Death By Crucifixion: Medical Theories

Optimistic Filipinos call this Saturday "Sabado de Gloria," in anticipation of the Easter resurrection of the dead Jesus tomorrow. But the more pessimistic still term it Black Saturday. "Black" because Jesus died while being crucified.

Crucifixion is a terrible way to die. You can read about its history and details here. In the Philippines however, crucifixion during Good Friday has transformed from being a devotional practice to a tourist attraction witnessed by around 20,000 spectators. It is a gory experience and not for the faint of heart.

Why a dozen or so Filipinos would choose to have themselves nailed to a cross every year is a question I have asked myself many times. Penance? Devotion? Curiosity? Business venture? My multiple choice of answers can go on and on, and still I will fail to get the real answer. Even more puzzling is that no one --- from the govenment or from the Catholic Church --- has tried to put a stop to this barbaric practice.

Traditionally, before getting crucified, a person is first whipped in the back. Afterwards, he is made to carry a plank of wood and walk towards the crucifixion site. There, he will be nailed either upright or upside down using the same plank he carried. Perhaps the most detailed account you can read about this is the most famous crucifixion of all --- that of Jesus Christ.

I recently came across a medical article written by Maslen and Mitchell on April 2006 from the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. It's an interesting review of more than 40 medical articles and books about possible causes of death by crucifixion. It covered historical, archeological, and re-anactment aspects of the crucifixion. The most notable of these medical hypotheses are presented in the table below:

Other highlights in the article:

• most representations of Jesus' crucifixion we know or see show a nail passing through both feet from front to back - there is no evidence that crucifixion was ever done this way during classical times



• the medical hypotheses presented in previous articles did not really utilize the full range of evidences available - the authors lamented that an archeological evidence of crucifixion, the crucified man from Giv'at ha-Mivtar in Israel, has been ignored by researchers, which is arguably "the most important and reliable evidence" for investigating crucifixion details



• the work of forensic pathologist Zugibe - concluded that Jesus died of hypovolemic shock instead of asphyxiation seemed unreliable because most of Zugibe's arguments were based on the Turin Shroud, which radiocarbon dating has revealed to be a medieval forgery. Furthermore, Zugibe's conclusion was not based on positive evidence to support the hypovolemic shock theory, but rather more upon negative evidence against the asphyxiation theory



• how does one die from cruxifixion then? - the authors concluded that there is "insufficient evidence" to say with certainty how a person dies from crucifixion

Bottomline: No one really knows how.

What I found amusing is the authors' statement that --- "Until new archaeological or textual evidence comes to light then it is only through more realistic humane re-enactment research that we may move closer to an answer."

More realistic humane re-enactment of crucifixion???

Somebody please tell me that is not an oxymoron.



USEFUL LINKS:

1. Physical Death of Jesus Christ, Mayo Clinic Study



2. JAMA: On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ