Crucifixion

Undoubtedly, one of the cruelest and most humiliating forms of punishment and eventual death in the ancient world was, according to ancient sources, crucifixion. Mass executions in which hundreds and thousands died, such as the well known crucifixion of 6,000 followers of Spartacus as part of a victory celebration in 71 BCE appear in the literature. The Jewish historian Josephus best described it following the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 66-70 AD as “the most wretched of deaths” (War of the Jews 7 &203). The widespread fear of crucifixion was such that Josephus reported that following the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD the threat by the Romans to crucify a Jewish prisoner alone caused the Jewish garrison stationed at Machaerus to surrender in exchange for safe passage from the city. (War of the Jews 6:4). In Ancient Israel crucifixion amongst the Jews was rare and except for a few instances, as when treason was involved, the subject was stoned to death first and then hung on a tree in accordance with the Biblical passage in Deuteronomy 21:22-23.
There was one notable exception to this passage in which the Jewish victims were first killed via crucifixion rather that being hung on a tree after death as was the case with the high priest, Alexander Janneus in which 800 Jews were crucified in Jerusalem in 267 BC before their wives and children. While on the cross, according to Josephus (Ant. 12 &256) the women and children were then slaughtered before their eyes.
As one of the main objectives of this cruel method of execution was it’s deterrent value, Roman authorities also devised various means whereby the victim could remain on the cross for days in public before eventually expiring. Thus the manner in which the victims were crucified was not fixed by law but appears dependent on the number of individuals involved, the sadistic ingenuity of those carrying out the execution and the time needed for this spectacle to have its maximum deterrent effect.
Giving the victim a proper burial following death on the cross, during the Roman period was rare and in most cases simply not permitted in order to continue the humiliation. Thus the victim was in many cases simply thrown on the garbage dump of the city or left on the cross as food for wild beasts and birds of prey.
Although crucifixion was a common method of punishment in ancient times, no written documents that describe the way people were crucified were left by the Romans, the actual procedure remained of a mystery. A single calcaneal bone found in a family tomb near Jerusalem in 1968 is the only key left to tell the story (Hass 1970; Zias and Sekeles 1985). The cave is dated from the late 2nd century B.C. to 70 A.D, within the time epoch of Jesus Christ. In our research we tried to shed light on the ways crucifixion was practiced during Roman times.

Trephination may be defined as the removal of a piece of the skull of a living individual without penetration of the underlying soft tissues. The vast literature on the subject was reviewed by Guiard (1930), Piggot(l940), Stewart (1958), Margetts 1962) and Lisowski (1967), and indicates that this practice was apparently world-wide. The oldest examples of trephination are reported from the Neolithic age of France, ca. 3000 B.C.E. (Piggot 1940). One case of trephination from Epipaleolithic times was also reported, from the site of Taforalt in Morocco (Ferembach 1962), but Lisowski (1967), in his vast survey of prehistoric and early historic trephination, did not mention it, and considered all claims (e.g., Moodie 1923) for trephinations prior to the Neolithic age as hypothetical. The occurrence of trephination was most frequent in Peruvian skulls (Stewart 1958; Allison et al. 1967). Four general techniques appear to have been used in trephination: scraping away the bone; boring a hole with a drill; making a circular hole with a cutting tool; and cutting or sawing a rectangular hole (Lisowski 1967; Vreeland and Cockburn 1984). Three "reasons" for carrying out the procedure have been proposed: a- Religious rite. Muniz and McGee (1897) long ago suggested that trephination was initially performed on slain enemies in order to obtain amulets, and later the procedure was gradually carried out also on living captives for the same vicarious purpose. The cult or religious basis for trephination was also discussed by Guiard (1930) and Oakley et al. (1959), b- Traumatic and/or pathological indication requiring therapy. This explanation is considered the most probable by palaeopathologists who believe that only extreme pain could be a sufficient motive for submitting an individual to the surgical remedy of opening the skull (Moodie 1923; Piggot 1940; Zivanovic 1982). The pain may have been the result of head injuries, headaches, intracranial diseases, etc. This motive is also the most common among populations that still practice trephination today (Wolfel 1925), c- Magico medical practice. The removal or a piece of skull may have been effected in order to release a presumed demon (Castiglioni 1941). It has been suggested (Guiard 1930) that in ancient time intracranial diseases were ascribed to evil spirits and therefore cure was obtained by letting these out of the skull. Indeed, trephination may have been employed at different times for all of the abovementioned reasons.
Compared to the numerous cases of trephined skulls recovered in South America and Weslern Europe, the number of cases reported in the Middle East is quite small, especially in view of the thousands of skulls from different periods recovered in archaeological sites during the last century.
The first archaeological evidence for the practice of trephination in ancient Israel was reported by Starkey (1936) and Pairy (I936) on skulls from a 7th century B.C.E. ossuary at Tell Duweir (Lachish). A further case belonging to the same site was later reported by Giles (1953). A trephined skull was found in a tumulus (tomb) near Timna, roughly dated between the 5th century B.C.E. and the 3rd century C.E. (Ferernbach 1957). Another case of trephination was found in a skull from the Hellenislic- Roman period in Acco (Goldman 1961). Two skulls, one possibly representing pseudo-trephination, were found in a Middle Bronze I(ca. 2000-2200 B.C.E.) tomb in Jericho (Brothwell 1965). Four trephined skulls were also found in a Roman cemetery in the Jordan Valley near Jericho, although one of these was urifortunately "lost" (Zias 1982). Three questionable cases of trephination, not yet published, are known from Azor (Early BronreJ. Yavneh-Yaln (Iroll Age) and Quaranral, Roman period) (B. Arensburg, personal communication).
A trephined skull was found in a burial structure known as nawamis (Bar-Yosef et al.1977, 1983) located in a large cemetery at Wadi Hebran, South Sinai. The nawamis are among the most outstanding archaeological remains of this peninsula.
They were built during the 4th millennium B.C.E. by indigenous pastoralists and were used as family tombs. The builders were probably among the first human groups to develop the pastoral strategies of adaptation in these arid zones, today represented by the Bedouins (Goren 1980; Bar-Yosef et al. 1983). The skull was found in tomb number 105, which contained the remains of six individuals (five adults and one child). It belongs to the only skeleton in the tomb fully articulated, lying on its right side in a semi-flexed position. The remains of all other adult individuals were pushed towards the wall together with any personal belongings. These conditions seem to clearly indicate that Homo I was the last to be introduced into the grave. The skull was excavated in a very fragmentary condition. Only part of the calvaria could be reconstructed. It probably belonged to a male individual, about 35-40 years of age. There is no evidence of disease, although the facial region is twisted slightly to the right side. Other than the trephination, no premortern injury was noted. In this skull, a prominent trephined hole was located on the anterior part of the parietal bone near bregma. Regrettably, the parietal bone was only partially preserved. The trephination seems to have been oval in shape, beveled on the outer edges, which suggests the operation was "successful", that the individual lived after the surgery long enough for the healing process to take effect. Its outer diameter is much greater than the inner: the actual length of the hole is 10 mm internally while the external surface of the depression is 23 mm. The general funnel-shaped inclination of the sides of the depression is moderate. A second hole was located on the most lateral right side of the coronal suture. In all aspects it resembles the hole already described, and may well have been an additional instance to trephination. These two trephinations were most likely performed with the aid of an instrument made of flint. The beveled edges of the opening suggest that the "scraping technique" was used (Lisowski 1967). Side or end scrapers, which are among the artifacts found within the nawamis (Bar-Yosef et al. 1977) can be most suitable for such a purpose.
The nawamis skull described here represents the earliest known case of trephination in Israel and is among the earliest in the world. The ability and skill of the ancient "surgeons" who almost 6000 years ago, with the crude tools at their disposal, carried out such an operation with apparent success, cannot but be admired. Indeed, the cumulative archaeological and anthropological information presented in recent years on ancient desert societies, especially concerning the nawamis builders (Bar-Yosef et al. 1977, 1983; Goren 1980) testifies to an advanced cultural and technological capabilities.

Cremation
Cremation is mentioned in the Bible only in five occasions: cremation as a sign of judgment (Joshua 7:15:25) “And all Israel stoned him (Achan) with stones, and burned them with fire…..”; Saul and his sons were cremated following their being dishonor (I Samuel 31:12); Josiah’s restoration of true worship included killing of false priests and cremation of their bodies “And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them…” (II Kings 23:20); A judgment of God was on Moab for cremation of the king of Edom (Amos 2:1); Cremation was a judgment of God (Amos 6:10).
The archaeological evidence from Israel support this attitude of the Jews, and later of Christians (burial is commanded; the body it the temple of the Holy Spirit; cremation is a denial of the hope of the resurrection) and Muslims (Allah has forbidden to use fire on his creation; the body continue to feel after the soul has left it) towards cremation. Of the abandoned excavated sites dating back to the time of Kingdom of Judea and Israel inhabited by the Israelites, not a single case of cremation was found.
Nevertheless, the archaeological record clearly demonstrate that in other parts of Israel, inhabited mainly by pagan populations, cremation was practiced, although not to the extent seen in other parts of the Roman Empire (Barkay 1984).
The Romans adapted cremation from the Grecian sometimes around 600 B.C. From about 400 B.C.E. onwards, cremation was already a common mortuary practice among Romans (Gualtieri 1982), and it remained so until the first century of the Common Era ([Toynbee, 1971). The corpse was generally laid on a pyre which consisted of a rectangular pile of wood sometimes mixed with papyrus to facilitate burning. Gifts and some personal possessions of the deceased were placed on the pyre: sometimes even pet animals were killed in order to accompany the soul into the "afterlife". After the corpse had been consumed, the ashes were drenched with wine or some other liquid and then collected by relatives and placed in a receptacle of some kind. The receptacle was kept in the home, placed in a chamber tomb, columbarium-like buildings, or buried in an undecorated container above which a marker was placed, usually a plain standing stone or even a large clay pot. Early Christians (like the Jews) considered cremation a pagan behavior, and when in 400 A.D. the Emperor Constantine Christinize his Empire, earth burial had completely replaced cremation (except for rare instances of plague and war). In the last century we witness the revival of cremation in Europe and North America.
Although burnt bones have been excavated in several PrePottery Neolithic sites in Israel (e.g., Atlit-Yam, Yifthel, Nahal Hemar), cremation in Israel is evident only from the proto-urban (late Chalcolithic). The burning marks on the Neolithic bones should be attributed to the burial custom to bury the dead under the living floors or deserted houses, close to hearts. To the present, there are more than 20 sites were cremated bones have been found, most of them are dated to the Iron Age period (mainly from the 9th century on ward), and few are from the Roman period. Isolated cases of cremation from an earlier periods are also reported from Jericho and Azor (EB I), Kinneret (EB II), and Tell Beit Mirsim (Late Bronze). The cremated remains were found in various burial structures and containers: cave tombs (mainly on the floor) as in Jericho and Gezer (Gallaway 1962), Azor (Ben-Tor 1992), Tel Aviv (Kaplan 1979); Dolmens as in Ala Safat (Gilead 1968); urns as in Achziv (Wolf 1994), Tell El Fara (Cullican 1975), Tell Ajjul (Cullican 1973), Tell Er-Reqeish (Cullican 1973), or in the ground covered by thin layer of sand, as in Atlit (Johns 1938). Johns (1938) describe the later burial as follow: “..the bodies were laid on a small pyre of branches, surrounded by the usual grave furniture of pottery, and so burnt…..in most cases the fire seems to have been extinguished with a covering of sand before the body had been entirely consumed (p. 126)”.
Only small part of the cremated bones found in Israel were studied and reported. The earliest anthropological report on cremated bones from Israel was contributed by the Deputy Director of Medical Services on selected sample of skeletal remains from Atlit, a Phoenicians burial site south of Haifa (Johns 1938, p. 126-127). The main conclusion from this short report is that cremated was practice for all individuals in the same manner regardless of age and sex. The cremated bones from Azor were first studied by N. Hass and H. Natan and Later by P. Smith. The later identified two individuals, an adult male of average stature (172 cm), 40-45 years of age, and a young boy 14-16 years of age. With the human cremated bones other bones of birds, pigs, sheep etc. were found. Based on the color of the bones, pattern of the fracture and the size of the bones, Smith concluded that the temperature of the fire was around 2500 C, and that the intensity along the body was uneven. This is clearly different from later cremated remains (Iron and Roman period) which indicate a much longer cremated time and a much higher temperature. Smith et al (1993) also reported on cremated bones from the Phoenician site of Achziv dating to the 8th-6th centuries B.C. The human bones of over 30 individuals were found in a shaft tombs mixed with unburnt bones. Other cremations were found in ceramic kraters outside the shaft tombs. According to color and deformation of the bones, the researchers concluded that the bodies had been cremated on an open fire soon after death at temperature <6000 C. The condition of the teeth indicated that the cremated individuals were mainly adult with few adolescents but no infants. This is different from what we know from other Phoenicians burial site from Israel (e.g., Atlit) where all ages are presented, or from the infant cremations reported from tophets (shrines with burnt bones of infants and young animals) at Phoenician colonies such as Carthage and Sardinia (Stager 1982). More recently, Eshed (1999) reported on cremated bones from Hirbet Budah. The cremated remains were found in an urn, made of Calcit, inside a burial cave dated to the Helenistic period, 3rd-2nd centuries B.C.. The urn contained the cremated remains of three individuals (including fragments of the skull, long bones and teeth), two adults and one child. One of the adult was identified as a female age 35 to 40 years. The second was an adult male, 45 years of age. The third individual was a child, 5-7 years of age. Together with the cremated human bones, there were non-human bones of birds and mammals (could not be identified to the species level).
The most extensive study on cremated bones was carried out by our laboratory on the cremated remains of Roman soldiers (VIth Legion) from Megiddo.
During a survey of the Roman aqueduct near Megiddo a small trial excavation unearthed two Roman cooking pots containing burnt human bones. Pot A contained only a few tiny fregments, no more than 1-2 cm in length (only one lumbar vertebra was fully preserved). The fragments were all white in color and manifested curved transverse fracture lines, irregular longitudinal splitting and marked warping. Pot B (height 28 cm., maximum circumference 91 cm.) contained burnt bones up to 5-6 cm long. Much of the material in this pot was, as in the first, distorted and very difficult to interpret. The position of the bone fragments within the pot appeared to be random. Among the bones could be identified several nearly complete vertebral bodies, proximal and distal ends of the femora, tibiae and humeri, scapular fragments, ribs, a maxilla, and a mandible. According to the head of the humerus, it appears the skeleton was that of an adult male. The dental arch was partially preserved in both maxilla and mandible and manifested deep dental sockets, attesting to the presence of most of the teeth at the time of death, which would suggest a relatively young age of the individual. The bones are white in color and show the same pattern of fractures and warping as those in Pot A. Other interesting findings were: a piece of burned animal bone (distal end of right radius), possibly of a young pig, Sus scrofa, and a small nail, 2 cm. long, in the vertebral part of a human rib. Differential burning was evident in a few fragments, the posterior aspects manifesting a bluish-grey rather than a white color as on the anterior aspects. A shiny, glazed substance was found attached to the posterior aspect of a scapular fragment.

Where all the hands have gone? A biblico-anthropological case

Removal of the hands of captive warriors was a common practice among biblical civilizations. Engravings on walls of Assyrian palaces and Egyptian tombs described the victorious armies cutting the hands of their enemies and bring them back to the king as a solid proof of their victory. In 722 B.C. the kingdom of Israel was about to collapse. The armies of the Assyrian king put siege on its capital, Samaria, which soon fall to the hand of the Assyrian. This was the end of the Kingdom of Israel. The Assyrian army, which had a reputation of being one of the cruelest armies, return victorious home, with the ultimate evidence: hands of the Israeli soldiers. The engraving and pictures in the Assyrian and Egyptian palaces were considered, for a long time, part of the exaggeration attitude typical to the time and region. Recently, a tomb near Samaria was excavated and revealed several skeletons. Based on the archaeological findings the grave was dated to the Assyrian time. Among the dead, there was one individual who showed evidence of extreme violent activity. His left hand was missing. In our study, we describe in details the many injuries to the skull and long bones and correlate them with the description of massacre of captives by the Assyrian army seen in the wall of the kings' palaces. Information of the type of weapon (mainly swords) used by the Assyrian army and supportive evidence from present forensic cases are used to further analyze this case.

Artificial Cranial Deformation

Deformation of the head in the living is a very old, if not the most ancient cultural practice leading to changes in one's natural morphology. This cultural custom appears all over the world with the possible exceptions among Australian aborigines and Chinese. Apparently the most fertile social milieu in which the practice of cranial deformation flourished was undoubtedly in the Americas, with an incidence of 90 % of the total population in some regions (Dingwall, 1931).
According to Trinkaus (1983), artificial cranial deformation had already been practiced by the Mousterian (Middle Palaeolithic) people from Shanidar (Irak). Nevertheless, wide-scale practice of ACD in the Near East is evident only from the pre-pottery Neolithic B period (ca. 8,300-6,500). Cases of unquestionable ACD were reported from various countries throughout the Middle East: Israel (Kurth, 1981), Syria (Ferembach, 1970), Cyprus (Angel, 1953), (Senyurek, 1951), and Lebanon (Obzek, 1974). According to Menard (1977), artificial deformation of the head appears to have been relatively common also in the European Neolithic.
Our study focused on artificial cranial deformation during the prepottery Neolithic B period.

The practice of trephination and deforming the human skull in the ancient Middle East is reported in our study. Both "treatments" seem to have occur during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. After the Neolithic, cranial deformation became relatively rare with while the frequency of trephination continued and even increased in Roman times. The "surgical operation" of the skull was performed by two different techniques: 1) a "round" incision of the bone, found in all historic periods; 2) an angular incision confined to the Iron and Byzantine periods at Lachish and Timna. The latter type seems to be "improved" from North Africa.

Mutilation Of The Uvula Among Bedouins Of The South Sinai

Mutilation of the uvula, as practiced by various tribes of Bedouins in the South Sinai, was discovered while carrying out anthropological studies in the area. Partial or total amputation of the uvula is performed on both boys and girls during the first or second year of life, as a ritual custom. Anatomical changes in the soft palate due to the uvulectomy in 115 subjects were studied. The remnant of the uvula (scar) was classified according to size as: very large, large, medium, small, trace or none. A notch or kind of cleft of the palate, as a result of the uvulectomy, was considered the most extreme degree of extirpation. The majority (47%) was of small size and a notch was found in 9.6%. Changes in shape and symmetry of the arches of the palate as a result of the uvulectomy are also described. These changes are explained on the basis of the anatomical structure of the palate and uvula. The possible effects of the uvulectomy on health in general and on speech in particular were also studied.

Physical Justice in Biblical times

"An eye for an eye, a hand for a hand (Exodus 21:24)".
By far, the most well known text related to amputation, is that of Babylonian Hammurabi Codex dated to the 18th century BC. Punitive hand amputation was to be performed, using a bronze knife, in few circumstances only: a- if a son strikes his father (claus 195), b- in the case of a physician performing an operation that results in the death of the patient or eye surgery resulting in destruction of the eye (clause 218), a surgeon who burns "the sign" into slave without having been mandated to do so, and the tenant farmer who steals the seed (Muller 1903, Preuss 1978). To what extent this codex was actually practiced we do not know.
In our study we examined several cases from Israel which could be associated with physical punishment.

Skull Modeling in the Prepottery Neolithic B Period

Plastered skulls are among the most dramatic finds and fascinating religious artifacts to have been discovered. They first appeared in the Levant in the Prepottery Neolithic B period, 7300-6000 B.C. (PPNB). During this period mankind maid a leap forward in the direction of modern society with a transition in the subsistence mode from hunting and gathering to an agriculturally based economy. At that time human skulls were removed from their burials, plastered decorated and finally set in shrines, most likely for ritualistic purposes. In every site were plasters skulls were found i.e. Ein Ghazal, Jericho, Munhata, Tel Ramad, Nahal Heimar and K'far Hahoresh different styles of plastering were used. A variety of speculations have been posed regarding the role of plastered skulls in PPNB societies and the possible reasons for their emergence at the time of the development of agriculture. Plastered skulls appeared at no other time prior to this period in the history of the Levant.

Medicoritual Trephination

Differentiation between therapeutic craniotomies and purely ritual trephination, recent or ancient, is sometimes difficult if not impossible, which may well contribute to error, even by the forensic expert. Further more, some of the techniques employed in opening the cranial cavity in modern medicine are very similar to those used in "traditional" trephination.
In our study we described the results of two autopsies preformed at the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Israel: each autopsy disclosed large perforations in the cranial wall, although there were no therapeutic indications or medical records of surgical treatment. These two cases seem to indicate that "traditional" trephinations have not completely disappeared in "popular" medical practice in the Middle East, although trephination have been neither reported nor documented as an active surgical "treatment" performed there today by non medical personnel. In Israel, apparently' trephination was used as early as the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period (8500-6500 B.C.E.), and the practice persisted at least until the end of the Roman-Byzantine period (ca. 600 C.E.).