Tuesday, September 30, 2003

CRUCIFIXION AGAIN: Mark Goodacre points to this 1973 article by James Charlesworth, "Jesus and Jehohanan: An Archaeological Note on Crucifixion," which suggests that the hapless Jehohanan was crucified in a crouching position with the nails going through his forearms. (Incidentally, this interpretation seems to be the source of the position in which Willem DaFoe is crucified in The Last Temptation of Christ.) But this more recent article by Joe Zias (who is a specialist in ancient osteology), "Crucifixion in Antiquity: The�Archaeological�Evidence," takes the damage to the forearms to indicate that they were tied, not nailed, and also takes the victim to have been crucified in an upright position with the feet on either side of the cross. Either way, not very pleasant.

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