assyrian torture methods assyrian torture methods

10 Brilliant And Brutal Methods Of Ancient Psychological Warfare Corey refused to enter a plea and only asked for more weights during the torture. I let the leaders of the conquered cities be flayed, and clad the city walls with their skins. They pioneered the use of terror as a weaponand they made the lives of their enemies a living horror story. While imprisoned, al-Drubi suffered many forms of abuse. 0000001020 00000 n 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 . Those convicted, commonly murderers and robbers, would be broken by the wheel for their sins, whereupon they were staked out and endured having their limbs broken. The Assyrian empire dominated Mesopotamia and all of the Near East for the first half of the first millennium B.C.E., led by a series of highly ambitious and aggressive warrior kings. 5X9&,6a4'r3n[?Ve:&gFiM lv_EVUW[!cq\'C+Czgzqq/6HwCA wVg/Bpm#*2)}my~MTeY NP;w4SvTNY6qo(W|EA-x*^sKK.y0Es}nCas -KosEI`uz}hZNOtDjd-K/-t {)M]4R,!X^f~4EE?TuMR)lGGw#~P 67SKEvs *!2Fg2$d,NX7E5_O[*b,@2B@r5[*X>l4[-eKfv)=Jf,vv]},.q@cUSU}Wz_b=LUB"wixJ uul|6pj~J&HlF%: ^ , Flaying, also known colloquially as skinning, is a method of slow and painful execution in which skin is removed from the body. Keelhauling, taking its name from the Dutch Kielhalen meaning to drag along the keel, was a torturous punishment inflicted upon sailors whilst at sea. If the individual survives the initial shock and avoids critical loss of blood during the torture, then they will likely die days later due to infection. 0000025862 00000 n The rocks were to be used to build palaces and wonders for the kings, and the slaves couldnt stop for a moment. V)gB0iW8#8w8_QQj@&A)/g>'K t;\ $FZUn(4T%)0C&Zi8bxEB;PAom?W= Services Archaeology and Heritage Association - Assyrian torture method In some instances, mercy might be granted allowing for a swifter death, with the wheelset on fire or the condemned beheaded. From his capital at Ashur, Ashur-uballit extended Assyrian control over the rich farming . Hypothesized to originate from the Kingdom of the Franks, by the time of the Holy Roman Empire it formed a staple of the legal system. 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. This article has been adapted from its original source. In the year 64 of the Common Era, the Great Fire of Rome devastated large parts of the imperial city. These horrific and brutal images would surly make any enemy fear the wrath of Lagash. Suspending the individual by a rope attached to the wrists, with weights added, if necessary, to increase the pain. By the time their armies reached your walls, these stories would have spread. Under the Habsburgs, the number of strikes inflicted was used as a measure of the severity of criminal conduct by the condemned. Living persons, either willingly or forced as part of entombed chattel, were frequently buried alongside deceased people of status. Although disputed for historical veracity, Plutarchs account has nonetheless proved influential. endstream endobj 447 0 obj<> endobj 448 0 obj<> endobj 449 0 obj<>stream Life under the threat of Assyrian was horrifyingfor the Assyrians as well as their victims. 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. A similar variant of the implement, the Iron Spider, was a less portable alternative. marks the end of the Neo-Assyrian empire, although a last Assyrian king, Ashur-uballit II, attempted to rescue As a method of both torture and execution, impalement consists of the aggressive penetration of victims by a pole. As the device was manipulated, it would slowly but surely shred the breast apart rendering it useless. 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. The Assyrian population grew around the region known as Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq. 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. 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. Thereafter, his head, hands, and feet, were left outside the boats, whilst the remainder of his person was contained within the floating prison. The Assyrians were so brutal that their military campaigns even put themselves through hell. Individuals locked into the device would find themselves unable to eat, sleep, or even lie down. An envoy would ride up to the city walls, knowing the fear the people there already felt, and would promise them that if they bowed down and paid tribute to Assyria, they would be allowed to live. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern. Those who did not, he warned, will have to eat their own excrement and drink their own urine.. %PDF-1.4 % Syrian man, 42 recounts horrors in regime imprisonment, from having boiling water poured over him to reverse hanging. Assyria made sure of it. Either way, torture will never NOT be disturbing, so readers should be warned that this list is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. 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. During the American Revolutionary War, both Loyalists and Patriots were recorded as inflicting the punishment upon their opponents. Similarly, neck traps prevented the victim from adjusting the angle of their neck to a more comfortable position. I burned their adolescent boys and girls. 10 Horrors Of Being Invaded By The Assyrian Army - Listverse It was one of the ideas that made Assyria so strong. 0000001680 00000 n Many countries surrendered. Then the inquisitor would heat up the other end of the cage, leaving the panicked rats with no choice but to eat their way out through the victims flesh. Perillos being forced into the brazen bull that he had designed and built for Phalaris, by Pierre Woeiriot (c. 1532-1562). She was subsequently executed by decapitation. Torture is unpleasant, as indeed is the intended purpose of the practice. In 1303, the treasury of Westminster Abbey was robbed while holding a large sum of money belonging to King Edward I. Assyrian Attitude Towards Captive Enemies: A 2700-year-old Paleo A millennium later, the Neo-Assyrian King Sennacherib (r. 705-681 BCE) is recorded as impaling surviving Judeans after the Siege of . Upon reaching the location, he would be hung almost to the moment of death. But if not, the executioner would proceed with the second act, which is braiding the convicts broken body into another wheel. endstream endobj 452 0 obj<>/W[1 1 1]/Type/XRef/Index[57 377]>>stream February 1934. Heating the bowls with charcoal, the rats would gnaw into the very bowels of the victim. Eventually, it is claimed that the tyrant was himself murdered with the very instrument of his cruelty by Telemachus. 436 0 obj<>stream After the arrest and interrogation of 48 monks, three of them, including the subprior and sacrist, were found guilty of the robbery and flayed. While some claimed that it was a fast procedure which lasted from 15 to 20 minutes. 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. They'd cut off the tongues of their captives so their screaming wouldn't be as loud when they were skinned alive. A notable figure who enjoyed this method of torture was the Prince of Wallachia, Vlad III. wG xR^[ochg`>b$*~ :Eb~,m,-,Y*6X[F=3Y~d tizf6~`{v.Ng#{}}jc1X6fm;'_9 r:8q:O:8uJqnv=MmR 4 The ultimately fatal fires were started from the feet, in order to prolong the suffering for those so condemned. In the second year, they would go out to war. Known to have been used as a punishment prior to the Roman civilization, appearing in ancient Persia, Macedon, and Carthage, Alexander the Great famously order the crucifixions of 2,000 survivors of the siege of Tyre in 332 BCE. He would then be lowered very slowly, the pyramid opening his anal orifice and slowly impaling him. Flaying: Inside The Grotesque History Of Skinning People Alive Assyrian torture method. updated March 31, 2020, 8:32 pm, by The convicted would be taken to a public stage and tied on the floor. If a man was caught with another man, the law said, they shall turn him into a eunuch. Adultery was punishable by death. "The nobles and elders of the city came out to me to save their lives," he declared. Although people think that torture is an effective method, because of Applebaum's successful use of logos, diction . 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. Whilst flaying after death has been historically recorded, typically as a means of debasing the enemys honor and reserved for instances such as criminality, the predominant occurrences took place during life. scalping). 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 victims bones would be crushed and would sometimes burst through the skin. Middle Ages Torture: Devices & Techniques - The Finer Times Wikimedia Commons. 'Some of the most appalling images ever created' - I Am Ashurbanipal He was kind of famous among us as we endured much torture from his hand," he added. 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. Wikimedia Commons. 0000008971 00000 n The sketch is from a wall relief depicting the Assyrians torturing their captives. The Babylonian destruction of their capital city Nineveh in 612 B.C. A standing army is one made up of professional soldiers whose only job is to fight. Assyrian society was entirely military, with men obliged to fight in the army at any time. [citation needed]. 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. The use of rats in this manner is believed to have originated in Europe, with two variants of the practice emerging concurrently. Neros Torches, depicting the martyrdom of a group of early Christians in Rome, by Henryk Siemiradzki (c. 1876). He would be left to float on a pond, with his accumulated feces and honey-covered body attracting insects which would eat and breed within his exposed flesh. Documentation of 72 Torture Methods the Syrian Regime Continues to Sometimes, the Assyrian army didnt stop at killing their enemies. When I said I was from Hama, he cursed my mother. Syrian Man Reveals Worst Torture Methods Used by the Regime From here, he was transferred to the Hama military airport, where he was beaten upon arrival, stripped naked, interrogated and tortured. The victim was forced to carry their crossbeam to the place of public execution, weighing an estimated 100 lbs, where they would be displayed. His writing also appears on a number of other sites, including The Onion's StarWipe and Cracked.com. The cutting off of feet, lips and noses, blinding, gutting and the ripping out of the heart were all standard punishments in this corner of the ancient world (Hamblin). They poured boiling water over us, burned us with cigarette butts.". Wikimedia Commons. Survival time would vary from a few minutes to several days, depending on how the stake was inserted. [2] Already from the times of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883859 BC), the practice is displayed and commemorated in both carvings and official royal edicts. trailer A still from S2E4 of Game of Thrones, depicting the historical rat torture. In this method, the victim is stripped naked and tied down to the ground. 1p18i!J 8? . Any outsider who would gaze upon the monument would know not to mess with Lagash. There are also records of people flayed after death, generally as a means of debasing the corpse of a prominent enemy or criminal, sometimes related to religious beliefs (e.g. This is a slow and painful execution, with causes of death ranging from blood loss, hypothermia, or infections. Before the battle began, people would often be given a chance to surrender. A wooden board would be placed on the victims chest and abdomen and heavy stones or iron weights would be gradually placed on top of the board, slowly suffocating the victim. 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. The miseries of war: No. The city and its houses, from its foundations to its top, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire, Seenacherib declared. They laid cities to waste, tortured the survivors, and spread terror everywhere they went. Sometimes, they would stripped naked to humiliate them and leave them feeling weak and vulnerable. The executioner would then use a large wooden spiked wheel to mutilate the convicts body, starting from his legs. . The method can be traced all the way back to 911 BC, where it was practiced by the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Sign up to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content, Sign up to get Al Bawaba's exclusive celeb scoops and entertainment news, Syrian Man Reveals Worst Torture Methods Used by the Regime, Serie A: AC Milan vs Tottenham predicted lineups, Rihanna didn't get paid for her Super Bowl show, Awadallah jailed for sedition goes on hunger strike. 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. Anyone from slaves to prisoners of war could be subject to fear inducing acts of punishment. Ironically, in a reversal of fortunes for the Babylonians, Darius I of Persia would later impale 3,000 of their own in vengeance. Similarly, and more in line with modern representations, occurred during the Dutch Revolt (1568-1648). . The king of Urartu, upon hearing the Assyrian army approach, stabbed himself in the chest rather than face them. . Middle Assyrian Period. Today, the term Roman Candle refers to a type of Chinese firework that became popular in Western Europe during the Italian Renaissance. Though other methods of torture were used, Vlad III has been mostly associated with impalement, earning him the title Vlad the Impaler. This form of execution became famous when Giles Corey, an American farmer charged with witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. There were no accurate details of how this method of execution was carried out. Then, he told me to kneel. N')].uJr There, the prisoners suffered being coated in pitch, oil and other flammable substances, before being set alight. The Stake | Torture Museum - Micro Masterpieces The bandit Ishikawa Goemon, being boiled to death for the attempted assassination of Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 16th-century Japan (c. mid-19th century). 0000005655 00000 n Eventually, depending on the strength of the individual, the victim would be unable to maintain the required position any longer and the pyramidal tip of the chair would begin to impale their anus. Medium.com, Vestal Virgins: Chaste keepers of the flame, Melissa Dowling, Biblical Archaeological Society (2001), Rethinking Nero, BYROBERT DRAPER. Aside from inflicting agonizing pain, one of the main purposes of this method was to inflict severe humiliation upon the victim. 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. 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. 10 Things to Know About the Assyrian Empire The Premature Burial, by Antoine Wiertz (c. 1854). endstream endobj 435 0 obj<>>>/LastModified(D:20030926134002)/MarkInfo<>>> endobj 437 0 obj[438 0 R 439 0 R 440 0 R] endobj 438 0 obj<>>> endobj 439 0 obj<>>> endobj 440 0 obj<>>> endobj 441 0 obj<>/Font<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC]/ExtGState<>>>/StructParents 0>> endobj 442 0 obj<> endobj 443 0 obj[/ICCBased 449 0 R] endobj 444 0 obj<> endobj 445 0 obj<> endobj 446 0 obj<>stream The origins of the torture date to as early as ancient Babylon, with the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1772 BCE) detailing the punishment of impalement for women convicted of murdering her husband. From vagina impalement to 'death by elephant' - Gruesome - The Sun As a form of punishment, crucifixion exists still today, notably in Saudi Arabia and Iran, where the most recent known occurrences of crucifixion occurred as recently as the early 2000s. Assyrian International News Agency Books Online www.aina.org. Some designs, used for the purposes of gaining information, employed a pulley system, with the individual strapped into a harness and repeatedly lowered onto the tip of the chair to maximize the prolongation of suffering. He has been a guest speaker on numerous national radio and television stations and is a five time published author. wn The dangerous men who fought against Assyria were sometimes given a chance to redeem themselves. Ernst G. Jung, in his Kleine Kulturgeschichte der Haut ("A short cultural history of the skin"), provides an essay in which he outlines the Neo-Assyrian tradition of flaying human beings. 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. Both were commonly inscribed with the Latin phrase abiruo I recant: an objective often achieved due to the eventual breaking of the subjects will. Others went further. BCE) detailing the punishment of impalement for women convicted of murdering her husband. The ancient Assyrian were among the most ruthless of all ancient warriors. "The name of the person who tortured me was Somar al Wahid. Several English writers during the 17th century recorded keelhauling on naval ships; however, there remains no formal note of these actions in the ships logs. The Assyrians, though, had some of the first siege weapons in the world. G*0 oAsvHkj]YK Ay$^i-:Gb&@SubuQ~ay@$": 1O4=z+088r"YWv;V?Ry6UR=r? Pressing as a form of punishment dates back to the 13th century in England. 0000001565 00000 n HBO. 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. 8 of the Most Gruesome Medieval Torture Methods | History Hit The dermatologist Ernst G. Jung says that the main causes of death due to skinning . 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. Flaying was both torture and execution, the method was slow and painful like most execution methods. Murderers were handed over to the victims family, who were free to do with them as they willed. Execution of Thomas Armstrong in 1684 (c. 1698). Although women were excluded from these practices and doctors were required to be present, the Inquisition nevertheless enjoyed near limitless authority to inflict suffering upon those entrusted to their custody. Flaying of humans is used as a method of torture or execution, depending on how much of the skin is removed. 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. The practices represented in depictions include the cutting of the throats of enemies and the decapitation of dead bodies. 0000001205 00000 n It has been suggested, without corroboration, that these candles were used as decorations during formal parties held by Nero. I don't think torturers can be human. Keelhauling, which dates back in 800 B.C. The society also used torture to persecute others for their religious affiliations. Sometimes, they got creative. Decreeing that Mithridates should be put to death in boats, two were framed exactly to fit his body to prevent escape. It is as gory and bloodcurdling a history as we know. The 10 Most Gruesome Ancient Torture Methods - Wonderslist The Iraq Government, as was anticipated, employed methods to cause dissension among the Assyrians, taking on its side certain individuals with whom Thomson was instructed to carry out Iraq's policy. 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. When it comes to psychological warfare in the form of sheer brutality, impalement wasn't the only thing the ancient Assyrians turned tothey had other methods of scaring the life out of their neighbors. They described hearing and seeing ghosts talking to them, who would be the ghosts of people theyd killed in battle, says Professor Jamie Hacker Hughes. The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel, was a method of torture that featured as part of public executions in Europe between the start of the Middle Ages until the Early Modern Period. Activists are now calling on Congress to place more sanctions . Since the conflict, questions have habitually been raised concerning whether bamboo is actually capable of inflicting the injuries claimed by survivors. The Assyrians created tablets that showed them torturing their enemies to let the next city know what was coming. Rat torture was first documented in 17th century Europe during the Dutch Revolt, with the technique being used against captured prisoners. She refused to renounce her faith and was sentenced to death by being bludgeoned on a spiked wheel. n3kGz=[==B0FX'+tG,}/Hh8mW2p[AiAN#8$X?AKHI{!7. Assyrian national history, as it has been preserved for us in inscriptions and pictures, consists almost solely of military campaigns and battles. Brewer (2012), Crucifixion in Antiquity: An Inquiry into the Background and Significance of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion. Flaying, also known as skinning, was a torture method which originated from 883-859 BC and documented in both carvings and official royal edicts. There were accounts that described it as a slow and brutal process. The fragment above is part of the Stele of Vultures. . It had an iron-capped ram that swung from chains, letting it crush its way through enemy walls like never before. A ritualized method of torture and execution, the Viking practice of the "blood eagle" stands among the most brutal and controversial of historical tortures. Flaying, also known as skinning, is a method of torture (and often execution) whereby the skin of the victim is gradually removed from the body in a precise fashion. The Worst Ways to Die: Torture Practices of the Ancient World As noted, the length of time before an individual would be impaled varied significantly. Thats exactly the experience of modern-day soldiers whove been involved in close hand-to-hand combat.. $iU-PGiSit::")SD.@&qk=mUi/6d07*w` %%EOF The Spanish Inquisition, lasting from 1478 until 1834, existed for a sufficiently long period of time to incrementally perfect the art of torture. 10, The Strappado, by Jacques Callot (c. 1633). Eventually, under pressure from Western nations undergoing their own liberalizations of violent punishments, in 1905, as part of widespread revisions of the Chinese penal code, lingchi was formally abolished as a criminal sentence. 5 The Torture Of The Survivors. Multiple methods exist to accomplish the violent feat, including transversal or longitudinal impalement and bears striking similarities to bamboo torture. under the powerful northern Mesopotamian state of Mitanni, Assyria's fortunes revived in the reign of Ashur-uballit I (1365-1330 B.C.). Ashurbanipal: King of Assyria, Hunter of Lions - TheCollector The men worked in a three-year cycle. It was a widespread method which was implemented and documented in various accounts. The Church used torture to force others to convert to Christianity and because the Church used torture, government authorities used the same means too. Of those, at least 173 were children, 46 were women. 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. 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. This would result to the body looking like a spread eagle, thus the name of the torture method. He wrote, I hung the heads of the kings upon the shoulders of their nobles, and with singing and music I paraded.. x- [ 0}y)7ta>jT7@t`q2&6ZL?_yxg)zLU*uSkSeO4?c. R -25 S>Vd`rn~Y&+`;A4 A9 =-tl`;~p Gp| [`L` "AYA+Cb(R, *T2B- Usually, a cage filled with rats would be placed on top of the restrained victims stomach. Using humans are the base substance akin to the wax foundations of a candle, these victims were tied to stakes in the imperial garden for the amusement of the deranged Emperor. In 1323, the Mexica tribe asked for Yaocihuatl, daughter of Achicometl, ruler of Culhuacan in marriage. Impalement was the act of penetrating a sharp stake through the body. The wheel would be erected like a pole, and the executioner would be permitted to decapitate the convict. More often than not, though, the surviving men would be put through the hells they used to psychologically terrify the world. CONTENTS. The captives I have killed by the sword and flung on the dung heap. Jung provides some examples of this triumphant rhetoric. This is more commonly called skinning . A torturous, if infrequent method of historical execution, death by boiling kills an individual by immersing them in a container of blistering liquid.