Crucifixion

Crucifixion was considered the most public, humiliating and painful death used throughout the Roman Empire as a form of execution for anyone who dared to question Roman rule.

• The victim would have to carry a T-shaped wooden cross up a hill. It weighed around 70 kg – almost the weight of a fully grown man.
• Huge nails were then hammered through the wrists and ankles to pin the victim to the cross.
• The cross was then lifted up so crowds could throw things, jeer and watch the suffering.
• The victim’s whole body weight was suspended on the nails through their tendons and joints. To breathe, they had to force themselves up before slumping down again.

A unique death

Jesus may have been the only figure in history documented to have been both flagellated or whipped and also crucified. Most of the time, a prisoner was either whipped to within an inch of their lives or crucified. Rarely both.

Burial of Jesus

The bodies of crucified people were normally thrown on a rubbish dump. But one of Jesus’ friends, called Joseph of Arimathea, was a wealthy merchant who used his influence to get the body of Jesus from the Romans. The body was washed, wrapped in cloth and covered in expensive spices like myrrh. Perhaps the same myrrh that the wise men had given to Jesus’ mother, Mary, at the time of his birth?