alleged to have been used during World War II by the Japanese Empire against Allied prisoners of war. This torture method apparently had a long tradition in Scandinavia and a couple of direct accounts were mentioned in old skaldic poems. 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. For example, Neo-Assyrian kings used it to punish rebel leaders. [citation needed]. The men worked in a three-year cycle. Assyrian relics also depict two types of executions: piercing through the chest and through the anus. 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.. Under the Habsburgs, the number of strikes inflicted was used as a measure of the severity of criminal conduct by the condemned. %%EOF Wikimedia Commons. [citation needed]. Exclusive: Syrian regime is being accused of implementing more than 72 torture methods, including crucifixion, rape, and eye-gouging. 0000025862 00000 n In the year 64 of the Common Era, the Great Fire of Rome devastated large parts of the imperial city. A dead animal may be flayed when preparing it to be used as human food, or for its hide or fur. 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. "F$H:R!zFQd?r9\A&GrQhE]a4zBgE#H *B=0HIpp0MxJ$D1D, VKYdE"EI2EBGt4MzNr!YK ?%_&#(0J:EAiQ(()WT6U@P+!~mDe!hh/']B/?a0nhF!X8kc&5S6lIa2cKMA!E#dV(kel }}Cq9 Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he had designed and built for Phalaris, by Pierre Woeiriot (c. 1532-1562). 0000002742 00000 n 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. 0000001458 00000 n is known as the Neo-Assyrian period, during which the empire reached its zenith. February 1934. Assyria made sure of it. In the second year, they would go out to war. Equally, their hands and feet might be tied together to make balancing even harder or oil poured over the chair. Scenes of similar punishments can be seen on excavated Assyrian materials. Thereafter, his head, hands, and feet, were left outside the boats, whilst the remainder of his person was contained within the floating prison. 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. Several variations of the device existed, reflecting its use in a number of circumstances. Appearing also in Malay history and culture, it has been contended the Siamese employed sprouts from the Nipah palm in an identical fashion to bamboo torture during the 1821 invasion of Kedah. The period from the ninth century to the end of the seventh century B.C. The Assyrians The Appalling Lords of Torture | Lessons from History Write Sign up Sign In 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. Then, in the third year, they would be allowed to live with their familiesbefore starting the cycle again. Ormerod, Dorset Press (1987), Von Ursprung des Schindens in Assyrien, Ernst G. Jung, in Kleine Kultrugeschichte der Haut, Spring Verlag (2007), Buried Alive: The Terrifying History of Our Most Primal Fear, Jan Bondeson, W.W. Norton & Company (2002), Vampires, Burial and Death: Folklore and Reality, Paul Barber University Press (1988), Crucifixion in Antiquity: An Inquiry into the Background and Significance of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion, Gunnar Samuelsson, Mohr Siebeck Publishing (2013), Crucifixion in the Roman World: The Use of Nails at the Time of Christ, John C. Robison, Studia Antiqua (June 2002), Death by a Thousand Cuts, Timothy Brook, Jerome Bourgon, and Gregory Blue, Harvard University Press (2008), The Cambridge Ancient History: Assyria and Babylon, c. 1370-1300 B.C., C.J. Gradually, his body was consumed after seventeen days of being eaten from both within and without. After Perillos created his device, Phalaris allegedly ordered the engineer demonstrate its effectiveness with his own flesh. When I did not, he hit me with a timing belt. They pioneered the use of terror as a weaponand they made the lives of their enemies a living horror story. She refused to renounce her faith and was sentenced to death by being bludgeoned on a spiked wheel. trailer The namesake for this torture was the Christian martyr, Saint Catherine. 0000006301 00000 n This was a whole engine on wheels. 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. A Judas Cradle, on display at the Museum of Torture in Freiburg, Germany. 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.