In late 1968, the author of the article, Vasilios Tsaferis, explored the tombs northeast of Jerusalem in the Givat ha Mivtar region. The contents of one family tomb tell a lot about those to whom it belonged and who is buried in it. The remains discovered there provide dramatic evidence of the crucifixion.
The heel bones of a young man of 24-28 years old, nailed with a large iron nail, uncovered in a tomb near Jerusalem, provide dramatic evidence of the crucifixion. The nail was driven first into the right leg and then into the left; the location of the bones indicates a twisted position of the victim's body on the cross (see figure below).
After a nail about 18 cm in size pierced both legs, it went through a wooden plate and a cross; here the nail hit a knot, the end of the nail bent, so it was not possible to remove it after the death of the person. In order for the entire body to be removed from the cross, the leg had to be amputated, and thus the heel bones and fragments of the plate and cross were buried together. Photo by Eric Lessing.
We know from ancient literary sources that tens of thousands of people were crucified in the Roman Empire. In Palestine alone, this number reaches thousands. However, until 1968, archaeologists did not find a single victim of this terrible method of execution.
That year I unearthed the only victim of the crucifixion. He was a Jew from a good family who may have been charged with a political crime. He lived in Jerusalem shortly before the destruction of the city by the Romans in 70 AD.
In the period following the Six Day War - when the old city and east Jerusalem were briefly under Israeli rule - many structures were built. Accidental archaeological discoveries of such structures are frequent. When this happened, either my colleagues from the Israel Antiquities Department or me were summoned; our job was to investigate these accidental discoveries.
At the end of 1968, the director of the department of antiquities, Dr. Abraham Biran, asked me to investigate several tombs that were found northeast of Jerusalem, in an area called Givat ha Mivtar. A group of construction ministry workers accidentally entered some of the burial caves and opened the tombs. After we examined the tombs, it was decided that I should begin excavating four of them.
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The tombs were part of a huge Jewish cemetery dating back to the Second Temple period (2nd century BC - 70 AD), stretching from Mount Scopus in the east to the Sanhedriya tombs in the northwest. Like most tombs from this period, the one I will discuss here was carved like a cave in the soft limestone that is abundant near Jerusalem. It consisted of two burial rooms, each of which had niches for burial.
This tomb (let's call it tomb number 1) was typical of the area, like many others found in Jerusalem. Outside, opposite the entrance to the tomb was an outer courtyard (which, unfortunately, was badly damaged). The entrance itself was closed with a stone slab and led into a large room, about 10 sq. feet (room A on the plan). On three sides of the room were stone benches deliberately made by the tomb maker. The fourth wall contained two holes that led down into another, smaller room (room B in the plan), similar in design to the first, but without benches. When we found room B, its entrance was still blocked by a large stone slab.
Tomb 1 at Givat ha Mivtar Adapted from Israel Exploration Journal Vol. 20, Numbers 1-2, (1970)
Each of the two rooms contained burial niches, which scientists call loculus, 1.5 to 1.8 m long and 30 to 45 cm wide. Room A had 4 loculi, and room B had 8, two on each side. In room B, two loculae were carved into the wall below the floor of room A.
Sectional tomb. Adapted from Israel Exploration Journal Vol. 20, Numbers 1-2, (1970)
Some of the loculi were covered with stone slabs, others were blocked by small stones plastered over. In room B, in the floor under the entrance to room A, the bones of a child were buried in a small pit. This pit was covered with a flat stone slab, like the lid of an ossuary, which I will describe later.
Nine of the 12 loculae in two rooms of the tomb contained remains, usually one skeleton per locula. However, three of the loculi (5, 7 and 9) contained ossuaries. An ossuary is a small box (40 - 70 cm long, 30 - 40 cm wide and 25 - 30 cm high) for reburial of bones. In the era of the Second Temple, it was common to collect the bones of the deceased a year after the burial of the body and bury them in ossuaries. The practice of collecting bones in the ossuary had a religious significance that was probably associated with the belief in the resurrection of the dead. But this custom also had a practical side: it allowed the use of the tomb for a long time. When it was necessary to make a new burial, the bones of the previously buried were removed to the ossuary. Burial in an ossuary was the privilege of a few; not every Jewish family could afford it. Most families buried the dead in pits. The use of ossuaries became widespread, probably during the reign of the Herodian dynasty (from 37 BC) and ended in the 2nd half of the 2nd century. AD
Ossuary discovered in the tomb of Givat ha Mivtar. Ossuaries were made of limestone and decorated with various carvings. The concentric circles in the square lattice had a symbolic meaning or could simply be an ornament. This ossuary contained the bones of a woman named Martha. The name was written on the other side.
Thousands of ossuaries have been found in cemeteries around Jerusalem. Most of them are similar to the one we found. Some had a smooth surface on all sides and on the lid, others were not polished, some contained ornaments and inscriptions.
An ossuary found in a tomb at Givat ha Mivtar. In this ossuary were buried a man, a woman and a child. The ossuary is decorated with six rosettes in a circle. Between the two rosettes there is an Aramaic inscription: "Jechonathan the potter."
The ossuaries are decorated with carved lines, rosettes and sometimes inscriptions. Ossuary lids are of three types: pointed, flat and convex. We found all three types in this tomb. Often ossuaries have marks around the edges in order to properly position the lid.
Marks on the ossuary found in tomb 1 in Givat ha Mivtar, required to properly place the lid.
Of the eight ossuaries we found in this tomb, three were in loculi in room B, others were found in the same room in the middle of the floor.
We also found a lot of pottery in the tomb. Since all pottery can be easily identified, the accuracy of the tomb's dating is confirmed. The entire ensemble can be dated between the late Hellenistic period (from 180 BC) to the destruction of the II temple by the Romans (70 AD). However, most of the pottery dates back to the period of the Herodian dynasty (from 37 BC). There were elongated vessels (probably used for embalming), round jugs (for oil) , oil lamps and even some vessels for cooking.
The skeletons found indicate that two generations of the family were buried in this tomb. There is no doubt that this tomb belonged to a rather wealthy and, perhaps, even famous family. The eight ossuaries contained the bones of 17 different people. Each ossuary contained bones from 1 to 5 people. Ossuaries were usually filled to the brim with bones, with the bones of men and women, adults and children buried together. A dried bouquet of flowers was also found in one ossuary.
Six-petal rosettes and concentric circles adorn a small ossuary containing the bones of two children.
According to the inscriptions, at least one member of this family was involved in the construction of Herod's temple. But despite the wealth and achievements of its members, this family was probably not happy.
Osteological studies have shown that 5 out of 17 people whose bones were found here died before they reached 7 years of age. 75% died by 37 years. Only two out of 17 people lived to be 50 years old. One child died of starvation, and one woman was killed with a blow to the head with a mace.
Finally, one person from this family was crucified. According to osteology, he was between 24 and 28 years old. It may seem strange, but when I dug up the bones of this man, I did not know how he died. Only when the contents of ossuary no. 4 from room B of tomb no. 1 were sent for osteological analysis was it found that it contained the bones of one child three to four years old and a crucified person - a nail was preserved in both heel bones measuring 17-18 cm.
Before receiving the osteological analysis, I could say little about the crucifixion. Many people mistakenly believe that this method of execution was an invention of the Romans. In fact, during the 1st millennium BC. it was practiced by the Assyrians, Phoenicians and Persians. Crucifixion was brought to the west from Eastern cultures, it was very rarely used in Greece, but the Greeks in Sicily and southern Italy used it much more often, probably due to their close contacts with the Phoenicians and Carthage [ii].
During the Hellenistic period, crucifixion became more popular in the Hellenized east of the empire. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC. this execution was often used by both the Seleucids and the Ptolemies.
Among the Jews, the crucifixion was a curse (see Deut. 21: 22-23: “If in someone there is a crime worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, then his body should not spend the night on a tree, but bury him on the same day, for cursed before God is everyone who is hanged on a tree, and do not defile your land, which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance”) [iii]. The traditional method of execution among them was stoning. However, crucifixion was used by Jewish tyrants of the Hasmonean period. According to Josephus Flavius, Alexander Yannay crucified 800 Jews in one day during an uprising against the census in 7 AD [iv] At the end of the 1st century. BC. the Romans used this execution as an official punishment for people who were not Roman citizens for certain offenses. Initially, crucifixion was not a method of execution, but only a punishment. Furthermore,thus only slaves were punished for certain types of crimes. A wooden post called furca (pitchfork) or patibulum (neck block, gallows) was placed on the slave's neck and tied to his hands. The slave had to go through the line of slaves, talking about his wrongdoing. This procession was seen as expiation and humiliation. Later, the slave began to be naked and beaten with a whip, thereby increasing punishment and humiliation. Still later, instead of attaching the hands to a wooden beam with ropes, the slave was tied to a vertical post. This procession was seen as expiation and humiliation. Later, the slave began to be naked and beaten with a whip, thereby increasing punishment and humiliation. Still later, instead of attaching the hands to a wooden beam with ropes, the slave was tied to a vertical post. This procession was seen as expiation and humiliation. Later, the slave began to be naked and beaten with a whip, thereby increasing punishment and humiliation. Still later, instead of attaching the hands to a wooden beam with ropes, the slave was tied to a vertical post.
Since the main purpose of this practice was to punish, humiliate and frighten recalcitrant slaves, such punishment was not inevitably associated with the killing of a slave. Only in a later period, in the 1st century. BC, crucifixion became a method of execution for certain types of crimes. Initially used as a method of punishing slaves, it later came to be used to punish prisoners, rebels and fugitives, especially during war and rebellion. The captured enemies were crucified en masse. The number of victims of the uprising of Spartacus in 71 BC says the fact that the Roman army put up 6,000 crosses, or 6,000 crucified rebels, on the road from Capua to Rome. After the Romans suppressed a relatively small uprising in Judea in 7 AD caused by the death of Herod, Quintilius Varus, the Roman legate of Syria, crucified 2,000 Jews in Jerusalem. During the capture of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A. D. Roman soldiers crucified about 500 Jews a day for several months.
In times of wars and uprisings, when hundreds and thousands of people were crucified in a short period, little attention was paid to the method of crucifixion. The crosses were made carelessly, and the executioners were chosen from the Roman legionnaires. In peacetime, crucifixions were carried out according to certain rules by special people who received powers from the Roman court. The crucifixion took place in certain places, for example, in a certain area of Rome and at Calvary in Jerusalem. Outside Italy, only the Roman procurators had the right to sentence to death. Thus, when the local provincial court ordered the death penalty, in order to carry it out, the consent of the Roman governor had to be obtained.
After the defendant was found guilty and sentenced to crucifixion, the execution was carried out by an official called the Carnifix Serarum (executioner). From the courtroom, the victim was taken outside, undressed, tied to a pole and flogged. It was produced with a whip or whip (flagellum), a Roman instrument with a short handle, to which were attached several long thin straps, each with lead or bone ends. Although the number of blows was not certain, the scourging was carried out in such a way that the victim did not die. After that, a horizontal post was placed on the shoulders of the condemned person, and he began a long, sorrowful journey to the place of execution, usually outside the city walls. The soldier at the head of the procession carried the titulus, an inscription made on a tree, in which the name of the convict and his crime was reflected. Later, this tablet began to be attached to the cross. When the procession reached the place of execution, the vertical post was anchored in the ground. Sometimes the victim was attached to the cross with only ropes. In this case, the patibulum, to which the hands were tied, was simply secured to an upright post; legs were tied to the post with several turns of rope. If during the crucifixion, not ropes, but nails were used, the convict was laid on the ground, with his shoulders on the crossbar. His arms spread out and nailed to the two ends of the crossbar, which was then raised and fixed at the top of the vertical post. Then legs were nailed directly to this vertical post. Without additional support for the body, the victim had to die very quickly (within 2-3 hours) from muscle spasms and asphyxiation. Shortly after raising the cross, breathing became difficult; for,in order to breathe, the crucified one had to rise on his hands. At first, he could hold himself for 30 - 60 seconds, but as he lost his strength, it became more and more difficult to lift himself up and take breaths, and death occurred in a few hours.
In order to prolong the agony, the Romans came up with two tools that were supposed to enable the victim to remain alive on the cross for a longer period of time. The first is sedile, a small seat nailed in the middle of the cross. It provided some support for the victim's body (this may explain the phrase “sit on the cross” used by the Romans). Irenaeus and Justin Martyr describe Jesus' cross as having five ends, not four; the fifth was probably the seat. To increase the suffering of the victim, the seat was pointed, which caused terrible pain. The second instrument added to the cross was the suppedaneum, or footrest. It was less painful than the seat, but it also increased the suffering of the convict. Origen writes that he saw a crucified man who lived the whole night and the next day. Joseph gives an examplewhen three crucified Jews remained alive on the cross for three days. During the mass crucifixions following the Spartacus uprising in Rome, some of the crucified rebels communicated with the soldiers for three days [v].
Using these historical examples and archaeological evidence, you can reconstruct the crucifixion of a person whose bones were found by me in Givat ha Mivtar.
The most dramatic evidence of this young man being executed by crucifixion was a nail that pierced both heel bones. If it were not for this nail, we would never know that he died in this way. The nail survived only because it hit a knot when it was driven into the olive tree of the cross. The tree knot was so hard that when the pressure on the nail increased, the end bent. At the edge of the nail, we found a piece of this olive tree (approx. 1 - 2 cm), which is probably part of the very knot.
When the time came to remove the deceased from the cross, the executioners could not remove this nail, because it bent inside the cross. The only way to remove the body was to chop off the leg. Therefore, the leg, the nail and the wooden plate that was inserted between the head of the nail and the leg remained connected to each other, as we found them in the 4th ossuary. Under the head of the nail, osteologists discovered the remains of this wooden plate, made from either acacia or pistachio. The tree from which the cross was made was olive.
In the first studies, it was assumed that only the heel bone of the right leg (calcaneum) was pierced with a nail. This statement led the researchers to the wrong conclusion regarding the position of the victim on the cross. Further investigation showed, however, that the nail pierced both legs. The left ankle bone (sustentaculum tali) was also identified alongside the right ankle bone, which was connected to the right heel bone. The two heel bones turned into two shapeless, unequal bony protuberances that surrounded the iron nail, covered with a thin lime crust. But thanks to careful research, the composition of the bone mass was determined [vi].
It is worth describing the conditions under which the bones from the ossuaries were examined. The team of doctors who studied the bones were only given 4 weeks to conduct their research before the bones were reburied. Long-term conservation procedures were not possible, and this predetermined the choice of instrument types and comparative studies. In the case of the crucified man, however, the researchers were given additional time to study the materials, and during this period the details I described were discovered.
The ossuaries taken from the tomb were one third filled with a syrupy liquid, which was a consequence of the desire to preserve the buried. The bones immersed in the liquid in the upper ossuaries were covered with calcareous sediment. As a result, those that were pierced by the nail remained in relatively good condition. However, the general condition of the finds should be called fragile. Before examination, the bones were first dehydrated and then impregnated with a preservative. Only then could they be measured and photographed. Nevertheless, it is possible to imagine a detailed description of the crucified. About 167 cm tall, at the age of 24 he was the average man of the Mediterranean. The bones of the limbs were good, slender and harmonious. The muscles preserved in the limbs were weak, indicating moderate muscular activity in childhood,and on the cusp of maturity. Obviously, he never did hard physical labor. It can be argued that he did not receive any serious injuries before the crucifixion, as the researchers did not find any pathological deformities or any traumatic injuries. His bones showed no evidence of any disease or lack of nutrition.
However, the young man's face was unusual. He had a fissure in the right palate - a congenital anomaly, which was accompanied by a congenital absence of the right upper canine and a deformed position of some other teeth. In addition, his facial skeleton was asymmetric (plagiocephaly). The eye sockets, like the nasal openings, are of slightly different sizes. There were differences between the left and right parts of the lower jaw, and the forehead on the right side was flatter than on the left. Some of these signs are directly related to a crack in the sky.
Reconstruction of the face of Yehohanan. The deformity was probably the result of two fatkors: Yehohanan's mother had a lack of food or suffered from stress during the first weeks of pregnancy, this distortion is the result of a difficult birth. However, hair, beard and mustache could hide this heterogeneity. Israel Exploration Journal Vol. 20, Numbers 1-2, (1970)
Most modern medical scientists believe that a crack in the sky (and some associated facial asymmetries) is not a genetic factor, but a consequence of a difficult period in the life of a pregnant woman in the first 2-3 weeks of pregnancy, which may be due to poor nutrition, and also mental stress. Statistically, such deformities are more common in families with a lack of nutrition. However, it can also be caused by sudden stress in the life of a wealthy woman. Other distortions of the facial skeleton can be attributed to abnormalities in the later stages of pregnancy. Thus, medical experts have identified two critical prenatal phases in the life of this crucified person: one in the first 2-3 weeks of pregnancy and the second at birth.
To determine facial features, the anatomy team took 38 anthropological measurements, 28 other measurements, and 4 cranial indices. The general shape of the skeleton of the face, including the forehead, is five-sided. Except for the forehead, the face was triangular, tapering below eye level. The nasal bones were large, curved, thin at the top and rough at the bottom. The man's nose was crooked, as was his chin along with the middle of his facial skeleton.
Despite the prenatal abnormalities, the young man's face was pretty pretty, although some might say it must have been a little wild. His defects were almost invisible, hidden by his hair, beard and mustache. His body was proportionate, pleasing to the eye.
What his life was like, we cannot say. But he probably came from a wealthy, if not wealthy family. On one of the ossuaries in the cave it was written in Aramaic: "Simon, the builder of the temple." Apparently at least one family member was involved in the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple on the Temple Mount. Simon could be a bricklayer or an engineer.
"Simon, the Builder of the Temple."
It can be assumed that during this turbulent period of history, the crucified person was sentenced to such an execution for some kind of political crime. His remains bear witness to a gruesome death.
From the way in which the bones were connected, we can infer the position of the person on the cross. The two heel bones were joined together. The nail went through the right calcaneus and then through the left. Thus, in this case, both legs were nailed to the cross with a single nail. Examination of two heel bones and a nail that punched them down and to the side indicates that the victim's legs were not rigidly attached to the beam. In the middle of the cross there was to be a small seat, or sedile. It prevented the body from falling and prolonged the agony. Given this position on the cross and the manner in which the heel bones were nailed, it seems likely that the knees were bent or half bent, as shown. This position of the legs is confirmed by examining the long bones below the knees: the tibia, or tibia,and fibula below it.
Only tibia was available to study the right leg of the crucified person. The bone was roughly shattered by a large crack. This crack was apparently made with one powerful blow. The left calf bones lay across the sharp edge of the wooden cross, and the mark from the blow of the right calf bones passed into the left ones, making a sharp blow to them as well. The left calf bones are broken in a straight, sharp, uneven line along the edge of the cross, a line characteristic of an internal fracture. This fracture is the result of pressure on both sides of the bone: on the one hand, from a direct blow to the right leg, and on the other, from resistance to the edge of the cross.
Crucifixion of Jehohanan. The study of the young man's wounds allowed osteologists to reconstruct his position on the cross. Israel Exploration Journal Vol. 20, Numbers 1-2, (1970)
The angle of the fracture line of the left calf bones indicates that the victim's legs were in a bent position. From this we must conclude that the position in which the victim was on the cross was unnatural and very difficult to bear. The victim's hand bones testify to the way they were attached to the horizontal bar of the cross. Small scratches were found on one bone of the right forearm as well as on the wrist. The scratches were the result of squeezing, friction, and slipping on fresh bone. These scratches are osteological evidence that a nail was driven between the two bones of the forearm, radius and ulna.
Christian iconography usually shows nails piercing the palms of Jesus. However, this is impossible, since the weight of the hanging body will very quickly break the palms, and the victim will fall alive from the cross. As we can see from the example in question, the nails were driven into the hands of the crucified above the wrists, since this part of the arm is strong enough to support the weight of the hanging body. [Vii] The position of his body can be described as follows: his legs were connected almost parallel, pierced by one nail in the calcaneus; the knees were doubled, the right one overlapped the left; the torso is bent and rested on the seat; the upper limbs were extended, each nailed to the forearm.
The victim's broken legs are indicative not only of the position on the cross, but also of the Palestinian version of the Roman crucifixion - at least in relation to the Jews. Usually the Romans left the crucified to die slowly until physical exhaustion set in, leading to asphyxiation. However, the Jewish tradition required burial on the day of execution, so in Palestine those who carried out the execution had to break the legs of the crucified in order to hasten his death, and thus enable the funeral ritual to be performed. This practice, described in the Gospel, which says that the legs of two robbers crucified with Jesus were broken (John 19:18), now has archaeological confirmation [viii]. Since the person we found was Jewish, we can concludethat the executioners broke his legs in order to hasten his death and to allow his family to bury him before midnight, according to Jewish custom.
We cannot say about the crime the victim was charged with. Given the wealth of his family, it is unlikely that he was a common robber. Rather, he was crucified for political reasons or for activities directed against the Roman authorities.
Obviously, the Jewish family that owned the tomb had two or three sons who were actively involved in the political, religious and social life of Jerusalem at the end of the Second Temple period. One (Simon) was busy with the reconstruction of the temple. Another (Jehonaathan) was a potter. The third son could engage in anti-Roman political activities, for which he was crucified.
There is something else we know about this person. We know the name. On one side of the ossuary containing his bones was the inscription: "Jehohanan, son of Hagakol (Ezekiel)."
Ossuary of Yehohanan. Israel Exploration Journal Vol. 20, Numbers 1-2, (1970)
The translation of the article was carried out by priest Dimitri Kiryanov from the publication: Tzaferis, Vassilios. Crucifixion - The Archaeological Evidence. // Biblical Archeology Review, Jan / Feb 1985, 44-53.