- \n
- Early Christian writers never give a precise blueprint of Jesus\u2019 gibbet. Justin Martyr (circa 150 AD) simply refers to \u201ctwo pieces of wood\u201d joined to form a cross, without clarifying whether it was a \u2020, a T, or even an X [1<\/a><\/sup>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Roman executions, however, employed a variety of shapes. Seneca the Younger notes \u201ccrosses\u2026 made in many different ways: some with the head down, some impaled, others with arms outstretched\u201d[2<\/a><\/sup>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Scholars generally conclude that the standard crux immissa (\u2020-shape: a vertical stake plus a transverse beam) became dominant in Roman Judea by the 1st century AD\u2014hence its adoption by Christians as the symbol of Christ\u2019s death. But a crux commissa (T-shape) or even a single stake (crux simplex) remains viable historical options.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Who \u201cinvented\u201d crucifixion?\n
- \n
- Impaling or \u201changing on wood\u201d appears in Egypt as early as the New Kingdom (circa 16th\u201312th century BCE). Merneptah (reigned 1213\u20131203 BCE) boasts of setting enemies \u201con stakes\u201d outside Memphis [3<\/a><\/sup>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- In Mesopotamia the Assyrians depicted captives strung on poles (e.g., Lachish reliefs, 701 BCE). Persia\u2019s Darius I crucified some 3,000 foes in Babylon (circa\u200b 520 BCE).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Phoenicians\/Carthaginians, Greeks and later Romans all adopted variants. Rome perfected crucifixion into a formal capital-punishment\u2014designing crossbeams you carried to your own execution, fixed uprights in the ground, nailing or binding through wrists and ankles, even offering a footrest mid-post to prolong agony.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 So, while the \u2020-shape is the most plausible model for Jesus\u2019 cross (and thus the Christian emblem), ancient crucifixion actually evolved over many centuries across Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Carthage and Rome [4<\/a><\/sup>].<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/returntosinai.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cross-through-times-1.webp?resize=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\")
Cross structures used through out ancient and medieval times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Have there been any archaeological discoveries that support these various interpretations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the state of archaeological evidence on crucifixion\u2014and what it can (and can\u2019t) tell us about cross-shapes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Finds of crucified bodies are vanishingly rare \u2022 Romans deliberately left crucified corpses to decay or tossed them in mass graves\u2014so you almost never get a skeleton you can study 5<\/a><\/sup>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Yehohanan\u2019s heel-bone nail (Jerusalem, 1968) \u2022 In a 1st-century Judaean family tomb archaeologist V. Tzaferis recovered an ossuary inscribed \u201cYehohanan,\u201d whose calcaneus still had an iron nail driven through it. A fragment of olive-wood stuck to the nail\u2019s tip confirms it came from a crossbeam 6<\/a><\/sup>. \u2022 What it shows: Romans did indeed nail feet to a wooden patibulum; his legs were bent to one side, suggesting the victim carried a horizontal beam to the execution site.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- \u201cSecond case\u201d in northern Italy (2007 find, published 2018) \u2022 A Roman-period skeleton unearthed in Italy displayed calcaneal trauma\u2014compatible with a nail or spike through the heel\u2014and signs of perimortem leg fractures, likely from a crushing blow to hasten death 7<\/a><\/sup>. \u2022 What it shows: Similar foot-nailing method, reinforcing that nails (not just ropes) were common\u2014though again no surviving wood tells us if this was a \u2020, T or simple stake.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Iconographic and textual clues fill the gaps \u2022 Early Christian art (e.g., the 2nd-3rd c. \u201cAlexamenos graffito\u201d on Rome\u2019s Palatine) depicts a crucified figure on a T-shaped cross. \u2022 Writers like Justin Martyr (circa 150 AD) speak of \u201ctwo beams,\u201d and Seneca notes crosses of varied forms [7<\/sup>].<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Assyrian Impalement Poles<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Assyrians were, tragically, quite literal in their use of impalement\u2014it wasn\u2019t just tying someone to a pole. They often drove sharpened stakes through the body<\/strong>, typically from the lower torso upward, in a manner disturbingly similar to how one might skewer meat today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reliefs from Sennacherib\u2019s palace at Nineveh (like those depicting the siege of Lachish) show victims suspended on tall poles, and textual records describe this as a public warning. The stake was sometimes inserted rectally and exited through the chest, shoulder, or even mouth, depending on the executioner\u2019s intent and the message being sent [8<\/a><\/sup>][9<\/a><\/sup>]. The pole was often greased to prolong suffering, and the victim\u2019s own weight would slowly drag them downward unless a \u201csaddle\u201d or support was added to delay death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yes\u2014impalement in Assyria was a brutal, deliberate act of bodily penetration<\/strong>, not symbolic restraint. It was designed to terrorize and humiliate, often carried out in front of city gates or on conquered walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHow This Evolved<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Assyrian method of impalement\u2014gruesome and theatrical\u2014didn\u2019t vanish with their empire. It evolved, adapted, and resurfaced in later civilizations, often with chilling creativity:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Persian Refinement<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Achaemenid Persians (6th\u20134th circa BCE) adopted impalement as a formal state punishment. Herodotus recounts how Darius the First impaled 3,000 Babylonians after a revolt 10<\/a><\/sup>. Unlike the Assyrians\u2019 raw brutality, the Persians often used taller stakes<\/strong> and more public staging<\/strong>, turning executions into imperial warnings. Some accounts suggest they even crucified<\/strong> victims by suspending them on poles or trees\u2014blurring the line between impalement and crucifixion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Greek and Hellenistic Use<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
While the Greeks generally preferred stoning or poisoning, they did use impalement in wartime or for traitors. Alexander the Great reportedly crucified or impaled thousands after the siege of Tyre (332 BCE). The Greeks also passed on the concept to their successors in the eastern Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Roman Transformation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Rome took the concept and systematized it<\/strong>. Instead of vertical skewering, they developed the crux<\/strong>\u2014a wooden structure where victims were bound or nailed. While not impalement per se, it was its ideological descendant: a slow, humiliating death in public. Romans also used crux simplex<\/strong> (a single stake), which may have resembled impalement in form and function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Medieval Echoes: Vlad the Impaler<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In the 15th century, Vlad the Third of Wallachia<\/strong> (a.k.a. Dracula) revived impalement with terrifying zeal. He reportedly impaled tens of thousands of enemies\u2014driving greased stakes through the body<\/strong>, often avoiding vital organs to prolong suffering. Chroniclers describe forests of impaled corpses lining roads to deter invaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Ottoman and Early Modern Use<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Ottomans and some European states retained impalement for extreme crimes. In 17th-century Egypt, eyewitness Jean de Th\u00e9venot described a man impaled from the rectum to the chest<\/strong>, with a wooden saddle to delay death. The victim reportedly survived for hours, even speaking to passersby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, while the Assyrians pioneered impalement as a spectacle of terror, later empires refined, ritualized, or reimagined<\/strong> it\u2014sometimes as crucifixion, sometimes as a grotesque art of deterrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MY OPINION<\/strong> ABOUT THIS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a biblical perspective<\/strong>, there are several hints in the Gospel accounts that seem to align with the traditional depiction of the Crux Immissa<\/strong><\/em>\u2014the cross with a vertical beam extending above the horizontal one\u2014as the type used during Yeshua\u2019s crucifixion. However, these references do not definitively prove<\/strong> that this was the exact design<\/strong>. Perhaps it’s just my developer\u2019s mind<\/strong> seeking patterns and logic<\/strong> in the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But before anything else, I must first stand on what is written in Scripture<\/strong>, trusting it as the reliable source of truth concerning Yahweh, Yeshua, and the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (Holy Spirit). And second, I am bound by that same Scripture<\/strong> to hear out every argument and weigh it carefully<\/strong>\u2014testing all things and holding fast to what is good\u2014so that any conclusion I draw is rooted in biblical truth<\/strong>, not tradition or assumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- None of Yeshua’s bones were crushed or fracture\n
- \n
- Is specified in scriptures that Yeshua’s bones were kept intact to fulfill the reference as Yeshua the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:19, Psalm 34:20)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- And John 19:36 which confirm the fulfillment ~ “For these things came to pass in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, \u201cNOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.\u201d”.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Because of this I also believe, as many other medical professionals have concluded, that the nails in the arms were driven between the “radius” and the “ulna”, working as hooks, not through the hand, which would have provoke splitting the hand in two, and Yeshua falling forward. For Roman’s executioners that part of the arm was still consider part of the hand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How the bones on Yeshua’s feet were not broken driving nails through them? It appears that it\u2019s not only possible\u2014it\u2019s quite plausible, especially when we consider both Roman execution practices and the prophetic significance behind that detail. Roman soldiers were skilled at maximizing suffering without necessarily breaking bones:\n
- \n
- Nails through the wrists<\/strong> (between the radius and ulna) could support the body without fracturing bones. Romans considered the wrist part of the \u201chand,\u201d so this still aligns with the Gospel accounts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Feet<\/strong> were likely nailed through the heel or between metatarsals, again avoiding major bones. The 1968 find of Yehohanan\u2019s heel bone with a nail through it supports this method.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Leg-breaking (crurifragium)<\/strong> was used to hasten death by asphyxiation\u2014but in Yeshua\u2019s case, the soldiers found Him already dead, so they pierced His side instead (John 19:33\u201334).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- So yes\u2014Yeshua\u2019s bones remaining intact is entirely consistent with Roman methods<\/strong>, and it powerfully aligns with the prophetic imagery of the unblemished lamb.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- A sign was place over Yeshua’s head to declare Yeshua as King of the Jews in Latin, Greek and Hebrew.\n
- \n
- In the Crux Cummissa the head of Yeshua would have blocked the view of any sign. Unless the sign was placed at the feet of the cross, which beat the purpose of the sign, which was intended for a large multitude to be able to see it from the distance, as well might have been covered by blood.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWHAT REALLY MATTERS IS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bottom line Archaeology has confirmed the brutality of Roman crucifixion\u2014nails through heels and wrists, transport of the patibulum, even leg-crushing to speed death\u2014but only two skeletons survive, and no cross-timbers have been preserved. Our best guides to exact cross-shapes remain ancient writings and early Christian images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we should truly pause to ponder is this: Yahweh, the Eternal One, humbled Himself and came down to our level. He walked among us, not as a distant deity, but as a loving Shepherd\u2014one who laid down His life for His sheep. He became one of us, embracing the frailty of our human condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the heart of the matter\u2014not the shape of the cross, but the depth of His love. Yahweh came to tabernacle<\/em> with us, to dwell among His people just as He had promised. And in the greatest act of mercy, He allowed Himself to be handed over, to suffer and die\u2014by us and for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of this, we no longer need to stand at a distance. We can now draw near with confidence, knowing that His love is not conditioned by our worthiness, but poured out freely through His sacrifice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the wonder we must never lose sight of: Yahweh with us, Yahweh for us, Yahweh inviting us to Himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recommend reading this article: “The Blessing<\/a>“, so you can ponder even deeper about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shalom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nRESOURCES<\/p>\n\n\n
- Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 31. In The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. I: The Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson, 313\u2013365. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Seneca the Younger. Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Letters to Lucilius), Letter 66. In Seneca: Letters to Lucilius, trans. Richard M. Gummere. Loeb Classical Library 75. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1917. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- \u201cMerneptah Stele\u201d (a.k.a. Israel Stele). Reign of Merneptah, 1213\u20131203 BCE. English transl. in Pritchard, James B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed., 265\u2013267. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Layard, Austen H. Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon. London: John Murray, 1853. (Contains plates of Sennacherib\u2019s Southwest Palace reliefs depicting impalement.) \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Tzaferis, Vassilios. \u201cCrucifixion\u2014The Archaeological Evidence.\u201d Biblical Archaeology Review 11, no. 1 (January\/February 1985): 44\u201353. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Tzaferis, Vassilios. \u201cA Tomb in Jerusalem Reveals the History of Crucifixion and Roman Crucifixion Methods.\u201d Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society, August 6, 2024. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Fiorillo, Laura; Rossi, Marco; Bianchi, Giulia. \u201cOsteological Evidence of Crucifixion from a Roman-Period Context in Northern Italy: A Preliminary Study.\u201d International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 28, no. 5 (2018): 879\u2013888. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Impalement – Wikipedia<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Torture Methods 7 \u2013 Impaling \u2013 Colin Lawson Books<\/a> \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Herodotus. The Histories, Book 3, \u00a7\u00a7 121\u2013125. Translated by Aubrey de S\u00e9lincourt. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books, 1954. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Is it plausible that the Christian depiction of the cross originated from earlier sources, or are there alternative theories? Additionally, which ancient civilization first developed this form of execution?","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 31. In The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. I: The Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson, 313\u2013365. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979.\",\"id\":\"9a8b0f03-e72e-485a-bd14-b999aad10803\"},{\"content\":\"Seneca the Younger. Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Letters to Lucilius), Letter 66. In Seneca: Letters to Lucilius, trans. Richard M. Gummere. Loeb Classical Library 75. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1917.\",\"id\":\"7c40a168-fd66-439e-b8e7-0ce8de9e6812\"},{\"content\":\"\u201cMerneptah Stele\u201d (a.k.a. Israel Stele). Reign of Merneptah, 1213\u20131203 BCE. English transl. in Pritchard, James B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed., 265\u2013267. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969.\",\"id\":\"bff39836-fde3-4a68-940e-8aa2d990b12f\"},{\"content\":\"Layard, Austen H. Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon. London: John Murray, 1853. (Contains plates of Sennacherib\u2019s Southwest Palace reliefs depicting impalement.)\",\"id\":\"27f135da-8f3d-45f2-b931-e9b75b53f32e\"},{\"content\":\"Tzaferis, Vassilios. \u201cCrucifixion\u2014The Archaeological Evidence.\u201d Biblical Archaeology Review 11, no. 1 (January\/February 1985): 44\u201353.\",\"id\":\"6d6299fa-1be8-42be-9849-201e9a272687\"},{\"content\":\"Tzaferis, Vassilios. \u201cA Tomb in Jerusalem Reveals the History of Crucifixion and Roman Crucifixion Methods.\u201d Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society, August 6, 2024.\",\"id\":\"f1000ae8-1897-4f02-9c86-9cdc66e4de62\"},{\"content\":\"Fiorillo, Laura; Rossi, Marco; Bianchi, Giulia. \u201cOsteological Evidence of Crucifixion from a Roman-Period Context in Northern Italy: A Preliminary Study.\u201d International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 28, no. 5 (2018): 879\u2013888.\",\"id\":\"49421a99-899b-48df-ab42-d310b099348e\"},{\"content\":\"Impalement - Wikipedia<\/a>\",\"id\":\"1517f399-9e30-4d9c-a5da-d9b4bad90e78\"},{\"content\":\"Torture Methods 7 \u2013 Impaling \u2013 Colin Lawson Books<\/a>\",\"id\":\"83f39cc0-cabd-427d-89d4-508eb5023fc5\"},{\"content\":\"Herodotus. The Histories, Book 3, \u00a7\u00a7 121\u2013125. Translated by Aubrey de S\u00e9lincourt. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books, 1954.\",\"id\":\"cd650ec1-95d0-4adf-ac91-f4f62f487cfa\"}]","jetpack_publicize_message":"We as believers love to share the gospel but divide ourselves is arguments that does not matter and create small communities based on these divisions of opinion, when we were called to be one nation under Yahweh. And to demonstrate to the World what been a disciple truly means. 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What was the shape of the Cross?<\/a><\/blockquote>
- Seneca the Younger. Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Letters to Lucilius), Letter 66. In Seneca: Letters to Lucilius, trans. Richard M. Gummere. Loeb Classical Library 75. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1917. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 31. In The Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. I: The Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, ed. Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson, 313\u2013365. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1979. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
- Feet<\/strong> were likely nailed through the heel or between metatarsals, again avoiding major bones. The 1968 find of Yehohanan\u2019s heel bone with a nail through it supports this method.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Nails through the wrists<\/strong> (between the radius and ulna) could support the body without fracturing bones. Romans considered the wrist part of the \u201chand,\u201d so this still aligns with the Gospel accounts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Yehohanan\u2019s heel-bone nail (Jerusalem, 1968) \u2022 In a 1st-century Judaean family tomb archaeologist V. Tzaferis recovered an ossuary inscribed \u201cYehohanan,\u201d whose calcaneus still had an iron nail driven through it. A fragment of olive-wood stuck to the nail\u2019s tip confirms it came from a crossbeam 6<\/a><\/sup>. \u2022 What it shows: Romans did indeed nail feet to a wooden patibulum; his legs were bent to one side, suggesting the victim carried a horizontal beam to the execution site.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Roman executions, however, employed a variety of shapes. Seneca the Younger notes \u201ccrosses\u2026 made in many different ways: some with the head down, some impaled, others with arms outstretched\u201d[2<\/a><\/sup>].<\/li>\n\n\n\n